O3 Bistro & Lounge Now Open

I spend a lot of time waiting for the 5 at Van Ness and McAllister and let me say, there hasn’t been anything interesting on that corner in a long time. But a couple weeks ago, I noticed a sign: O3. Could it be? A restaurant to occupy the dark spot left behind by California Pizza Kitchen? Certainly. O3 Bistro & Lounge has opened its doors, serving Pan Asian cuisine prepared by Executive Chef Joseph Villanueva, formerly of Le Colonial.

Chef Villanueva and his O3 partners are of Asian American background, and opened O3 with their heritage as a definite inspiration. The lunch and dinner menus offer small-plate appetizers and larger entrees. Appetizers include bone marrow with onion marmalade, oxtail taco with jicama and cabbage slaw, Ahi tuna crudo and Kalbi beef sliders. Entrees include seared scallops with uni garlic noodles, sake steamed clams and Petaluma fried chicken.

For the opera-going crowd, O3 will be developing special pre-show services and menus.

For those seeking an after-work cocktail (yours truly), O3’s bar has a nice collection of contemporary and signature cocktails such as the Wasabi Bleeding Mary, Sakeflower and Desert Heat. Happy hour at O3 runs from 4pm to 7pm with discounted cocktails, wine and bar menu.

When the weather warms up, look for sidewalk café seating outside. A cocktail in the sun after work… sounds like an excellent way to unwind before boarding the 5.

O3 Bistro & Lounge
524 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102; Tel. 415.934.9800

Image from O3restaurant.com

Emilia Varshavsky grew up in the Bay Area and studied English and International Relations at UC Davis. While in college, she planned concerts and hung out with rappers and rock stars. Nowadays, Emilia spends her 9-to-5 time working as an internal communications manager for a big Internet company and her free time blogging, attempting yoga, and creating failed "shortcuts" of Muni routes.