Brenda's French Soul Food Bistro / Restaurant

Civic Center / Tenderloin, San Francisco –

Seven days a week, come rain or come shine, long lines of patient patrons form outside Brenda’s French Soul Food, waiting for their names to finally be crossed off the chalkboard and licking their lips in anticipation of the vibrant Creole comfort food waiting for them within.

Despite the neighborhood’s seedy reputation, this simple one-room brunch hotspot is almost always overflowing with a lively crowd indulging in bottomless watermelon sweet tea and dishes of shrimp and grits.

Clinking silverware, bubbly conversation, and Dixieland jazz create a festive soundtrack as stylish tourists, relaxed locals, and suburban families alike pack in shoulder to shoulder on the wooden benches and stools lining the perimeter.

Fashionable groups of girls ooh and aah as they marvel at the colorful dishes that take center stage on the small white tables, while hipster couples peruse the list of southern beers and international wines, looking for the perfect complement to their oyster po’ boys.

As the overhead fans slowly rotate, sleepy-eyed groups of twenty-something locals gather to down a few flights of sweet and savory beignets and rehash the previous night’s rowdy Polk street adventures.

A chic and comfy hangout made all the cozier with down-home cooking, Brenda’s is a great place for both friends and families to kick back and enjoy some southern hospitality.