Little Fig Bistro — Neighborhood Bistro & Wine Bar

Est. 2016 · Hayes Valley, San Francisco

A small room,
a long table,
a lot of figs.

Thirty-four seats, one open kitchen, and a wine list that changes every Tuesday because that's when the truck comes. We cook what the market gives us and we pour things we actually drink.

Read the menu · Find us

The room

We opened because the block needed somewhere to sit down.

Little Fig started in 2016 as a nine-seat counter in the back of a bakery that closed at four. Nadia and Tomás took the lease on the strength of one fig tree in the courtyard behind the building — it still drops fruit onto the back steps every August, and it still ends up on the menu.

The room has grown twice since then, but not much. We kept the tin ceiling, added a zinc bar, and hung the lights low enough that nobody has to look at anybody too closely. There is a long communal table by the window that seats ten and has hosted at least four marriage proposals that we know about.

We are a bistro in the old sense: no tasting menu, no dress code, no reservations past eight-thirty. Come in, sit down, order too much bread.

— Nadia Okonjo & Tomás Ferreira, owners

A candlelit table set for two in the dining room at night — Service, 7:40pm on a Thursday.

A plated seasonal dish on a ceramic plate — Roast squash, brown butter, sage.

Glasses of natural wine lined up on the zinc bar — Six by the glass, thirty-one by the bottle.

Fresh figs and torn bread on a rustic wooden table — The courtyard tree, mid-August.

The warm, low-lit dining room of the bistro in the evening — The long table by the window. Ten seats, first come.

Kitchen

The menu changes on Tuesdays.

This is the current card. If something has run out, we'll tell you — we'd rather sell out than freeze anything.

To start

Warm figs, whipped ricotta14

Courtyard figs, honey from the Alemany market, cracked black pepper, grilled sourdough.
Little gem, anchovy dressing13

Cold lettuce, salt-cured Cantabrian anchovy, aged pecorino, toasted breadcrumb.
Marinated olives7

Castelvetrano and Taggiasca, orange peel, fennel seed, warm rosemary oil.
Chicken liver mousse15

Made every morning, sherry, thyme, pickled shallot, thick-cut brioche toast.
Salt cod croquettes12

Four to an order, potato, parsley, lemon aioli, eaten faster than they arrive.

From the kitchen

Roast squash, brown butter24

Delicata, sage fried in the butter, hazelnut, a spoon of crème fraîche.
Half chicken under a brick32

Mary's Farm bird, preserved lemon, smashed potatoes, pan jus.
Hand-cut tagliatelle26

Rolled at four o'clock daily, slow beef ragù, parmesan, torn basil.
Dayboat halibut34

Whatever came off the boat, white beans, salsa verde, charred lemon.
Dry-aged ribeye for two78

Thirty-two ounces, bone-in, bordelaise, watercress, fries cooked in beef fat.
Mushroom tart25

Maitake and king trumpet, all-butter pastry, thyme, sherry cream.

Sweet & after

Fig leaf panna cotta11

Steeped with leaves from the courtyard tree, roasted plum, almond.
Dark chocolate pot10

Seventy percent Valrhona, sea salt, olive oil, a shortbread finger.
Cheese, three pieces18

Rotating from the counter — ask what's ripe, we'll steer you.
Affogato9

Vanilla gelato, a shot of espresso, a splash of amaro if you want it.

By the glass

Muscadet, Domaine Pépière13

Loire, 2022. Oyster wine. Also a sitting-at-the-bar wine.
Skin-contact Ribolla15

Friuli, 2021. Six days on skins, apricot, a little grip.
Gamay, Côte de Brouilly14

Beaujolais, 2022. Chill it slightly. Goes with the chicken.
Amaro, three ways12

A flight of whatever's open — bitter, herbal, and one that tastes like pine.
House vermouth, on ice10

Blended here, orange peel, bay, soda, one olive.

Thirty-one bottles on the list, all under $95. Corkage is $25, waived if you bring something older than the restaurant.

Hours

We're closed Mondays.

Monday	Closed
Tuesday	5:00pm – 12:00am
Wednesday	5:00pm – 12:00am
Thursday	5:00pm – 12:00am
Friday	4:30pm – 1:00am
Saturday	4:30pm – 1:00am
Sunday	4:30pm – 10:00pm

Kitchen closes an hour before the room does. The bar keeps pouring until the last person leaves, which on Fridays is later than we plan for.

Find us

Fell Street, between Octavia and Laguna.

Little Fig Bistro
418 Fell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Look for the small green awning and the fig tree in the courtyard. The entrance is set back from the sidewalk — up two steps, past the bicycle rack. If you reach the laundromat you've gone one door too far.

Muni: 6 and 71 stop at Fell & Octavia. There is no parking lot; there is street parking if you're lucky and a garage on Hayes if you're not.

(415) 555-0188 · hello@littlefigbistro.com

Reservations

Tables for six or fewer, up to thirty days out.

We hold the bar and the long table for walk-ins, so if the books are full, come anyway — there's usually a stool. Parties of seven or more, email us and we'll build you a menu.

“We wanted somewhere you could come in on a Tuesday in a bad mood and leave slightly better.”
— Nadia, on why they opened

Bread by Rize Up Bakery · Coffee by Linea Caffe · Cheese from the counter at Falletti Foods · Wine imported by Ruby and Kermit