Cozy French Restaurant

I frequently get asked about good French restaurants in San Francisco.  There are well known, upscale French restaurants where you can easily spend over $150/person for dinner.  However, when I think of the type of neighborhood bistro that I've enjoyed in France, I immediately think of my neighborhood French restaurant, Le P'tit Laurent.

The restaurant is located in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco, just one block from Glen Park BART.  Visitors staying near Union Square can take BART from Powell or Montgomery Street to the Glen Park station and walk one block north on Diamond Street.  The ride is less than 15 minutes each way and currently costs $3.50 round-trip.

The owner, Laurent Legendre, is originally from Paris.  When we visited the restaurant shortly after it opened, Laurent recognized us as soon as we walked in.  How, I don't know, as we only visited his old restaurant, Clementine, a few times and he had left it a few years ago.

The menu contains French classics such as onion soup, escargot, boeuf Bourguignon, coquilles Saint-Jacques, and cassoulet.  Prices are reasonable and, from Monday through Thursday, there is a three-course, prix-fixed neighborhood menu for $21/person.  The wine list contains reasonably priced French and Californian wines.

Le P'tit Laurent is a real neighborhood place frequented mainly by locals.  It's a great place for visitors as they get to see a part of San Francisco they normally would not visit and eat some good French food at a reasonable price.