Foreign Cinema

HopStop

View on Large Map
Get Directions

10 people have posted a review, snapped a photo, checked in, or tipped this place. Use your voice!

+ Add Photos

00000 - 00000 of 00000

+ Add A Photo

00,000 of 00,000

2534 Mission (at 21st St.) San Francisco, CA 94110

415-648-7600

Website

6 User reviews Write A Review

SF Weekly
Recommended
Best Place for a Blind Date
Award Winner 2004

Cuisine(s): California

Hours: Sun 11am-3:30pm, Sun 5:30pm-10pm, Mon-Thu 6pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 5:30pm-11pm, Sat 11am-3pm

Price: $$$, $$$$

Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards, Diners Club
Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Delivery, Private Party, Fireplace

Serving: Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner

Entertainment: Live Entertainment

Alcohol: Full bar
Reservations: Accepted, Online Reservations Available

Parking: Street, Valet

Description

Chic, neo-industrial restaurant offers large outdoor patio with nightly film screenings and revamped French menu from former Zuni Café chefs. Main courses are fantastic. Dessert choices include beautifully composed cheese plates. Full bar, including a stellar cocktail called the Blood Orange (vodka, Campari, and orange juice).

2004 | Best Place for a Blind Date

A successful first date is a dicey proposition. You have to be funny, but you can't be a clown. You have to be smart, but you can't be a know-it-all. And, above all, you have to pick the perfect restaurant. That's why Foreign Cinema is such an excellent venue. The food is moderately priced and tasty, and finding the Cinema's nondescript facade in the heart of the Mission will prove you know the lay of the land. You can break the ice with a couple of highballs at the connected Laszlo Bar. If... More »
2004 | Best Mixed Grill

The menu at this sophisticated Mission District spot changes frequently, as do the movies projected on the wall of the big outdoor patio, but you'll often find a mixed grill on the list, an orgy of flesh that encompasses several different kinds of meat, chosen for texture as well as flavor, with interesting accompaniments. We have the happiest memories of one that included superb rare duck breast, a smoky, meaty grilled quail, and a long, thin, meltingly soft house-made chicken sausage, the... More »

Our Ultimate Mash-Up Mother's Day Meal in San Francisco

By Tamara Palmer | Tue, May 8, 2012

Like Valentine's Day and Easter before it, Mother's Day can be a particularly annoying holiday for us food blogger worker bees. The endless pap of press releases touting how kind the restaurant indust... More »
Foreign Cinema Marks 11th Anniversary with 'Big Bottom' Cocktail

By John Birdsall, SFoodie Editor | Wed, August 18, 2010

We're pretty sure This Is Spinal Tap wasn't the kind of movie John Clark and Gayle Pirie had in mind to accompany their Frenchified Cal Cuisine when Foreign Cinema launched 11 years ago. We reckon the... More »
Niloufer Ichaporia King Helping Out with Brunch at Foreign Cinema, June 26-27

By John Birdsall, SFoodie Editor | Tue, June 15, 2010

Last time Niloufer Ichaporia King showed up to do brunch at Foreign Cinema, the city's food insiders sort of lost it. It's happening again. On June 26-27, Foreign Cinema's Gayle Pirie and John Clark a... More »
Silver-Screen Suppers

By Meredith Brody | Wed, October 29, 2003

Usually I pick the restaurant where I'm going to dine, and then choose my companions, which isn't as easy and automatic a process as you might think: Even beyond the vegetarian/pescetarian/carnivorous question, there are always additional requirem... More »
Side Dish

By Harry Coverte | Wed, April 05, 2000

The Crowd MentalityI prefer to dine in twos and fours. Gathering a big group of my friends together at the same time at a restaurant has proven to be a hassle in the past, so I choose to avoid it. If you think it's a pain on your end, you can imag... More »
Loading More Critics Reviews

Like (0) Dislike (0)

bzito | San Francisco, CA | 18 Reviews

| Thu, September 24, 2009

This is a very cool spot. It�s really eclectic. They have movies that are always showing on the screen as you�re sitting there. The food is incredible. It�s French food.
Like (0) Dislike (0)

sr3342002 | Los Angeles, CA | 8 Reviews

| Fri, July 31, 2009

Deep in the Mission District is a gorgeous restaurant where patio diners are treated to classic film while they eat. Our first experience involved roast chicken and a screening of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," and while film serves primarily as background, we have found that this enhanced environment seems to stimulate more cultured conversation than usual. And what better way to enjoy cuisine and company than to have the haunting notes of Vladimir Cosma's "Promenade Sentimentale" floating about as the intriguing "Diva" projects above our heads?
Like (0) Dislike (0)

arfcostarica | Menlo Park, CA | 4 Reviews

| Tue, March 9, 2010

classic French Food in a nice setting
Loading More User Reviews

People Who Like Foreign Cinema

Tearsurfjoy
San Francisco, CA
tomyd
Fremont, CA
jsuper7
San Francisco, CA
CaseMcQuillan
San Francisco, CA
Kristan5
San Francisco, CA

Dinner Menu

Premieres

$7.50

Soup
winter vegetable veloute with harissa oil

$10.00

Lacinato Kale Caesar
with avocado, manchego, lime

$11.00

Chicory Salad
baby beets, creamy meyer lemon dressing, fines herbes

$9.00

House Cured Sardines & Cauliflower
radishes, bagnet vert

$13.00

Tuna Tartare Tostadas
garden cucumber, shell bean puree, wasabi tobiko

$12.00

Natural Beef Carpaccio
dijon-horseradish sauce, gaufrettes, fried rosemary, parmesan

$17.00

Venetian Risotto Nero
scallops, squid, crab

$11.00

Fried Farm Egg
golden chanterelles, soft sage polenta

$13.50

5-spice Fried Quail
tomato chutney, treviso, balsamic reduction

$13.00

Harvest Antipasto
chicken liver mousse, squab pate, red flame grapes

Urban Picnic (unleash The Appetite!)

$4.00

Warm Mixed Mediterranean Olives

$11.50

Baked Redwood Hill Goat Cheese
in escarole with lavender, castelvetrano olives, toasts

$10.00

Warm Brandade With Green Chilies
served with grilled bread, house pickles

$12.50

Smoked Salmon
with salmon caviar, ruby grapefruit, frisee, creme fraiche

$12.00

Hog Island Clam & Squid Bake
sauce romesco, jalapeno, pasillas

Oyster Bar