Description
There's something very clean about Universal Cafe, located in the part of the Mission where Potrero exerts a gravitational pull. Despite the industrial accents and workmanlike open kitchen, it's a warm clean, a Shaker clean, full of light and space and tradition. Its seasonal, carefully cooked fare is pure California - dishes like grilled flatbreads with bacon and arugula pesto, hand-cut pasta with leeks and ricotta, and grilled hanger steak with Meyer lemon butter. Brunch is even more buzzy than dinner, a long meal starting with coffee and housemade doughnuts (whatever they are, you should probably get them) and segueing into sandwiches and chorizo hash.
