By Sean Rinn

Simon Bryant became the fifth owner in Eats’s 50-year history in 2023, and with that came some renovations that went past just interior decoration. His farm-to-table philosophy has helped elevate one of Clement Street’s jewels to new heights.

They cleared cabinet space that blocked sunlight and added plants to breathe life into the place, but nothing shined as much as the revamped menu. Bryant looks back on the previous eras of Eats fondly and wanted to honor its memory, but he strived to make some key changes.

“We’re doing everything from scratch, and that’s at the heart of everything,” Bryant said. “All the menus come by me and my team, from the dukkah to the tostaquiles, to the guajillo sauce.”

Some of the star players for Bryant’s new menu includes the savory tostaquiles, two soft scrambled eggs over golden fried corn tortillas with avocado slices fanned across and topped with chili sauce and cotija cheese, and the sweet French toast, crispy charred Acme sourdough with a custard filling and seasonal fruits to compliment. Among a full menu of classic brunch items and some creative twists on old classics, Bryant also likes to highlight dishes that deserve equal attention.

“I think the sleeper dish is the fried chicken sandwich. It’s really good. It is buttermilk fried chicken that has been marinated, also with some onions and some raw garlic, which helps break down the chicken a little bit, and with a smoked calabrian chili aioli and sauerkraut slaw,” he said.

Making each dish from scratch is only part of the equation that has seen the quality of the menu boost. Foraging is part of Bryant’s culinary background which equipped him with the understanding of how the freshest ingredients can lift up a menu.

“It’s really more of an experience of loving the product, eating it myself, realizing how delicious it is when it’s fresh and coming from the right place,” Bryant said.

Part of his foraging experience allowed him to find the beauty in hunting for mushrooms, because of mushrooms’ unique relationship to the forest that is so important to their ecosystem. This aligned with his philosophy of supplying his team with the freshest local ingredients and his relationship with both customers and staff. While Eats does not forage for its produce, its farm-to-table approach, combined with making meals from scratch, has breathed new life into the food.

Before discovering the joys of foraging, Bryant’s appreciation of art – especially moved by music and sculpture – helped him identify that those similar feelings could be found in a richer form by way of cooking and the community that comes with it.

“Eats is all about down-home hospitality, taking care of the community,” he said. “It’s about simple food and simple product that doesn’t make anyone feel intimidated whatsoever, and utilizing the knowledge of quality of product and quality of technique in terms of cookery, uplifting all those ingredients, it’s about taking our perspectives of, not fine dining, but high-end quality care and service – really engaging with customers.”

Bryant adored the familial aspect, the feeling of a team working together in harmony to make sweet music for others’ enjoyment, the creation of beautiful bonds with others built on trusting one another and taking care of one another. He remembered his own family gatherings with his seven siblings and other members of his kin where he would share stories and laugh and cry together over a feast.

“That’s really where that idea of food, community, neighborhood, taking care of each other, and really a sort of basis of humanity in a certain sense. I’d say as a species, we have grown around food. That’s where we would sit together, tell stories and be together, and that’s a really big part for me,” said Bryant.

For Bryant, whose roots are sprouted in several directions around the Bay Area, including Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek and San Francisco, Eats is what he describes as a heritage to him. He loves that he can carry the baton from the previous owners to maintain and build on the special connection Eats and the Richmond share.

“Bars and breakfast are the two places where you really get to know who your customers are,” Bryant said. “There’s an intimacy to it. People are coming to you before they get their breakfast, they’re coming to you before they’ve really turned themselves on. On weekends, the first two hours are always families with their children and babies. That’s what I love about that, and that’s what I wanted to be a steward of.”

Bryant loves coming to work every day because of the connection he has with his staff, the creativity he imparts on the menu and, most importantly, through his relationship with the neighborhood.

“It’s an astounding neighborhood with incredible people. There’s something special here, especially growing up in San Francisco,” he said. “I’ll say that obviously there’s gentrification and different people are coming in and out, but these neighborhoods feel like San Francisco did before. Hodgepodge, a real melting pot, people of all backgrounds coming together and holding space for each other. It’s a joy to be a part of.”

Eats is special for numerous reasons. It cares for the people that walk through its doors, and once customers are seated, they are served with meals ideologically building on the classic perception of a diner that serves up classic American breakfast and lunch dishes while also emphasizing the Californian style of cuisine that infuses fresh local ingredients farm-to-table to execute its plates with culinary diversity in techniques and cultural influences. Eats manufactures a lot of care through environment and the menu.

“Eats is about that, trying to walk the line between the two, and change people’s perspective of what is breakfast and lunch? We call ourselves a new diner, and the big thing there is I grew up here in San Francisco, and I’ve grown up eating food from all over the world. I think for a lot of us city people, breakfast and lunch doesn’t just have to be the sort of Midwest Americana breakfast; it can also have a lot of fresh ingredients.”

To unplug from the tediousness of life and connect with a gem of your neighborhood, if you want a fresh breakfast and lunch inspired by classic American dishes with a fresh California inspired twist, then stop by Eats for great service, a better breakfast, and a true San Francisco experience.

Eats is located at 50 Clement St. Learn more at eatsrestaurantsf.com.