The Bywater
David Kinch spent a year and a half on the po' boy loaf before he was happy with it. Robbie Wilson of Bird Dog named the yaka mein here in The Six Fifty's chefs' bucket list in 2018. It is closed Tuesdays.
Why go
Kinch grew up in New Orleans, and he cooked there before he cooked anywhere else. Michael Bauer put it plainly in the Chronicle: Kinch got his start cooking with the late Paul Prudhomme at New Orleans' famous Commander's Palace.
2 The po' boys and the gumbo come out of that kitchen. He closed Manresa, three Michelin stars, at the end of 2022 and kept this room going up the street.6 His reason is his own: I grew up in New Orleans, and that's where I fell in love with cooking, and I wanted to open a restaurant that reminded me of that place and time.
4 The bread took the work. We spent about a year and a half trying to perfect a classic New Orleans po' boy loaf,
he told the Michelin Guide. It's what makes the sandwich special, and also quite authentic.
4 Michelin's inspectors found a zinc bar, pressed ceilings and an open kitchen stacked with bottles of hot sauce.1 Stephanie Prida fries the beignets, and she ran pastry at Manresa.7
Order this / avoid
- Order: the yaka mein, the New Orleans hangover soup they call Old Sober. Robbie Wilson, who runs Bird Dog in Palo Alto, named it here in The Six Fifty's chefs' bucket list in 2018:
Spicy, fatty and oily (from the belly/brisket) broth engulfed with rice noodles is my one-stop shop for everything I love in life. …
5 - Order: the oyster po' boy with white chile sauce, on the loaf Kinch spent eighteen months on.1
- Order: the gumbo z'herbes. Michelin's 2025 inspectors called it
special and spicy andouille-flecked
and said locals turn up early for it.1 - Avoid: Tuesday. The room does not open.8
What locals & experts say
- San Francisco Chronicle (Michael Bauer, three stars, 11 March 2016):
The surroundings and food are casual, yet the subtle refinement that touches every aspect of the experience makes dining at the Bywater pure pleasure.
2 - Robbie Wilson, chef and co-owner of Bird Dog, Palo Alto, in The Six Fifty (2018):
The yaka mein, a.k.a. 'Old Sober,' soup at The Bywater. Spicy, fatty and oily (from the belly/brisket) broth engulfed with rice noodles is my one-stop shop for everything I love in life. …
5 - MICHELIN Guide USA, 2025 selection:
This is a spot so beloved that locals (some even with kids in tow) know to arrive early to sample the special and spicy andouille-flecked gumbo z'herbes; oyster po'boys with white chile sauce; golden-brown hushpuppies; and other Cajun and Creole classics.
1
Good to know
- Michelin: it held a Bib Gourmand into the 2025 guide and the California selection published on 24 June 2026 does not carry it. Read the inspectors' lines above as a record of 2025.
- Hours: Monday 3pm to 9pm, closed Tuesday, Wednesday to Friday noon to 9pm, Saturday 11am to 9pm, Sunday 11am to 8pm.8
- Brunch: BBQ brunch runs Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 2:30pm. Happy hour is 3pm to 5pm every day the room opens.8
- On television: Food Network filmed it for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.7
Verdict
should-visit — Kinch got his start with Paul Prudhomme at Commander's Palace, and this is the room where that shows: he put a year and a half into the po' boy loaf before he would serve it. Michael Bauer gave it three stars in the Chronicle in March 2016 and called dining here pure pleasure. Robbie Wilson runs Bird Dog up in Palo Alto, and he named the yaka mein here in The Six Fifty's chefs' bucket list in 2018. Stephanie Prida, pastry chef at three-star Manresa, fries the beignets. Bauer's review is ten years old and the Michelin Bib lapsed in June 2026, so nothing current ranks it, which is what holds it at this rung.