Wayfare Tavern
Clam chowder poured at the table over a shallow plate of crispy potato balls. Free popovers come warm, one to a person.
Why go
The Tyler Florence restaurant moved, and Patrick Wong's verdict on the new room for the Infatuation in August 2025 was that the move did not cost it anything: the standfirst runs Not much has changed at the new Wayfare, and that's a good thing,
and he scored it 7.8.1 The current address is 201 Pine Street, with wood beams, maroon booths, full-wall nautical murals and the taxidermy deer heads carried over from the old space. The menu kept the dishes people came for, deviled eggs and fried chicken and the Tavern Burger, and the popovers that arrive free at the start. Wong on those: still brought over warm, so that first tear releases steam like a big breath on a cold day.
The kitchen runs all day at weekends, which he notes is rare in the Financial District.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the clam chowder. Wong:
The New England-style soup is poured tableside into a shallow plate of crispy potato balls and barely cooked vegetables.
1 - Order: the Mary's Organic fried chicken, five pieces to a plate, or a side of it with a salad if that is too much. Wong:
the meat tastes like it was getting rosemary and garlic infusions right before it was fried.
1 - Order: the Petaluma Farms deviled eggs,
Served ice-cold with a silky mound of egg yolk,
with Swedish mustard aioli and trout roe.1 - Avoid: the Tavern Burger unless it is what you want anyway. Wong:
in a city with fantastic burgers, this one doesn't stand out.
1
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation SF (Patrick Wong, 22 August 2025), 7.8: honest about the chicken,
While there are some dry bites, this is still a good entree.
1 - The Infatuation SF, on the chowder's one flaw:
We wish the clams made a stronger appearance, but we'd still order this again.
1
Good to know
- Booking: weekdays usually take walk-ins. Plan a day ahead for a weekend meal.1
- Timing: open all day at weekends, which most of the neighborhood is not.
- Groups: there is a second-floor space for private events.
- Getting there: Pine at Sansome, in the Financial District.
Verdict
could-visit — New England chowder poured at the table into a shallow plate of crispy potato balls and barely cooked carrot and celery is a genuinely unusual way to serve a soup, and Patrick Wong says he had not met another like it. Around it sits a reliable American menu, free popovers brought warm with a one-per-person limit, and Mary's Organic fried chicken at five pieces an order. Wong scored it 7.8 in August 2025 and was straight about the dry bites and a burger that does not stand out in this city. It is a room for a group lunch in the Financial District rather than a trip across town.