Sol Food

Sol Hernandez learned to cook in Puerto Rico, started in the San Rafael farmers market, and now holds two doors on one block of Lincoln Avenue.1 2

Why go

The chicken is the reason. Megan Gordon wrote it up for KQED in 2010: boneless, skinless organic chicken thighs marinated with oregano and lots of garlic, served with salad, plantains and rice and beans, and her verdict on it was that if somebody taught her to make chicken that juicy she is not sure she would eat anything else again.1 The cheap plate is worth knowing about too. Pink beans, half an avocado and a plantain was the standing order for a vegetarian on a budget, and Gordon called it the best deal in town.1 The Chronicle's Amanda Gold opened her 2016 feature on the restaurant by placing it in a 12-seat shack in San Rafael a year after it started, which is where all of this came from.3

Order this / avoid

Order: pollo al horno. On a Monday, take the arroz con picadillo instead, which Gordon described as seasoned ground beef over rice served with beans, fresh avocado, fried plantain, and greens, with a kick of vinegar, garlic and onion in it. Specials move, so this is a sixteen-year-old reading of the board.1
Avoid: driving to Mill Valley expecting a table. That door is takeout and delivery only.2

What locals & experts say

KQED, Megan Gordon, 11 January 2010, on the pollo al horno: If someone could teach me how to make chicken this juicy and flavorful, I'm not sure I'd eat anything else. Ever again.1
The same piece, on the room: There aren't a lot of places around Marin where young and old, conservative and raucous, come together and chat over pink beans and rice.1

Good to know

Which door: San Rafael runs across 901 and 903 Lincoln Ave, the Green Building and La Bodega, under one phone number. The saved pin is the 903 side.2
Hours: dine in Monday to Thursday 10:30am to 9pm, Friday to 10pm, Saturday from 9am to 10pm, Sunday 9am to 9pm. Takeout runs wider at both ends.2
Three towns: San Rafael, Mill Valley and Petaluma. Petaluma keeps its own menu.2

Verdict

should-visit — One woman learned to cook on the island, sold from a twelve-seat shack, and now holds two street numbers on Lincoln plus doors in two other towns, which is a long way for a plate of pink beans to travel. The cooking evidence is a named writer's account of the marinade and what it does to the thigh, and it is sixteen years old, which is why this sits one rung below the top rather than at it. The rung is about the food and the run, not about how many people like it.

Sol Food.