This marks my fourth year covering the three-day food music festival Outside Lands for Eater SF. It’s been nostalgic to look back at all the fun things myself and the extended Eater fam have eaten in the name of jo(y)urnalism. And I’m gearing up to do it all over again this weekend at Golden Gate Park.
My homework is plotting out my food stops. But this newsletter is where you, my dear readers, get to benefit from my research time. Outside Lands is THE moment the Bay Area’s best restaurants all come to one place, and I like to take full advantage of the unique opportunity. I’ll, of course, be limited by stomach space (and set list times and the length of lines), but if that all weren’t a thing, here are the places I would hit.
The new stuff
As a person who grew up in the 1900s, I think it’s of no surprise that one of the first things on my list to try is the pizza bagels from the Wise Sons x Outta Sight Pizza crossover. Not only are they separately solid places to eat in the city, but the nostalgic crossover of pizza and bagel is one siren song that (timely or very old The Odyssey reference) no amount of beeswax in the ears will prevent me from indulging. I’ll likely also throw on some cacio e pepe fries to share with my group. If I’m feeling like I need a vegetable (which, who doesn’t?), I might seek it out in the form of a crispy chicken Caesar salad wrap from Original Joe’s. And toss in a fried eggplant and potato flatbread wrap with sambal tomat from Reem’s x Lion Dance Cafe crossover; fried foods are MANDATORY at a festival. The other wrap I’m looking at is the herb-crusted lamb lavash from the Jaji x Tallboy, which also means loaded dirty martini olive potato chips on the side — it’s unclear when I’d get another chance at these chips, so call it FOMO or YOLO, whichever one is less cringe.
I do also love to see what’s been percolating at nonprofit food incubator La Cocina, which is bringing three up-and-coming vendors to the festival. All three businesses are focusing on wings this year, and they all sound excellent. Chi Chi’s Kiosko offers its grilled chicken wings with tamarind barbecue sauce; Chiricana has fried Panamanian recao verde wings; and Mi Comedor offers pineapple al pastor crispy chicken wings. Meski is also in the mix this year, and while the Ethiopian beef tenderloin burritos sound amazing, my devotion to oxtail leads me to their oxtail-loaded duck fat yuca fries (say that three times fast), which I’ll likely try to scoop up during one of the evenings.
For afternoon pick-me-ups, if the lines are manageable, I’ll likely swing by Paper Son Coffee for an iced pandan latte and maybe a twice-baked ube croissant. I only say maybe to the ube croissant, because it’s likely I will be simultaneously distracted by Parachute Bakery, whose vanilla and passionfruit croissant cubes have caught my eye. For those who have a golden ticket to the VIP section — everything is sold out, but who knows! — the salt bread with ube diplomat cream or the crab rangoon kouign amann from Tano might be your best bet. While you’re luxuriating in the VIP section, check out Restaurant Naides in an ultra-casual setting. I’d go for the Filipino barbecue beef tongue and garlic rice bowl, and I’d also likely grab the raspberry-guava leaf refresher while I’m at it.
For Snack Series side questers and limited-edition menu items
I’m not sure if I’ll make it through all the above places (stomach- and time-wise) and really take advantage of the Snack Series, but these are the bites I’d go for: momo dumplings at Bini’s Kitchen; half-order of the beef chimichurri pho dip sandwich at Bodega SF (it gets cold at night!); mini order of churro tots at Charles Chocolates; mini chicken and sausage gumbo bowl at Gumbo Social; and a crispy cauliflower pakoda from Tiya.
If you’re clout-chasing the limited-edition menu items, the three dishes I’d sprint towards when the gates open are the honey walnut pork and shrimp sandwich from Piglet & Co., which combines panko-breaded pork with a shrimp mousse and namasu cabbage slaw; the uni smash burger with shiso leaf and yuzu kosho ponzu aioli from Smish Smash; and Poorboy Coffee’s Cereal Killer Coffee, a clarified coffee cereal milk punch with citrusy strawberry cold foam. I won’t shame anyone for embarking on the Cluck Around & Find Out Challenge from Love Burn, which is a four-level hot chicken experience with a waiver-required final tender (complimentary milk included), but, personally? I’d rather NOT find out what havoc that wreaks on my sensitive insides with just portapotties around. If you choose to partake, I salute you and say, godspeed. If it goes well, let me know. And if it doesn’t: keep it to yourself.
Outside Lands takes place from Friday, August 7, through Sunday, August 9; for the full food and drink list, head to sfoutsidelands.com.
