Bellota is a favorite spot -- a large, good looking restaurant. Very noisy so I like to sit at the counter right next to my sweetie so we can talk without yelling. But we like counter seating and it is fun to watch the guys make paella so it's all good. I start with a gin and tonic -- you pick your gin and tonic and get it served Spanish style, which I love. All the tapas I've had have been good -- gambas, tortilla, salads, croquettas-- and the paella is good too. My only suggestion is, it would be really nice if the restaurant served a small plate of olives with the cocktails like they often do in Spain. It's a pretty pricy place and a very small gesture like that would be very nice. I recommend Belllota- good food, good service, pretty space, festive feeling.....we Uber so I don't know about the parking.

4 STARS Bellota is one of the better Spanish restaurants in San Francisco. It is very nicely decorated and has plenty of seating. We made a reservation ahead of time, but they do take walk-in customers. We asked to be seated at the kitchen bar area so we could watch them cook, and we luckily were seated right in front of the paella station! Here's what you should order: * Pulpo gallega, $25 (4.5 out of 5 stars) - we always order octopus from Spanish restaurants to see how well it's cooked. This might have been our favorite dish of the night. The octopus has a little bit of a kick to it, which we enjoyed. * Jamon ibérico, $32 (4.5-5 stars) - you really can't go wrong with this iconic appetizer of sliced premier ham. Get it with the pan con tomate. It's one of our faves and a must order. * Paella, $55-65 depending on which one you order (4 out of 5 stars) - they always have 3 on the menu, and some of them rotate given the season. We had one with shrimp and red peppers, and it was pretty good. They gave us an aioli on the side for the rice as well. It's a large portion and we definitely took some home for leftovers. * Boquerones (3 out of 5 stars) - these are sardines in an olive salsa. We wished there was more flavor in this dish. * Churros (4 stars) - leave room for dessert. You can never go wrong with churros. Overall, solid Spanish food option for SF. It wasn't too hard to find street parking on Brannan. Bring a small group with you and order a bunch of these dishes.

Bellota has great ambiance and service. The restaurant is huge, and on a Friday night during our walk-in visit, every table was full. Food, overall, was good but did not blow me away for the price that it is. Perhaps we should have ordered the Paella, which honestly seemed like the specialty. What we ordered and my rating for each: Chorizo - 4/5 big portion and chorizo was really good! Wished that the tomato jam was more seasoned Tortilla - 4/5 this was a big portion and had great texture. The morel aioli was tasty. Overall, I felt it was slightly lacking in flavor Asparagus - 3/5 the asparagus was perfectly cooked and I liked the poached egg and crunch on top, but other than that it really lacked in flavor Beef cheek - 4/5 every element was perfectly cooked and I honestly thought this was the most tasty of all things ordered.. however I was hoping for something more interesting in flavor!

Spanish tapas is a challenging cuisine to accomplish successfully, especially here stateside, but the team at Bellota has managed to succeed on every level from their eclectic menu filled with an abundance of choices to their attentive service to the modernity of their dining room and bar. Located on the ground floor of the historic 888 Brannan building that houses the Gift Center and Jewelry Mart in San Francisco's Showplace Square neighborhood, Bellota comes from The Absinthe Group, which is a variety of San Francisco restaurants owned by Bill Russell-Shapiro and led by Eric Vreede, but the current success of Bellota should be credited to Executive Chef Gonzalo Tecuaque, who is the embodiment of the American dream as he worked his way up from dishwasher to line cook to running a kitchen of his own. At Bellota, Chef Tecuaque brings the flavors of his native Veracruz, Mexico to the kitchen's traditional Spanish cuisine by utilizing California's farm fresh ingredients. What brought me here was the fact that Bellota was participating in San Francisco's Restaurant Week for the Spring of 2024, in which local restaurants participate in a week-long promotion where they give diners the opportunity to order a pre-fix meal sold at an affordable price. This way local restaurateurs get to enjoy a little extra business in what is normally a slower time of year, and locals and out-of-towners alike can enjoy a business without breaking the bank. Usually restaurants that participate in Restaurant Week either select the three courses that you are enjoying at a certain price point, or they let you select from three sections of preselected menu items. Here at Bellota, the latter is the case, but with four people in our party our server let us know that they serve their menu items family style for the entire table to enjoy. So we feasted on three dishes from their Pintxo section of their special menu, four dishes from the Tapas section of their special menu, and servings of their Postres or desserts. To begin our meal, we each enjoyed their Bombas de Arroz which are bomba rice fritters topped with romesco and piquillo peppers. Then we shared two servings each of their Serrano platter, which was sliced jamón serrano served with pan con tomate, and their Queso which was a Spanish version of a cheese plate which was filled with manchego cheese, membrillo which is a sweet paste that pairs well with manchego and torta de aceite, which is a Spanish sweet biscuit. For our entrées, enjoyed their Gambas, which are olive oil poached gulf prawns served in garlic and chili and served with toasted baguettes; their Carrilladas, which were braised pork cheek served on a bed of potato puree, baby carrots and English peas; their Esparragos which are California green asparagus, topped with poached eggs, manchego foam and olive oil migas; and their Bravas which are their crisped-Kennebec potatoes, served on bed of chipotle bravas salsa and topped with smoky aioli. There was so much food to enjoy over these first two courses we could not decide which ones were our favorites, but the highlights for us had to have been their Serrano jamón during our first course, and both the Gambas and Carrilladas during our main course, as all three dishes were composed in such a thoughtful way as every ingredient was used with purpose and therefore every mouthful turned out to be a feast for the senses. The meat was so tender that it melted in your mouth, the shrimp so flavorful and abundant that our party of four could not finish every bite. For our dessert course we enjoyed their Crema Catalana which was their galleta de anise or creme brûlée topped with fresh berries. It was the perfect way to end the perfect meal, and our bill was a little over two hundred dollars, which in this day and age is a real steal considering the cost and the amount of ingredients that went into each dish. When looking at their regular dinner menu, they have a regular tasting menu sold at fifty dollars a diner, when it is not restaurant week, which too seems like a real deal, and their signature paellas averaged only 60 dollars, which is something I would come back for no matter the price. With live music playing in their lively bar, and an open kitchen that abuts their entrance, it's a real show going here on a daily basis, and I would personally raise a glass of Tempranillo wine now that I know what a real gem that Belotta happens to be!

Came here with my friend for SF Restaurant week! For $45/person, we shared: * Their bomb rice fritters: tasty- crispy and has a little of sweetness to them * Serrano ham and their bread with the tomato spread - a classic! * Queso - delicious manchego * Gambas - Juice and well cooked shrimps, great sauce to dip in * Carriladas - the braised pork cheek was tender and it went really well with the potato purée * Crema Cataleña - Great dessert to end our meal! Reminds of a creme brûlée Definitely a great way to try Bellota for a great value! Service was efficient and the decor was really nice inside!

Came for SF restaurant week! Started with house vermut, and it was satisfying. Hint of being back in Spain! Serrano - okay, enjoyed the pan con tomate, wanted more. Manchego- comes with 2 carb types, both tasty! Bombas de arroz - fun fritters! Enjoyed this. Croquettes - small, unexpected sweetness! Gambas - poached prawns in garlic chili and crispy bread! Carrilladas - braised pork cheeks, soft and savory! Over a tasty bed of potatoes, peas, and carrots! Crema catalana- the cream brûlée, doesn't required the spoon to crack the sugar topping.

A Spanish restaurant located in SoMa, conveniently located near all the bars. It's actually in airbnbs HQ do you get glimpses of their super nice office! Highlights: bravas: these are actually divine definitely the highlight of the entire meal- perfectly crispy and it's dipped in the same sauce as the paella mamacita: it's a tropical cold brew cocktail so you get the sweetness from a marg but then the coffee of an espresso martini yum Our table also got two salads (both I personally can pass on) and the paella (the pork belly one is pretty good kinda like an adobo dish but there wasn't much char from a traditional paella dish that I like) All and all a great place for tapas & girls night- personally would stick to appetizers instead of a big meal

Came here for a Valentine's Day dinner and had a great time. We had a reservation and were seated immediately. The food was not only delicious, but also had amazing presentation. The live music added a nice touch to the overall vibe of the restaurant as well. We ordered the bravas and the lechon and mariscos paella. The potatoes in the bravas dish were delightfully crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and the perfect shared plate to munch on while we were waiting for the paella to come. Both paella dishes were beautiful and tasty; I loved the variety of the seafood on the mariscos and how tender the pork was on the lechon dish. The dinner was a bit on the pricier side, but I'd say it was worth it for a special date night. Overall great meal and great experience!

I had dinner here for a GNO (girl's night out) but this beautiful restaurant is great for date night & large groups. The main dining room is very large, has brick walls & is bathed in soft lighting. Reservations are recommended because they are quite busy. I arrived earlier than my friend & was seated at our table. I ordered a sangria & was informed that it's quite strong & the glass is large enough to slowly enjoy throughout our meal. We shared: bravas (crispy potatoes), croquetas, Pulpo Asado (grilled octopus), paella of 2 types (lechon & seafood) & churros. Everything was delicious & we had a lot of paella leftover so we each took some home. Our server was helpful & friendly. Parking can be challenging so I would recommend using Uber/Lyft.