Out The Door–The Slanted Door’s sister restaurant in Westfield Mall

To celebrate a friend’s birthday, I decided to check out Out The Door, a sister restaurant to the famous Slanted Door in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. This place was much more casual than the Slanted Door and the prices are quite reasonable (with entrees in the $7-9 range), with a take out counter, a food retail shop and a restaurant all in one. Many people don’t know about this place since it opened less than a year ago, and it’s located on the ground floor of the new Westfield Mall in San Francisco, next to the BART station. Our waiters were excellent and checked on us frequently. The decor was warm and sleek at the same time.

We started with a vegetable bun (free, courtesy of a coupon from the Green Zebra guide), and then I decided to order rice noodles with bok choy, tofu, bean spouts and onions. The sauce was quite tasty and reminded me of how my mom would cook rice noodles (see picture above). We also ordered special drinks of the day which was fresh guava juice mixed with boba and mint, and we tried it without the boba (fewer calories!).

My friend Jenny ordered a grilled chicken over rice noodles with imperial rolls, cucumber and mint which she enjoyed quite a bit.
To end the meal, we celebrated with a panna cotta flavored with basil and mango sauce. Very unusual, and the waiter was kind enough to put a nice candle into it for Jenny’s birthday!
The restaurant had a lot of Slanted Door’s qualities–fresh, organic ingredients with an Asian flair and great service. But the best part was that there was no line to stand in (unlike its sister restaurant), and the prices were very reasonable. The entire meal with two drinks, two entrees, one appetizer and dessert came to $35. If you don’t mind eating in a mall (in fact, it doesn’t really feel like it once you’re inside the restaurant), this place is for you. Out The Door is located in the new Westfield Mall on 845 Market Street in San Francisco near the food court, next to the BART entrance.