About Us

Fusing white tablecloth caliber food with the comfort and style of an American diner,
Citizen’s Band elevates classic fare like pot roast and pork chops to their freshest
and tastiest forms. The “fine diner” is open for dinner, lunch and brunch in
San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood at 1198 Folsom Street.

“Band” members include chef/partner Chris Beerman (Bento415, Conduit, Boulevard),
pastry chef/partner Cheryl Burr (Pinkie’s Bakery), and managing partner Boris Nemchenok
(also co-owner of Uva Enoteca). The restaurant name is a moniker that references not
only Burr and Beerman’s shared initials, but also their taste in music, and like-minded
sensibility about food, which they discovered a decade ago while working together at
The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus; Burr was a culinary student and Beerman was a sous
chef. Their professional paths continued to cross and eventually intersect with
Nemchenok, who partnered up to support their front-of-house efforts at Pinkie’s and
Citizen’s Band, where he manages overall operations including service/staff training
and the beverage program.

The Band’s collective expertise and talents result in an intimate 40-seat space that pays
tribute to classic American fare in a creatively utilized, kitsch-free corner space that
occupies just 1200 square feet. High quality produce dominates Beerman’s well edited
menu; farms and food artisans represented include handcrafted Fra’Mani sausage,
lettuce from Marin Roots and County Line Farms, mushrooms from Wine Forest foragers,
and fresh horseradish from Knoll Farms.

Dial into a delicious lineup of appetizers ($7-10) like Frank and Beans with grilled Fra’Mani
sweet Italian sausage, Iakopi Farms Italian butter beans, oregano, and parmesan, or try
cornmeal-crusted Fried Green Tomatoes with pickled tomato relish, spring onion potato
chips, and French onion soubise. Dig into four hearty salads ($5-7), which include the
Picnic Sampler – a trifecta of fingerling potato with pancetta, macaroni with pickled
shallots, and savoy cabbage slaw with dill. Mains ($13-20) range from a Clam Bake with
Manila clams, sweet Monterey shrimp and black mussels, bliss potatoes, English peas,
asparagus, spring onion, herbed bouillon, and grilled levain, to Fried Chicken made with
Hoffman Farms game hen, plated with green garlic mashed potatoes, Pinkie’s biscuits and
red-eye gravy.

The house burger, a Snake River Farms Kobe Beef patty served on a Pinkie’s Challah bun,
topped with house made burger pickles and roasted garlic mayo, is best when slathered
with Beerman’s burger booster sauce, which gets its kick from pickled Thai chilies and
chili juice. He describes his homemade condiment as “ketchup on crack,” and he bottles
and sells it (and an assortment of other spreads, conserves, and pickled veggies) in
eight ounce jars under his “CB Sides” brand. CB Sides will be available for purchase
directly from Citizen’s Band’s vintage refrigerator case by the end of 2010.

Burr’s desserts ($6.50) have developed a cult following since she launched Pinkie’s Bakery
in 2008, which started life as a wholesale business and morphed into a full-scale business
with a retail component based on high demand. Try her Sour Cream Cheesecake with fresh
berries and graham crust, Chocolate Sea Salt Truffle Cake, or whatever seasonal fruit
dessert is in rotation (Peach Chiffon Cake if you’re lucky). Burr’s mastery of pastry
is sure to create a fair share of sweet-loving groupies at Citizen’s Band and keep
sugar junkies coming back for more.

To complement the haute diner fare, sip on seven beers by the bottle, including Texas’
Lone Star and a 22-ounce bottle of local Anchor Steam Small Beer, or take advantage of
Nemchenok’s way with wine, which includes 14 by-the-glass options and 23 bottles, all
domestic and primarily priced in the $30-40 range (try the 2007 Touriga, York Creek, $38).
Thanks to salvaged, recycled, and refinished furnishings, Citizen’s Band feels comfortable
and lived in. The team partnered with Geremia Design, who helped define and express
the aesthetic of the “fine diner.” Design principal/partner Lauren Geremia sourced
vintage postcards and magazine ads from Mission District thrift shops, which depict
everything from the Corpus Christi Airport to Elvis, and affixed the prints to the walls
using oversize nails. Old CB radios that Beerman purchased on eBay are clustered above
the entrance doorframe and positioned in other restaurant nooks. Their branding and
graphic identity have been developed by Michael Laurence.

Have a seat at one of the 12 metal counter stools, which swivel, diner-style, and peruse
the wine list, scribed on a sliding chalkboard wall that makes a clever cover for the wine
storage cabinet. The “diner room” offers eight tables, rescued from previous tenant Ideal
Deli, and refinished with a layer of concrete and glaze. The long L-shaped banquette,
backed with gray vinyl, lines the longest wall and offers views of the open kitchen. The
concrete floor, which Beerman hand polished using a SOS pad to dull the finish of an
epoxy finish he painted on and decided was too glossy, was discovered peeking out
beneath old tile. Opaque white globe lights and exposed Edison bulbs cast their glow,
and tea lights lining the windowsills add warmth and ambiance. A light blue swath of
paint creates a border between the ceiling and crown molding and adds an easy dose
of color.

Citizen’s Band is open:

Dinner: Tuesday-Saturday: 5:30pm-11pm
Lunch: Tuesday-Friday: 11:30am-2pm
Brunch: Saturday: 10am-2pm

Closed: Sunday and Monday

Parking: Easy/plentiful street parking

SF Public Transportation: (Click Here)

Reservations available by phone (415.556.4901) or at www.opentable.com