Esme, a French-California Bistro From Susan Dunn, Opens on Divisadero

Esme, a French-inspired California bistro from longtime San Francisco restaurateur Susan Dunn, is open at 311 Divisadero Street, inside the Metro Hotel. It is Dunn’s first solo restaurant, and it took over the Divisadero space that previously held the pizzeria Ragazza.

The restaurant describes its cooking as rooted in French tradition and shaped by California’s seasons, with a menu that changes through the year. In their coverage of the opening, Hoodline and The Infatuation pointed to bistro standards such as steak frites and paté, plus small plates, pastas, and a wine-focused list. The dinner, dessert, and bottle lists posted on Esme’s own site are marked seasonal and were last updated in June.

The space

Esme seats about 30 guests indoors and adds a patio with roughly 20 more seats, according to MerciSF. It sits inside the Metro Hotel, a Divisadero building the restaurant says it is reworking in collaboration with the family that has long owned it. The name, Esme says, is meant to read as “beloved.”

Who is behind it

Susan Dunn is a co-owner of Pearl 6101 in the Outer Richmond and has worked at restaurants including Pizzetta 211, according to MerciSF and the San Francisco Standard. Esme is described across that reporting as her first solo project. It adds to a stretch of new French-leaning restaurants that have opened in San Francisco over the past year.

If you go

Esme is at 311 Divisadero Street, near Page Street. Per the restaurant’s website, it serves dinner Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is closed Mondays. Reservations are available through Resy, and the listed phone number is 415-660-7805. The 24 Divisadero bus runs along Divisadero past the door. For more recent San Francisco restaurant news, see our coverage of the new Mess Hall food hall in the Presidio and Californios earning three Michelin stars.