1630 Powell St (at North Beach), San Francisco, California, USA, 94133
Located in a historic speakeasy in San Francisco's old Latin Quarter, 'Peña' means a circle of people coming together and 'Pachamama' means Mother Earth. It features South American food with live performances after dinner most evenings. Menu is half raw and half cooked and fully gluten-free. Try the house-made vegan ice cream or raw kale chips. Check its webpage calendar for special events. Open Mon-Tue 11:00am-8:00pm, Wed-Thu 11:00am-9:00pm, Fri-Sat 11:00am-10:00pm, Sun 2:00pm-8:00pm.
Categories: Vegan, Organic, Raw, Delivery, Take-out, Gluten-free, Bolivian, Peruvian, Latin American
55 Reviews
First Review by SynthVegan
Contributions +26
Great people and great food - Edit
We went there for lunch and the owner were playing music when we arrived, they are really nice people. The food was also delicious, but a bit expensive.
Pros: Nice people, Good food
Cons: Expensive
Contributions +390
Cozy place - Edit
Nice and cozy atmosphere, tasty food, but pizza was too sweet for my liking.
Contributions +67
Amazing vegan food - Edit
We were surprised to never have been here before! The menu is 100% vegan and almost 100% gluten free! They have one salmon dish for musicians on the drinks menu, but it's not even on the main menu! It is truly a gem and anyone who lives vegetarian/vegan lifestyle would appreciate this place! Even meat eaters would be happy here! We ordered 6 different plates and enjoyed every single one!
We are musicians, so we were also happy to see the live stage in the middle of the restaurant. The owners, Quentin and Eddy, are charming and they have stories to tell! We plan on going back soon. This is our new favorite dinner place to go out to.
Updated from previous review on 2014-09-05
Pros: Amazing food, vegan, Friendly owners
1 Response
PenaPachamama 14 Aug 2016 - Thank you for visiting us! We took the salmon off the menu in 2014 and became 100% vegan, organic, gluten-free with half our menu raw foods. We look forward to seeing you again
Contributions +331
Fancy Date Night - Edit
Their menu items are very expensive, about $20 a plate and the portions are tiny. Nice place if you are looking for a fancy date night. The desserts are delicious!
Pros: Great dessert , 100% Vegan
Cons: Expensive
Contributions +18
Delicious but expensive - Edit
Very nice atmosphere! Food was tasty, but portions were too small especially considering the price. I left the restaurant hungry after finishing a (delicious) main course and three slices of a (tasty) pizza. And dessert. Bigger portions would make this an excellent place!
Pros: very tasty food
Cons: expensive, small portions
Contributions +18
incredible experience - Edit
My husband and I had to hurry so we stopped by to get to-go food. The owner asked us if we would like to sit, & during our wait he was so kind & generous! He brought us a small dish & coconut water to drink, he informed me of a combo I could get instead of just raw corn tacos! I was so impressed by his service I was already all in! Then I ate the food & I can't wait to return!
I order the raw corn taco empanada combo w/salad! YUM! There is a raw side of menu & cooked side. So unique, so good! 😋
Pros: exquisite service, unique delicious food, large raw menu
Contributions +56
Beautiful Bolivian food - Edit
A carefully selected lunch menu that combines vegan interpretations of Bolivian food, creative raw combinations and comfort food. The burger and lasagne are popular, but I recommend experimenting with the Bolivian dishes - the chef's plate was phenomenal! Really unusual dishes, beautifully presented.
Contributions +13
Superb! - Edit
Walked from Lombard Street for lunch and wasn't disappointed! Lovely food!! Going to heading back to see the atmosphere at night and eat some more good food!
Contributions +20
Great food, awesome entertainment - Edit
Peña Pachamama is a wonderful establishment! The food was remarkable, the atmosphere inviting and unique (mix of Bolivian and Peruvian cultures), and the band was warm, energetic, and so talented! Highly recommend!
Contributions +16
awesome - Edit
Best vegan pizza I have ever had plus it was gluten free!
Contributions +2122
Nice vegan restaurant with nice raw options! - Edit
A raw food place anywhere in the world should for me personally always deserve 5 star's, now it's of course not the goal of a review, it should provide some more objective inside for future visitors.
The location was great, the staff lovely and the food is amazing.
They propose a lot of raw food options, lunch, dinner, desserts...
I went for dinner around 6:00 PM and strangely, I was the only one in the restaurant, and inside it is quite dark.
Pros: Amazing raw food choice, Great taste
Cons: A bit dark and lonely inside
Contributions +42
glad I came back! - Edit
I haven't been here and years but went back recently and I'm glad I went! We got a table in the bar area since the room with the show was pretty full. Great service, delicious food, and it was perfect to be able to listen but from another room. I'll come back soon!
Contributions +20
unbelievable vegan experience! - Edit
Great service! Great music! Very authentic and the food was prepared perfectly! One of the best dinner experiences I've ever had!
Contributions +24
expensive and tastes ok - Edit
expensive and tastes just ok. service is really good and the place is very authentic.
Pros: many gf options and raw food
Contributions +28
AWESOME - Edit
This place has the best and most creative organic vegan food in the city! They told us there was a new menu and one side was all live food and gluten free. The other side was cooked vegan but also gluten free. Our favorites were the raw empanadas and live food BLT.and raw pecan fudge chocolate brownie. My sister had the Portopancho from the vegan cooked side of the menu. She is gluten free so was so happy knowing that everything on the main menu was gluten free. Her husband had the vegan burger, non-soy, he said that it was better than any other burger in the city. Another noteworthy food aré their Kale Chips, leagues above others! They had a great Cuban singer the night we were there, some Latín Grammy musician and one of the best violinists I have ever heard. A transformative night for my friends and i. We even danced in spite of all we had eaten. The owners are also the musicians, very special people. I am going to sign up for their raw food meetup group. Unlike any other, this place is a treasure!
Contributions +52
secret hideaway - Edit
These people know how to cook. Put it this way, my husband dropped a kale chip and he ate it because they are that good! The entertainment started towards the end of our meal. They wanted donations- no problem! It was a family affair that made it feel as if we had crashed a wedding party, that was happening!
Pros: vegan cuisine , music, family
Amazing food!!! - Edit
I am extremely impressed with this place!!! Everything we ordered was absolutely wonderful, especially the raw vegan male chips and vegan meatballs - definitely some of the best vegan food I have ever had. The servers were all extremely friendly, and we had a great experience. Would highly recommend!!!
Updated from previous review on 2017-05-13
Pros: Delicious food, Raw and cooked options, Nice staff
Contributions +82
One of my fav vegan restaurants of all time - Edit
This restaurant is so good that I ended up going there twice during my 1.5 day stay in SF. I tried the vegan albondigas and portobello burger and they were both delicious. They also make the most amazing kale chips. Oh, and the coconut cream pie was heavenly.
The service staff and the owner were very lovely and welcoming too. Would definitely go there again the next time I'm in SF.
Contributions +841
Nice latin food - Edit
Very interesting concept of food and ingredients. I'd love to try some of the raw menu next time.
Contributions +60
Amazing food! - Edit
This place was on my must eat list on my visit to SF and I was not disappointed!! The food was so so tasty. Lovely, little and independent place. Great authentic food with good customer service.
Pros: Location, Good value, Authenticity
Cons: Dated decor
Contributions +90
Great pizza in a quaint atmosphere - Edit
I had a pizza for lunch here and it was really tasty! Walked here from Fisherman's Wharf. Interesting place with a few different family members wandering around, waiting on tables and talking to customers.
Contributions +115
Best Vegan Meal in San Fran - Edit
I love this place. I had planned a trip to SF with my daughter and we were planning to go to Beach Blanket Babylon and so I wanted to see if there was a vegan-friendly restaurant close by. Turns out there was--Pena Pachamama. I went that night and have been there another 3 times since then--once with a dear friend from high school and two times with my husband.
Let's start with the ambiance. This place is adorable. It is cozy with lots of pillows so that you can be comfortable. They have live music and dancing.
They have two menus--one that is raw and one that is cooked. Everything is 100% vegan. Somehow I have a good eye for picking out the best dishes on the menu. The first night, I ordered the Raw Housemade Buckwheat Crackers with Guacamole and the Vegan Chef Plate. Both were amazing and I had to purchase their recipe book so that I could make my own buckwheat crackers. Amazing! I have tried the Bolivian style Portapancho and the Vegan Albondigas. Both were delicious.
Love this restaurant--a must if you are in South Beach!
Pros: Nutritious, Cozy, Absolutely delicious
Cons: None!
Contributions +1532
Mediocre but fresh food. Way too overpriced. - Edit
We went there on a Saturday evening. We just wanted dinner but we got just in time for the show.
The whole atmosphere made us feel like we were in a time capsule.
If you are there for the show you need to pay a ticket $18. If you only want dinner and don't stay for the entire show you don't need to buy tickets and they'll seat you in a separate part of the restaurant. More info on this on their webpage.
The food was ok, fresh and tasty, but really simple and portion size is medium.
I can't understand how they came up with the price, which is way beyond what it's worth. One of the most overpriced foods ever.
I ordered the vegan albondigas (3 vegan meatballs with onion sauce and peas, a couple of baked potatoes with spicy cashew sauce, some rice and fresh tomato salsa) and my husband got the vegan cheese burger (beet patty, vegan cheese, a couple of baked potatoes and a spoonful of salad). Each of them costed $17.
We also tried the lentil dip with fried plantains which costed $9.
The portions were medium, and the price was way beyond the true value of the dishes. The food was fresh and tasty, but not worth the price, and not something I'll never forget.
So, if you want to go there for the food, i wouldn't recommend it.
If you go there for the show, might be worth it, but I'm definitely not an expert in this and I can't asses the quality of the show.
Updated from previous review on 2017-01-15
Pros: 100% vegan
Cons: street parking hard to find, payed parking across the street, overpriced food
Contributions +122
okay but empty at lunch...probably telling - Edit
All vegan with a raw and cooked menu.
I've been on and off raw so always amazing to find places for time intensive raw dishes. Had a combo raw pizza and corn taco plate. Pizza was only okay, but would never order again. The Greene Boheme makes amazing raw pizza in comparison. The taco was pretty good, but mainly avocado so how can you go wrong? At $17.95 really quite steep.
Ambiance was okay. A bit run down and hokey. Not a great place to bring non vegans. I imagine the evenings with crowds and live world music to be fun.
I'm not too likely to return. Wish I'd liked it more....
Contributions +16
Big Love!! - Edit
To call this place a restaurant is to not do it justice. It is an experience on many levels. The main ingredients being connection and kindness.
We(my partner, Mother and I)came to SF from Santa Cruz and found this spot through a search engine. We walked in to a large crowd of people being entertained by a woman on stage. This woman welcomed us in and greeted us as family, openly and warmly. The large group soon after left and we the woman came to our table. Come to find out this was Quentin, the owner. So sweet.
Conversation flowed from our histories to dietary choices to living situations to music and all points in between. The food came out and we were blown away. This is not your typical vegetarian/vegan restaurant. The heart and soul of this place is present all over, and especially in the food. I don't feel the need to review the food individually as I say check the menu and you will see this is not your run of the mill food option. Many flavors present themselves as we passed around multiple plates. Finally, order the ice cream!
Thank you Quentin. You and your restaurant are a breath of fresh air.
Pros: Community vibration, Fresh/organic options, Love
Contributions +45
Great place for lunch (or dinner)! - Edit
We went to (all-vegan) Pena Pachamama for lunch today while in North Beach. A former speakeasy from way back in SF's history the restaurant—although a bit dark inside—was really welcoming and comfortable. I had the plantain chips with lentil dip, an empanada and their brownie with coconut ice cream. Fantastic food and Quentin, one of the ultra-friendly owners, stopped by to chat and we ended up staying another 45 minutes after our lunch. All in all an awesome time we'll be back soon! Don't mis this place!
Pros: Great food and nice big selection to choose from, Super friendly staff and owner, Convenient location near Columbus/Broadway
Cons: A bit darker inside but not a big issue
Contributions +31
Tastey and friendly - Edit
Great little place with charm and character. Food was tastey and staff friendly. :)
Had lunch but would like to come back for dinner and show one day. :)
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