What the Mortgage Industry Can Learn From Zuni Café

When I am asked which is my favorite restaurant in San Francisco, without hesitation—my answer is Zuni Café. Despite the misleading name, it is a large restaurant located on Market street (between Gough and Franklin Street). We’ve been going there for at least 23 years. In San Francisco, we are blessed with many great restaurants, and since we often eat out, we have been in many of them through the years.

We go to Hayes Bar and Grill for very good fish before concerts at Davies Symphony Hall. We go to Firefly, a neighborhood restaurant on 24^th and Douglas, for excellent eclectic cuisine. There is a new small Greek restaurant on West Portal called Orexi, where the food is as good as at Kokkari, downtown. There is a Vietnamese restaurant, The Slanted Door, in the Ferry building (and its smaller version, Out The Door, on Bush and Fillmore).Outerlands, is at the end of Judah street close to the ocean, and is one of the city’s jewels if you are willing to wait to get a table since they do not take reservations.

The list goes on and on. There are probably a few new ones opening as I write this letter! Restaurants are a tough business and to survive for a long time and still draw loyal customers is a very high achievement. (I am proud that our company—Pacific Bay Financial, which has been in business since 1985, is also in the same league.)

What makes Zuni Café so special is that they stick to the basics: good ingredients, a good diverse menu, very good chefs, well-trained employees (waiters, bartenders, and service personnel), systems and of course—the management.