Burma Superstar wasn’t the first place to find Burmese food in San Francisco (that honor goes to Mandalay Bay, which opened in 1984).
But the restaurant, which arrived on Clement Street in 1992, was the one to turn Burmese flavors and dishes like tea leaf salad into a touchstone of the city’s culinary scene.
From that original matriarch has descended a long line of Burmese concepts across the Bay Area: the contemporary Burma Love (locations in SF + Menlo Park), the upscale Teakwood (399 Grove St., Hayes Valley), the lively Kayah at Thrive City (151 Warriors Way, Ste. 105, Mission Bay), and the fast-casual Burma Bites (4911 Telegraph Ave., Oakland). It’s safe to say that virtually everything you know about the Southeast Asian cuisine is a result of this genealogy.
The bar at Alisios in Menlo Park(Courtesy of Alisios)
So, it was a surprise to learn that something new was this way coming from the Burma Food Group—a restaurant not rooted in Burmese heritage; one whose roots weren’t even on the same continent.
The Burma Food Group was going to Mexico.
At their soft opening last week, Alisios was abuzz with supporters of a team bravely stepping outside the well-loved, ever-expanding box they’ve created for themselves over the last 30-plus years and into the unknown.
A vibrant mural of Mexican motifs covers the restaurant’s entire front wall next to a bar hung with jewels of light and stocked with agave spirits. In the intimate dining room, under an inset niche of patterned tiles and mirrors that frame the space like works of art, are wooden tables with woven-backed chairs. Windows lining one side open out into a narrow, iron lattice-lined patio (additional outdoor seating is available on the larger patio near the entrance).
It’s a charming space, warm, stylish, and place-based—the type you’d expect to find in San Francisco. Except it’s not. It’s in Menlo Park.
Duck breast in black mole and dry-aged steak in cactus salsa at Alisios. (Courtesy of Alisios)
It’s been almost five years now since Menlo, a small, moneyed city on the Peninsula, began cultivating an identity as the contemporary food capital of Silicon Valley. There are big names there: Korean-Taiwanese hit Yeebo, Darling, lauded Indian chef and restaurateur Sri Gopinathan and entrepreneur of rustic Italian cuisine David Neyfeld; outposts of San Francisco-born spots like high-end omakase restaurant Robin and neighborhood bistro Causwells, even a Burma Love— nearly all concentrated in the mixed business/residential campus at Springline.
A high-quality Mexican restaurant, indeed, seemed to be one of the only things missing from the complex. Burma Food Group’s owner and founder Desmond Tan was up for the challenge.
Instead of tying the menu to a single region, Alisios draws from traditions from around the country: aguachiles and ceviches from the coast, huaraches from the capital, tetelas and tlayudas from Oaxaca, quesabirria from Tijuana. Chefs Carlos A. Villegas’ and Rene Gomez’s philosophy? The food should taste like grandma cooked it but look like it was plated by an artist, comforting and delicious with a playful hint of molecular gastronomy.
Smoked oysters with rich warm poblano cream and Oaxacan cheese foam come cradled inside crispy, edible trompe l’oeil shells at Alisios.(Courtesy of Alisios)
That guiding vision is executed clearly in Alisios’ menus. Smoky oysters with rich warm poblano cream and Oaxacan cheese foam come cradled inside crispy, edible trompe l’oeil shells. Wagon wheels of raw wild shrimp and hamachi wading in a tart, spicy green serrano citrus marinade with smoked red aguachile and squid ink emulsion pop with bright pearls of pomegranate. Perfectly grilled and spiced buttery shrimp rest in handmade heirloom corn tortillas on a bed of cabbage, crema, and pico de gallo. A sweet corn cake topped with whipped cream made from huitlacoche and cinnamon dances the delicate ballet between sweet and savory.
Half a dozen main courses served with heirloom beans and rice draw ingredients from around the country: a dry-aged prime flap steak (arrachera) with roasted cactus salsa and mezcal veal reduction; an organic chicken or duck breast with black mole and corn ash; grilled octopus with tamarind glaze finished with cilantro and squid ink. So, too, do cocktails like the bright magenta, sweet-and-sour La Tóxica (hibiscus- and cinnamon-infused tequila with coconut cream and prickly pear-lechera foam) and Jalisco’s signature party drink, the Cantarito (tequila, grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, Topo Chico, Squirt, tajín, chamoy). Wines hail primarily from Baja and Coahuila (with a few Spanish and California options thrown in for good measure), and beers lean toward Mexican-style pilsners and lagers.
Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, a special brunch menu comes into play on Saturdays and Sundays beginning at 10am with chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, heirloom corn pancakes, and other morning classics with pretty twists alongside the eight styles of tacos and several of the appetizers from the all day offerings. They’ve also put together a menu of easy-to-eat, easy-to-share items along with a handful of burritos for brewery neighbors Bare Bottle—which they’ll deliver right to beer drinkers inside or on the patio.
The dining room at Alisios (Courtesy of Alisios)
There’s no denying that Alisios is a 180-degree turn from the cuisine that the Burma Food Group built their name on. But the team is rising to the challenge with the depth, intention, and nuance they’ve brought to every one of their projects over the years—and, undoubtedly, to whatever may come next.
// Alisios is open Monday through Thursday from 11am to 9:30pm, Friday from 11am to 10pm, Saturday from 10am to 10pm, and Sunday from 10am to 9pm; 550E Oak Grove Ave. (Menlo Park), alisiosrestaurant.com
