Nick and Anna Cobarruvias opened their contemporary American restaurant, Son’s Addition, in The Mission back in 2017. Over the years, Nick, a native Texan of Mexican descent, found himself tweaking the menu in favor of more Mexican-style dishes, and in 2019 the pair decided it was officially time to leave the Son’s Addition menu alone and get to work on a new project.
That project is Otra, a Mexican restaurant specializing in Oaxacan fare and damn good margaritas. “We wanted to open a Mexican restaurant that wasn’t so heavy that people only came once a month. The menu is naturally gluten-free, with tons of vegetables. It’s the kind of food you feel comfortable eating regularly,” says Anna Cobarruvias, whose husband, Nick, will helm the menu, and makes all his own masa from corn flown in from various small farmers in Mexico.
Otra will open this Friday, April 30th at 682 Haight Street — the former home of Sushi Raw. The couple’s friend and designer Dan Vickery of HGTV is responsible for the interior, which features a 50-foot mural of the Oaxacan jungle by artist Rachel Sager, colorful papel picados draped from the ceiling, and old black and white family photos hung on the walls. The space itself is two floors — the first is a bar and lounge area, with more formal seating upstairs. A parklet is currently under construction.
After nearly two years in development (Nick and Anna signed the lease back in November of 2019), and over a year of navigating pandemic mayhem, Otra is finally going to start pouring mezcal this weekend — and boy, could we use a drink. Head there for yours on Friday.
