Tasty retreat: the Park Chalet serves satisfying food near Golden Gate Park

Sunset, Nov, 2004 by Peter Fish

The first time you step into the Park Chalet Garden Restaurant, you feel like Bill Murray hobnobbing with the country club set in Caddyshack. The stone fireplace, the skylights, the wide views out to the lawn fronting Golden Gate Park--they all make you worry some club bouncer is going to step forward to give you the boot. Relax. The Park Chalet, opened earlier this year, is the downstairs annex to the deservedly popular Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant, and its vibe is convivial and informal. All the microbrews available upstairs--Ocean Beach Oktoberfest, Riptide Red, and five more--can be sampled here too. The menu is simple but tasty. Try the crab martini (Dungeness crab and fixings in a conical glass), the hefty half-pound hamburger, and the rococo banana split. On nice days, you can enjoy food and drink while kicking back in an Adirondack chair on the lawn. Hey, you think, this country club life is pretty good.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

RELATED ARTICLE: Try out the good life

Park Chalet Garden Restaurant ($$; 1000 Great Hwy., San Francisco; www.beachchalet.com or 415/386-8439)