Gola

Went tonight and had a comfortable but exciting experience with a wonderful server. As far as novel but enjoyable food experiences, Gola is unrivaled. The lamb tajine is a must try.

Delicious food, tasty creative cocktails.
Went for brunch. Shakshuka was full of flavor. Flatbread was perfect.
Great friendly service. Can't wait to go back for dinner and try the tagine.

Amazing spot, the chef is incredibly talented. I dislike sea food but I will say the octopus and shallots hit the spot . He knows how to make every dish complement each other will definitely come again .

Great for bday dinners

We really enjoyed Gola!
- Owner is lovely and chatty
- They have a cool Tunisian fig brandy
- Food is super tasty, if a bit expensive
- Parklet has heaters and is comfy

Yesterday evening I ate her with a friend of mine. We arrived around 6:15pm without reservation and the restaurant was almost empty, but they asked us to seat at the bar (then I understood why, the restaurant was full then with people that reserved a table in advanced).
Speaking of food we ordered the grilled octopus and the vegetarian main (stuffed eggplant) with the bread as a side. The octopus was just ok, it wasn't very soft (and it was cold when it arrived). The eggplant was very very spicy, I can handle the spicy but that one was high level. We ate it but I wasn't very happy about it! I think the spicy just covered the flavor of the other stuff. We just liked the bread. Drinks were ok and also the environment (not loud so that a good thing). Maybe we just chose the wrong items, I don't know. And it was a little bit pricey for what we got.

Made reservations for 3 on a Saturday night arrived a few minutes early and was seated upon arrival. The restaurant had a few other guests but lots of open tables seemed available.

Drink: Nights in Tunisa - nice and light, the boukha which the server mentioned was a fig brandy lent a subtle sweet fig flavor, could have used a touch more lime but pretty good overall

Food: Tunisian deviled eggs - good, comes three pieces per order, shrimp and egg were well prepared, herb sauce was a nice touch, could have used a a pinch of salt to finish

Kromb - a charred wedge of cabbage was really tender and sweet, served on top of a creamy bean puree and spicy harissa, nice combo of flavors and texture

Chicken Tajine - super tender falling off the pieces of chicken stewed with potato, peppers, olives, shallots and currents, a warm hearty dish, with lots of the tajine braising liquid, wish the veggies were cut into smaller pieces for easier sharing but very tasty

Stuffed eggplant - a seasoned rice stuffed inside a grilled eggplant, baked with cheese and served with a tomato pepper sauce, nice hearty portion, wish this had a touch more salt

Housemade bread - great for soaking up the braising liquid from the tajine, crisp yet fluffy flatbread, similar to an airy thin crust pizza dough

Service was good, servers were really knowledgeable about the menu and told us a bit about the Tunisian cuisine. Water was refilled regularly, and we got new share plates going from appetizers to mains which was a nice touch. Did take a little while to get the check but otherwise great service.

Overall enjoyed the meal at Gola, warm and friendly service along with warm and comforting Tunisian cuisine. A solid meal, worth a try.

Stopped into Gola based on the previous reviews and it did not disappoint. The decor was a perfect setting and the service was excellent and very personable and welcoming. It was very much like we were sitting in someone's home.
We shared all of the following dishes:
Tunisian deviled eggs - each egg was topped with a roasted shrimp.
Brika au Thon - the following dough was very light and the stuffing was delicious
Fish Tagine - the fish was very fresh and the entire dish was perfect
And it was a good thing that we ordered the bread because we used it to sop up all of the sauces from the dishes.
This was a perfect choice and we highly recommend Gola to everyone

Went to Gola for a special occasion dinner with my partner and we were both very impressed with the food and ambiance.

For starters we got the Deviled Eggs that came with roasted shrimp. The egg was alright but the shrimp was delicious and had a nice tang.

For drinks we got a glass of red wine and a cocktail called Nights in Tunisia which was Boukha, muddled blackberries, lemon juice and mint syrup. The wine was good and the cocktail was a little sweet.

For mains we got the lamb tagine which blew our minds! It was so succulent and the meat fell off the bone. We also got the Chreime fish stew which was v tomato forward and tangy and yummy. It went really well with the warm homemade bread we got.

The restaurant also played some nice music which added to the vibe.

Some criticisms: We felt a little pressured by our waiter to get more deviled eggs and to order the bread. Additionally while the lamb tagine itself was great I wished the veggies on the side got some love too. But I would come back here again for a special occasion and maybe not order the eggs lol

We loved Gola! I was glad we made a reservation because it was totally packed when we got there on a Saturday night (a great sign).

The comforting atmosphere was evident right as we stepped in, and the Tunisian art and artifacts strewn throughout the restaurant transported me out of the Mission.

To start, we got the La Marsa (scallops & shrimp in a turmeric, lemon zest, and caper sauce) with the homemade bread. The shrimp and scallops were fantastic, and the sauce had subtle but delicious flavors. I definitely recommend to get the bread to accompany the dish, so that you can sop up the rest of the delicious sauce.

For entrees we got the Chreime and Chicken Tagine. Both were very good and provided nice flavor variations, but we especially loved the chreime with its slightly spicy and aromatic flavor. Next time we will get another side of homemade bread or the couscous to go with, as it would have been nice to have something to soak up the extra sauce with.

Having not tried Tunisian food before, I loved the meal at Gola. Each dish was super flavorful and light, and left me wanting to try the rest of the menu.

Now I know next to nothing about Tunisia. Africa's northernmost point is there. Luscious 1960's film star Claudia Cardinale is from there. And that concludes my knowledge of Tunisia. The closest I've gotten was Morocco, and oh yeah, I've been to Aziza and Mourad. From what I could tell, there are some similarities in North African cuisine.

I also found out this is the only Tunisian restaurant in town, so I felt a need to broaden my horizons as I was sauntering in the Mission. Dare I go in as a solitary diner and risk the humiliation of having them take a place setting away? Yes, I dared as I was seated between mouthy coworkers and two couples on date night. Oh who cares, the menu looked appetizing.

I decided to go for the satisfying $29 Lamb Tagine, which was a generous shank with a long bone surrounded by potato, shallots, peppers, and olives in a preserved lemon & turmeric sauce (photo: https://yelp.to/j9tx6Wtp17). That was more than enough for me, so I skipped the appetizers and the desserts. But I left room for the $9 Pearl Couscous (photo: https://yelp.to/kr1oKZTNxb). I'm only human.

FOOD - 5 stars...the lamb was meltably delicious and so was the couscous
AMBIANCE - 4.5 stars...atmospheric without going overboard
SERVICE - 4 stars...the server was polite... my clothes didn't scream "big tipper!" so I got lucky
TOTAL - 5 stars...now I've had Tunisian food...I felt like Claudia Cardinale

RELATED - Exploring the Mission? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2NHtst6

Located on Valencia in what I would say a prime part of the mission, this new restaurant is the only Tunisian restaurant that I know of in sf. It's upscale, cozy, and intimate. Great date night spot to show someone you know a thing or two about food and atmosphere. The music is also great- creates a vibe of a foreign land.

The portions are sizes are decent and well presented. The octopus appetizer is great- littered with green olives and micro greens.

I also really enjoyed the Cherime which was spicy, acidic and tomatoey. Kind of like a shashuka with seafood in it. Finally the lamb tagine was filling, well presented and nourishing.

Overall service was great. The only thing that I wasn't particularly fond of was the dessert, which was a baklava. Next time I will try something else but I am certain to come back. True 4.5 out of 5 stars.