FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Food

Chef's Night Out: Nopalito

In addition to being the chef and partner of San Francisco's super-popular eatery Nopalito, Gonzalo Guzman knows where to get some badass carnitas.

Gonzalo Guzman has really climbed the ranks as a chef. When he first came to the United States from Mexico, he worked as a dishwasher at several different restaurants. Since then, he has worked his way up to become a head chef and partner of Nopalito, which has two locations and is one of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco.

We hung out with Gonzalo for a night out in SF to see how where he hangs on one of his rare days off. After heading out from the 9th Avenue location of Nopalito, Gonzalo makes his first stop at Nopa, the parent restaurant of Nopalito and the place where Gonzalo made his mark as a chef. The group shares guacamole and tequila cocktails, and then it's off to the Mission. The next stop is Loló, one of the few Mexican restaurants Gonzalo trusts, for carnitas, octopus, and margaritas. For the final stop of the night, the gang dips to ABV for cheeseburgers and mezcal. The night is capped off at Nopalito on Broderick with cochinita pibil and a few beers, but not too many—after all, Gonzalo had work at 7 AM the next morning.