There’s a new spot to get a drink and your munch on in SoMa. As previously reported on tablehopper, siblings and co-owners Jess and Matt Voss are getting ready to open JAMBER on Folsom. Jess Voss generously let us take a look today, and she says they hope to open softly by this weekend, maybe Thursday or Friday. The grand opening is slated for Friday September 28th, but she hopes they are up and running sooner.
The restaurant has a long wood bar, seating for 49 people, and a front patio protected from the street (and our city’s lame wind!) by tall walls. There is a lofted mezzanine in the back, and the dining room features ceilings that soar (around 20 feet). The space feels spacious, but also cozy and comfortable. There are warm wood touches everywhere, and the long bar is a thick slab of black walnut purchased from a wood salvager in the North Bay. The building used to be an elevator factory, and this industrial history has been maintained in the design. Colm Dougherty, the builder, salvaged some beautiful long steel beams from another project, which are now integrated into Jamber’s bar, and many of the industrial adornments in the space were leftovers from the building’s previous tenants that the Vosses decided to repurpose.
At the bar you’ll find 10 beers on tap (plus 4 more coming soon), 20 wines, and 3 sodas from Sodacraft. They have decided to forgo wine bottles in favor of taps, because it is both more sustainable and more casual than the usual bottles. The only places you’ll see wine bottles are integrated into the décor, with cork in the tabletops and wine bottles converted into glasses at your table. The wines will mostly hail from California, but there will be other options as well. As for beers, look out for options from Pacific Brewing Laboratory, MateVeza, and Almanac. And for those abstaining from drink, sodas will come in three flavors: peach basil, strawberry mint lemonade, and a ginger brew.
The menu is fun American-classic comfort food, with rosemary “potater” tots and a housemade boiled soft pretzel among the appetizers. Entrées include a burger, meat loaf wrapped in bacon, and potpies with steak, chicken, or ratatouille. Head on over to Eater to take a look at the full menu. There will also be daily specials and a soup of the day. They’ll be open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week. Hours will be Sun-Mon 11am-10pm, Tue-Thu 11am-12am, and Fri-Sat 11am-2am. 858 Folsom St. at 5th St., 415-273-9192.
The bar and taps at Jamber. Photo: Dana Massey-Todd. © tablehopper.com.
