The Snug's Crew on fried chicken & friendship — Can I Speak to the Manager?

To say that The Snug on Fillmore was one of the most well-received restaurant openings in 2017 is an understatement. The beautifully designed space brings in Pacific Heights dwellers, Mission hipsters, and Hinge dates alike, but its the service energy that gives the neighborhood spot its glow. The partners behind the bar - Jacob Racusin, Zack Schwab, Shane Matthews, and Brian Shin - are like the restaurant industry's version of an all-star boy band. We sat down with Zack and Shane to discuss coziness and cocktails.

on how they met, in their own words:

Zack: I’m from SF but I was living in New York and working at The Jeffrey, where I was a bar back for Shane (Matthews) for a while before I started bartending. With The Jeffrey, there was a community that developed around us as a neighborhood watering hole serving excellent cocktails. When I moved back to SF, I felt like there weren’t a lot of places like that around the Divisadero/Fillmore/Geary area - it kind of feels like the Upper East Side to me in terms of demographic. I convinced Shane to move out here as well.

We met Jacob (Racusin) when he was the bar manager at The Alembic. I ended up briefly living near there and thought he was doing a great job of serving amazing product. Whenever I went to The Alembic, I would end up in really interesting conversations with random people - there are certain places that facilitate great conversations, and others that don’t. Through Craigslist I ended up randomly living with a bunch of people who worked at Benu, including Brian, who is now our partner, and our Chef de Cuisine, James Lok. We were all aligned in the idea of building a place where - no matter your background - you could feel really warm and comfortable and get quality drinks without pretension. A place that had approachability, but also top notch product.

Inside The Snug (photo: Jonathan Racusin)

On giving birth to a restaurant:

Shane: This has been two years in the making. It’s like a marriage and we’ve given birth to our first kid. I realize the comparison sounds crazy, but a lot of business owners have said the same thing. We all had other gigs until late summer, so we haven't had much downtime for the last few months. Jacob was at The Alembic and Zach and I were at Mikkeller, the craft beer bar. Brian has been at In Situ in the SF MOMA and they just got a Michelin Star so he was pretty wrapped up with that as well.

On their go-to day off snacks:

Shane: On a day off, I’m checking out Marnee Thai in the Sunset.

Zack: Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack is one of our favorites. It’s been open for 7 years and there’s a reason why - cool, homey, neighborhoody feel, hard to beat glass of house red and spaghetti and meatballs. Brian, our chef, loves the Krispy Krunchy Fried Chicken at 17th and Van Ness. (Spoiler alert: it’s in a gas station.) He’s anxious to tell anyone it’s the best fried chicken in SF. It’s right near where we all used to live together and Brian was a frequent patron.

On their favorite neighborhood watering holes:

Shane: I’m going into Dirty Nelly’s for a pint of Guinness.

Zack: Drinking wise, we’re Whiskey Thieves guys. We also love martinis at Zam Zam. The kitchen guys are big fans of Jang Soo, the Korean BBQ place on Geary.

On their non-food essentials:

Zack: Alarm clock, pocket knife, and coffee. I asked around and that’s pretty much all we have going on that front.

On their last getaway (babymoon?)

We all took a team vacation to Sea Ranch near Sonoma/Mendocino. We cooked a lot up there. Up there you can talk to nobody or talk to all the locals. Its a cute little community with a relaxed vibe.

(opening photo: Jonathan Racusin)