"It’s no overstatement to say that Marlena, the affordable prix fixe restaurant perched on the side of a hill in Bernal Heights, has been one of San Francisco’s culinary breakout stars of the past three years. The restaurant moved into the former Hillside Supper Club space in August 2020, a time looked back on now as peak pandemic, and served takeout sandwiches before dipping a toe into indoor dining in November — only to be shut down along with every other restaurant in the city due to a surge in COVID cases. It inched open again for outdoor, then indoor, dining throughout the spring, before earning a coveted Michelin star in fall 2021." - Lauren Saria