Twenty Four
24 Willie Mays Plaza
(at Third St., in Pacific Bell Park)
(415) 644-0240
Food type: New American cuisine
Average entrée: $18
Bender rating: 3
Credit cards: all major

Famous dish: Grilled wild salmon  

Now that Pacific Bell Park has finally opened -- to fanfare, crowds and a renewed San Francisco city spirit -- the crowds of baseball fans gotta eat something. A batch of restaurants has sprung up around the park, and Twenty Four aims to capitalize on the baseball fever with its dark-panelled, old-timey sports ambience and baseball-themed décor (like photos of baseball's earliest female players) and even the occasional live on-the-spot radio broadcast by KNBR.

Twenty Four offers a "New American" cuisine, meaning fresh, seasonal ingredients, with special attention paid to seafood, and plenty of appetizers and desserts for the before-and-after-game crowd.

There's a corn chowder; a Bibb lettuce salad with toasted hazelnuts and shredded gruyere; grilled wild salmon with roasted onions, fingerling potatoes, artichokes and spinach; and braised short ribs with a sauce heavy with drippings and red wine; sauteed sea bass; and gently spiced crab cakes.

Desserts include Muscat granita, an Italian ice made from sweet Muscat wine; apple pie in a buttery crust; peach cake and chocoate souffle cupcake with pistachio ice cream.

-- Lisa Tsering