Buffalo Theory Brings 40 Craft Beer Taps, Comfort Food To Polk Street

Buffalo Theory Brings 40 Craft Beer Taps, Comfort Food To Polk StreetPhotos: Alisa Scerrato/Hoodline
Alisa Scerrato
Published on August 08, 2016

Tonight is the grand opening of Buffalo Theory, a craft beer and comfort food-focused restaurant at 1735 Polk St. The restaurant, which softly opened over the weekend, will officially launch tonight with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebratory toast at 4:30pm, featuring District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Polk community members.

Located in a space that was formerly home to a Quickly, Buffalo Theory is a collaboration between owners Ted Kim (Steins Beer Garden), Quinn Wong, Gil Hoh, and chef Tim Luym, former owner and chef of Poleng Lounge and currently of Neighbor’s Corner and Frozen Kuhsterd. It offers 40 taps of craft beer, as well as an "American bar tapas" menu incorporating Filipino, Asian, and Spanish flavors. 

Ted Kim (left) and chef Tim Luym.

The draft beer selection currently spans 30 of the 40 taps, with 15 house staples and 15 rotating taps, along with two wines on tap and a selection of wines by the bottle. “Some of the beers are unusual and hard-to-get," said Kim. "But we also wanted to offer a variety of food-friendly and palate-cleansing beers that go well with Tim's food.” 

The selection covers both local and international breweries and a variety of styles, from saisons to sours to two beers on nitro (currently, a stout and a blood orange IPA). Kim said he's happy about the relationships he's forged with local brewers, and he hopes to continue to carry new and exciting beers. 

“I like where craft beer has gone, and I think there is a great area where you can have this geekiness about beer and offer a lot of different varieties without being a snob,” he said. “Some people might want an IPA, and some may want something lighter, like a kolsch or a pilsner. We like to offer tastings so people can choose something they want before committing to it."


Wong first acquired the Polk Street space in 2008, with the intention of turning it into a spa. During that time, he said, mortgage rates were really high, and he soon ran out of funds to do a buildout. After an extensive search, he finally found a bank to help refinance the space in 2013.

Shortly thereafter, he and co-owner Hoh had celebratory beers at the neighboring Bell Tower. After their “third beer,” they decided to open a restaurant together, he said. They put together a business plan, got investors, and brought on Kim to handle the beer side of things and Luym to oversee the food.

The space required an extensive renovation. Wong said that tearing down the walls and getting everything up to code for the new restaurant involved "an insane amount of work.” 

The new business was originally set to be called Crafthaus, but the owners decided to switch it, noting that they wanted a name that wasn’t too common or obvious. They found their inspiration in a quote from Cliff Clavin, a character on the TV show Cheers: 

“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this…A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

“We thought, this is a great pedestal from which we can develop this concept, that drinking beer makes you smarter," said Kim. "This idea of innovation and knowledge also fits in very well with [Luym’s] food ... You can also see it in our décor and the buffalo logo with all the gears in it, which was designed by Steven Noble. We want this place to be a house of innovation and knowledge, and we constantly want it to evolve."

While he's consulted and been involved in other food-related ventures over the past five years, Luym hasn't cooked in a restaurant kitchen since Poleng, and he said he's thrilled to be back. “For me, it’s really about having fun again while cooking. Being an executive chef and business owner can sometimes take away from the actual job of cooking, because there are so many responsibilities that come along with operating your own business. So, this time, just being hired on as a chef and working with Lawrence Lee and a great team, I can really focus on the food." 

As far as his cooking style, “I’m into street foods, and I am a purist by nature," Luym said. "A lot of the dishes they are allowing me to make here are a reflection of myself. It’s food that I like to create, and it matches well with our beers and wine, so it’s a fun project to collaborate with.”

Dishes like sisig with cheesy grits combine elements from various cultures that stem from his travels, his heritage, and the food he enjoyed growing up. “I like to cook things that I enjoy making and eating on the streets, but also things from nice restaurants. Incorporating all that, it’s the best of both worlds for me. After all, we are in America, and at the end of the day, good food is good food. There are no boundaries.” 

Sisig and cheesy grits.

One of Luym's favorite dishes is the mushroom "fettuccine," with king trumpet mushrooms, English peas, mushroom butter, chives, and yuzu. Over a decade ago, he worked with Melissa Perello (now the owner of Frances and Octavia) at Charles Nob Hill, where she cooked a lobster mushroom fettuccine that was his favorite dish on the menu. "While no one was looking, I would secretly pick off the pan scraps while taking the pans to the dish pit, because I liked the dish so much."

Luym said the dish is something that’s stuck with him over the years, so now he's doing his own version of it. “I like to make food that has touched me in some way at some point in time, and this dish is an homage to her,” he said. 

Mushroom fettuccine. 

While Buffalo Theory hopes to draw a strong neighborhood clientele, they'd like to become a destination restaurant, too. “Having the beer list and the food that we do and ambiance, we want this to be a place that people go out of their way for,” said Kim. 

"Everything we do here is constantly evolving,” said Kim. He said that the beer, décor, and food are all about exploration and experimentation, so expect to see things shift a little as they settle in. In the meantime, the food and beverage menus will give you an idea of what to expect.

Buffalo Theory is open Sunday-Wednesday from 4-11pm and Thursday-Saturday from 4pm-midnight. Reservations are only accepted for parties of eight or more.