5 things to know about S.F.’s Brown Sugar Kitchen

With the sale of a few to-go boxes of $18 chicken and waffles, and a couple of $4 buttermilk biscuits, chef Tanya Holland marked the official opening of her long-awaited Brown Sugar Kitchen at the Ferry Building.

Not only is it Holland’s first restaurant in San Francisco, it’s also the first black-owned restaurant to ever open in the Ferry Building.

The Ferry Building soul food spot is a streamlined, counter-service version of Holland’s West Oakland restaurant, which closed in 2018 after nearly a decade in the East Bay. The new menu has been distilled down to Brown Sugar Kitchen’s greatest hits — waffles, cheese grits with a poached egg, smoked chicken and shrimp gumbo, and the blackened catfish poboy, among other things.

Holland’s Ferry Building project has been a lesson in patience not only for the chef, but for those who follow her movements. She originally leased the former Il Cane Rosso space about three years ago. The process stalled when Holland ran into funding issues. Eventually she connected with Salt Partners Group (the same folks behind Saison, Petit Crenn and Humphry Slocombe) to launch Brown Sugar Kitchen Hospitality Group. The entity consists of Brown Sugar Kitchen at the Ferry Building as well as Holland’s forthcoming Brown Sugar Kitchen in Uptown Oakland.

If all goes as planned, Holland has said the Ferry Building is just the first chapter in her launch of a national soul food empire. But the grand ambitions have to begin humbly enough — with a counter at a tourist-friendly spot in San Francisco. Here are five things to know about the Ferry Building’s Brown Sugar Kitchen.

1. Chicken and waffles, chicken and waffles, chicken and waffles ...

Brown Sugar Kitchen is synonymous with what are arguably the best chicken and waffles in the Bay Area. At the Ferry Building, Holland is selling her twopiece chicken option with a fluffy halfwaffle for $18. Even in the smaller Ferry Building confines, Holland hasn’t missed a step in the kitchen, and the dish is worth a trip to the Embarcadero.

2. Expect lines.

On Tuesday morning, there were solo diners picking up multiple orders of chicken and waffles. Most said they worked in the area and had been keeping track of Holland’s debut. Brown Sugar Kitchen is Oakland’s most recognizable soul food business. And with Holland’s national celebrity expanding, thanks in part to her “Top Chef ” appearance, expect anyone and everyone to flock to the city’s first location.

3. Keep track of the time.

Brown Sugar Kitchen is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the menu transitions midday for the lunch crowds. Before 11 a.m., it’s mostly breakfast — granola, egg tarts, breakfast potatoes. After 11 a.m., people can order barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, the catfish poboy and the vegetarian muffuletta. Don’t worry, the chicken and waffles are available all day.

4. This is only the beginning.

Brown Sugar Kitchen’s opening at the Ferry Building comes about two weeks before Holland opens the doors to a new Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland’s bustling Uptown neighborhood. Holland has plans to open other Brown Sugar Kitchens across the Bay Area, including at Oakland’s International Airport, and there’s a chance the chef will get involved with the food services at the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center in Mission Bay.

5. Don’t forget about the sides.

Brown Sugar Kitchen’s star menu item might be the chicken and waffles, but the restaurant has some of the best Southern and soul food-influenced sides in the Bay Area. Holland’s signature black-eyed pea salad, her macaroni and cheese and the cast iron skillet corn bread with house-made butter are all at the Ferry Building. The sides are all priced between $4 and $6.

Brown Sugar Kitchen: Ferry Building at 1 The Embarcadero; Open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: JustMrPhillips