Gallardos:

Worth the wait for new location

Gallardos was an institution at its long-standing spot on Folsom Street. So when it closed last year to move to a new location, its many fans were concerned — especially when that new location didn’t open for months.

No worries: The restaurant is back in business in a sunwashed corner spot a few blocks away, and serving its same popular roster of breakfast dishes, tortas, soups and combination plates.

Soups are a specialty, including the pozole ($7.50/$8.50), a brothy pork and hominy stew that comes with a platter of fresh toppings and bowls of seasonings for diners to make their own customized versions.

On weekends, the kitchen turns out stockpots full of birria, the lamb specialty; and menudo ($8/$9), for tripe-lovers.

Breakfast, which can keep you going all day, includes items like chilaquiles with rice and beans ($7.95), machaca with eggs ($8.25), and an egg burrito with nopales ($6.50-$7.50).

Nopales make frequent appearances, including in seafood enchiladas ($11 for two, with rice and beans). Other combination platters top out with the Guadalajara ($12) — an enchilada, heaping crisp taco and smoky chile relleno, with rice and beans.

The new location, painted in bright, warm colors, all the better to show off the blackand-white Mexican movie posters that line the walls, is inviting and comfortable. The staff adds to that, making Gallardos a beacon in the neighborhood.

Photos by John Storey / Special to The Chronicle Bright, warm colors show off the black-and-white Mexican movie posters, above, that line the walls at Gallardos, where enchiladas de pollo, left, and beef soup, below, are just two of the hearty dishes on the menu.

Enchiladas de Pollo at Gallardo’s Mexican restaurant in San Francisco,

The Beef Soup, Caldo de Res at Gallardos Mexican restaurant in San Francisco