Bite Room, Offering Freshly Made Sandwiches With A Persian Flair

Bite Room, Offering Freshly Made Sandwiches With A Persian FlairA new sandwich shop is tucked away inside Food & Liquor World. | Photos: Carrie Sisto/Hoodline
Carrie Sisto
Published on March 18, 2017

Nestled inside Food & Liquor World (728 Post St.) is a sandwich shop called Bite Room, which offers fresh made-to-order sandwiches—an upgrade to what was there before, says Maani Hatami.

Maani told us that the convenience store has been open for nearly 30 years and that in the past, there was a space carved out for a deli. That portion of the business closed down a few years ago and sat empty until January, when Maani opened Bite Room.

Maani hasn't owned or operated a restaurant before, but he's worked in marketing and business development for hotel chains and food businesses including working with Hammer and Helmet to represent Nashville-based GiGi’s Cupcakes. He's lived in San Francisco — and the lower Nob Hill neighborhood —for nearly 12 years. He loves to cook and saw an opportunity to open Bite Room and do something he’s always wanted to try.

Bite Room with owner Maani Hatami at work.

When putting his menu together, Maani drew on his Persian roots and tastes. One menu item—the vegetarian KooKoo sandwich—includes an herb-infused omelette and a secret sauce that takes five hours to perfect.

There are also plenty of options for meat lovers, such as the Super Steak sandwich, with steak and mortadella. Maani told us that most of the sandwiches are served warm and that because a new oven was recently installed, he will soon be baking his own bread on-site.

Bite Room also offers soups, like the vegan Magic Soup. “I had originally just called it pinto bean soup," Maani told Hoodline, "but customers kept coming in asking for the 'magic soup,' so I changed it."

The KooKoo Sandwich | Photo: Bite Room/Yelp

In addition to soups and sandwiches, Bite Room serves breakfast foods, salads, fresh juices, hot tea and chocolate, and the perfect french fries. The store is currently open from 11am to 9pm every day and for the time-being, Maani is a one-man show (although he's hoping to hire some help and extend hours to 9am-9pm).

Maani told us that he already has many repeat customers; but for first-timers, he recommends people try what's on the menu first, even though each sandwich is made to order and is easy to customize.

“When they return," Maani said, "they usually just ask for what is on the menu because they liked it."

Thanks to tipster Liz M. for letting us know about this new spot in the neighborhood!