Chip off the Old Block

Dylan MacNiven follows in his family’s footsteps with the lively Woodhouse Fish Company.

They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but in the case of Dylan MacNiven, whose parents have owned the famed venture-capitalist hangout Buck’s of Woodside since 1991, the apple almost didn’t fall at all. At first he resisted the inevitable. (“Who wants to be like your parents when you’re growing up?” MacNiven asks.) But finally, the restaurant itch struck, leading him to open the New England–style Woodhouse Fish Company on the border of the Castro.

Not that MacNiven, now 27, hasn’t done his share of grunt work. As a teenager, he worked all the stations at Buck’s, starting as a busboy and dishwasher. During the dot-com boom, it wasn’t unusual to see Ferraris and Bentleys parked outside, while inside, bigwigs from Hotmail, Netscape and PayPal made deals over pancakes. “My dad used to count the number of TV crews that came in, but he stopped around 200,” MacNiven says.

Even if valet parking were available, you wouldn’t see any Bentleys waiting outside Woodhouse, which is in a no-frills part of the city and proud of it. The bright, white-tiled dining room sports cherry-red banquettes, green trim, a small seafood bar and hand-made posters in the window that scream “Fresh Oysters” and the like in big block letters. It’s casual yet playful—and reminiscent of Cape Cod’s seafood shacks, which is no accident: MacNiven traveled through Massachusetts last summer to get the look down pat, and then did most of the construction with his father, Jamis.

MacNiven’s straightforward fare is a far cry from the Asian-inspired treatment fish usually gets in SF (see the ubiquitous miso-glazed black cod). “I felt like there was a lack of casual seafood here,” he adds. There are cups of thick clam chowder, crunchy lobster rolls and monstrous platters of fried whole-belly Ipswich clams with French fries and tangy tartar sauce. The only nod to Northern California is a grilled, split Pescadero artichoke stuffed with chunks of Dungeness crab meat in one half and prawns in the other, and served with lemony mayo and cocktail sauce.

The boisterous crowd is a mix of youngish hipsters and passersby who drop in for a plate of fish-and-chips, which is just how MacNiven likes it. “I wanted a small, neighborhood feel,” he says. “Back East, these spots are a dime a dozen.”

Woodhouse Fish Company 2073 Market St., 415-437-2722

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