Yaquis on Cherokee

Yaquis on Cherokee is a Neapolitan pizzeria and wine bar run by Francis Rodriguez, and one of the anchors of the eastern end of Cherokee Street. The pizza is the reason to come – thin, blistered, cooked fast and hot in the Neapolitan manner – but the kitchen is not precious about tradition, and the toppings wander happily away from Naples. Smoked pulled barbecue chicken under a drizzle of Kansas City sauce is the sort of thing that appears on the menu and works better than it has any right to.

The room is brick and dark wood, with mismatched chairs that give away immediately that nobody bought the fit-out as a set. It is comfortable rather than designed, and it fills up in the evening.

Wine is taken as seriously as the pizza, and Yaquis functions as a wine bar in its own right for people who have already eaten. Live music runs through the calendar – jazz and blues, mostly local players – which turns an ordinary weeknight into something worth staying for and makes the room one of the small venues that keeps this part of the city in music.

For a visitor working through Cherokee Antique Row, Yaquis sits a good few blocks east of the antique shops, past the point where the street turns to restaurants and bars. It is a reasonable end to the day: far enough along to feel like you have seen the whole street, and open late enough that there is no rush.