In the blocks surrounding Oracle Park, it’s easy to find casual spots for pizza, tacos, or greasy burgers, to be enjoyed while a bank of TVs blares the game. But the newest restaurant in South Beach, a short five-minute walk from the stadium’s Willie Mays Gate at Third and King, brings a touch of femininity to the neighborhood. 

Carlos Altamirano — the chef behind Sanguchon Eatery in the Mission and Mochica in Potrero Hill, among others — will debut Casa Sofia on Thursday. Beneath towering ceilings, diners can sink into turquoise, scallop-shaped booths beside floor-to-ceiling windows or perch on blush-pink stools at a stone-topped bar that appears to glow from within. Designed by Jon de la Cruz, Casa Sofia aims to capture the vivacity of the Latin American fonda, with a tiled floor featuring a geometric block pattern in terracotta, Pacific blues, and mossy greens, and a sun-drenched patio set off by giant garage doors. 

Altamirano and his wife and business partner, Shu Dai, named their ninth restaurant after their 10-year-old daughter, who helped shape its look — choosing tropical pastel wallpaper for the back dining room and an earthy, sun-faded palette for a mural painted above the bar in her honor. “She says she wants to be a clothing designer,” the proud father says of Sofia. “She does sketches at home.”

At nearly 6,000 square feet, this is the couple’s largest undertaking in the city, and they’ve purchased the property, which sat empty following the pandemic-era closure of The Brixton. While most of Altamirano’s restaurants could be described as neighborhood standbys, he envisions Casa Sofia as a destination for baseball fans on their way to and from the park and diners in search of a special meal. 

To that end, he’s steering away from the traditional Peruvian cuisine on offer at Mochica and the seafood focus of Altamirano in NoPa. “Here, I said, ‘Let’s do this more Californian,’” he says. “Let’s do it more seasonal, more fresh, more farm-to-table.” 

That means that alongside Latin favorites like croquetas peruanas, ceviche, and anticuchos, the appetizer section offers baby back ribs and Sofia’s meatballs, made with a blend of beef and pork and studded with carrots, celery, onions, and cilantro. A stone-fruit salad showcases in-season peaches, plums, and cherries in a tarragon fennel vinaigrette. Entrees span fried chicken and a burger, as well as more upscale options like a whole grilled fish in chimichurri and a 42-ounce tomahawk steak that will set you back nearly $200. 

Pastry chef Edgar Valenzuela, who spent more than two decades at Izzy’s Steaks & Chops before joining the Casa Sofia team, put together a list of five desserts, including arroz con leche brûlée, guava cheesecake, and a trio of fried-to-order crullers drenched in a honey-lavender glaze. 

Cocktail options pull pan-Latin flavors and ingredients, from Chile to Mexico. Bar lead Yuri Chauca’s affinity for cachaça is on full display; the Brazilian spirit appears in four drinks, including, of course, a classic caipirinha and the Batida de Maracuya, which is blended with fresh passion-fruit pulp and condensed milk. Pisco also features prominently, in a sour and in the El Capitan, made with sweet vermouth and two types of bitters. 

Altamirano says that more than 20 years into his career, preparing to open a restaurant’s doors to the public no longer feels like the hard part. “Mostly, it’s hard work in the beginning, the remodeling construction,” he says. But even after earning Michelin recognition with Costanera, his upscale restaurant in Half Moon Bay, and becoming one of the Bay Area’s most prominent Latin American chefs, he’s not quite ready to rest on his laurels. 

“We’re saying this is the last one,” he says. “But we never know.”