The Spanish male server was great. Very attentive. The girl servers always seems like they are in a bad mood or it's a cultural difference. Sanctuary City Hospitality.. Good setting with outdoor seating. Live mariachi musicians passing by asking for donations. Not too far away from Ice Cream for dessert and Arepas SF, local bars like Skylark, Blondes, Kilowatt etc. Right in front of the Roxie theater if you want to watch an independent . The Black Paella with squid was decent. The skewers and garlic octopus was so so. The Spanish salchichas and pan con tomate with Jamon Serrano were the best appetizers. The sauce was amazing. Being mostly Spaniard I'm always on the hunt for the best Paella & tapas in the city. I feel Esperpento off Valencia Street is still my fav. Coqueta being my 2nd Fav. Believe it or not Public Izakaya a Japanese place had better tapas. Honestly most of these Paella places focus more on the setting, interior design and cocktails. Picaro is more in line with Franco's Kitchen in West Portal, Bota in Union Square and Bellota in SOMA. read more

TLDR: The sangria is good and cheap! The food is delicious as well. I'll be back to try their tapas, but as of now, I'd definitely recommend the paella Food: 7/10 My date and I shared a pitcher of sangria and the seafood paella. This was honestly such a perfect amount of food for the two of us. The paella was flavorful and had a very generous serving of seafood. Just fyi, the paella takes about 30 minutes to prepare, so make sure you have enough time if you plan on getting this dish! Price & Portion: 8/10 This entire meal was seriously such a steal! If I remember correctly, the pitcher of sangria was about $14 and the paella was $26. A meal of this quality for such a low price is a rare find for dinner in SF. Service: 8/10 We came here on a Thursday night at around 8PM and were seated right away! We were kinda rushed to catch a movie, so we didn't get to interact too closely with our server. Overall, however, the service was super quick and our server came around to make sure everything was doing ok pretty frequently. Ambience: 8/10 Picaro definitely has a very homey feel! There's a lot going on with their interior design, making it a lot of fun just to take a look around. The lighting is pretty dim and moody in the evening, which makes it just slightly romantic for a date : ) read more

Picaro - Complimentary bread! The sauce is FIRE - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

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After having had great tapas in Spain, I feel like it's hard not to compare it to that. So I'll try and be unbiased while writing this review. Picaro is a good spot for tapas in the city. The bread with the sauce they give is really good. Has a great kick to it and it's just so tasty. My group and I ordered a couple tapas and paella. The tapas we ordered were the tortilla omelette, clams, croquettes, Iberico ham, ox tail soup, mushrooms, and calamari. As I am no trying to compare it to Spain, I thought the tapas were good for what they were and what is here in the US. The Iberico ham felt more like Serrano ham than Iberico ham I've had in other places that were similar to what there was in Spain. The paella we got was the lobster tail paella, and I think it could have used a bit more flavor. It was lacking a bit and the rice could have used more seasoning/broth. The highlight really had to be the bread and the sauce read more

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This place is a lot of fun! Great cozy ambiance with many options for tapas. I came here to celebrate an anniversary and try tapas for the first time! We shared a sangria pitcher and 5 tapas: 1) tortilla española 2) chorizo 3) albondigas (meatballs) 4) grilled lobster tail and 5) oxtail stew. I'd highly recommend the tortilla española, the chorizo, the oxtail stew, and grilled lobster tail! Those were so delicious and flavorful. The meatballs were good but not as stellar compared to the other tapas we had. The service is really great and the staff are extremely friendly. The only thing I would say is that it gets really busy on weekends (we went on Saturday for dinner) and it can get pretty loud inside the restaurant. read more

Picaro - The 5 tapas I got in one picture! Not the best picture but some sort of reference for how much food you get. - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

One of the best tapas bars in SF that won't break the bank. Prices float around $5-10 per tapa and paella is $40+ for two people, which is very fair as some places downtown charge 2x that. After all, tapas are supposed to be enjoyed as mini-plates almost like dim sum. I had the privilege to visit Spain twice so I can say Picaro does do justice to the Iberian palate, but I wouldn't necessarily label them Basque tapas as you can find these dishes in Barcelona and Sevilla too. I recommend the potatas bravas, morcilla, gambas al ajillo, and paella to share as the main course. The staff is friendly and attentive even for a busy establishment with a lot of noise -- but that's how you want your tapas bar to be. Great place to bring friends and share a bottle (or five) of sangria. read more

Picaro - Meat and seafood paella. - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

Awesome place in the city to get your authentic tapas fix at a reasonable price. They have paellas, they have croquettas, they have patatas, and they have those Spanish breads with meats on top (forgot what they're called). And of course, they have sangria. Great place to load up on some delicious Spanish food while having a good time with friends. Typically I go to Cha Cha Cha down the street for drunken tapas with friends, but Picaro is cheaper and hits right when it's real Spanish food you're looking for. They even had guys walking around playing music on guitars! Was a really fun night here and definitely down to come back sometime. read more

The food was very good and service was excellent!!! The place was packed during weekends and noise level is a little loud!

Nice, old school tapas restaurant with a good selection. If you're in the Mission, Picaro is a solid dinner choice. The venue, service, and selection is fantastic. My group ate jamon serrano en pan con tomate, patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo, and had Martin Codax Albariño to drink. My favorite was the gambas! Soooo good. I used the bread for the table to dip into the garlic oil. The Albariño white wine was also very good. The other items tasted pretty standard--not bad, but not particularly stellar. I've seen other versions done better. Overall, I would recommend this restaurant for a night out with friends or a date. read more

Food is decent, mostly highlighted by the tapas and homemade sangria. If you like seafood, I suggest the Mariscada Platter to share. It's a seafood platter with calamari, shrimp, jumbo tiger shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, snapper and salmon - serves two to three people Noise level is high and I not much of a Mariachi fan.. 3 passings of trumpet in my ear followed by an extended upside down sombrero for a donation was a bit much. There was also an issue with the bill. They lost the credit card momentarily. Aside from that, service is friendly and efficient. read more

Picaro - Mariscada - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

My FAVORITE place to go for a delicious, affordable dinner in a big group. First thing's first - the FREE orange garlic sauce they place on your table with bread is HEAVEN. You will eat too much and be too full for all of the delicious small plates later. Approach cautiously but with much enthusiasm. Our go-to order: calamari, padron peppers, patatas bravas, shrimp, chorizo...Maybe I should have named the ones I don't like. Surprise, can't think of anything. The sangria is also a steal at $13 a pitcher for happy hour. Service is always quick and friendly. They're never stingy with the sauce or the bread. Paella is good, but the standout is the small plates. read more

The most affordable tapas spot in the Bay Area! Been here a couple times now and each visit has been enjoyable. The spot is always buzzing with big parties and energetic conversation (the delicious sangria helps!). All the tapas I've had here are delicious - I remember loving their seafood dishes and their tapas sauces in particular. Their patatas bravas is always a solid choice too. Definitely get there early if you can, as it gets full quick. You can start drinking at the bar before getting seated if you'd like to. To add to the lively atmosphere, there's a mariachi band that roams around throughout the night playing to your table. Tipping is encouraged, but not necessary. read more

Picaro - Tortilla (potato and onion omelette) - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Tapas & Sangrias - can I get a HECK YEAH! This place has got character for sure. Although you'll have to wait 25+ mins during peak hours, they have local sports playing on the TVs, their band playing in the back, and people chilling by the bar to enjoy their sangria. It's also conveniently located in the mission by Valencia you can walk around to kill time as well. During happy hour carafes of Sangria are $12 ($18 normally) - I believe it's until 7PM. With your order they also give you free bread and spicy red sauce dip. They refill it for you if you ask so be sure not to fill up solely on the delicious carbs before your other dishes come out. It's the same dip that they put on the patatas bravas. They also have $1 oysters for you fiends! Although the wait to get a table isn't the fastest, once you order the food comes out within 15-20 minutes and all at once. WHAT WE GOT: - Chorizo - These little babies are packed with so much flavor. They are on the saltier side of things in my opinion but when you pair it with other tapas it totally balances out. - Meatballs - They come with 5 in an order and come in a stew w/ carrots. I didn't really eat too much of the broth but the meatballs were tasty. They were tender in the stew and fell apart when you bite into them. - Patatas Bravas - If you like the spicy red sauce they serve with the bread then this is the dish for you! You can't really go wrong with potatoes so adding the sauce makes this dish A-1. - Patatas Aioli - If you like garlic aioli this is a nice alternative to the patatas bravas. I didn't get to try the paella this time around since they take a while to come out, but I will have to do that the next time I come. We split the 4 dishes above between 2 people and we had more than enough leftovers for the day after and for only $45 w/our sangria! The only con of this place is that there are only two bathrooms stalls (one for men/one for women) so lines can get long & wrap around the tables in the back. read more

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I've been coming here for almost 15 years now and it's one of my favorite tapas places in the city. Good home style food, laidback vibe, and very reasonable prices. Service also very good. They come by a lot to check to see if you need anything else. They can handle groups easily at long tables as well as some more private group areas in the back, and have happy hour specials on sangria (although even during non happy hour it's very reasonable). We got 5 dishes last night- plus red sangria and our total was $60 for two people. Chicken croquettes, chicken stew, mushrooms, patatas bravas, and some fish/ clams. All very tasty. You can't beat that in San Francisco. This place does get busy but they are good at seating people and turning over tables. You can make reservations as well but if you get there early when they open there is no problem getting seated right away. read more

UPDATE: rabo de toro still bomb. But I had to update my review because I tried some other stuff that I was not a big fan of. We ordered the seafood paella and that was extremely disappointing. We also got the albondigas and was pretty disappointing as well. Overall not the best visit. Other guests were being very very loud and obnoxious. At one point they were screaming. Not really the restaurant's fault but just added to the poor visit. Will come back for sure just now I know what is good abs what to avoid read more

Love coming here for their tapas and sangria!! It's a great place to come with a group for a fun time, and I always come away from here stuffed and not feeling like I spent too much. Their happy hour deal for sangria is a steal in this city - only $13 for a whole pitcher! Their tapas are also soo good. Don't make the mistake of eating too much of the free bread and garlic dip beforehand like I always do, because the portions for tapas are pretty big and you wanna save room! I love all their veggie options such as the broccoli with almonds, garlic mushrooms, grilled artichokes, patatas bravas, and the potato omelette thing. I'm taking off one star though because when I came last time we ordered one mixed paella, and one squid ink seafood paella, and the squid ink paella was superr overcooked and half the rice was burnt and stuck to the pan. We couldn't even eat half of it and the squid was chewy and gross. But then when I tried the other paella we ordered, it tasted great! So I don't know how they messed up one but not the other?? So I would definitely come back again for tapas but probably not get the paella next time. read more

Picaro - Squid ink seafood paella (arroz negro) - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Great spot for groups and lots of shareable plates. The tapas are pretty good and comes with a bread basket. The oysters are okay though I would pick the other tapas over it. The seafood paella wasn't particularly special but is very filling. The atmosphere and energy is what I would come here for. read more

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This is a place that even you know you will smell like garlic afterwards you still eat like crazy! First of all, the sangria and bread dip, both homemade, are exceptional. Must-have's. Every plate is delicious. Love the garlic shrimp. I usually don't eat garlic but I really loved the garlic shrimp, especially the properly fried garlic bits has a nice kick. The fried anchovies are surprisingly great. This has been the second time I've tried Patatas Bravas, I like the one here. The ambiance is funky in a good way. I enjoyed the coziness. read more

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I was excited to be returning to Picaro after quite a few years. My last experience was so good, I was really looking forward to a meal. I did go w/a large group (9 of us, for a Birthday) and we were seated on the back patio. Which was o.k., but we had 2 picnic tables that were challenging to get in and out of and we weren't able to pull the 2 tables together. So visiting was not easy. A few folks had different Tapas, which were o.k. A few ordered our own meal, which I did. I had the Garlic Chicken which came w/2 sides. I was pretty disappointed in the quality and the presentation. The garlic chicken had absolutely no taste of garlic. It had about 5 small pieces of chicken all bone in swimming in some red soupy sauce. The sides I chose were salad and potatoes. The salad had no dressing and if it did, it ran across the iceberg lettuce and 3 slices of tomatoes and 2 slices of cucumber. The potatoes were fried and did not come with the homemade garlic mayonnaise. More like a breakfast potato. All very bland and quite unappetizing and unappealing. Service was spotty and we had to keep asking for things, water, bread, dipping sauce, the list goes on. If I return, I shall just stick w/a few tapas, beets, asparagus, potato and onion omelet, taters in sauce. But skip the sauteed green beans and definitely skip any salad. If you can wait, the Paella did look quite good. Again, this was my experience. read more

Best Spanish tortilla in the bay!! I think I ate so much aioli I have myself a stomach ache, but that's on me. Everything was so delicious I couldn't stop myself from eating too much. read more

Picaro - Beet Ensalada Remolacha, Tortilla De Patata, Pulpo al Ajillo, Gambas A La Plancha, and Salteado de Carne Asada - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

We did a walk-in take-out order. Understandably, our type of order was not high-priority and I didn't know what the staffing situation was, but we still felt we could have been treated a bit less rudely. We've ordered at several restaurants during the pandemic and have experienced different levels of service and modes of operation as restaurants struggle mightily. We were the only ones in Picaro for over ten minutes one afternoon, standing about fifteen feet from a woman at a cash register at a counter with a large sign in front of it saying something like, "Place Orders Here." Well, she was very busily looking at the register. I approached her. She kept ignoring me until I spoke up. I asked her in English (that's the language the restaurant's website is written in) if we could place an order. She brusquely answered in Spanish the equivalent of "I don't do that!" then quickly looked down again. Owners, when you place a surly malcontent behind the only register facing the public, in the only place with the sign that tells customers this is where they pay, know that this is your public ambassador. Please step up your game. We've eaten at Picaro before. To its defense the food is excellent and, since the pandemic, it's avoided hefty price hikes--but the next time we ordered elsewhere. Sometimes substandard service supersedes savory sauces. read more

I don't understand the other reviews here. We did not like the food. There was no ambiance. This was not Spanish in the least bit. We ordered three tapas: champinones, ropa vieja and potatas bravas, followed by the seafood platter. I don't think the kitchen has been told that this is a Spanish restaurant. There was not a single Spanish flavor on the plate! The potatoes were smothered in a mayo sauce but it was definitely not aioli. The ropa vieja (which in itself is not Spanish) was dry and the broth tasted like it was poured out of a can. The mushrooms were oily- but not at all in the Spanish taste. The seafood platter was plentiful, yes. But it tasted awful. It was like they just boiled a bunch of stuff together and just slopped it on a plate. It did not look appetizing. It looked awful. It tasted not much better than it looked. To add to this- when I called to make a reservation they said to me "no need, we have plenty of tables". When we came in a half hour later we were told there would be a twenty minute wait. We didn't have that time since we were going to see a show after dinner. They stuck us into some corner at a much too small table, where the poor bussers kept on bumping into us. Again we were convinced that this really was not a Spanish restaurant when the mariachi came in. I have two stars because at least our waiter was very nice (but way too busy). read more

Their bread and dipping sauce is an excellent way to start the meal. From there, we moved on to the spicy potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and garlic shrimp. I loved them all. Mussels came out next. I really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce. Ask for extra bread to dip into it. We then finished our meal with the meat & seafood paella, which was prepared perfectly. I see other people's reviews about bad service but ours was great. Maybe it's because the sangria was wonderful and we got too drunk to notice? lol jk. Our waiter really was attentive and our food was prepared quickly. read more

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Cafe Picaro is a great place if you are looking to get some Spanish food. I love the tapas here. Some of my favorite dishes are the gambas al ajillo, champiñones, and the espárragos al ajillo. Additionally some of the soups that I recommend are the Ropa viejo and the sopa de mariscos. The only thing that I'm not a huge fan of at this restaurant is the paella. It is not my favorite. Other than that, I love the restaurant. Great food, great wine, great atmosphere! read more

Picaro - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

Picaro, sister restaurant to Esperpento's is a tapas bar/restaurant that feels and delivers authentic spanish cuisine. It's also one of the more affordable tapas where the food has never disappointed. My coworkers and I love the happy hour that is offered where the pitchers of sangria are $14. It's also a relatively large establishments and good for groups, but does tend to be very crowded during happy hour! Our favorite items are the Patatas Bravas, Garlic Shrimp, Calamari and Croquettes. They also have spinach bechamel, boquerones fritos, a variety of jamon, and morcilla which were some of the staples we saw when we visited Spain. I love that everything is really affordable, the service is really great and on point. The Paella like with most places takes a while to make (about 25+ minutes), so I would order that in advanced if you are planning to have it (squid ink was delicious). However, the tapas are usually more than enough with the sangria for a group of 5-6! Overall, Picaro has been offering consistently great food for years and every time I've been it has been a positive and memorable experience! read more

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Haven't been to Picaro in a minute and was craving tapas and paella so why not? You know what else I was craving, that spicy aioli that comes with the bread!! The aioli that you literally eat with everything. We ordered the paella de mariscos (seafood) and the paella de arroz negro (squid ink seafood)! Get the squid ink paella!!! I never been to Spain, but after shelter in place is over, I'm flying straight to Barcelona. You literally taste all the flavors of the ocean in one dish. I like my paella rice al dente, so I love the rice crust at the bottom...full of that crispy goodness. We also ordered the champinones al ajillo (mushrooms), Morcilla (blood sausage), crispy calamari, and the garlic shrimp. The morcilla came with raw onions and I could not stop eating those little things. Ohh my goshhh....it was a perfect combo, the onions took the gaminess from the blood away. Shmack! Picaro always satisfy my tapa/paella cravings. read more

Picaro - Garlic Shrimp and Calamari - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Great service. Paella was just ok, but did appreciate that there was a lot of seafood in it read more

Picaro - Seafood paella - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

I was able to check out this place recently; unfortunately left underwhelmed. Disclaimer: I am vegetarian and paella might just not be the best choice for me. We started with the patata aoili and omelette, both which tasted fine, but were very basic dishes. The vegetarian paella tasted good, but it was hard to eat a lot. There was no wait on a weekday. The staff also came by a lot to check on us. I think the volume of reviews suggests this place is still very popular, so YMMV. read more

I've been here about a dozen of times. Yes, the prices are great for SF. Customer service is non existent. I called tonight to make reservations for two. The guy answers the phone and I hear him talk in Spanish about seating a patron, then moving this table to another table, and then another patron. I'm on hold for 3 minutes to get hung up on. I give the benefit of the doubt: it's Friday evening and the restaurants busy (no excuse to hang up but assumed it was a mistake) so I call back. The same guy says it's on a first come, first served seating and immediately hangs up. No question about when/time. Nada. Wtf just happened. I attached a photo to remind myself that I did in fact waste 4 minutes of my life. You're not the only Spanish restaurant in San Francisco. I'm not high maintenance by any means, but I do expect common courtesy. read more

Picaro - On hold to be hung up on. Called again & the server hung up on me after he gave me a quick answer. - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

My fav tapas place in SF by far. Shrimp, lobster tail, baked oysters and veggies are my fav. Also the Sangeria is very recommended. Usually pretty quick to sit down. read more

we had a lovely un-rushed dinner that we enjoyed. the potatas bravas and the tortilla were wonderful the spicy garlic sauce incredible. the paella for 4 was just ok. the chicken and pork were dry. and small little chicken wing like portions. fresh mussels were great in it. good service as well. read more

3.5 star experience, rounding up to 4. Super excited to try this spot as it's difficult to find authentic Spanish food. We had reservations at night and came an hour early just to see if there were openings. We got a table in the back dining area. It's definitely a popular spot so reservations are highly recommended. The downside to sitting in that particular spot was the low lighting. It was really hard to see faces and food items. We got a bread basket with an garlic aioli sauce. Order: -Patatas bravas: Super delicious. Loved the texture of the potatoes. The sauce was delicious and had a nice gentle kick. We devoured it. -Paella de arroz negro: This was my favorite because of the color but also the deep seafood flavor infused into the rice. Just be careful when eating because it is ink and can transfer onto clothing. Also fingers can get black from peeling the shrimp. -Paella de mariscos: Pretty good as well. Similar in flavor to the arroz negro. Enjoyable as well. Paella wait was about 25 minutes. I wish service was a bit better to enjoy the experience more. It took a while before we could order. We also didn't get our appetizer until 5 minutes before our paella was served. Totally understand that they're busy. Pretty authentic food! read more

Paella tasted like rice with chicken broth. All the meats in there were flavorless. Price was affordable but the food reflected that. The bread with the dipping sauce was fire though. read more

This is one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. The food looked so good that I forgot to take pictures. We had green beans, chorizo, carne asada with mushrooms, garlic shrimp, meatball soup as our tapas plates. All the plates were delicious and prepped our stomachs to eat the paella. We also shared a seafood paella which was amazing with the crispy rice at the bottom. The rice was flavorful and seafoody and it was not over or undercooked at all. The bread also came toasted with this spicy aioli sauce. I wish i could have bottled it up and taken it home with me read more

Picaro - outside the restaurant - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

Although this place was packed when my group of 3 arrived, we didn't have to wait for a table! First of all, the service is great. We were never waiting for anything and everyone was very friendly. My friends and I loved their sangria. It was really good, refreshing, and not too expensive! My friends and I love tapas so we ordered a lot. I have to say my favorites were the patatas bravas (the sauce is AMAZING), the chorizo salteado (so tasty and savory), and the alcachofas a la plancha! Would definitely recommend stopping by here! read more

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I don't understand how this place is in business. Their food is so salty and greasy. We had to send the soup back as it was so salty we couldn't eat. The "salad" was so oily The service is next to none borderline rude. Sangria is made from cheap box wine. It's extremely noisy inside the restaurant. The one star is for their mayo sauce read more

Have been coming to this place since 20007 and the food has always been consistently good . Tortilla de patatas and red sangria never miss. Yes , it has gotten more expensive but still a very good value . read more

Love this place, food is always great. The service is always good, you have to make a reservation in order for you not to wait. But best believe is worth it! read more

Went here for the first time with a couple friends. The food, service, and atmosphere was great! My friends and I ordered assorted tapas, ranging from steak with mushrooms, to vegetarian options such as the asparagus, sautéed mushrooms and potatoes with aioli. I'm docking one star, however, for the preparation for the shrimp we ordered along with the pork kabob. We wanted to enjoy the shrimp, but none of us touched it, as the shrimp clearly were not cleaned. The digestive tract was still in the shrimp! Waste of a good $10. The pork kabob had great flavor, but every piece I had was extremely chewy. My friends seemed to like it though. The sangria was very tasty- I loved the fruitiness of it. read more

I almost called the fire department after tapas and paella but the sangria had me buzzing . . . "Eat Pray Love" read more

Picaro - Spanish Near Me - San Francisco, California

I really don't know why this place is so well rated. If it's ambiance related, than I can understand. It's a great location, lots of tables, mariachi band playing, very cute. But the food is VERY mediocre. We ordered tapas and I had to add salt to all my dishes and the sauce in my dishes tasted like nothing. Specifically I got the chicken croquettes, the tortilla and salmon strips. All very plain and not interesting. My husband ordered several fish dishes and also the ox tail soup, which was very plain and not well seasoned. The sangria was very good however, and the first sauce they provide with the bread basket was good. But the food itself was pretty bad. I recommend going here for drinks. read more