Nicknames aren’t really your thing. (Blame it on the fact that you were saddled with “Motormouth” for seven unhappy years.)

But don’t hold that against Nopa, a new restaurant pet-named for its locale: North of the Panhandle.

In this case, it’s a well-earned term of endearment. The owners are native San Franciscans who fancy their hood so much, they’ve enlisted artist Brian Barnecloe for a campy mural depicting hallowed local haunts — the perfect complement to the airy, oak barn-meets-modern loft atmosphere.

Chef Lawrence Jossel’s Cal-Med menu of locally farmed ingredients highlights local calamari with fennel, olives, and toasted bread crumbs; a house-ground burger with French fries and mustard aioli; and a strawberry rhubarb crostata good enough to leave you speechless.

Which, apparently, Motormouth, is no small feat.

Nopa, 560 Divisadero Street, at Hayes Street (415-864-8643).