As the sweet aroma of bison burgers and roasted apricot tartlets wafts out the doors and windows of the Axis Cafe, its patrons were planning on getting a side of something else -- a brain.

People anxiously line up outside the Potrero Hill restaurant to dine and listen to Dr. Aubrey Gilbert's synopsis of the brain for San Francisco's Ask a Scientist lecture.

In its sixth year as a lecture series, Ask a Scientist was created as a cost-free and informative way for science experts to share their knowledge with a curious audience.

Outside her familiar laboratory or classroom, Gilbert, of the Helen Willis Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, didn't hesitate passing around pieces of the human brain sealed in plastic containers. She even found ways to break the ice by playfully involving the audience with an awareness test and occasionally cracking quirky one-liners.

"Pay attention and see if you can count how many passes the people in white shirts make," she announced. Gilbert requested the audience to pay close attention to video of people dressed in white throwing around a ball and count how many passes are made between them.

Knifes and forks came to a clanging halt. The room became silent, concentrating to count the right number of passes. While everyone was fixed on the screen, not one person noticed the individual in the giant gorilla suit dancing across the people in white. She played the video again and the restaurant erupted with laughter.

"There was something large and furry that was missed by half the audience," she said in teasing tone, proving her point on the brain's limited consciousness.

Slide after slide, Dr. Gilbert answered questions and addressed the neurological history of the brain, as well as the various parts that keep it in working order.

Though it might seem peculiar for a professor to inform people on the graphic Egyptian lobotomy process as they munch on gourmet sandwiches and sip red wine, program director Juliana Gallin begs to differ.

"I use Axis Cafe because the venue is large," Gallin said. "They have lots of street parking, incredible food and the staff is super sharp and organized."

Not only is the food a reason to come back every month, but the veterans come for educational experience as well.

"We come regularly to Ask A Scientist," said Sandy Olkowksi, 35, a student at San Francisco City College. "I love it. The neuroscience ones are especially interesting."

First-timers proved to have a good time as well.

"Draining the brain through the nose was interesting," said 35-year-old David Bruno as he joked about a possible return.

"I'd probably come to another one, but I'm not terribly interested in botany." Fortunately for Bruno, there won't be a lecture on plant life anytime soon.

The next lecture, "The Science of Magic" will be on Oct. 6 in the Axis Café at 7 p.m.