larochelle's Profile
Fillmore and Fell Area
Maybe for happy hour its okay but any other time its too expensive. And their offerings are pretty boring - there are too many great shops in town for me to go pay restaurant prices for cheese, sliced meat and wine.
Fillmore and Fell Area
"Rosemunde Sausage for Tuesday's $5 cheeseburger at noon"
hahahaha!
These days there's a line of 30+ people when the place opens. They continue to take orders, which stack up, so they tell you when to come back to pick up your burger. Unless you show up in the first group of orders, there can be a 2 hour wait. Which is fine for locals or people passing the time in Toronado, but I never recommend the Tuesday burger to anyone anymore.
Breakfast joints in Silicon Valley
Its a little north of your request, but I really like Nini's Coffee Shop is a nice, locals sort of place.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/624818
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Nini's Coffee Shop
1000 N Idaho St, San Mateo, CA 94401
Best stuck-in-the-past restaurants?
I think you mean Iron Horse but its west of Kearny.
Best Pizza Place for Birthday
Another vote for Pauline's, they are very good with large groups and have good pizza although the crust is probably not thin enough for you.
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Pauline's Pizza
260 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
I just checked on the Little Skillet website and the style they are claiming to make are Angel biscuits - name based on being "light as angels wings", example recipe http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1932,147165-238195,00.html
Which makes a lot more sense since even though LS's biscuits were flat had a crisp exterior, the interior was too fluffly to be a "commercially made" true-beaten biscuits -- no-one would do that much labor for something they were going to sell for $3.50. Beaten biscuits can be really dense or pretty light depending on the effort.
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/04/everythings-better-with-biscuits.html
I think I may have been having beaten biscuits in homes and then thinking the Angel biscuits in restaurants were the same thing. Next time I'm in Texas, I'll pay closer attention.
So what other styles of biscuits are out there and where can we get them in the Bay Area?
Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
Well, I'm sure they are the same biscuits since they only have one recipe. Just as a point of reference, this is not the flaky, buttery, rolled & folded biscuit (like ones from the old Meetinghouse) that so many people in SF are in love with.
Little Skillet's is a fluffly, beaten biscuit. This is the kind of work-horse, country-style biscuit I've gotten in diners and in homes throughout Texas all my life.
Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
M-F only. In fact, I wanted to go on Saturday so I called and their voicemail clearly stated that they were not opened on S-S.
the search for the ultimate steak
Hmmm, the last time we were there we had a conversation about dry-aging that makes me believe they do but since I didn't hear it from the chef or owner, I'm not going to declare "sure" status.
the search for the ultimate steak
T-bone.
In general I look for cuts with bone and/or fat since that's where the flavor is, baby! I'm always a little bummed if, for some reason, I'm "forced" to order the filet mignon. And I almost never order my steak with a sauce - if I want "sauce", I'll have pasta.
Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
B&G is really, really good - solid southern biscuits with exceptional meaty gravy. Michael thought they were the best he's had, I think they're probably the best I've had outside Texas.
The breakfast po-boy was very good but not the same kind of destination worthy that the B&G is.
the search for the ultimate steak
I like the Leatherneck Steakhouse in Marines Memorial. It's all about the beef with them - they buy it, store it, age it and cook it all just right.
The sides make it a classic steak dinner experience, although I often "go wild" and order the truffled tator tots.
http://www.marineclub.com/leathernecksteakhouse.htm
First Friday in June - National Doughnut Day - where will you celebrate?
Maybe with some donut fries at Psycho Donuts?
http://www.psycho-donuts.com/home/
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Psycho Donuts
2006 Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008
Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
FYI: Little Skillet starting testing breakfast this week - Biscuits & Gravy and such. I'm jammed with visting dignitaries at work this week but I'm going to try to sneak out & get me some of them biscuits!
Inexpensive health food lunch spots in and around San Francisco?
Beautiful! - in Laurel Village.
SF Weekly calls it "pricey" but I was just sooo happy to find healthy, favorful food, I think of it as "reasonable for what it is"
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/05/beautifull_debuts_in_laurel_vi.php
Nini's Coffee Shop - nice family run joint
We recently stopped in at Nini's Coffee Shop for breakfast. Nini's was originally opened in SF in 1917, but then Nini & Wally "retired" to San Mateo in 1968 and turned an old corner store into the current Nini's. I believe the son is now running the place and looks like the next generation is also working there. Its off the beaten track in a completely residential neighborhood but according to yelp, it can get mobbed on the weekend. Monday morning when we were there, it was easy to get a table. The other patrons seemed to be regular folk - families & local industrial workers.
The place has all the hallmarks of a ol' time family run joint -- menu of basic comfort staples with a few signture dishes, funky home decored atmosphere with tons of signs and friendly waitresses that know the names of many of the patrons. There's counter seating as well as indoor & outdoor courtyard tables.
We both had the biscuits & gravy with eggs and potatoes which were quite tasty (although I'd order the potatoes "well done" in the future). Michael was a little sad that we just found this place, given that its just down the road from a place he worked for 3-ish years (not not anymore) - all those missed lunch opportunities!
We'll definitely go back to try out some of the other things on their menu - a lot of the lunch items looked worth checking out. In a world of corporate chains, I'm just really glad that places like this continue to exist.
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Nini's Coffee Shop
1000 N Idaho St, San Mateo, CA 94401
Michael Recchiuti ice cream?
I hear its tasty, especially the burnt caramel but I haven't had any yet. Has anyone out there tried it? Opinions?
Best Bay Area Street Food
Wow, what an pretentious, awful sounding event but at least I'll know where the gourmonster swarm will be that day.
Mobile Pho truck?
On her website, she refers to "permit issues"
http://www.seoulonwheels.com/Seoul/yum.html
SF (Haight) The Little Chihuahua - Mexican French toast, plantain burritos, wild mushroom tacos, chile verde tofu?
There has been a burrito joint at that location for years. These owners are the third since I started paying attention - it was a dirty grease pit, then was cleaned up & renovated and now finally even the food has been upgraded.
We've been there a couple of times and found it good but not stunning. I did like their bunch menu and would have loved to put them on my weekend rotation but they don't open early enough.
On the positive side its cheaper, less crowded and has less hipsters & gourmonsters than Nopalito which about a block away.
Any serious BBQ to recommend in SF/Bay Area? Hosting a Texas native - and need to impress.
Noooooooo!
When I first moved here from Texas and was given a Mission burrito, I was horrifed at "nasty travesty of Mexican food". In the years since, I have come to accept the Mission burrito as a known regional dish. I might offer it a visiting Texan, but only with a certain amount of explantion to set expectations.
But really, I just wouldn't bother offering BBQ or Mexican to a visiting Texan unless it was something they expressed interest in.
(That said, I had many native Texans at my July 4th wedding. We served Memphis Minnies and received many compliments.)
New farmers market coming to....the Metreon?
Juicy Lucy is one of the few people that I've found who has really good vegetable juice blends. Plus she's really friendly and will do "gentle" blends. I'm sure it sounds gross to some people but I really like the apple, beet, ginger juice.
Power Source Juice Bar is on Fremont does decent enough fruit & veggie drinks if all you want is to order from the existing somewhat pedestrian menu. But they are convenient for me and have great hours - open at 7am.
The other good place is Estela's Sandwiches on Fillmore - great prices but lousy hours (8:30-5:30).
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Estela's Fresh Sandwichs
250 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Powersource Juice Bar
81 Fremont St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Post-Breakers Breakfast/Brunch on Sunday
Its not pancakes but if you want Mexican in a nice atmosphere...Tres Agaves has a pretty good brunch and so far its fairly "undiscovered" - in that we haven't had to wait for a table.
Also, since you're finishing so early, you may be able to get into the Cliff House before it gets too crowded. There's a new chef at the Cliff House so its much better than it used to be.
And most runners will be heading the other direction - going to footstock, trying to get out of the area on the N-Judah or hitting Beach Chalet.
We'll be doing B2B also. This year, we're stocking our house with already prepared brunch supplies. In the past, we would fill a cooler with goodies, put them in the trunk and park the car out on Ocean Beach the night before - it was totally AWESOME having good food, beverages & a change of clothing near the finish line!
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Tres Agaves Restaurant
130 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107
Sutro's at The Cliff House
1090 Point Lobos Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121
Ground beef burritos
I can't think of exactly who has them but I though "picadillo" is fairly common on menus. Picadillo is ground beef, tomato, onion, garlic, chile, spices - pretty much everything you put in ground beef tacos.
I know All Star Tamales sells picadillo tamales, I've never looked but they may have picadillo burritos.
Now you've made me curious and I'm going to have to start specifically looking for it.
New farmers market coming to....the Metreon?
Interesting. I go to the 24th/Noe market because Juicey Lucy is there; the Alemany market because its cheapest & has a good selection; the Divisadero market because its walking distance; the Thursday Galleria market for the amazing German breads; the Tuesday Ferry Bldg market because I work nearby but I only go to the Saturday Ferry Bldg market when I absolutely have to (for chiles & beans). I suspect I'll stop off at the Metreon because its on my route home if the selection & prices are decent.
But it never occured to me that goal of a farmers markets would be to be a "destination" place. I just want to get high quality produce without getting into my car. I'd be thrilled if they were all the same, that way I could get everthing at one market and not have to bother with the others - especially if it was the Divis market.
New farmers market coming to....the Metreon?
I'm looking forward to it because Juicey Lucy will be one of the venders.
Ryan Farr's healthy chicharrones - “Crunchy crack-in-a-bag”?
Maybe because of the spicy Mexican seasonings?
meatpaper event at camino 4/27....i don't get it
It will be interesting to see if the pig roast this coming weekend is better run or has better behaved clientele?
Chow Restaurant's Spicy Thai Noodles
Ha, as I read this I am eating lunch of homemade Noodles & Shredded Chicken in spicy peanut sauce. But I've never had Chow Restaurant's version but since I make it different every time, I doubt mine particularly similar to theirs.
Whenever I want to reverse engineer a restaurant dish, I google for variations. I quiz the staff about the ingredients and watch them cook it if possible. I take photos and notes of the original dish to help with ingredient shopping. Then start experimenting, usually with an order of the original dish there so I can do back and forth taste comparisons.
Good Luck.
Is Sebo still up to par?
It was still good last time I went, but the wait for the omakase counter are getting longer.
If I were you, I'd go soon. If it ends up on Anthony Bourdain's show (he was there last month), the "exposure factor" will go through the roof.
