California L-O-V-E
Although I now live on the opposite coast, California has always been my first love. Ever since I can remember I've had the same driveway with a faded painted basketball court, the same alliterative street signs, the same trees outside my kitchen windows and the same broken oven clock. Here are just some of my favorite places for California cuisine.
The Buena Vista (Marina, San Francisco)
If you are ever in the Marina watching the sea lions sun themselves off Pier 39 or visiting Alcatraz or taking a cable car ride, you must go to The Buena Vista. Known to locals and tourists alike as the premier Irish coffee establishment, we call it BVs and it's a must see while in San Francisco. Comforting with a great, neighborhood feel. If you lived there, it would be "your place" to go after a movie, after the theatre, after work, after loading up on Ghirardelli chocolate down the street, any time is a great time for an Irish coffee and this place has mastered the process.
The friends behind the bar grab a slew of small shapely glasses and drop two sugar cubes into the bottom, fill with coffee, good Irish whiskey, and stir before topping it off with heavy whipping cream so it all comes together creating a hot, foamy creation that completes a long day spent by the Bay.
The food is good too, but space is limited, so don't be afraid to invite people to sit at your table if they can't find a seat! "BVs" is too fun and too great to forego because it looks busy, just adopt an Irish attitude and realize that more is always merrier at BVs.
I have seen Irish coffees poured for a group of four or a group of twenty and the atmosphere is always jovial. I happen to enjoy regular Irish coffees but I usually order mine with a splash of Bailey's. My family has always enjoyed this spot, always taking tourists here for a "coffee break" and a photo opportunity, and one time I remember that since I couldn't be IN the bar with the rest of my family I had to stand near the door because I wasn't yet 21.
Thankfully, I didn't let that embarrassment stop me from partaking in future coffee breaks, because I wouldn't dare drink one anywhere else in San Francisco.
The friends behind the bar grab a slew of small shapely glasses and drop two sugar cubes into the bottom, fill with coffee, good Irish whiskey, and stir before topping it off with heavy whipping cream so it all comes together creating a hot, foamy creation that completes a long day spent by the Bay.
The food is good too, but space is limited, so don't be afraid to invite people to sit at your table if they can't find a seat! "BVs" is too fun and too great to forego because it looks busy, just adopt an Irish attitude and realize that more is always merrier at BVs.
I have seen Irish coffees poured for a group of four or a group of twenty and the atmosphere is always jovial. I happen to enjoy regular Irish coffees but I usually order mine with a splash of Bailey's. My family has always enjoyed this spot, always taking tourists here for a "coffee break" and a photo opportunity, and one time I remember that since I couldn't be IN the bar with the rest of my family I had to stand near the door because I wasn't yet 21.
Thankfully, I didn't let that embarrassment stop me from partaking in future coffee breaks, because I wouldn't dare drink one anywhere else in San Francisco.
Tommy's Joynt (Fillmore, San Francisco)
Tommy's Joynt isn't just a destination. It's a San Francisco institution that's been on the same corner of Van Ness and Geary streets since 1947 and is still owned by the same three families. TJ is funky and colorful and looks like a dive bar on the inside, not like a campy diner that may be down the street. TJ is the epitome of a "man's man" type of bar. Businessmen, industry folk, and truck drivers alike pass through these doors hourly and the line keeps moving and it's still cash only. The front of the Joynt is a carving station where you order and any one of the efficient choppers on the line slice off some meat for you, plate your sides, and ring you up alongside the all-you-can-eat pickle barrel.
My dad first took me here when I was a whiny preteen, desperate to get some lunch while I accompanied him on a work trip to San Francisco. Since we had an hour drive in traffic to meet with someone in The City, we needed some food before heading back. Of course, Dad had been coming to Tommy's for years and I thought it seemed dark and dirty inside while I ate my mashed potatoes in silence while sitting at the bar with a root beer by my side.
Every time since, Tommy's hasn't changed. The dimly lit, no frills institution gets more popular by the minute and is a great fuel-station for the after-bar crowd as it's open very late. Tommy's Joynt may seem stuck in another generation, but fans of it's food wouldn't have it any other way. You know the old saying, "If it aint broke..."
My dad first took me here when I was a whiny preteen, desperate to get some lunch while I accompanied him on a work trip to San Francisco. Since we had an hour drive in traffic to meet with someone in The City, we needed some food before heading back. Of course, Dad had been coming to Tommy's for years and I thought it seemed dark and dirty inside while I ate my mashed potatoes in silence while sitting at the bar with a root beer by my side.
Every time since, Tommy's hasn't changed. The dimly lit, no frills institution gets more popular by the minute and is a great fuel-station for the after-bar crowd as it's open very late. Tommy's Joynt may seem stuck in another generation, but fans of it's food wouldn't have it any other way. You know the old saying, "If it aint broke..."
Leopold's Gasthaus (Russian Hill, San Francisco)
It would be an understatement to say that San Franciscans flock to Leopold's. Every evening the small nook of a bar at the front of the restaurant fills up with hungry patrons looking for some good, old-fashioned, German fare heightened to food snobbery level. With rent being so high, there's a reason Leopold's has stuck around in one of the most posh neighborhoods around. Boots of beer are nice, but it's the hearty, lip-smacking food that keeps them coming back and waiting (sometimes upwards of two hours) time and time again.
My first time at Leopold's was such an occasion. It was a rainy Friday night and after my group of four checked in with the dirndl-dressed woman at the front and she jotted down a cell number, she quoted us two hours and we ambled out of the mist into a bar down the street to add alcohol to our empty stomachs. Almost exactly two hours later we got a call that our table would be given away in ten minutes if we weren't there to claim it and we happened to be across the street.
What happened next, however, I wasn't prepared for. Our foursome ordered giant beers, a meat plate, and four entrees. I ordered one of their signature dishes, chicken in a mushroom sauce over mashed potatoes (instead of a dumpling) and bliss soon took over my state of mind. In the handful of times I have visited Leopold's since, I have tried many of their dishes and they do not disappoint. Be sure to get a beer to wash everything down.
My first time at Leopold's was such an occasion. It was a rainy Friday night and after my group of four checked in with the dirndl-dressed woman at the front and she jotted down a cell number, she quoted us two hours and we ambled out of the mist into a bar down the street to add alcohol to our empty stomachs. Almost exactly two hours later we got a call that our table would be given away in ten minutes if we weren't there to claim it and we happened to be across the street.
What happened next, however, I wasn't prepared for. Our foursome ordered giant beers, a meat plate, and four entrees. I ordered one of their signature dishes, chicken in a mushroom sauce over mashed potatoes (instead of a dumpling) and bliss soon took over my state of mind. In the handful of times I have visited Leopold's since, I have tried many of their dishes and they do not disappoint. Be sure to get a beer to wash everything down.
Drool Tip: The one time I visited around 5:30pm just after they opened, I took my parents and we did not have to wait for a table . For once, it wasn't full of screaming, drunken strangers spilling beer boots all over the communal table and shouting over their schnitzel. We still had a lovely dinner, but if you're hankering for great food and an authentic experience, go later in the evening.
Brenda's French Soul Food (Polk Gulch, San Francisco)
Ahh Brenda's. The mere thought of this food-coma-inducing powerhouse in the unassuming Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco brings sighs of delight and groans from my stomach.
Fourth of July weekend while I was still living in San Francisco, my friend L came to visit and we filled our days with an agenda based around food and shopping, as you do.
I had never been to Brenda's but was keen on exploring this soul food attraction that was just slightly over ten non-hilly blocks from my apartment. We trekked out the door at 8am and soon arrived to no line (A shock, especially on a holiday!) along the red-painted facade, we were in!
We ordered quickly and democratically trying to include all of our taste buds' opinions at once; I do NOT recommend this tactic. If at all possible, when in the presence of great (and very rich) food, order a variety of items, bring many people whom with you can share, and plan to come again soon.
After our hot chocolates alongside the flight of beignets (crawfish, apple, chocolate, and plain) we each got an order of French toast with butter pecan sauce, and finally a side of cheese grits, just so we could try the southern staple.
We rolled ourselves out the door and up the street and had to take a nap because it wasn't yet 10am and it was on our agenda.
Click on the first picture (above) for Brenda's website and scroll through to see the pics of the spirited, cajun decor and mouth-watering fare she offers...and no, you cannot eat them off of your screen.
Fourth of July weekend while I was still living in San Francisco, my friend L came to visit and we filled our days with an agenda based around food and shopping, as you do.
I had never been to Brenda's but was keen on exploring this soul food attraction that was just slightly over ten non-hilly blocks from my apartment. We trekked out the door at 8am and soon arrived to no line (A shock, especially on a holiday!) along the red-painted facade, we were in!
We ordered quickly and democratically trying to include all of our taste buds' opinions at once; I do NOT recommend this tactic. If at all possible, when in the presence of great (and very rich) food, order a variety of items, bring many people whom with you can share, and plan to come again soon.
After our hot chocolates alongside the flight of beignets (crawfish, apple, chocolate, and plain) we each got an order of French toast with butter pecan sauce, and finally a side of cheese grits, just so we could try the southern staple.
We rolled ourselves out the door and up the street and had to take a nap because it wasn't yet 10am and it was on our agenda.
Click on the first picture (above) for Brenda's website and scroll through to see the pics of the spirited, cajun decor and mouth-watering fare she offers...and no, you cannot eat them off of your screen.
Beignet Flight: Plain, Apple, Chocolate, Crawfish.