San Francisco Grub » Dinner

Little Debbies

Matt — Mon, 23 May 2005 02:30:03 +0000

A light snack was had on the Half Moon Bay Beach of Little Debbie’s chocolate/cream things and cream-filled oatmeal cookie sandwiches, with milk. Yum!

Tony and Mary’s

Matt — Sun, 22 May 2005 03:08:07 +0000

Tonight I had dinner at my friend’s house where they were hosting a small dinner party. (And it was also their 13th anniversary.) The company made the night, but the food was great too. Started out with a light summer wine called (I believe) Lillet with a small orange peel in it. The food was indian themed, I had rice, chicken curry, daal, potatos and cabbage, green beans, and some great spicy/sweet carrot stuff. Desert was vanilla ice cream with mangoes and cardomon, pictured to the right.

Luna

Matt — Sat, 21 May 2005 23:00:43 +0000

We had lunch at a great place called Luna in the Castro. It’s right next to the Body Shop, and you walk in and they seat you in a garden in the back which is a great atmosphere.

One of their specialties is Mimosas, so we got the “Mimo Combo” where you pick two juices (we got peach and orange) to mix. They had an attractive selection of food, and the pasta sounded good, but in the end I went for the corned beef Ruben which came with a pickle and some great ultra-skinny fries.

The ruben really fell apart in my hands and was a mess, but that’s mostly because it had a huge amount of meat. (See picture to the right.)

I was still a bit hungry at the end so we ended up splitting their Chocolate Crunch which was a chocolate cake with some sort of special whipped cream (it started with an M?) and toffee.

Luna
558 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA
415-621-2566

Sushi RIKA

Matt — Sat, 21 May 2005 06:33:27 +0000

It was late and we were driving around Chinatown looking for something open and good. Parking was non-existent almost everywhere (always a problem in this city) and nothing seemed open (“This would never be a problem in New York.”) when we spotted a late-night italian place with a parking space nearby we decided to go for it. Unfortunately most of the kitchen was closed already and they just had some pizza that didn’t seem very appetizing at the time.

Fortunately about a block away there was a sushi place open that looked pretty good. We walked in to Sushi RIKA and were greeted by techno music and some pleasant smells. They had a good selection and a menu with lots of pictures which I’m sure would help someone like me who knows pretty much nothing about sushi. Started with some hot tea and ended up going for the San Francisco roll, Unatempura roll, 49er roll, Bay roll. Some Tempura Green Tea ice cream was a great end to the meal. Everything was fresh and well-prepared and presented. Service was excellent, and I’d definetly go back some other time. Prices were very reasonable too. Here’s some pictures of the meal:

My favorite was probably the Bay roll and Unatempura.

Sushi RIKA
900 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-923-1141

Pancho Villa

Matt — Fri, 20 May 2005 05:15:13 +0000

We were meeting in the Mission before DJ Spinnerty’s gig at Skylark, and Jamie suggested we meet at this little place at 16th and Valencia called Pancho Villa. Mission is always colorful, and I got to take some of that in while I waited for Jamie and Zack to get there. Even though I had already had a burrito for lunch, the meat looked so good I decided to go for their Deluxe Burrito with carnitas, refried beans, rice, and cheese. I also had a pretty good Horchata, which is a Mexican drink with rice, almonds, cinnamon and sugar. (My favorite horchata is still in Austin at that place everyone goes during SxSW, can’t remember the name.) The burrito ended up being pretty dry, I think they used too much rice and not enough beans or meat. The chips were also a little stale, none of use ended up eating many of them. The best part about Pancho Villa is probably the crowd, it was totally packed when we were there and we also had a window seat and got to observe some interesting antics outside. Nice atmosphere, but I’m convinced there’s better Mexican in the Mission.

Quizno’s

Matt — Thu, 19 May 2005 00:37:16 +0000

I didn’t have much time before 106 Miles down in Palo Alto so I grabbed a quick bite from the Quizno’s between my office and house. I really fell mixed about that place, sometimes the food is decent but other times it’s been pretty mediocre. Quizno’s can actually vary quite a bit from location to location. I decided to try something new and got a regular Chicken Carbonara on white bread with Dorito’s and a Dr Pepper (of course). The sub actually ended up being really good, I’ll have to have that again. It was a little pricey for Quizno’s, but still cheap in comparison.

I didn’t get it this time, but last time I got the chocolate cookie they have and it was just like I like — soft with big chocolate chunks. Best served with warm milk. (Preferably that isn’t already expired, whoops!)

Olive Garden

Matt — Tue, 17 May 2005 23:30:41 +0000

I have some fond memories of Olive Garden from Houston because when I moved out of my parent’s house there was an Olive Garden almost exactly between us. So the restruant always reminds me of my family and going there ever since I was really young and devouring the breadsticks. Also some of my earliest digital photos are from when my Mom took me to OG on the last day of school. Earlier today someone mentioned the restruant on #wordpress and I got a crazy craving for those breadsticks again.

I went to their not horrible website and found the closest one is about 8 miles away in the Stonestown Galleria. The service was friendly, though sometimes not as prompt as I would have liked. They sat us at a giant table with 8 seats. First off, the breadsticks were terrible. After eating two (I was hungry) we sent them back and the second batch was just as bad. The salad was decent, though not as crispy or fresh as I would have liked. I ordered the Tuscan Garlic Chicken which is a limited time special. It came with curly fettecine and some bell peppers and garlic cloves. The drink was (of course) Dr Pepper. The chicken was tasty but a little dry, the fettecine was really good and well-spiced. I had filled up on breadsticks so ended up taking a bit home.

Overall, the food was decent but I’m inclined to give it a lower rating because the breadsticks were so bad. 2 out of 5.

3251 20TH AVENUE SPACE 187
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132
Phone: (415) 661-6770
Fax: (415) 661-5434

Sun – Thurs: 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Fri – Sat: 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM