Grassy Knoll Institute: SFR

Showing posts with label SFR. Show all posts

5/29/2012

San Francisco Chinese Pizza

Chinese Pizza In San Francisco

Walking the streets of San Francisco, I happened upon this pizza shop in an out-of-the-way corner. I was hungry and decided to enter. It did not have the appearance of a standard pizza shop, but hey, there was a picture of a slice of pizza on the sign outside so it had to be good, right! I ordered a slice of cheese pizza with sausage and pepperoni.

This is what I got. I will say, it mostly resembled a slice of pizza, it certainly was triangular, and flat. But I was looking for taste. And,... well,... it wasn't awful. It was warm, which was a plus, the crust wasn't stale, the sauce from a jar, the cheese from a bag, but all in all, it wasn't awful. The price, $3 dollars, which, in San Francisco and being hungry, wasn't awful.

To sum up. It wasn't awful.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 2 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Shawerma Chinese Pizza for dinner.

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2/26/2012

New Village Cafe Breakfast - San Francisco

The New Village Cafe located in San Francisco is a quaint little cafe that has a good breakfast at reasonable rates. I always ask the locals where the best places to eat are. Several nice folks directed me to this cafe.

We walked into the cafe and noticed it wasn't crowded and had the look and fell of an old 1950's diner making me wonder about the name, New Village Cafe. Anyway, reports were positive about the joint so we took a table and our waiter came over.

He was a Chinese man and apparently was the only waiter in the joint. He was hustling all over the cafe. he was very efficient. A few minutes passed and he was at our table to take our orders.

The cafe breakfast was scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage links plus some white toast with butter and jelly. All for around $5 dollars. As we waited for our order, I noticed his wife was the cook and popped her head outside the kitchen from time to time. The cafe was a two person operation.

The eggs were good, standard fare, well cooked. The hash browns were well cooked, not greasy, and tasted good. The sausage again was well cooked, and was standard fair. All in all, excellent service, good food all at an affordable price. The locals were correct, The New Village Cafe was a good place for breakfast.

Oh yes, don't want to forget about the toast, well toasted, warm, not soggy, and plenty of butter and jelly.

The Grassy Knoll Institute scores 4.25 out of 5 shots and recommends New Village Cafe for breakfast.

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11/01/2011

Star Bagel - San Francisco Breakfast Sandwich

Star Bagel Menu

The last time we were in San Francisco, we stopped for breakfast at Star Bagel, located at 1475 Polk Street, (Between Pine St & California St) San Francisco, CA 94109 in the Nob Hill area. Star bagel was a short walk from our hotel. We stepped in and bellied up to the counter. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese toasted bagel.

Egg Bacon And Cheese Bagel

The counter guy took to task and began to cook our eggs and bacon on his grill. he cut our bagels and toasted them. In less than five minutes, our order was up.

As you can see, this was a big bagel with plenty of filling. I estimated three scrambled eggs were used for my bagel. They were cooked perfectly. On the bottom was 4 crispy pieces of bacon, well cooked, and delicious. A piece of cheese surrounded by a buttered toasted bagel completed the ensemble. The taste was very good.

The bagel was $2.25 plus added bacon and cheese totaling $4 dollars. There was not a lot of places to sit, and it wasn't the absolute cleanest places, but the bagel was fresh, well cooked and tasted good.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 3.5 out of 5 shots and recommends Star Bagel of San Francisco for breakfast.

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9/20/2011

Crepe Cafe - San Francisco Pier 39

Crepe Cafe - Pier 39 San Francisco

Patty and I visited San Francisco recently and of course we made our way to Pier 39 to spend the day. Pier 39 has a carnival setting and atmosphere with plenty of shops, side shows, open performance stage, plenty of food vendors, and of course the sea lions sunning themselves on the pier.

Having the inkling to sample the local cuisine, we stopped at the Crepe Cafe for what else, some crepes. For several minutes we watched from outside the big picture window as the chef rolled the dough and thinned it out and placed it on the griddle to cook. It was entertaining and we went in to buy some.

Strawberry Crepe Breakfast

I decided on the breakfast crepe with strawberries for a filing with whipped cream and of course a generous portion of powdered sugar. In just a few minutes my order was up and my crepe was on a paper plate with a fork and handed to me. A bottle of Coke Zero completed the order.

Believe it or not, I have never had a crepe in my life so I did not have a base line to compare. The crepe looked good, and it was fresh, and I like strawberries, and whipped cream, and powdered sugar, so this was going to be a good thing. Right!

Well, it wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t good. It was bland. But maybe that is what crepes are supposed to taste. I was expecting a pancake with strawberries. After all, that is what a crepe is. A French pancake.

The batter didn’t have any taste, it was like I was eating air. The strawberries, cream, and sugar were adequate, but I was a little disappointed. The cost, well, I forget, but I think it was under $5 dollars. Being in San Francisco, in the middle of a tourist trap, $5 dollars was standard fare. I am not going to score against this dish for lack of a base line so I will just barely recommend the Crepe Cafe.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.5 out of 5 shots and barely recommends the Crepe Cafe of San Francisco for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

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4/16/2011

Alcatraz Pier 33 Cafe Sandwich

The Rock - Alcatraz Island

We were in San Francisco recently and of course we had to go and visit the Rock, Alcatraz Island and prison. We left from pier 33 and spent almost the entire day on the island exploring the grounds and prison. (I highly recommend Alcatraz Island as a must see when in San Francisco) One caveat, the island does not permit any food or beverage on the island except for bottled water.

Pier 33 Alcatraz Island

After spending approximately 7 hours on the rock, we were starving. Stepping off the boat that transported us back to Pier 33, we ventured into a souvenir shop and small cafe in search for a quick fix of food. As we waded through souvenir row we spied the food counter. It was old style cafeteria. Grab your tray, shuffle it down the counter and select a pre-made sandwich, salad, or other snack. (I felt a little like Blutto from the movie, Animal House)

Turkey And Cheese

I selected the turkey and cheese sandwich. At least I thought I did. It looked more like baloney but I was hungry. I added a Coke Zero to wash it down. This feast cost me $12 dollars, $9 dollars for the sandwich and $3 dollars for the Coke Zero.

The sandwich was stale. Even the baloney turkey. It was edible, barely. I still don't know if it was turkey or some other mystery meat. Hell, it may not have even been meat. The Coke Zero was the saving grace. after drinking water all day, the Zero was a much needed bonus. Twelve dollars for this, not even close to a value. The Cafe is lucky Alcatraz is closed for charging that kind of money for that quality of food is a capital crime. I can almost sympathize with the inmates assigned to Alcatraz and the food they were forced to eat.

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 1.5 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Pier 33 Alcatraz Cafe for lunch or dinner.

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11/15/2003

San Francisco Restaurants

San Francisco Restaurants - This following program is dedicated to the city and people of San Francisco. Who may not know it but they are beautiful. And so is their city. This is a very personal song. So if the viewer cannot understand it. Particularly those of you who are European residents. Save up all your bread and fly Trans Love Airways to San Francisco U.S.A. Then maybe you'll understand this song. It will be worth it. If not for the sake of this song but for the sake of your own peace of mind. (Eric Burdon And the Animals)