Chick-N-Coop

Yay, the Chick-N-Coop! There are several Chick-N-Coop style restaurants in the Yay Area, not sure if they are related or not. There is definitely one on Mission in Daly City. Chick-N-Coop specializes in roast chicken and rotisserie meats, and is a popular lunch spot, with a lot of regulars who eat here every day. I would describe it as "hella Excelsior", cause you see all sorts of local people eating here.

Here I am looking like hell in front of the darling retro signage. Damn, my hair looks like a broom. I've got to start stepping it up for these LSF photo shoots, am I right? Anyway, Dan and I were here for the lunch special, which includes sandwich, salad, and coffee or tea for $7.99.

You slide your tray along, cafeteria style; all meats are carved to order, they really are the star of the show. No pre-sliced deli meats here!

Behind the counter looks totally awesome. As you can see, they offer roast chicken, roast beef, turkey pastrami, ham and corned beef, and you can get a dinner or a sandwich. They also have spaghetti, hamburger steak, and other classic entrees. Getting a roast chicken from here is a great take-out option for dinner!

The interior. It's very clean and well-maintained. 

And here is the sandwich, turkey on a roll. We split it because we weren't that hungry, but it's really big. Made to order with delicious real roast turkey on a fresh roll with mayo and iceburg (what is it with all the iceburg snobs anyway, you'd think with all this "elevating" of "lowbrow" food these days, people would realize how delicious and crunchy iceburg really is) mustard, and tomato.

It's hard to find a real meat sandwich these days, and to think you could go into that stinking pit Subway for some nasty-ass turkey loaf on frozen bread for the same price!

We got bean salad as the side. The sides here do tend to be cafeteria food-esque: instant mashed potatoes, jello pudding, and so forth. As stated earlier, the shining star is the delicious meats, but who doesn't find comfort in brown gravy or beet salad, served on an aqua tray?

Anyway, I have been going to Chick-N-Coop since I was a young girl, and, like the interior, the quality and value has not changed. It is an excellent lunch option and oh so Little San Francisco!

Chick-N-Coop

4500 Mission St

(between Excelsior Ave & Harrington St) San Francisco, CA 94112

Tselogs

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Usually, whenever something is described as a "tapas cafe", it's code for "huge rip-off", but not here, my friends! Tselogs is in Daly City, not far from the Excelsior, where I'm from. It seems to be a very popular restaurant, serving inexpensive Filipino food. Daly City is home to a large population of Filipino, or Pinoy people, so expect some more Daly City food posts in the future!

They have little set-ups of antiques and stuff in here. Not that you can really see them in this photo, but trust me, they're there. Even though it's a casual restaurant, the owners have put thought into the decor.

I ordered the minced chicken, $5.99. It comes with delicious rice topped with fried garlic and an egg.

The chicken was all chopped up with scallions and garlic, served with a lemon wedge on a sizzling skillet. The chicken pieces cooked inside, browning the meat and adding a crispy crust. This was a delicious mix of sour and savory flavors!

Here I am squeezing the lemon onto my dish, with Dan's BBQ pork in the background.

This is also served with egg and fried rice, and also very cheap! We also got coffee, it was good as well.

Tselogs

6055 Mission St, Daly City, CA 94014

(415) 337-4670

The Jelly Donut

A blurry shot of the Jelly Donut at twilight.

I've never been to the Jelly Donut before, but heard it was good. San Francisco has lots of great independent donut stores. Some of my faves include: Glaze Donuts, Eagle Donuts, and Happy Donuts.

The menu on the wall. Prices are low. We didn't get any coffee, even though coffee and donuts are really good. There is 49ers stuff wherever you look. People like them so much now that they're winning, but either way, it's a cute logo. I have a few stylish 49ers pieces of clothing myself. Go Joe Montana!

I think they just have strawberry jelly, and it's really good. The jelly donuts at Dunkin Donuts are bad because the inside just tastes like flavored goo, but not here at the Jelly Donut. And the donut is very fresh with a crispy crust.

Here's the Jelly Donut again, so cute. I love the classic plastic soda signs, often on restaurants and corner stores. There is even a Peter Max one on Grant Street.

Dan said the woman at the counter said this was "scrambled eggs" not sure if this is true. This was a crumb donut and it was really good too. Scrambled eggs donut sounds kind of good!

You should go to:

The Jelly Donut

3198 24th St
(between Shotwell St & Van Ness Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94110

Roosevelt Tamale Parlor

Here we are on 24th St., on the eastern end near Potrero, at the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor, named after President Roosevelt. 

Here is Teddy himself. So cute! And 2013, whoa. The inside of the restaurant is charming, recently restored and painted. Cozy, well-decorated, and cheap, what more can you ask for? Though the Roosevelt has changed hands throughout its history, the current owners have done a good job with the place. 

Here are the chips, they are light as fried air. Salsa is good too, a bit smoky.

Classy presentation on the guacamole. Totally worth $6 because it is really good. Refreshing and limey.

Chicken enchilada in mole sauce. This is our food blogger shot. Mole was delicious, and it's a big serving for the price... about $9? You get a lot of chicken. In New York, most "Mexican" restaurants automatically give you soupy black beans. So glad to be back in the Sco, where the beans are refried pinto as they should be. Don't even get me started on what New Yorkers seem to think Mexican food is! Okay, I'll give you a hint: it often involves spinach, yogurt, whole wheat tortillas and every meat smothered in chipotle sauce.

Awwww, here's Daniel with his house special round tamale in "gravy" and matching sweater! You can also sort of see the cute restaurant here. 

Anyway, you should go here. It's a lovely dining experience with classic Mexican/Mexican-American food, really good service, cheap prices, and a very pleasant atmosphere. Plus it is an institution, unlike many of the places that have been popping up on the rapidly gentrifying but still great corridor of 24th Street.

Roosevelt Tamale Parlor

2817 24th St  San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 824-2600

Old Jerusalem Restaurant

Here we are at Old Jerusalem Restaurant! It's near the wig store, on the Bernal Heights stretch of Mission, near Cesar Chavez and that terrible lilac mega- Walgreens! The outside looks like this, kinda unassuming. 

Here's Dan perusing the menu, looking kinda Milhouse Van Houten aka like a nerd. Our friend Julia dined with us as well.

The interior of the restaurant's been classed up a bit since my last visit. It's a long, somewhat narrow restaurant with scenes of Old Jerusalem painted on the walls. I think they are open all day. A lot of families come here to eat; there's not a ton of Middle Eastern food in this area.

We are so hungry! Here come the free stuff! Freshly toasted pita, a garlicky tahini dip, an onion relish, olives and pickled radishes! All these things are fresh and really good.

This is the (blurry) vegetarian combo platter for $11. It has: hummus, baba ghanouj, Isreali salad, fuul, falafel, and fried eggplants and cauliflower. A+! I ate a lot of Middle Eastern food in Brooklyn, but honestly Old Jerusalem blows them all away. All the dips are so creamy too.

Here is the other thing we ordered, lamb with hummus, around $12. Normally I don't eat lamb, because of the baby lambs and also it's often kinda gamey and bad, but this was really good! There are buttery pine nuts, cilantro, etc.

I felt we had to order these, the stuffed falafel at $1.25 each. This is the best falafel ever, stuffed with onions and maybe more pine nuts? So creamy, so crunchy. Not like the gritty, tasteless falafel so often found. Another good thing to order is a strong black tea with fresh mint, but we were too cheap.

All in all, this was a very reasonably priced meal. The two entrees plus the falafel were shared among three people, and we had food left over. All the portions are huge, so it's fun to go with a group of people and eat family-style. Or you could just be a cheapskate and split the vegetarian platter. Also, you could easily forgo the meat if you're bringing some of your vegan friends along! They will be happy! Especially if they have been eating at Maoz or some other crappy place. 

2976 Mission St
(between 25th St & 26th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110