Looming Gentrification

Oh god. Mission and 15th.

Whiz Burgers, Not a Complete Post But Some Photos

Dan drinking A+ vanilla malted shake at Whiz Burgers.

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

Mission Street Signs

I just looked through this blog and saw all these comments I failed to reply to, and was surprised this blog had any comments at all! Neither Simone or I are currently living in SF, so Lilttle SF really stalled. I feel very homesick for San Francisco, though. And sorry for not replying!

I love handpainted signs so much. It's part of the problem with very modern signs and chain stores, the slick boring signs. I love the jumbled look of streets like Mission, with its old vintage signs or awesome hand-done ones like those above.

People in Motion/People in Mooottttiiioooonnnn!!!!*

Oh, Dolores Park. Am I wrong or are there far fewer Speedo-clad gays than there once was? Still, it's fun to get a treat from Tartine/a High Life with a paper bag around it and people-watch on a warm day. Note the view of beautiful Mission High and downtown.

These photos are worth clicking on.

*This is the crescendo part of If You're Going to San Francisco (Make Sure You Wear some Flowers in Your Hair)

Some Pretty Pictures

Apparently we are the worst at updating this blog. It would probably be easier if either of us actually LIVED in SF right now, but oh well. Here be some lovely photos of random stuff in San Francisco to enjoy:


The Dance Party Laundromat on the corner of Mission and Ocean. (Not really a dance party).


Ye Olde California Savings Bank sign on Mission & 16th.


Cute Art Deco Building somewhere downtown - Sutter Street maybe?


Postwar stucco houses on the North Side of Bernal Hill.


View of the Backs of some houses from a pedestrian overpass near the Glen Park Bart Station.


Twin Peaks & Sutro Tower from... Noe Valley, I think.


The Strand, and old theater on Market Street that has been empty forever.


Old Tile Storefronts on Market Street.



A really cute building and storefront in Chinatown.

More to come, I swear. Like, actual entries that I sorta did research on and stuff. For serious!

The Mission

Beautiful old sign for the New Mission theater.

Cute 50's neon Chiropractic sign.

Old El Capitan theater, not a parking lot and Greek imports store.

A very mid-century Modernist dentist office.

Discolandia

This is a little record store on 24th street in the Mission (from about Mission to Potrero)- an area that is rapidly gentrifying. 24th street is full of trees and old storefronts and businesses and great architecture, and shall feature prominently in Little San Francisco, at least until all the hipsters boring it up, with their American Apparels and expensive cocktails and whatnot.