Hole In The Wall; Road Trip

We did a “jump in the car” roadtrip to get out of the city today. First stop was the always friendly Hole In The Wall. It continues to be one of our favorite “go to” spots.

Friendly staff & good solid food makes for a destination worthy meal or while spending time in the Northern California region. Known for a great breakfast; biscuits, gravey and hash rock thoseorning branches, but the hamburger & sandwiches make for a full belly. On this trip I tried out the ground duck burger on server recommendation, and will say- it was right on the money.

We did an jump in the car roadtrip to get out of the city today. First stop was the always friendly Hole In The Wall. It continues to be one of our favorite “go to” spot.

Friendly staff & good solid food makes for a destination worthy meal or while spending time in the Northern California region. Known for a great breakfast; biscuits, gravey and hash rock thoseorning branches, but the hamburger & sandwiches make for a full belly. On this trip I tried out the ground duck burger on server recommendation, and will say- it was right on the money.

Our new pals Adrian & Julie stopped to swap food dish in between serving up our meals.

Got a chance to have a dinner at Kitchen Story a few weeks back.

Got a chance to have a dinner at Kitchen Story a few weeks back.

We went midweek and ended up getting seating just as the crowd hit. FYI – I have to say even with a mixed crowd – the people were in that “extra cool with each other place” that night.

We went as a group to catch up and to sample the goods. Several of us had eaten there for brunches and liked it so were eager to try dinner. The vibe and feel of the place is comforting and works hard to ease you along and relax you.

We sampled a bunch of the apps including the rocken Millionaire’s Way; the sadctive marriage of  bacon, grilled organic asparagus and homemade smoky maple syrup sauce on a plate.IMG_0925 This was one of my fav tastes of the night – but if you are a fan of crisp bacon-  they use a meaty thick cut – you ask your server to make it more well-cooked for you.

Kitchen’s Pumpkin fries, Ahi Scoops and Castro Tower all took home good ratings that night as well.

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For entrees – we had a mixed bag of reactions. The Castro Sea (20$) was vibrant and a great size, offered lots of solid flavor.

 

Two of us went with the fried chicken variations, aka the Finger Lickin’ (18$).IMG_0937 IMG_0947
While the chicken was nicely cooked it somewhat lacked flavor and the coating itself was bland. While not bad tasting – it paled what compared to the vibrant flavors of the other dishes.

 

We also tried East Feeds West (22$)– which was both visually and taste wise pretty good. Textured with a balance of heat, gooey, sticky, and solids all blended for a great place. It also was a substantial portion. I would order it again on a future visit.IMG_0957

 

 

 

  • 3499 16th St
    San FranciscoCA 94114

    b/t Dehon St & Sanchez St in Castro

  • Phone number (415) 525-4905
  • www.Kitchenstorysf.com

Catch up with Old Skool

A few weeks back we went to a local joint that has been well spoken about for some time. I have first heard about it from Check Please, one of our fav local food shows then it came up among friends who live out in the Bayview. Old Skool cafe is a concept resturant that take youth and trains them to work all the roles in the food service industry while at the same time putting out some pretty great food.20140615-083623-30983226.jpg
The resturant itself on the outside doesn’t look like much – but once you walk in, you get a very jazz meets speakeasy feel. The staff is friendly and eager to practice freshly learned skills – but we didn’t find it pushy or amateur.20140615-083618-30978003.jpg20140615-083620-30980904.jpg

We were seated quickly and while looking over the menu they left us with some sweet potato biscuits which are not to be missed. We ended up ordering20140615-083619-30979478.jpg another order with our meal.

Not knowing how the food was we decided to order creatively to get a nicesampling. For our starters we went with a black-eye pea salad ($7) – this southern style salsa had great textures and tasted nice – but lacked a bit of zig and was a little dry. I think it might have needed an acid to the dressing or more dressing mixed (maybe stirred more) before serving. A squirt of lemon on it for me freshened it up nicely – so I am leaning towards a simple oversight to mix the salad before plating.

We also opted for Abu’s Peanut Butter Stew (8$, 14$). We decided to get a cup sized order as a second app – served over rice with chicken – this was magic. I might have to say this is one of those “sex” foods you hear people talk about – it have all the right curves – taste, texture, aroma and pop! As is one of the two favorite dishes from the night.

For our entrees we went with the Jordans fried chicken dinner (24$) and pan seared smokey shrimp and cheesy grits (16$). The fried chicken was hot, crisp and moist inside. So good that we eyed the two large pieces thinking maybe take home one for lunch the next day – umm – no! They deserved to be eaten now. Oh and when I mean hot – I mean “fresh from the oil” hot. The chicken comes with a few sides of mashed potatoes, slaw and gravy .

On a side note -all three of these were underwhelming. The mashed potato were barely warm so was a contrast wight he chicken in a way that didn’t work, The slaw has nice texture – but was bland. It needed more zip to it, felt like was mayo and cabbage than anything else. The dipping sauce  – I didn’t get. It was very loose and white but didn’t really have any flavor. it also come cool so wasn’t sure it was supposed to be a “gravy” or something – but we essentially ignored it. 

20140615-083622-30982127.jpgFor for my option – I went with those smokey grits and shrimp — I could have slathered it on me it was so good. Again as the primary point of focus – I enjoyed every bite. I can see eating that again for sure. The shrimp have a spicy rub on them that has some kick – so may not be to everyone’s liking. I liked it – but I could be as happy eating it with a simple smokey grilled shrimp too  along side those wonderful grits.

Menu: oldskool

 

 

 

 

Energize Me

Long day for me today with Six GayMenSpeak video storytelling interviews to record; but with a sunny day in San Francisco starting eat, took advantage and got Dino out early for our us time then it was time to prep for interviews. But first I need the quad shot to start me off.
So decided I would grabb coffee at this great little neighborhood spot called Café Sophe

It’s the kind place we walk by in our busy day-to-day lives and don’t think to stop if it’s just not in our “plan” but this morning since I was recording videos over at the offices of IEP, I knew that Cafe Sophie would be open and stopped in. After getting a welcome like I was a regular, i opted for a killer strawberry, poppyseed muffin and quad shot mocha — boy was I pleased.

Now this is what nieghborhood bussiness’s and cafe’s are all about; Friendly welcomes, smiles and humor to start a early morning. Make me look forward to coming back.

Put it on the “hidden gem” in the Castro list. <a href=”https://bitetheroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/20140608-101426-36866783.jpg”>20140608-101426-36866783.jpg

Cafe Sophie is at: 3463 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94114
http://cafesophiesf.com/http://cafesophiesf.com/

A little cheese plate…

Got a chance over the weekend to visit friends and meet some new folks and get Dino into the mix with some big dogs.

Was nice not cooking but I offered to bring a cheese plate… Just a little something i tossed together. Thanks Brad & Lance everything was great. Wore poor Dino out too.

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