- When your starving, don’t want to spend a ton of money, and want to sit down quickly with a group of friends, Fritz in the Mission is the place to go! Fritz is a great casual and quicker alternative to a sit down dinner in SF. I’ve never had to wait for a table during the week at this location, even with five to eight friends (PS it may have been around 8pm or so).
- These photographs are from the newer Fritz location on Valencia in the Mission. The smaller original Fritz in Hayes Valley had a more quaint feeling and a nice outdoor eating space, although I haven’t been there in a few years and I’ve heard they moved next door to the old location and remodeled. The newest location in the Mission is modernly decorated and dimly lit. You order your food, beer or wine at the counter and choose a seat.
- It would be totally acceptable to hit Fritz for a cone of thicker french fries with various dipping sauces from jalapeno ketchup to Parmesan peppercorn ranch to Morracan lemon saffron aoli and many, many others and a Belgian ale on draft or a Spaten or Pilsner Urquell. We had their burger the last time we were there and it was delicious. The burger was cooked perfectly and served on our personal favorite, a Dutch Crunch Bun with caramelized red onions and miso cole slaw! I’ve tried their crepes and sandwiches and the burger has been my favorite by far.
- Don’t try to get mojitos or any eclectic dish because their menu is so huge. Just stick with the tried and true fries (+ creative dipping sauces), a beer, and a burger if you are really hungry!
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Fritz, SF: Fast, aFfordable, & Filling
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Tornado? No, Toronado: Lower Haight, SF
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Toronado, like the Oldsmobile it’s named after, sports a Unitized Power Package. As GM used the UPP to fit both a transmission and engine into a conventional engine bay, Toronado fits an outstanding draught beer selection into the same space where a normal bar would serve at most five draughts. Let me tell you that this is not a selection of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors products. Toronado offers some of the finest brews from all over the world. On our most recent visit we enjoyed some Belgians (Duvel Green, Affligem Trippel), and a Californian (Russian River, Pliny the Elder). An excellent feature of Toronado is the ability (at slow times) to order a sausage from Rosamunde Sausage Grill next door. Once you’ve ordered, you can go grab a beer and wait for the signature wall-pound that signals the readiness of your food. We’ll be sure to get a proper post about Rosamunde the next time we’re in the Lower Haight, but it was too busy at Toronado to sit and eat. Next time delicious sausage, next time.
Lesley: Go to Toronado for the BEER! I love Belgian Style Ales and they seem to have them all. You can get a sausage and pickle from next door and bring it over to drink with this unbelievable selection of brews.
Don’t Haight on the Alembic
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
This weekend we went to the Haight in SF specifically in search of fancy cocktails and duck hearts from The Alembic. We heard about Alembic from GQ magazine of all places. I must say I was impressed and have grown to love unique bars that serve creative, hand-mixed cocktails and small plates. Here, they have custom cocktails from the classics, with a twist, to house specialties you can’t find anywhere else. Alembic also serves food such as pickled quail eggs and jerk spiced duck heart with pickled pineapple and thyme salt “nibbles,” as well as other “local-love” small plates. Between seven of us, including our out of town friends, we tried five different cocktails: the popular Sazerac (rye whiskey, bitters, absinthe…), Vieux Carre (whiskey, cognac, vermouth…), Southern Exposure (gin, celery juice, mint, lime), Strawberry Alarm Clock (vermouth, strawberries, Tabasco, parsley, peppermint oil), and the Clover Club (raspberries, gin, lemon juice, egg whites…). The four girls decided that they liked the Clover Club cocktail the best with its frothy goodness and tart kick. The Strawberry Alarm Clock was indeed different with a sweet and bitter or fruity and savory pepper taste.
The jerk spiced duck hearts with pickled pineapple and thyme salt were pretty amazing. The tastes complimented each other and each heart was a small bite size piece of meat. It was the perfect season to try the Heirloom Tomatoes with burrata, Serrano ham, arugula, and Cabernet vinaigrette. It was absolutely delicious and a good size portion. Click to continue »