North Beach Treats (San Francisco, CA)

Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe
This corner cafe's name is either horribly pretentious or kitchsy and perfect. Or something else. The most important aspect to consider is price. Entrees are less then $10. Carley's lasagna wasn't good, but my entree was.. Too bad the name escapes my memory...a crepe thing filled with lamb and beef and covered in marinara. Great place for basic Italian food at a hard-to-beat price in the city. Two entrees, salads, and glasses of wine--$38.

Stella Pasticceria e Caffe
A nice place to follow your cheap Italian grub. Great cannoli, cookies, cake, coffee, and other things that don't start with "c".

Caffe Trieste
Famous coffee place. Coppola write scripts here. Lots of famous people on the wall. Also has good coffee. Close to City Lights.

Hana Zen (San Francisco, CA)

Another sushi posting. This place was excellent, though. The chefs are very Japanese looking. This usually means good sushi. In this case it did. A $30 tasting menu gets 6 pieces of sashimi, 3 pieces of nigiri and two rolls. The fish is great--probably the best I've ever had. The salmon (sake) was so good I had to have more. It was like fish butter. I mean that in the best way. The fish was almost like jello. But fishy. The restaurant is on the second floor and has big windows facing two streets, so it is an excellent place to people watch.

here & here

Maybe I'll eventually get around to writing about things in Portland.

Mas Sake, Mas Hangover (San Francisco, CA)

Met up with my cousin Isaac for some merrymaking. He took me to this nicely designed sushi bar called Mas Sake. It advertises "Freestyle Sushi." That is a pretty stupid thing to say. The sushi is decent, though, with some creative rolls. The only reason I'm writing this place up, though, is the restaurant was my first exposure to Sake Bombs. A sake bomb is a rocks glass with some champagne and red bull with a small sake glass balanced on two chopsticks sitting on the rim. To get the shot of sake into the glass you hit the table until the shot falls into the glass. Isaac, his roommates and I got a little excited and also knocked over three beers and the pot of soy sauce. I managed to catch the soy sauce in my lap. Maybe that round should have been called the Nagasaki Bomb. Nothing like a lap full of soy to know that you are going to have a good night. The four of us did another 4 or 5 of them. I think. Not sure. The next morning was pretty rough. So, remember that this is something that is best done in moderation.

This place is really trendy so expect to wait or stand unless you get there early. There are cheaper places to eat, but this one is thoroughly decent and has good music. I guess the only reason I am writing it up is to use the title "Mas Sake, Mas Hangover."

here & here

Picaro Tapas Restaurant (San Francisco, CA)

My friend Tracie recommended a sushi joint in The Mission, her old neighborhood. I utilized the convenient public transpo and found the block where the restaurant is supposed to be but couldn't find it. I had the address and it wasn't there. Tracie told me that there was a trick to find it. I tried clicking my heels together but that didn't work, so after cruising the mean corner (Mission and 17th) I took off in search of other treats.

I found Picaro Tapas Restaurant on 16th (3120 to be exact). It was kind of busy, which I took to be a good sign. I got a table (yes, a loser sitting by himself). The place looks nicely Spanish, with all types of dorky decorations. Nice effect. It is in fact so Spanish that every half an hour they throw a match into a bag of fireworks, everyone hits the deck, and they blame ETA. Even scarier was the girl who looked like Liam Gallagher. Luckily the menu is not nearly as scary.
But seriously. The food is good. Started off with a gazpacho and French bread with a spicy dipping sauce. Followed this with jamon Serrano on baguette slices and fried halibut with homemade garlic/mayo sauce. Good good good. Total damage $27, including two beers.

Check it here & here