"Onions on your sneakers!"**
Eddie's Cafe (sans accent aigu, s'il vous plaît) is over in the Western Addition on Divisadero, just a block away from historic Alamo Square (anyone not from San Francisco, that is the "Full House" park ~ the one with "the Painted Ladies"). This little place is a really nice family/neighborhood-friendly joint; it has a very local place feel to it and there were a few families with li'l'uns dining there this morning. It has a great old-style diner counter in addition to vinyl booths for the patrons to eat at.
Over the counter and in a cupboard at the end of the counter, there is a very cool collection of coffee mugs. The best thing is that they are actually used to serve the customers (the guy sitting next to me got a Batman one, another guy down the counter was stuck with a San Diego Chargers mug, etc.), not just to look at. I asked the owner(?)/waitress where all the mugs came from and she told me that someone gave them one as a gift once and now it has blossomed into a collection of well over 100 mugs of all sizes and types.
Their menu is really nothing special, just a pretty basic diner-ish menu. The only "Soul food" that I really noticed on the menu was "grits" and some "greens". No big deal, as I was there for breakfast anyway. I had the Vegetable Omelett (sic) ~ three eggs with hash browns or grits/toast or homemade biscuits & jelly; and I had them add some Swiss cheese to it. It was a simple enough "omelett" made with tomatoes, green bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I went with hash browns and biscuits for my choices. I also had a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice (which may or may not have been "fresh squeezed" by Odwalla®, which sounds Korean enough for me.)
They only have Crystal® out on the tables, but when I asked if they had any others, they brought out both Tabasco® and Tapatío® for me. I had come prepared with a few from my own "collection" and used a little Trees Can't Dance Tree Fire Sauce (thanks again, "Greg" and Cindy) on the hash browns. I was actually pretty surprised that they did not even have any gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), though.
The food wasn't really the best I have ever had, nor was it the worst; it was just a very nice overall breakfast and friendly experience. I will be going back mainly for the friendly atmosphere and to bring a mug to add to their collection; I just need to remember to try and get a fun coffee mug from Englandia when I am over there on my "Christmas Holiday" this year ~ I'm thinking a Bettys or one from Liverpool would be neat.
And to top off the morning, I found two pennies ~ one right outside the restaurant in the gutter while I was taking the photos, and one right next to my car a block away ~ twice as lucky for me!
Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Vegetable Omelett ~ 5.9; Coffee Mug Collection ~ 7.5
*(The restaurant is owned and operated by a Korean family. I had to ask why they didn't offer any Korean specialties on the menu. The best that I can figure out is that the restaurant at one time must have been owned by an actual "Eddie" and the current owners just kept the menu as it always was. )
**(See my entry for Art's Café from August 14th, 2010 for the translation to that lame joke.)
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