Just For You cafe

... and me



http://www.justforyoucafe.com/

Just For You cafe used to be located on 18th Street (near Connecticut) over on Potrero Hill*, where I used to go there often for breakfast and lunch when I worked only a few blocks downhill. They have been at their present location in Dogpatch** for the past eight years or so now. Like Dottie's TRUE BLUE CAFE, they have a great breakfast (and lunch) selection from which to choose; their main specialties are New Orleans, Mexican, and California classics.

This place could easily be put into my rotation, if not for its being located diametrically opposite (as opposed to diametrically the same?) my apartment in the City; it is about as far away in San Francisco to travel from my neighborhood as possible and not end up in the Bay. It took me about half an hour to drive cross-town to get there this morning, mainly due to the wet road conditions. They have lots of cool old art posters, Rock-and/or-Roll concert posters, movie posters, and travel posters on their walls. It has a very friendly and inviting neighborhood feel to it. There really is no equivalent in the Richmond District, unfortunately.

















I had the Frittata (witch eye em gladd two sai wuz speled kerrektlee) of the Decade ~ A slow-pan-fried Italian omelette with zucchini, mushrooms, onion, garlic, spinach & tomato, topped with Cheddar cheese. (Wonder what the Frittata included just last year?!) This had lots of fresh veggies in it and, I am happy to say, especially the spinach was fresh (not frozen) which is always a big plus, Popeye. The only thing I might have done differently (if I ever cooked) would be to substitute the Cheddar cheese with either Fontina or Provolone (autentico formaggi italiani); otherwise, this frittata was superbo, eccellente, magnifico.

All of their egg dishes are served with home fries and choice of fresh baked breads/toast; I went with the cornbread. The home fries were an excellent chunky-style made from red potatoes and were sufficiently crispy and crunchy on the outside ~ nice. The cornbread was a huge corner piece; I ended up eating about half of it only.

I also had a cuppa very nice N’Orleans-style coffee, made with roasted chicory: Community Coffee® ~ The Genuine Flavor of New Orleans™ (which is actually located in Baton Rouge, though).

http://www.communitycoffee.com/


This place, again like Dottie's TRUE BLUE CAFE, offers a selection of many different types of hot sauces: 3 different varieties of Tabasco® (standard Red, Chipotle, and Jalapeño); Cholula®; El Yucateco® ~ XXXTRA HOT SAUCE Salsa Kutbil-lk de HABANERO (rated at 11,600 Scoville units, by the way), Crystal®, and Tapatío®. I had come prepared with some of my own, but was glad to see none were really needed. I ended up going with some of the El Yucateco® on the home fries; unfortunately, I went a little heavy with the hot sauce (hey, it pours pretty fast) and nearly blew my head off (and am still blowing my nose) when eating them. The server was extra nice and asked if I'd like some more potatoes to balance it out; there really was too much food as it was, so I told her no.



They even have mini-pepper grinders on the counter to use; fresh, cracked pepper is always the best.

They also offer Beignets (another N’Orleans tradition) on the menu, three per order, and they are HUGE. I will have to go back another time just to try them (the excellent server even offered me one freebie of those, too. Again, I was way too full as it was… now if I had only skipped eating most of the cornbread).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Frittata of the Decade ~ 7.5; Community Coffee ~ 6.9


*(Stupid cunning linguist pointer of the day:
 
"Potrero" is Spanish for "pasture": the name derives from an 1835 land grant to Don Francisco de Haro to graze cattle in the "potrero nuevo" or "new pasture". This would explain the other nickname for the neighborhood "Goat Hill" ~ which, of course, beats "the place where convicted felon ~ multiple counts: including Criminal Conspiracy, Kidnapping, Assault, Robbery, and Using a Deadly Weapon ~ and also guilty of Wrongful Death and Battery charges, Orenthal James Simpson grew up", which is just too long to put on postcards and tends to scare off the touristas.)
 
**(Even though Dogpatch is one of the oldest existing neighborhoods in San Francisco, it is still a relatively "newish" area for "re"-development and really hasn't been hit by the "gentrification" bug of the late 90's - early 2000's, like Hayes Valley and South Park . It remains mostly a residential and warehouse area. However, since the developments of the UC Mission Bay Campus and AT&T Park ~ home of your 2010 NL Championship San Francisco Giants! ~ just north along 3rd Street, Dogpatch has become a little more popular commercial spot.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch,_San_Francisco
 
Not sure where the name "Dogpatch" comes from, but it sounds cool. Maybe Al Capp was one of the founding fathers of the neighborhood.)