The Corner Store

If the Poor Boys can afford a Kalamazoo[1], do they really need our pennies and nickels?

http://www.thecornerstore-sf.com/

This was my first breakfastary visit to the Corner Store, located "down on the corner" of Masonic Avenue and Geary Boulevard. They are a slightly new-ish place; they have been open for less than six months now or I probably would have included them in my "Breakfast on Geary" series earlier this year. This is an easy location for me to get to ~ right down Geary Boulevard ~ with lots of free parking in the general vicinity, too. There is a nice, inviting, neighborhoody feel to the joint; they are not really a "Sports Bar", but they do have a large-screen TeeVee at one end of the bar (where there is an additional seating for food for about ten to twelve people).

Even though the rain had not let up yet this morning, I sat outside on the sidewalk patio, where there is seating for twenty-four or more (which is almost as many seats as they have inside). There is a retractable covered/tented roof and it is heated for just such inclement weather. I really was impressed with the job they did on the canopy and making it wind/rain resistant; it was completely dry and warm and I took off my coat when I sat down (and I wasn't even sitting near one of the two wall heaters). 

One of the big minuses about the place is that they only offer 7-8 items on their "Brunch" menu from which to choose, and, of these, there really are only three items for stupid vegetarians. I ordered Ricotta[2] Pancakes ~ honey butter, berry compote[3]. I also had a side of homefries and a cuppa French-pressed Blue Bottle Coffee Three Africans (Ethiopian/Ugandan blend).

This was just one extra large pancake, but due to the ricotta in the batter, it made it not only extra moist, but extra heavy, so one was really more than sufficient for my appetite. The berry compote was a blackberry one, and there was the subtlest of undertones from the honey butter. I liked the composition of the homefries (nice spices and lots of diced onions in the mix); however, I would have liked them a little crispier (read: burnt), but that is just me.

The Corner Store has as condimentary supplements Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Tapatío®. I had brought a few bottles of my own hot sauces and used some Cholula® Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the homefries. They did have copper mini-pepper grinders (for mini-peppercorns?) on each table and I put this to good use on the homefries also. The pancake really needed no extra flavouring.

Sorry, Willy, as good as this pancake was, I doubt that I will be going back again any time soon to unwind and lay my money down, due to the lack of choices on their "Brunch" menu and that they don't open until 10:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Ricotta Pancake ~ 7.0; Blue Bottle Coffee Three Africans ~ 7.2


1. A Gibson Kalamazoo Electric Guitar was a budget model, but I am still sure it would have been way too expensive for a buncha poor boys playing street music.

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del giorno, numero uno:

"Ricotta" literally means "recooked" in Italian. It comes from Latin "recocta", the feminine of "recoctus", which is the past participle of "recoquere" meaning "to re-cook".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer du jour, numéro deux:

"Compote" is French for "mixture". It comes from Old French "composte", which comes from Latin "composita", the feminine of "compositus" meaning "put in place" (see: composite, compost).

But it has nothing to do with the author of "In Cold Blood".