the Art Bistro

Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~
First in a Series

(And also Breakfast on Geary [redux], 
Part 19)

(No official web-site.)


Place: the Art Bistro
Location: 6900 Geary Boulevard (on the corner of 33rd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 379-7119
Hours: open Monday through Friday at 6:30am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:30am
Meal: Asiago[1] Bagel with Egg and (Cheddar) Cheese; Chocolate Croissant for a breakfastary dessert; and a cuppa French Roast to enjoy with both

(There is no EweToobular juxtaselection this morning between "Art", "Bistro", or "Coffeehouse" for these videos. I just like this N'Arlins-based Jazz band, and I just saw them play live in town on Thursday night.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuba_Skinny


Sometimes you just don't have a lot of time to go to an official-type breakfast (or "Brunch") joint and it's necessary to make do with whatever is close and available. (And sometimes, like today, you don't have much choice in the matter, as you are basically being held hostage in your neighborhood by events like the San Francisco Marathon, which has cut the city in half for the entire morning.) I figured it was about time to do a Series specifically on my neighborhood Coffeehouses. Of course, my neighborhood is the Richmond District, which also happens to be one of the largest in San Francisco. The Richmond District is sandwiched (or, in the case of this morning's breakfast, is bageled) between the Presidio of San Francisco (to the north) and Golden Gate Park (to the south), and from Arguello Boulevard (on the east) to Ocean Beach (which, [in case you haven't been keeping track] by process of elimination, is on the western border). So, you see, I have my work cut out for me with this large chunk of the City.

I thought I might as well start with the closest Coffeehouse to my apartment, the Art Bistro. This place is so close that I almost don't need to put on any pants or shoes… but, don't worry, I made sure to wear shoes, I didn't want to get in trouble for breaking any health code rules. It has been open now for ?15-20? years. I have gone  there often enough for Coffee and bagels in the past. It is a really cute little shop (with umbrellas and cushioned outdoor-type wicker chairs, but all indoors) and has reproductions of major artwork (hence the "Art" part of their name) on the walls.

The toughest part about trying to get a sufficient breakfast at most Coffeehouses is that there are not really a lot from which to choose in the way of actual food. the Art Bistro actually has a decent enough selection of bagel and croissant sandwiches (and other sweet pastries for breakfastary desserts ~ the slices of Apple Pie looked really tasty). I probably shoulda gotten my bagel with both tomato slices and onions on it this morning, too.

Unfortunately, I have no idea which brand/roastery of Coffee they serve and sell (see, here is where an official web-site would be of great help). They usually only have one type of Coffee offered daily, today's just happened to be French Roast (which I felt necessary to transfer from the paper cup into my official Dottie’s True blue café mug). I also have no idea from which bagelry and/or bakery that they get their baked-goods stuff. The bagel-egg-cheese sandwich was good. I have had better Chocolate croissants, but this was still tasty, too.

As I took all of these (all the way) back home with me to eat, I didn't bother asking what they might have to offer in the way of condimentary supplements. I simply used some (well, a lot) of my own Palo Alto Firefighters Pepper Sauce (Thanks agains, Amys and Brian!) on the bagel-sandwich thing, because it just goes great with everything. I didn't put nuthin' on the Chocolate Croissant (well, okay, I did try a few drops of the PAFPS on it; it really wasn't that bad, either).

They also have bags of fresh-ground Coffee (about ¾-pound) for sale. I made sure to pick up a bag of the Bohemian Blend to check out later. At $5.00 for ¾-pound (that's about $6.67 'merican per pound; I am not sure how much that equates to per British £, though) for any of the Coffee blends/roasts that they offer, it's a pretty decent value, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Asiago Bagel with Egg and (Cheddar) Cheese ~ 6.0; Chocolate Croissant ~ 6.1; French Roast Coffee ~ 6.5


________________

1. Seriously?! WTF?!* Wild Bill Gates and die Braunhemden jeenyuses at Microsoft Spell-checkering do not recognize this very popular Italian cheese. Do they not ever go out to eat?

Here is another great link with information from Cheese.com:

http://www.cheese.com/asiago/

*(Of course, "WTF" stand for "What Type of Fromage".)