Eats

"If you are ever mugged by a couple of clowns, don't hesitate… go for the juggler." ~ Phineas Taylor Barnum

(No official web-site.)


Place: Eats
Location: 50 Clement Street (on the corner of 2nd Avenue); phonicular contact: (415) 751-8000
Hours: open every day of the week at 8:00am
Meal: Chilaquiles ~ (v) fried tortillas [ sic ] chips, black beans, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, scrambled eggs, ricotta salata[1], sour cream, cilantro; and a glassa Fresh Strawberry Lemonade

(Again, like yesterday, there really is no reason for today's EweToobular songs; I just like Sarah Borges.)


Luckily, I was not the first one in line this morning for breakfast at Eats (see previous 'blog-entry from April 26th, 2015), so there was little chance of a repeat attack like yesterday from anyone on the sidewalk while waiting to be seated ~ there was one suspicious-looking Golden Retriever (who was waiting patiently outside while his humans stuffed their faces inside... without him). Besides, the local street-population/homeless situation in the Richmond may total all of three or four people tops, and I already know a few of them by name. 

Having eaten at Eats so many times now, there are only a few items (that are stupid (v)egetarian-friendly) left on their menu that I haven't had yet. There are still Huevos Rancheros ((v) fresh tomato salsa, beans, over easy eggs, pepper Jack, avocado, sour cream) or So Happy Hotcake ((v) lemon poppyseed pancake, strawberry compote, sour cream whip, balsamic reduction, powdered sugar).

As I have stated before, much like Tiramisù, the formula for Chilaquiles (see specific 'blog-entry from December 12th, 2013) can vary from restaurant-to-restaurant (and family-to-family). You won't see it presented the same way in different places usually. Today's version was something like a plate of breakfast nachos. I am used to this dish with more (red) sauce all over the top. This was still a great dish and they make a very good tomatillo salsa (with a nice little kick to it, too).

Before ordering, I asked the friendly, pretty waitress/server-lady (who I later found out from the guy sitting next to me was actually the friendly, pretty manager-lady; apparently they have kids in the same middle school class) if there would be too much food to also order a side of their Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes. She told me to hold off ordering until I saw the size of the dish. She was right, but their Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes really are great, and if that was all they had on their menu, it would still be worth a return trip a few times a year.

Since my last visit, it looks like Eats has added a few more hot sauces to its condimentary supplements
repertoire. In addition to the San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces (Tabasco® Brand 
Pepper Sauce [Original Red], Cholula® Hot Sauce, and Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce), they now offer three types of El Yucateco®: Red Habanero Hot Sauce, Green Habanero Hot Sauce, and XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik®. I had come prepared with a couple of my own bottles of hot sauces; and, coincidentally enough, one of which was my own bottle of El Yucateco® XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik®. I ended up using some of their XXXtra Hot Sauce Salsa Kutbil-ik® on top of the pile. I later found out that was a mistake, as their tomatillo salsa was more than picante and flavourous enough all on its own merits. The friendly, pretty manager-lady saw my other bottle of Blair's After Death sauce with Liquid Fire and asked to try some. I warned her ahead of time (as she was going to pour it on some potatoes) to try just a toothpick's taste first, as it is one of those stupidly excessive hot sauces (which I had also found out the hard way after pouring some ~ too much ~ on my own potatoes the first time I ever tried it. Thanks a lot, Sean!). Mind you, I don't mind being responsible for the accidental death of some Korean waiter-guy, but I didn't want to be (ir)responsible for the hospitalization of any friendly, pretty manager-ladies. 

Plus, after I had finished eating, I noticed that Eats now has a new line of "Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup" from a company called Traina™ Foods; apparently they are a California-based company that specialises in dried food products and specifically sun-dried tomatoes. I tried a little of both the standard ketchup and also some of the Hot Sriracha ketchup. They were both pretty good; the sun-dried tomatoes make all the difference. I happened to mention to the friendly, pretty manager-lady that they were really very good and she ended up giving me a brand new bottle of the Hot Sriracha ketchup to take home.

http://www.trainafoods.com/resources-recipes/sriracha-press-release-09-2014b

Like my last visit to Eats, afterward I took a little stroll through the small Farmers Market that they have on Sunday mornings along Clement Street (between 2nd and 4th Avenues). I stopped at the same fresh-baked goods stall as I did last time and got another Mint-Mojito (Gluten-Free and Vegan) Doughnut for a breakfastary dessert. (I don't know why so many places stress they serve "Gluten-Free" stuff. Do they expect us to pay more for it if they actually charged for the gluten?) If I had known that was the same one I had tried before, I would have gotten one that was explained to me as a Dark Chocolate-Orange (made with Cointreau® in the ganache) doughnut (I don't think that one was "Vegan", though).

Moral of today's 'blog-story: 
A free bottle o' (Sriracha) ketchup is better than a kick in the pants (or pair of sunglasses to the head).


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chilaquiles ~ 6.7; Fresh Strawberry Lemonade ~ 6.6; Mint-Mojito doughnut (even if it was both "Gluten-Free" and "Vegan") ~ 6.6


___________________

1. Ricotta salata is a pressed, salted, dried, and aged variety of ricotta. It is milky-white and firm, and used for grating or shaving. 

http://www.cheese.com/ricotta-salata/

(I just love that there is a web-site called "Cheese.com".)