the Little Chihuahua

"Dogs never bite me. Just humans." 
~ Marilyn Monroe

http://www.thelittlechihuahua.com/location/noe-valley


Place: the Little Chihuahua
Location: 4123 24th Street (between Castro and Diamond Streets)
Hours: open at 10:00am on Saturday & Sunday (for "Brunch")
Meal: Chilaquiles ~ fried corn tortillas tossed with a smoky chile cream sauce, sautéed poblano chiles and onions and topped with two eggs cooked to order, garnished with sour cream, pico de gallo and queso cotija; a (somewhat superfluous) side of tortilla chips; a large glassa melon agua fresca; and (beforehand) a small cuppa Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop La Dona (light roast)

(No offical web-site; phonicular contact: 415-642-1192.)

(The first EweToobular juxtaselection should be self-evident from the theme of the song and the name of the restaurant this morning. 

The second song is because it's una tradición for the restaurant to be blasting a little Sábado Negro when they first open up for the morning. They actually weren't doing so this morning, but they normally are.)


Think globally, drink locally!

I had arrived to the neighborhood (which, in this case, would be Noe[1] Valley[2]) more than an hour before my intended breakfastary destination was due to open, so I figured a little early-morning caffeine intake was in order. I have been to Bernie's ~ a local coffee shop 
before and knew it to be a decent place for a decent cuppa. They are located in the same spot (bottom floor of an old Victorian[3]) that used to (coffee)house Spinelli's (back before they were bought-out by Tully's). I am not sure which particular brand of Coffee they serve at Bernie's (It would be ironic if the name of the roastery happened to be the Donald or the Hillary, though.) ~ see, here's where an official-type web-site thing comes in handy ~ but I was informed by one of the pretty, friendly baristettes that today's drip-Coffee was a light roast with the moniker of La Dona.

the Wild Parrots of San Francisco Interlude

Just before entering Bernie's, a pair (which would only be considered a minor pandemonium) of the noisy little chatter-heads flew over the building. I have no idea from where they were heading or to where they were going.

I had been meaning to get back to breakfast at the Little Chihuahua (see last 'blog-entry from June 28th, 2015) last month in keeping with my end-of-June annular visit. Plus, it's always nice to get back to Noe Valley once in a while, especially when it's proving to be a sunny morning for a change. I sat out back in the open-air (but covered with an awning) patio seating area. There are five small tables that can seat from two to four persons back there. I had the entire place to myself the whole time I was there, too.

"Hey, Brian, what gives? Chilaquiles two days in a row? Are you some kinda Mexicanese-person now? Ja-ja-ja!" 

Well, I will have you know, this was by no means (Would that be "by yes means" then?) a coincidence. I purposely wanted to order another chilaquiles dish to compare it with muy sabroso desayuno de ayer. This came out as a huge pile o' tortilla chips. These were sautéed with a very nice salsa and it included lots of poblano chillies and white onions in with it. I was not asked how I would like my eggs prepared (normally chilaquiles are prepared with the eggs scrambled in with the tortilla chips and junk already) and this came out with the eggs scrambled separately, but added on top of the heap; this was a different take on how I normally am used to getting it. Plus, if I had known that I had my choice of how the eggs could be prepared, I might have gone with over-medium instead for a change. This was a pretty good meal, but yesterday's chilaquiles were more in the style of what I am used to and prefer. 

If I were to recommend going back to the Little Chihuahua for breakfast (and I highly do), I would tell you to stick with either the Stacked Enchiladas (which would be my primary recommendation as they are truly keeler; see previous 'blog-entry from June 29th, 2014) or their breakfast version of Chile Relleno (which I had on my previous visit; these are also keeler, but in comparison to the Stacked Enchiladas, this would only be a Voluntary Manslaughter sentence, whereas the Stacked Enchiladas are Death Row quality).

Sure, I didn't have to order a side of tortilla chips, but I mainly did so so that I could sample some of their mighty fine home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas. I got three little ramekins of their Roasted Tomato, Chipotle, and Lime-Habanero. None of these are extremely picante (well, I suppose they are gringo-espicy), but I really like the flavour of the Lime-Habanero. The combination of plain tortilla chips with the ones already in the chilaquiles really was a lot of chips to take in (or a lot of intake of tortilla chips).

This meal does not come with any type of side dish (arroz y frijoles refritos are generally a given). I was thinking of ordering a side of their Mexican potatoes or plátanos fritos. Luckily, I did not, because that would have ended up being wayyyyy too much food, anyway.

And just like yesterday, the Little Chihuahua only has bottles of Tapatío® Salsa Picante Hot Sauce on the tables for a condimentary supplement. Who would ever need any of that when they offer five great-tasting home-made (taquería-made, whatever) salsas already?![4]


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Chilaquiles ~ 6.4;
Bernie's La Dona ~ 7.0;
the Wild Parrots of San Francisco ~ 8.5

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1. For those of you that are uninformed, "Noe" is pronounced: "NO-ee", not just plain ol' "No".

2. For those of you that are uniformed, "Valley" is pronounced pretty much as you would expect.

3. Like there are really any "new Victorians".

4. Well, Who may not ever use any of that kind of bottled hot sauce, but I bet those smarmy li'l bastages What, I-don't-know, or I-don't-give-a-darn would. Naturally!