Art's Cafe

"Hey, baby... we forgot all about the... 
Bi Bim Bop Veggie Omelete[ sic ]... "

(No official web-site-type-thing.)


Place: Art's Cafe

Location:  747 Irving Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues); phonicular contact: (415) 665-7440

Hours: open at 7:00am Tuesday through Saturday; open at 7:30am on Sunday (??? ~ this is where an official web-site-type-thing would be helpful)

Meal: Bi Bim Bop Veggie (uggh!) Omelete[ sic ] ~ with spinach, zucchini, bean sprout, carrot, and Swiss cheese, served with hashbrowns or rice (you would be surprised how many people go with this choice instead of Art's stellar hashbrowns) and toast; (to drink with the meal) a large glassa orange juice; (afterwards, for a breakfastary dessert) a cuppa Snowbird Coffee Zatarra (via pour-over/drip-method) and a corn-cherry scone at Arizmendi Bakery

http://snowbirdcoffee.com/

https://www.arizmendibakery.com/

(What's the EweToobular juxtaselection here today? Simples! Ol' Davie-boy Alvin [Theodore and Simon were not available for comments] is a big gochujang fan, too.)


I wanted to go to a (somewhat close/accessible) place for breakfast that opened early (or hopefully was even open on the 4th of July) and because it had been a while since I last ate at Art's Cafe (see last 'blog entry from Sunday, November 6th, 2016), anyway, that was where I ended up going this morning. Once again, I simply parked in Golden Gate Park (directly across from the entrance to San Francisco Botanical Garden), where there is normally ample (and free) parking that early in the morning. (The extra-added bonus was that after breakfast I strolled through San Francisco Botanical Garden to work off some of those breakfastary calories.)

I arrived at the restaurant around 7:15am and had the entire counter-space to myself for a while. There were two take-away customers ahead of me. But, otherwise, only two other customers came in to eat the entire time that I was having breakfast.

(Again, their entire diner-counter-top is covered with postcards from customers sent from all over the World ~ which are under some Plexiglas to keep the spillage from crudding up the pictures. To my left this morning, I could see London [the one in Englandia, not the much more popular town in Arkansas], Hong Kong, and some far-away place called "Wis-Con-Sin", which I believe used to be a province in that old Czechoslovakia place.)


I have been going to Art's Cafe since some time in 2010 now. Surprisingly enough, there are still a couple of other items on their menu that I need to get back to try:

Hashbrown Melt (Sandwich) ~ served with melted Cheddar cheese on hashbrowns, two eggs, and toast;

or

Four Cheese Omelete[ sic ] ~ American (so, technically, this should be called a "Three Cheese Omelete[ sic ] with some other kinda faux cheese-like product-stuff"), Cheddar, Jack, and Swiss cheese, served with hashbrowns or rice and toast.

Additionally, for you meatetarian types, they offer the interesting sounding Samurai Omelete[ sic ; and if you are getting [ sic ]k of seeing me type "[ sic ]" every time I have to mispel "Omelette", just think of how [ sic ]k I am of typing it, too ] ~ beef teriyaki, onions, and cheese, served with hashbrowns or rice and toast.

Now if they only offered a Hashbrown Bi Bim Bop Veggie (uggh!) (Sandwich)...

(This was exactly how it was presented to me. Really. [Yeah, and today is Cinco de Mayo.])


I have had this same dish once before (I think it was the very first meal that I ever tried there) and knew that I was going to like it (again). Sure, the ingredients may all sound kinda strange for inside an omelete[ sic ], but if you have ever had the Korean dish Bibimbap, you know it has most of the same items in it (well, less the Swiss cheese) and usually includes either a raw egg or fried egg on top.

These guys (well, Art, at least) are truly "Masters of the Hashbrowns". Trust me, I am a Potato Doctor; I even have a PhD to prove it (well, if "PhD" stood for "Potato-h*ckova-Doctor"). Why anyone would choose plain ol' white rice over these crispy golden-brown delights is beyond me. 

For condimentary supplementation, Art's Cafe has both Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Crystal® Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce 
along the counter-top. In my opinion (trust me, I also minored in Hot Sauce at Doctoring School), both of which are superfluously redundant when they have a great gochujang sauce/paste for use instead. As can be seen in the above photo, that is exactly what I used on both the omelete[ sic ] and hashbrowns.

(not so) Strange Coffee and Pastry Interlude

As has been my habit lately whenever eating breakfast in that area of the Sunset, I headed around the corner after the meal for a mighty fine cuppa at Snowbird Coffee. And because I still had a little room left, I also got a fresh-baked good at Arizmendi Bakery[1], too. The scone was a little bit on the dry side (I am just chalking that up to the use of cornmeal), but it was still very good; it had lots and lots of whole dried cherries in it. I bet a savoury-sweet scone made with cornmeal, cherries, and jalapeños would be excellent, too.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Bi Bim Bop Veggie (uggh!) Omelete[ sic ] ~ 6.5;
hashbrowns (on their ownsome) ~ 7.0;
Snowbird Coffee Zatarra ~ 7.1;
corn-cherry scone ~ 6.8

___________________

1. Normally, I avoid this bakery like the plague because they are supporters of a very large (three car-space-length) p*rklet in front of their building. (Need I point out that this is only a block-and-a-d*mn-half away from Golden Gate Park?!) I decided that because it was the 4th of July today, I would do like George Washington did on this very day in 1776 and emancipate the slaves... that's the Spirit, Brian!

(Besides, when was the last time you heard of a plague outbreak in the Sunset District, anyway?!)