Stacks

"My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now."
~ little Robbie Zimmerman, 
"My Back Pages" (1964)

https://www.stacksrestaurant.com/


Place: Stacks - Comfortable Food

Location:  501 Hayes Street 
(on the corner of Octavia Street, just a block before it becomes a full-blown "Boulevard", Mr. Browne[1])

Hours: open Monday - Sunday 7:00am

Meal: Blueberry Wheat Germ Pancakes (Short Stack [2]); a side of potatoes (which is how they simply have it listed on the menu); and a cuppa (and 1-1/2 refillas; they leave a Thermos®-carafe-thing on the table for you) Peerless Coffe & Tea® "Organic" (where they have actually quotation marked the word on the menu, and apparently it is "Fair Trade", too) French Roast

http://www.peerlesscoffee.com/product/all-coffee/fair-trade-french-organic/

(So, what is the EweToobular juxtaselection for today? There is none of which I am aware. For all I know, little Robbie may love blueberry pancakes [and hashbrowns-hybrids], too. 

[That back-up band he has there are pretty d*rn good; however, they will never cut it as solo singers themselves, trust me. It is nice to see little Robbie letting his useless Wilbury family have some gainful employment, too.]

The second cover version is just because little Stevie Earle was in town yesterday performing [and more than likely railing at the Blue Angels] at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2018[2] once again this year.)


I can not believe that it has been over six years since I last visited Stacks - Comfortable Food (see previous 'blog-entry from Sunday, July 1st, 2012). There are currently three restaurants under the same ownership in the Bay Area: Burlingame (their original location), San Francisco (in Hayes Valley), and (the newest one) Menlo Park. There are also two additional "sister" locations in Redwood City and Campbell that are franchised, operating under separate ownership. 

It looks as if they have dropped the superfluous "' " from the end of their name since my last visit, too. They no longer reference it on their printed menus, nor on their web-site. However, I did still see it on some of the window-stencils.

(Speaking of "return visits", La Boulangerie de San Francisco ~ directly across the street ~ probably needs one, too.)

Even though their name implies that they may be a "National House of Pancakes" (or possibly "National House of Burgers", even), they offer many items other than just pancakes (they really only have eight from which to choose, anyway):

Feta Omelet ~ 3-egg omelet with Feta cheese, spinach, green onion and tomato (which woulda been my first choice this morning if I had not gone there planning on getting pancakes);

Mexican Frittata ~ chorizo (¡no, gracias!), onion, green chiles, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, chives and guacamole; 

Italian Frittata ~ spicy Italian sausage (which I would ottantasei, of course), mushrooms, onions, green pepper, black olives, topped with Marinara sauce and Mozzarella cheese;

or maybe

Green Chiles, Onions and Salsa Skillet ~ start with our (well, their) great potatoes, topped with Cheddar-Jack cheese, served with your choice of two eggs and a bagel (this would have been my second choice, but Feta always trumps green chiles and salsa).

I really liked that these two (plate-sized) pancakes came with a small ramekin of blueberry compote on the side. The wheat germ seemed to be incorporated not in the pancake batter, but just on the outside. I suppose they pour the pancake batter, then add the blueberries and wheat germ onto them, then flip 'em like that. 

Their (simply-named) potatoes are sort of a combination between hashbrowns and homefries. Instead of being made from shredded potatoes, they used shaved potatoes, which makes for a nice textural component. These were very good all on their ownsome, too.

Now, these were two HUGE pancakes. I could not finish it all (well... technically, I only finished about one whole pancake). With the side of potatoes (which I made sure to finish all of... and just barely, Yogi), it was way too much food for my appetite this morning.

"Lunches?! We don' need no stinkin' lunches!"

The Coffee was tasty enough that I finished two-and-a-half cuppas. Unfortunately, that left no room for me to get another cuppa at the Ritual Coffee Roasters 
Quonset hut across the street (which I was planning on doing before breakfast).

Stacks - Comfortable Food only offers Tabasco® Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce and Green Jalapeño Sauce) for condimentary supplementation... well... and warm maple syrup for the pancakes, where not much was really necessary due to the flavourful blueberry compote (which I did use in entirety on the top pancake). I simply used some of my own Pepper Palace Gator Bite Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the (simply-named) potatoes. I also used several grinds o' grains of paradise all over the potatoes... and a few more on top of the pancakes (yes, I did).

"Ah, but I was so much fuller then,
I'm hungrier than that now... "


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Blueberry Wheat Germ Pancakes ~ 6.7 (this is factoring in the blueberry compote);
side of (simply-named) potatoes ~ 6.8

___________________

1. Ah, what the h*ck... here is yet one more version of "My Back Pages":

2. http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2018/