Place: Madhouse Coffee Location: 402 Visitacion Avenue, Brisbane, CA; phonicular contact: (415) 467-4003 Hours: open Monday - Friday at 5:30am, Saturday & Sunday at 6:30am Meal: Chile Verde Burrito ~ scrambled eggs, (some kinda) green chilies, and potatoes (there may have been another ingredient or two in it, but I did not remember to write them down); and, to drink, a medium (which really was more of a Large, if you ask me; and if I had ordered their Large, I may not have gotten any sleep the rest of the week) cuppa Madhouse CoffeePeru (Medium-Dark Roast), made in the single cuppa pour-over style https://www.mclaughlincoffee.com/collections/products/products/peru-organic
(Yeah, I know I coulda also used Madness' "Our House", but I always felt that one was a bit too poppish for my liking.) As crazy as it may sound, I used to stop by Madhouse Coffee at least once a week several years ago when I was still working in Brisbane proper (2005-2012), mostly just for a cuppa on my way to work, but every so often also for a quick breakfast before work.
The sleepy little hamlet of Bedlam... er... I mean, Brisbane is located immediately south of San Francisco along the western shore of the San Francisco Bay. It is just a stones-throw (or name-calling distance) from where the old Candlestick Park ballpark was once located. It has boundaries to its south with South San Francisco and to its west (over San Bruno Mountain [hill, really]) with Daly City.
One really cool thing about this small town is that, somewhere along the line, someone started painting some of the fire hydrants in town. There are several working fire hydrants that are now pieces of art. Additionally, there is one little corner park dedicated to several non-working plugs, too.
Madhouse Coffee is just your standard coffeehouse, but it is the main one in Brisbane. Seating-wise, inside there are eight small tables that can seat two to four people each. Now, outside, there is a much more spacious three-tiered garden seating area with another eight tables for two to four people, too. There really are not a lot of items that are offered in the way of breakfast. They do offer a number of sandwiches and the like throughout the day. A few other ideas for breakfast would be bagel breakfast sandwiches. They have a few different items that can be requested, like scrambled (well, nuked, actually) eggs and maybe a "veggie" sausage; plus, they have the requisite cream cheese and also hummus. (However, the bagels and pastries had not been delivered yet this morning when I had arrived a little after 7:30am; otherwise, I might have gone with an egg-"veggie" sausage-bagel sandwich combination. The delivery guys did finally show up just before I had finished eating, though.)
Like many small, family-owned coffeehouses, a lotta the food is already prepared (there were three or four different types of wrapped burritos from which to choose; I did not remember to get the local brand name, though) and displayed in a front counter refrigerated case, and only needs to be reheated. My burrito was tasty enough, even if it was not freshly made for me. The barista/counter-person guy told me that their Coffee is provided to them by McLaughlin Coffee Roasting Company (local guys outta Emeryville... well, for now, until they are either swallowed up by those bastages at St*rbucks or the almost equally greedy folks at JAB Holding Company/Peet's/Keurig Dr Pepper). They do offer two other pour-over options: Italian (Dark Roast) and Island (Medium Roast). I did not ask what they might have to offer in the way of any condimentary supplementation. Once again, I just used some more of my own Old St. Augustine Snake Bite Datil Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) all over the burrito. I left my Coffee unscathed by any hot sauce, though.
(Here is a little Cliff Clavinistic fact: Paul Simon happens to be a HUGE doughnut fan, but Art Garfunkel can not stand them. There would normally be powdered sugar all over the recording studio and Art would occasionally storm out fuming. This was one of the main reasons that they parted ways in the early 70's. You can look it up yerd*mnself if'n you don't believe me!)
(not really such a) Strange Doughnut Interlude The newest and nearest Dunkin'Donuts® in the Bay Area (and, yeah, I am well-aware that their current corporate name is simply "Dunkin'®", but that just sounds rather silly to me) opened up in South San Francisco back in late January 2017. Today was my initial visit and it was totally a premeditated one. Knowing that I was going to be in the area, anyway, I finally was able to use a freebie $5.00 gift-card that I had received back during Christmas vacation while waiting in line for Cirque du Soleil in St. Petersburg (the one in Florida, not the lesser-known village in Russia). Using the entire $5.00-balance, I was able to purchase a small cuppa Original Blend (which is a bit of a [too] Light Roast for me) and three doughnuts: one Boston Kreme (which I ate there with the Coffee ~ I did not really need another cuppa that soon after breakfast, but it was "free", so I was not going to pass it by), one Jelly (good luck trying to determine exactly which fruit flavour is used in this one; is "red" a fruit?), and one Bavarian Kreme (the latter two I will eat later today/tonight). (Do I really need to provide an Intro-Net link to Dunkin'Donuts® web-site?!) Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Chile Verde Burrito ~ 6.5; Madhouse CoffeePeru ~ 6.9; Dunkin'Donuts®Original Blend ~ 5.8 (and I am being very generous with this rating); Boston Kreme doughnut ~ 6.0 (just barely; I grew up on these "fat-pills" and still enjoy 'em whenever I am Back East, but they are really wayyyyy too sweet for me now) ___________________
1. The thriving megalopolis of Brisbane, California was actually named after the much smaller town in Queensland, Aussie-Aussie-Aussie-land. https://brisbaneca.org/ (hahaha! I find it very humourous that they actually call Brisbane "the 'City' of the Stars". How many "Cities" do you know that have a population under 5,000?!)
“But if you're gonna dine with them cannibals Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten... ” ― Nick Cave (Pass me some of that hot sauce, bud!)
https://www.sftastebuds.com/ Place: Tastebuds Location: 600 5th Avenue (on the corner of Balboa Street) Hours: open daily 7:00am Meal: Breakfast Burrito ~ California style (grilled) or Southern (deep fried like a Chimichanga!), chorizo or bacon (neither of which I partook), eggs (which were of the scrambled variety), potatoes, cheese, pico de gallo; to start, a House Honey Cake; and, to drink, a glassa orange juice, and also a cuppa (and one half-refilla) Mr. Espresso® - ChiaroscuroBlend https://mrespresso.com/coffee/blends/ I happened to notice a new (well, to me, anyway) place along Balboa Street (well, technically on 5th Avenue, whatever) last weekend after breakfast and decided to give Tastebuds a go. As it turns out, this is a brand-new(-ish) place and had only opened in July 2018. It is located in the same space that once housed Katia's ~ a Russian Tea Room (which had been a Richmond District mainstay for many years). There were a couple of things that I immediately liked about this new restaurant: 1) they open up very early for my liking (7:00am every d*mn day of the d*mn week!), and 2) they were playing some very cool tunes via Spotify® ~ this morning it was "Beach Vibes" (i.e. New Age Reggae stuff, mon).
One of the things that had initially caught my eye last Sunday morning was the above outside wall mural. It is on the front side (well, the Balboa Street side) of the building. I was told by the owner/manager-lady person that the two women depicted in the mural are her daughters and that it was (well, is still being) done by a Los Ångeles artist/muralist (whose name I immediately had forgotten). Additionally, there are two other (smaller) framed pieces of artwork by the same artist inside the restaurant. There are only a few breakfastary fare items on their menu (and less-so for those of the stupid vegetarian ilk). A few mention-worthy dishes are: Southern Shrimp & Grits (for any of you that do partake of the dead, decaying aquatic insects; of course, if I were to ever order this one it would simply be called "& Grits"); Hangover Helper ~ chorizo over roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, Cheddar cheese, green onion; Southern Comfort ~ collard greens with smoked turkey, grits, a sunny side up egg, toast (unfortunately, I think that the collard greens are already prepared with the d*rn COPD-affected gobbler in them and this dish would not be on my list either); Cinnamon French Toast ~ fresh fruit, whipped cream, maple syrup; Pancakes ~ fresh fruit, whipped cream, maple syrup; or Fried Chicken and Waffles ~ whipped butter, maple syrup. There is also one item on their lunch menu that I will probably get back to try soon: Vegetable Po' Boy ~ roasted bell peppers, onions, basil, Mozzarella, dill mayo, French roll, served with fries.
The House Honey Cake was reminiscent of gingerbread to me. I am very glad that I did get the mistaken cuppa (keep reading below for that explanation) to go with the meal after all. It all went very nicely together as a start-off for the meal.
Now, I decided to go with the "Southern (deep fried like a Chimichanga!)" option, which was a very smart move on my part, if I do say so myself (and I did so just there). This may have been only a "(deep fried like a Chimichanga!) breakfast burrito", but it really was a very good "(deep fried like a Chimichanga!) breakfast burrito". It also was one h*ckova HUGE burrito, and, unfortunately, with the baked-goods starter, I could not quite finish all of it. Due to its enormous size and it being "deep fried like a Chimichanga!", I was also forced to eat it p.o.s.h. Britishlander style with a knife and kfork. Because I had them ochenta-y-seis la carne de cerdo muerta ofensiva y en descomposición, I think that the owner/manager-lady person had them add some roasted bell peppers (red, green, and orange) inside the tortilla wrap. This item was not listed on the menu as an ingredient, so I figured that was just a stupid vegetarian bonus. This turned out to be a really nice flavour-bonus. At first, I thought that the peppers might have been of the chilli-variety (I had already doused the thing in my own hot sauces and really could not tell); however, the owner/manager-lady told me they were just roasted bell peppers. Not that I often have breakfast burritos (be they "grilled" or "deep fried like a Chimichanga!"), but, as of right now in 2019, I am going to have to call this one "My Favourite (grilled or deep fried like a Chimichanga!) Breakfast Burrito of 2019". For condimentary supplementation, Tastebuds offered the Standard San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal, and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce; plus, Crystal®Louisiana's Pure Hot Sauce. Once again, I simply used some more of my own Pepper PalaceChocolate Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on one half of the burrito and some Dixie CrossroadsHot Habañero[ sic ] Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Mom!) on the other half. (not really such a) Strange Coffee Interlude Originally, I had not planned on ordering a cuppa to go with my meal as I had already had one earlier in the morning before heading out for breakfast. However... while I was waiting for my burrito (to be "deep fried like a Chimichanga!"), Nose E. Parker that I am, I figured I would find out what kinda Coffee they served at the joint. So I went back up to the counter and spoke with the owner/manager-lady for a bit about this and was informed that they served Mr. Espresso®. I went on to mention how I liked that local brand and really wanted to check out their roastery in Jack London Square one of these days. I then went back to my seat in the corner of the restaurant and a few minutes later the owner/manager-lady placed a cuppa in front of me. Apparently she had misunderstood me and thought that I was ordering a cuppa the stuff. So, rather than have her dump out a perfectly good cuppa (What kinda sicko-bastage would ever allow that?! Club all the d*rn baby seals that you want, but please do not harm a poor, defenseless cuppa. That is just wrong.), I just told her to leave it for me and I would try to quaff-it-down... somehow. She was gonna comp me for the cuppa, but I insisted on paying for it all the same. (Even though everyone knows [well, except maybe them Mormon-types] that free good Coffee is always the best kinda Coffee.) Glen Bacon Scale Rating: House Honey Cake ~ 6.7; Breakfast Burrito - Southern (deep fried like a Chimichanga!) ~ 6.7; Mr. Espresso® - ChiaroscuroBlend ~ 6.8
Apparently, white Baseball players lives matter, too...[1]
http://www.justforyoucafe.com/ Place: Just For You bakery & cafe Location: 732 22nd Street (between 3rd and Tennessee Streets [hence the EweToobular juxtaselection of video #2 below]) Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am, Saturday-Sunday at 8:00am for "Brunch" Meal: Big (and they are not exaggerating none there) Breakfast Burrito ~ 2 scrambled eggs rolled in a flour tortilla with black beans, Cheddar-Jack, green salsa (diced jalapeño & tomatillo), and your choice of bacon, chorizo, carnitas, or "veggie" (uggh!), and (optional) topped with homemade (well, bakery & cafe-made) Vegetarian Red Chili sauce; a side of Home Fries; and a cuppa (and 1-1/2 refillas) good N'Arlins-style Community Coffee® with roasted chicory https://www.communitycoffee.com/products/coffee/32-oz-ground-coffee-and-chicory
(The first two songs/videos are because today happens to be April 1st, no foolin' [plus, they just don't make Easter Carols like they did when I was a yid... er... I mean... when I was a kid]. I still have that Fools Gold album (as in vinyl, kids), too. I love the line in that first song: "Accept or deny your own existence, 'cause there's no way of living in between..." The last video is because Baseball has finally started-up again for the year... Yay! Baseball is Life... everything else is filler!)
I felt like making a bit of an Easter morn trek for breakfast this morning, so I headed "all the way over" to Just For You bakery & cafe (see last 'blog-entry from Tuesday, July 4th, 2017 ~ That'stheSpirit!). The first thing that entered my mind as I approached the building this morning was: "Woo-HOO!!! They finally got rid of that st*pid mini-parklet that was wasting space along the street." However, I overheard a few customers ask the waiter-server peoples about it and it has only been temporarily removed due to all the street construction in the neighborhood. Who knew I would actually be happy about street renovations?! It does not really matter, this place is just too good for me to boycott due to any support of a st*pid mini-parklet. I was verrrry pleased with my choice this morning. Otherwise, some of the other ideas on which I was debating: Greek Scramble ~ 3 eggs with Feta cheese, onions, spinach, tomato, and Kalamata olives (I have had this a few times before and it is always good, and Πάσχα is one of the biggest Greek religious holidays); (off the weekend "Brunch" Specials chalkboard) Blueberry Lemon French Toast (which sounded very intriguing, but I just had French toast yesterday and wanted something different this morning); or there is always their most-excellent Frittata of the Decade ~ a pan-fried Italian omelette with zucchini, onions, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, garlic, topped with Provolone (I have had this a few times and it is always great; several years ago they used to make this with Cheddar cheese instead of Provolone; however, some idiot Nose-E-Parker customer suggested on his silly li'l 'blog-thing that Provolone or Fontina cheeses would probably be a better match-up with the other ingredients and be more officially Italian frittata-esque; the owner of the restaurant [Hey, Adrienne!] actually read the comment and decided that I... er, I mean... that other idiot Nose-E-Parker 'blogster was right; I can not believe that anyone [other than family and friends] really reads these silly li'l 'blog-things).
The name of this dish this morning was not an understatement in any way. This was an absolutely HUGE burrito. As best as I could tell, the additional "veggies" (uggh!) that were in it were spinach, zucchini, and (white) onions; all ingredients that I love, anyway. In the twenty-plus (possibly more) years that I have been going to Just For You bakery & cafe, I do not think I have ever had this breakfast burrito before. Now as good and tasty (and HUGE) as the burrito was this morning, the real "topper" (Get it? I topped the burrito with the sauce... whatever!) was their most awesome Vegetarian (not, "Veggie" [uggh!], thankfully) Red Chili sauce. It came in a medium-sized ramekin so that you could pour a little or a LOT (which is precisely what I ended up doing) all over your burrito. I have had this sauce once before, I believe, with their Huevos Rancheros. On a future visit, I will have to make sure to order something (even if it is just their homefries) that I can order more of the Vegetarian Red Chili sauce to dump all over the top. Heck, I would even dump it all over the top of their fresh-made beignets! See, it is exactly stuff like this that if this joint were not located "all the way over in Dogpatch" (seriously, it is at least a half-hour drive over there on city streets), Just For You bakery & cafe would easily be in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation (and probably at #2, just behind Dottie's True blue café). I probably shouldn't have ordered the side of potatoes, but they make very good homefries. I did force myself to finish everything. I can always skip lunch today... I have stated before many times here, Just For You bakery & cafe offers an impressive array of hot sauces; they have almost as many different bottles of hot sauces for use as condimentary supplements as I currently have in my refrigerator. Of course, the restaurant happens to be a lot larger and (unlike my refrigerator normally) has actual food in it. I did not need/use any of their selections this morning, though. I just used some of my own Palo Alto Fire Fighters XXX Ghost Pepper Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on top of the homefries. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: (HUGE) Big Breakfast Burrito ~ 6.8; Vegetarian Red Chili sauce (all on its ownsome) ~ 7.4
___________________
1. Now this was a very interesting "find" this morning. They were playing Baseball-ese songs on KFOG this morning during my drive over and back to Dogpatch. The song "Ballad of Eddie Klepp" was one of them. I had never heard this story (or ballad) before. It is just one of the myriad of Baseball lore that seems to have been swept under (the back of?) the bus... http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1998/JSH2503/jsh2503g.pdf
As I have done for the past few years now, instead of calling my end-of-year compilation list for 2016 a "Best of", I am calling this "My Favourites" once again. ("Best of" lists were so 2000's, anyway.) However, I am keeping with the "Top Ten" format-idea, and the easiest way to rank these was just to go back through all my 'blog-entries from 2016 and see which ones had the highest Glen Bacon Scale Rating (and in the case of identical GBS ratings, I am simply listing them chronologistically). Simples! Nu? (And, yes, I am well-aware that there is still another full week left in 2016. However, I already have planned where I will be eating breakfast on Boxing Day [and highly doubt that it will rate over a 7.0 on the GBS] and unless I have some kinda stellar-type breakfast on Saturday ~ New Year's Eve Day ~ there really shouldn't be the need to modify this list in any way, anyway.) 1) Quelle surprise! For the fifth year running (or walking... or just plain ol' standing), the top honours go to le Pain Perdu extraordinaire at Baker Street Bistro (see last 'blog-entry from Dimanche, Septembre 25ième ~ et aussi Dimanche, Janvier 10ième). As I have stated many, many, many, many, many times now, not only is this one of the best versions of French toast in all of San Francisco, it may also be one of the best in the entire U.S.of A., mais bien sûr.
2) (and not really much of a surprise with "My Second Favourite" either) Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café (see last 'blog-entry from Tuesday, June 12th and also from Saturday, January 9th). These truly are an inspired "invenzione". I always like to explain this to people that these are simply Eggs Benedict in una versione italiana (o Uova di Benedetto, Tony). 3) Apple Pan Doreat Mama♥s on Washington Square (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 29th). Additionally, I am calling this my "Best 'New' French Toast Find of 2016" ~ even though it has already been available there for many years already. (Don't worry, the superfluocity with the use of "already" was really a premeditated redundancy really.) 4) Frittata of the Decade/Century at Just For Youbakery & cafe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 5th).
5) Stella Hash Brownsat Breakfast at Tiffany's (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, June 26th). 6) Greek Frittata at Home Plate (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, February 21st). 7) makena (maui) at pomelo ~ REFRESHINGLY GLOBAL (see 'blog entry from Saturday, August 6th). While this dish was small in stature, it was LARGE in flavour; therefore, I am naming this as "co-Best French Toast Dish of 2016... not named Baker Street Bistro Pain Perdu - a brunch favorite! or Apple Pan Dore at Mama♥s on Washington Square". 8) Signature French Toast at Dolce Amore (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, November 27th). This was another great dish from this "sweet" little place. As with #7 above, I am naming this as "co-Best French Toast Dish of 2016... not named Baker Street Bistro Pain Perdu - a brunch favorite! or Apple Pan Doreat Mama♥s on Washington Square". (Interestingly enough, a different dish from Dolce Amore placed at #8 for 2015, too.) 9a) Savory Galette at Marla Bakery (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, May 1st). There was also the extra-added bonus of an extremely tasty breakfastary dessert of Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake. 9b) Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs at Eats (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 1st). 9c) polenta gorgonzola at Caffé/Caffè/Café DeLucchi (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 23rd). This also makes the "Top Ten" list due to the extra special side dish of artichoke hash. (Okay, so it's actually a "Top Eleven" format, Mr. Tufnel.) 2016 Specific Categories (& Honourable Mentions kinda stuff) "My Favourite" New Potatoey Side-dish Find ~ homefries at Honey Honey ~ Cafe & Crepery (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, March 19th). GBS Rating: 7.4 (Of course, it goes without saying [but I am saying it here again all the same, anyway] that the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats ~ in all their garlicky glory ~ are still "My Favourite" Potatoey Side Dish. GBS Rating: 7.5) "My Favourite" Olde Potatoey Side-dish Not Named Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats ~ hashbrowns with habanero-infused pickled onions at Taylor Street Coffee Shop (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 18th). GBS Rating: 7.5 "My Favourite" Huevos Rancheros Dish ~ Golo Ranchero at Cafe Golo ~ Boutique Cafe (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 17th). GBS Rating: 7.2 (Honourable Mention: Huevos Rancheros at STRAW ~ Carnival Fare; mainly for their muy sabrosa salsa ranchera[see 'blog-entry from Saturday, October 29th]. GBS Rating: 7.0) "My Favourite" Take On Boring Ol' Eggs Benedict Not Named Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ Œufs Baker Street Bistro at Baker Street Bistro (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, April 10th). GBS Rating: 7.2 "My Favourite" Breakfast Burrito ~ Breakfast Burrito at the Grind Cafe(see 'blog-entry from Saturday, May 14th). Seeing as I only had breakfast burritos twice this year, it was a 50-50 shot, anyway. GBS Rating: 6.5 "My Favourite" Crêpe ~ Puttanesca Crêpe at higher grounds coffeehouse(see 'blog-entry from Sunday, December 18th). Like the "Burrito" entry above, I had only a few crêpes this year from which to choose, too. GBS Rating: 6.9 "My Favourite" New Absotively, Posilutely, Totally Disgusting (read: Excellent!) Original Coffee Drink ~ Crème Brulee Latte at Rise & Grind (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, October 16th). What kinda demented, diabolical genius would ever come up with the awesomeness of a "Crème Brûlée" Latte?! GBS Rating: 7.3 "My Favourite" Pickled Appetizer of the Nosh Variety ~ Pickle Plate at Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen ~ 24th Street Deli (see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 11th). Possibly the best pickled persimmons that I have ever had... well, technically, they were also the first-ever pickled persimmons that I have ever had (even if they weren't actually persimmons). GBS Rating: 7.4 "My Favourite" Baked-Goods Item of the Danish Variety ~ Mango-Coconut Danish at Grain D'or (see 'blog-entry from Sunday, January 31st). Mango, coconut, AND rosemary?! Oh, yeah! GBS Rating: 7.4 "My Favourite" Bready/Toasty Side ~ (World) Famous Cliff House Popovers(!) at the Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (this is an exact duplicate of 2015's and 2014's choices and, like #1 and #2 above, should really be no surprise; as long as they keep making 'em, I will keep eating 'em; see most recent last 'blog-entry from Sunday, August 14th). GBS Rating: 8.2 Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro ~ 8.2; Zucchini Cakes at Dottie's True blue café ~ 7.6; Apple Pan Doreat Mama♥s on Washington Square ~ 7.5; Frittata of the Decade/Century at Just For You bakery & cafe ~ 7.5; Stella Hash Brownsat Breakfast at Tiffany's ~ 7.5; Greek Frittata at Home Plate ~ 7.4; makena (maui) at pomelo ~ REFRESHINGLY GLOBAL ~ 7.4; Signature French Toast at Dolce Amore ~ 7.4; Savory Galette at Marla Bakery ~ 7.3 (and separately rated Cardamom Spiced Coffee Cake ~ 7.6); Polenta and Sunny Up Eggs at Eats ~ 7.3; polenta gorgonzola at Caffé/Caffè/Café DeLucchi ~ 7.3 (and separately rated artichoke hash ~ 7.5)
http://www.thegrindcafe.com/ Place: the Grind Cafe Location: 783 Haight Street (near the corner of Scott Street) Hours: open 7:00am every day of the week Meal: Breakfast Burrito ~ flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, Cheddar, avocado, salsa, sour cream, & choice of ham, bacon, or sausage (substitute for vegetarian sausage), comes with a choice of hash browns or home fries (they have both "hashbrowns" and "homefries" as two words, I prefer the compounded-words); and a 16 oz cuppa the house Coffee (they don't offer free refillas, but you can get a refilla for only another 50¢; I didn't feel the need for any additional Coffee this morning, though)
(What do Tom Russell EweToobular songs have to do with either "Grind", "Cafe", or "burritos"? Well, nuthin', really. You will need to read along to the bottom and see footnote "[3]" and judge for yerdammself. "But why also three songs this morning, Brian?" ~ because, dammit! [Actually, I added the third video because it has two of my favourite Western/Folk singers dueting together.]) I went back to the Grind Cafe(see last 'blog-entry from August 30th, 2014) again for breakfast this morning. I like that they open up early every morning. I sat inside this morning. It was actually nice enough to sit outside on their sidewalk patio café area again; however, there was a swarm of those pesty gnats/black flies (you know, the kind that just seem to like to fly around aimlessly in circles). I also like that they offer a pretty nice breakfastary menu from which to choose. Some of the other ideas that I was thinking on: Acropolis (Omelet) (artichoke, tomato, olives, spinach, & Feta); Lower Haight (Omelet) (chicken apple sausage [which I am sure I could have had substituted for the vegetarian sausage], spinach, sun-dried tomato, & Feta); or Hash Brown Hill (a mound of home fries or hash browns covered with melted Cheddar & topped with sour cream, black olives, avocado & green onion). I thought it was pretty funny that the counter-server-guy was actually drinking a cuppa that St*rbucks swill. That would be like working at that fine dining establishment Chipotle Mexican Grill[1] and bringing a Taco Bell burrito for your lunch. When one of his co-workers arrived a few minutes later, she also called him out on it. Their own Coffee is really much better, anyway.
I liked that the burrito was grilled and it had lots of fresh, sliced avocado (at least half of an avocado) and possibly two full vegetarian sausage patties inside, too. If I am any judge of horseflesh (well, vegetarian-horseflesh), I am pretty sure that they use MorningStar Farms®-brand sausage patties. https://www.morningstarfarms.com/products/morningstar-farms-original-sausage-patties-product.html Luckily, they went lightly with the sour cream. I like it well enough, but many places go way overboard with its usage. Besides, I like crema[2]mexicana better with my burritos. I really like a place that gives you a choice of side potatoes. I went with the homefries this morning. Their version of homefries are very good: made with green onions, green and yellow bell peppers, spices, and fresh herbs (I know that there was rosemary in there, but I think there may have also been some cilantro ~ or some other kinda green leaf herb thing). Now if they just offered this with the potatoes already inside the flour tortilla along with all of the other ingredients, that would truly have made it "the whole enchilada" (well, "whole burrito", but "whole burrito" isn't a real saying); plus, that way, I could have ordered this with a side of hashbrowns, too! For condimentary supplementation,the Grind Cafehas Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Huy Fong Foods, Inc.Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce[3]. Once again in an effort to try to use up the oldest of my hot sauce collection first, I used some of my own Fat Cat Chairman Meow's Revenge (Scorpion Pepper Sauce) (Thanks, Greg & Cindy!) on the potatoes and some Florida GoldPremium Habanero Hot Sauce (Thanks, Kerry!) on top of the burrito (which came in handy as they had gone kinda lightly with their own salsa inside the burrito). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Breakfast Burrito ~ 6.5 (I probably would have rated this 6.9 or higher with the homefries already incorporated inside); home fries (or homefries) ~ 6.8 ___________________ 1. There is no truth to the rumour that Chipotle Mexican Grill is changing their corporate motto to "We serve killer burritos... literally!". 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-culinaristic pointer of the day: "Crema" in Spanish simply means "cream". However, when they reference it used in burritos, tacos, nachos, etceteros, it is a form of sour cream, similar to crème fraîche. Mexican crema is much better than plain ol' 'merican sour cream if you ask me (even if you don't ask me: my 'blog ~ my 'rules). For a better explanation, let's check out what one of my favourite food resources, Cheese.com, has to say: http://www.cheese.com/crema-agria/ 3. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Say it ain't so, Joe (Tom, whatever)!
I can not confirm that this jingle-berry anthem is actually sung by the great Texas troubadour (by way of Los Ångeles), Tom Russell, but it sounds a lot like him. (Hopefully) it is probably just a sound-alike* wannabe, and if it is, ol' Tom should do a little suing, boy! *(You know what they say: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flatulence.")
