A(nother) breakfastary mini-roadtrip: South San Francisco, CA (Sunday, August 12th, 2018)
(No official-type web-site or nuthin'.) Place: Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry Location: 1131 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA; phonicular contact: (650) 872-2810 Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am; Saturday & Sunday at 8:00am Meal: (me) Orange Bread French Toast ~ 3 slices of our (well, their) housemade (well, Cafe & Pantry-made) bread, dipped in our (again, their) delicious (they are correct there) orange batter, topped with butter and sliced oranges, & served with real maple syrup, and (because that was not quite enough carbohydrates for me for the morning) a side of home fries; (Joe) Cheddar, Bacon, & Green OnionsOmelette~ 3 eggs cooked in butter, home fries and toast (Joe smartly went with a fresh-baked cinnamon muffin; even I can make toast at home); (Karen) the Original ~ 2 eggs scrambled with spinach, green onions, mushrooms, spices, and your choice of meat (Karen chose chorizo), served with home fries & your choice of toast, muffin, bagel, tortillas, or scone (Karen chose [very wisely, I might add] an orange-cranberry scone); and to drink: (me) a large glassa orange juice, (Joe) a cuppa (and a few refillas) whatever the house Coffee was, (Karen) just a glassa water Some old friends (meaning I have known them for a verrrry long time, but both Joe and Karen are kinda old, too) were in town for the weekend and staying at a motel in San Bruno, so I figured hitting Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry again for breakfast (see last 'blog-entry from Monday, March 13th, 2017) was the smart thing to do (it was less than a mile just up the road ~ in this case, El Camino Real ~ from where they were staying, anyway).
I tried my d*rnedest to talk Joe and/or Karen into ordering something off of the Weekend Specials menu-insert. If I had not already pre-planned on getting what I had ordered, I might have easily deigned to order the Banana Buttermilk Pancakes. I mean, banana-filled pancakes topped with blueberries (an actual botanical berry, of course), strawberries (not so actual botanical berry), bananas (which botanically are a berry all on their ownsome, too), and berry butter? What is not to like there? Plus, that berry butter sounds like something that I will need to try on a future visit.
I just have one word to describe this meal: Verrrry tasty! Now while this dish may not have been "My Favourite New French Toast Dish of 2018 Not Named Pain Perdu at Baker Street Bistro" (that honour will probably be going to GriddleGriddle FreshFresh [see 'blog-entry from Saturday, June 9th, 2018]), this one is definitely Honourable Mention-worthy. The only thing that might have made this ever betterer would have been if they made their own cinnamon-orange-infused maple syrup to pour all over the top (or had given me some of that berry butter to use with this). For condimentary supplementation, Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry offers the Standard (in this case, South) San Francisco Triumvirate of Hot Sauces: Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce), Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce, and Cholula®Hot SauceOriginal. I simply went with some of my own ChelseaFireWicked. Hot. Sauce.® on the potatoes, as did Joe. (another not so) Strange Coffee Interlude After breakfast, Joe and Karen had the great idea to head over to the "sunny" coast of Pacifica to kill the time until they had to head to the airport back to Denver. While we were walking around the Rockaway Beach area, both Joe and I (at this point, I am thinking that Karen might secretly be Mormon) got 12 oz cuppas Kona Coffee at Pacific Java Cafe.[1] This was a fairly light roast Coffee, but it was pretty good all the same. They do offer a few other different roasts/blends from which to choose. However, I am not sure which brand of Coffee they serve. (I did not see anything listed on any of their signage and I did not really bother to ask.)
(Karen[-Sheena, the Punk Rocker?] and Joe[y Ramone?]on Rockaway Beach, Pacifica, CA.) Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Orange Bread French Toast ~ 7.3 Kona Coffee from Pacific Java Cafe ~ 6.8 ___________________
1. Pacific Java Cafe also does not have any kinda official-type web-site or nuthin'. Location: 450 Dondee St # 6, Pacifica, CA; phonicular contact: (650) 738-1222
A(nother) breakfastary mini-roadtrip: South San Francisco, CA (Friday, March 10th, 2017)
(No official-type web-site.) Place: Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry Location: 1131 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA; phonicular contact: (650) 872-2810 Hours: open Monday-Friday at 7:30am; Saturday & Sunday at 8:00am Meals: (mine) Spicy Migas ~ two eggs scrambled with yellow onion, green bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, tomatoes, & crispy tortilla strips, topped with Cheddar cheese, & served with black beans, warmed tomato salsa, & corn tortillas; (Cindy's) Orange Bread French Toast ~ three slices of our (well, their) homemade (well, restaurant-made) bread, dipped in our (again, their) delicious orange batter, topped with butter and sliced oranges, & served with real maple syrup (I think Cindy may have optioned for a side of some dead, decaying grounded-up porcine or fowl links, too); (Greg's) Denver Omelette ~ 3 eggs with bell peppers, white onions, Cheddar cheese, & ham, served with home fries and your choice of toast, muffin, bagel, tortillas, or scone; and there were also some drinks drank (however, after four days in a row of breakfasts, the drinks part of the meal all seem to blur together; I might have had a glassa either orange or grapefruit juice; I am pretty sure that Cindy had a glassa milk and Greg had a cuppa Coffee and probably a refilla or two) With my friends Greg and Cindy (these would be the same two people mentioned above and in the last 'blog-entry) in town for the weekend on their way to Hawai'i, we were going to head down to visit another friend, Dave (who has been my traditional Thanksgiving Day host for the past several years), in Gilroy for the day. I figured that this was as good a time as any to have breakfast somewhere south of the city on our way down to Gilroy, and I remembered to remember that I had not eaten at Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry (see previous 'blog-entry from [Easter] Sunday, April 24th, 2011) for quite a while now (Almost six years ago?! Who is scheduling these breakfasts?). I really should have revisited Jo Ann's Cafe sooner; it is truly good enough to be in my Breakfastary Starting Rotation (if not for the distance there and back).
Their version of "migas" is very similar to a chilaquiles dish, just with strips of crispy corn tortillas in it in place of the standard corn tortilla triangles/bits. I have had this dish of theirs a few times in the past (well, way past six years, at least) and always like it. Needless to say, it was very good on this visit, too. The scrambled eggs mess was topped with a nice chunky tomato salsa (think pico de gallo-style). I really liked the looks of Cindy's Orange Bread French Toast and may need to order that the next time I get back to Jo Ann's Cafe (hopefully not in another six years, though). Cindy said that it was good, and I would like to see how it compares to Baker Street Bistro's Pain Perdu. Greg's dish was just a boring ol' Elw*y-town omelette. I did talk him into getting one of Jo Ann's Cafe fresh-baked muffins instead of boring ol' toast. I even got to try some of it; I just don't remember what kind of muffin it was (three days on now). Jo Ann's Cafe condimentary supplements offerings are Tabasco®Brand Hot Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Cholula®Hot Sauce (Original). I did bring a few of my own hot sauces with me; the Spicy Migas wasn't all that spicy, but still picante enough where I didn't think I needed to mess with the flavour or heat level by adding any of my own hot sauces. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Spicy Migas ~ 7.0; Orange Bread French Toast ~ 6.8 (per Cindy's educated rating) (Apparently, no one cares what Greg'sGlen Bacon Scale Rating might be)
A breakfastary mini-roadtrip: South San Francisco, CA "It's an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world." ~ Oscar Wilde
(No official web-site.) Place: Cable Car Café Location: 423-½ Grand Avenue (phonicular contact: 650-952-9533) Hours: open at 7:00am every day Meal: Veggie Omelette ~ mushroom, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, & Swiss cheese (all egg dishes are served with hashbrowns or country potatoes and buttered toast); a large glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice; and a small cuppa Peet's Coffee & Tea®Colombia (Deep Roast)
(Finding any specific EweToob-ular juxtaselections for South San Francisco proved to be too difficult, so you will have to settle for these songs about that other city with a similar name.) I felt like getting "out of the city" this morning for breakfast and headed south to Cable Car Café. It is located on Grand Avenue ("Main Street", South San Francisco) and directly across the street from South San Francisco City Hall (which looks like something straight out of a 1950's movie). Despite its name, the City of South San Francisco is non-contiguous with that other town; both Daly City and Brisbane provide a divisional boundary.
There are two major plusses about eating at Cable Car Café: 1) they open up very early every day and 2) it is for the meal known as breakfast (believe me, this place has never heard the term "Brunch" before). There is even the requisite diner-counter with six round stools (covered with the prototypical red/burgundy vinyl). Additionally, there are six booths that can fit six people each and two smaller booths for four (all with the prototypical red/burgundyvinyl), and six tables for two (also with the prototypical red/burgundy vinyl seat covers). You even pay at the diner-counter at an old cash register thingy when you are finished. As their name implies, there is a Cable Car theme throughout the joint.
Cable Car Café has a pretty diverse breakfastary menu, which they have labeled under categories: Eggs 'N Things, Cable Car Specials, Three Egg Omelette (fourteen different types), Egg Benedict (four versions), and Pancakes, French Toast. A couple of other ideas I was debating on for breakfast: Grand Avenue Omelette (Canadian bacon, spinach, & cream cheese, topped with Hollandaise sauce ~ which I would have ordered without the offending, dead, decaying animal flesh, of course) or California Omelette (avocado, mushrooms, bell peppers, & American cheese ~ which I had meant to order, dammit!).
Other than the lamentably pedestrian moniker of "Veggie" Omelette, this was a very decent omelette for a little, no-frills joint. It was an absolutely HUGE omelette, stuffed full with "veggies" and stuff (and, gratefully, none of "the vile weed", Newman!). There was also a good amount of "Swiss cheese" inside the omelette and some melted on top, too. (I write it as thus, as this was really slices of that processed cheese junk. This kind of "cheese" is to Le Monde du Fromage what Yugo was to the World of NASCAR.) I always love it when a place gives you a choice of breakfast side potatoes; I went with hashbrowns and sourdough for my toasty choice. And it really was a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, with lots of pulp and frothiness on the top (both of which I enjoy). Cable Car Café has both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (the standard red) and Tapatío® for condimentary supplements on all the tables. I just went with some of my own Hula Girl Chipotle Habanero (Thanks, Jim Turner!) on the omelette (it helped with the faux-fromage a bit) and some Dave's Gourmet®Ginger Peach Hot Sauce (Thanks, J.T.! ~ Who is no relation to the aforementioned "Jim Turner" by the way.) on the hashbrowns. Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part IV (cont.) This was really a rather lame effort, but after breakfast I walked the few blocks to the Peet's Coffee & Tea® on the corner of Grand Avenue and Airport Boulevard. I bought myself a small cuppa Peet's®Colombia Coffee (this is a very good Coffee, but it is no Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee; and in keeping with last weeks specific 'blog-entries, the better Colombian Coffees are generally from Coffea aribica plants). I also gave the barista (baristette, whatever) another $5.00 and told her to apply it towards the next one or two customers: one customer if they only ordered a standard Coffee ~ any size ~ and a pastry; two customers with just two any-size standard Coffees; or one customer if they ordered any type of special Latte or Mocha drinks. I also explained to her that if there was anything left over (fat chance) that it was to go to their T.I.P.S. jar, and also to make sure that the cheapo bastages getting the freebies also tip appropriately on whatever they got. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Veggie Omelette ~ 6.0; Peet's Coffee®Columbia ~ 6.8
I went to Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry (their menu actually says Jo Ann's Cafe & Pantry, but their printed cards read Jo Ann's Cafe ~ sans accent aigu on both, though) for Easter breakfast today. Jo Ann's is in South San Francisco* right on El Camino Real. It's kinda in an unassuming mini-strip mall with a few other restaurants and insurance places. I love this little, local place; and I have been going there for 10-15 years now. If it were closer, this would definitely be a candidate for my "Breakfast Rotation".
Unlike Dottie's, Ella's, Chloe's, Et Cetera's, there was an actual "Jo Ann" associated with this restaurant, but she sold the place about three years ago. Luckily, most of the staff were kept on and the menu remains basically the same as before. They have lots of good choices on their standard/regular menu and they always have great/interesting choices on their weekend specials menu.
Off their standard menu one of my favourite "go-tos" is the Spicy Migas, which is very similar to a chilaquiles dish and very tasty. I almost went with the Fancy French Toast, but decided on the Easter Sunday Special Omelette ~ Prawns (skipped this one, Mr. Way), asparagus, Fontina cheese, tomatoes, white onions, & Hollandaise sauce. Served with home fries and choice of toast, muffin, bagel, tortillas, or scones. I chose the cranberry-orange scone. They bake all of their pastries on the premises; who would choose plain ol' toast when you can get a homemade muffin or scone?
There was lots of asparagus in it ~ always a good thing ~ which was fresh and grilled (a nice touch). The omelette was incredibly huge and I really couldn't finish it all. I did make sure to scrape out all of the asparagus-y good stuff, though, and eat-up all of that. The scone was good, if not a little dry, but more than made up for it with the amount of cranberries and orange zest/peels in it.
Their condimentary supplementation is simply Tabasco® (just the basic red type) and Cholula®. Once again, I used some Trees Can't Dance ~ African Hot Sauce (Thanks yet again, Cindy and Greg!) on the home fries.
Their Hollandaise sauce had something in it that I just couldn't put my finger on (or, more correctly, my tongue on). Like I said yesterday, I really can't tell a Béchamel from a Hollandaise (see 'blog-entry from April 23rd, 2011). Was it cinnamon, possibly? So I asked my server and she confirmed there was something added to the traditional sauce, but said it was a family secret and could not divulge the special ingredient to me. I swore I would tell no living soul and take it with me to my grave, so she divulged that it was a little bit of cayenne.
Anyone reading this, please commit Harry Caray right now:
*(South San Francisco is not actually affiliated with San Francisco in any way; unlike South Boston, South London, or even South Detroit†, Mr. Perry. South San Francisco does not even share a border with San Francisco proper; there are Daly City and Brisbane ~ not the one in Aussie-land ~ between the two San Franciscos.
†This is an inside joke, as I have been told by more than one indigenous populace of the Motor City/Michigan that there is no such thing as "South Detroit"; there is of course a southern portion of the city, but "South Detroit" would actually be Windsor, Ontario, Canadialand.
