Offbeat Eats

Once my friend Steve’s wedding was over, we still had another day to check out more of Marin County. After considering a lot of day trips, we ended up taking the ferry to Angel Island for a day of hiking, and afterward we drove around to Sausalito again to check out one of the top-rated sushi places in the Bay area: Sushi Ran. I’m rather glad we did.

Our first morning in Marin County, Carol and I were hungry for breakfast, so I took a quick look at the internet (with Yelp being based in SF, there’s no shortage of reviews for places in the Bay Area), and found one place that had a very strong following just down the way from our hotel: Fred’s Coffee Shop in Sausalito. Heading down to Sausalito, Fred’s was pretty easy to find, it’s right on the road into town, well before you hit heavy traffic. So we grabbed an easy parking space and headed in. Three things were immediately apparent upon entering Fred’s: (1) This is definitely a popular place for both tourists and locals, (2) service was a bit slow. Everyone had that “we’ve been waiting too long” look on their faces, and (3) The grill guy was obviously good, and had quite an impressive array of good looking dishes going on the grill…

(Closed) Sometimes you just want a burger. Anyone that’s followed my Flickr feed knows that I have a weakness for a good hamburger. Indeed, I’ve got an entire set on Flickr dedicated to disproving a former coworker’s comment that “a burger is just a burger.” So, any time I’m traveling, I like to try out some of the local burger places, be it a chain (indeed, I can make claim having eaten at Fatburger, Habit, In-N-Out, and Five Guys all in the same 24 hour period) or an honest one-off burger stand. So, while Carol and I were wandering around before my friend Steve’s wedding, we found ourselves in Mill Valley needing a fairly fast lunch…

(Closed) My college roommate Steve lives in San Francisco in the Mission District. Just down the way from his house is a cool restaurant called Spork, made out of a renovated former Kentucky Fried Chicken (get the joke?). Both Steve and his wife Emily have said good things about Spork, so I was happy that I finally had a chance to try them out as part of the activities for Steve’s bachelor party…

Some times the voyage is just as good as the destination… While in New Orleans, I wanted to make it a point to pay another visit to Willie Mae’s Scotch House. Since my last visit here in 2001, this place has been through a lot, including being featured in John T Edge’s Fried Chicken book, getting a James Beard American Classics award in 2005, and getting seriously damaged in Katrina later in 2005. Long respected as one of the area’s (and heck, the country’s) best fried chicken places, Willie Mae’s is well off of the normal tourist beat, being up in the 7th Ward on St Ann, and a healthy hike from our hotel…

(Closed) Sometimes you find quality in places you really aren’t expecting it. I’ve been a fan of the French Dip sandwich since I was a kid. There’s just something nice about some good rare roast beef served in au jus on a nice crusty roll. Unfortunately, most places don’t do a good French Dip. They use overcooked, cheap roast beef; low-grade salty bullion; and soft buns that quickly get waterlogged. There is, of course, the occasional exception. That place that makes a good case for having inventing the sandwich in the first place, Phillipe, makes a seriously good French Dip (I particularly recommend their Lamb Dip). And, to this day, my gold standard for a good French Dip is the version that was made by the Harrison Roadhouse in East Lansing, Michigan (with extra-rare, cold roast beef on a delicious onion bun, served with a rosemary-infused au jus). Alas, the Harrison Roadhouse itself stopped making it more than a decade ago…

(Closed) After years of visiting Manchester’s famous Red Arrow Diner, I figured it was worth checking out downtown Manchester’s other diner, the Manchester Diner on Hanover St. I recall that this place has been here as a diner for a while under other names (I think the last incarnation was the Golden Oldies Diner), so it’s one of those slightly gritty and worn-around the edges cozy diners that most any New England city like Manchester used to have dozens of, with your basic lunch counter and a few tables, and a few black and white photos and knick-knacks. It also appears to be owner-operated…

Lancaster is filled with little Mexican mom and pop places, and something about Taqueria Pepe El Toro jumped out at me when I was grabbing some items at the Home Depot across the way. So I decided to check it out. First thing I saw on the menu was Tacos Al Pastor. I always love Tacos Al Pastor. It’s my favorite type of taco, with nice seared bit of seasoned pork. Taqueria Pepe el Toro did not disappoint, these tacos were quite good, and both of the sides (rice and beans) were good quality as well.

(Closed) It’s not often that I’m tempted to write a second entry for a place, but when I reviewed The Pines Cafe in Palmdale, CA back in December, I ended my review with “I need to come back.” Indeed, several people had told me that when I got my “Loco Hominy Quicky” breakfast, I had missed two better items on the menu: the Chicken Fried Steak, and the pancakes. I’m happy to report that I’ve since been back to the Pines, multiple times (I’m in Palmdale for several weeks for business), so I’ve had a chance to much more fully explore the menu.

I’ve been craving pancakes for a number of reasons (including National Pancake Day on this upcoming Tuesday), and both of my regional favorites (Polly’s and Dana’s) are seasonal and not open until spring thaw. Several people on Chowhound recommended this place to me as a good place for pancakes, and, indeed, they were right. This is probably one of the best meal deals I’ve ever found. The breakfast included pancakes (with real maple syrup), toast, corned beef hash, home fries, bacon, and eggs.