symbol legend:
our rating 
fun place 
good coffee
late hours 
open 24 hrs 
cost rating
Milkycat Industries wholeheartedly endorses and patronizes these fine San Francisco dining establishments. To go to a map for each dining experience, simply clique on the name of the restaurant! Whoop whoop!
All You Knead 1466 Haight St (near Ashbury) ph.(415)552-4550
After having walked past this place forever without really looking very closely, I decided to give it a try when I peered in the window and noticed big, cushy booths and nice lighting. A glance at the menu, with everything from Breakfast fare, Brunch, Lunch, Pizza and Sandwiches all at reasonable prices (all between $4-$8) further tempted me. I really dug the wacky, warm hippy-dippy interior, with lots of weird art on the walls, christmas lights, a fishtank (always a plus) and most importantly, the super swank booths. The people who work there are hip and friendly, even slightly Perky! Hooray! When you order Iced Tea, they bring you a big glass and a carafe full of more tea. The menu is totally veggie-friendly, and there's enough variety to make this a regular Milkyhangout. Hours: 8am-11pm daily, except tuesday, when they close at 6pm.
ICHIRAKU 3750 Geary blvd (at 2nd Ave) ph.(415)752-9666 homepage
This place is really excellent, because the minute you sit down, they start bringing you all kinds of
food, really good stuff -- All for free! The first time I went, my companion and I were telling them
we didn't order the stuff they kept bringing out, but they waved their arms and said, "It's all free!
all free!" How cool is that? And once you're stuffed to bursting on all the free goodies, you get
to choose from really excellent sushi, udon, soba, donburi, shioyaki, teriyaki, katsu,
sashimi and special Korean stuff. The price ranges between $7-$14 for dinner, but i'm telling you, it's well worth it! Hours: Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:00am-2:55pm, Dinner: 4:30pm-11:00pm. Sat: 11:45am-11:00pm, Sun: 11:45am-10:00pm.
New Sun Hong Kong 606 Broadway Street (at Columbus) ph.(415)956-3338
Located at the crossroads between North Beach, Chinatown and the seedy porn district, this 24-hour(?) chinese
restaurant boasts super-cheap, super-fresh chinese food in a painfully well-lit environment. The food is
exceptional, and some of it is kind of spooky like tripe and stuff, but everything I've had there has been rilly
rilly yum. The staff is pretty unfriendly, but they do their thing, and at these prices, I can handle rude waiters! As I recall, last time I went, there were two of us eating, and we managed
to get out of there thoroughly stuffed for under $15.00. Price ranges between $5-$22 for dinner. Hours: 8:00am-3:00am daily. (Possibly 24 hours.)
Cliff's Bar-BQ and Seafood 2177 Bay Shore Blvd ph.(415)330-0736
This place was only just today (09/08/99) discovered by intrepid milkycat scouts Pippilina and Niffer on their daily trek through the badlands of CalTrain and Brisbane. Cliff's has excellent pies and cakes, super-duper friendly folks and drippy tasty fatty excellent BBQ. What happened was Niffer had had some of the excellent Pies while waiting at the Bayshore station, and she encouraged Pippilina to check the place out. They had no pie, it was early in the morning, but they did have German Chocolate cake, which was apparently fabulous, and then they offered our intrepid milkyscouts a free sample of their soul food menu (restaurateurs, take note! free stuff = happy milkykids!). Pork, pork and more pork! And also some greens and black eyed peas. Pippilina assures me that this place is a real find, and that the people who work there are warm and friendly...
Carmen's Restaurant 998 4th Street (pier past drawbridge) ph.(415)495-9265
Carmen's Restaurant is a tiny little red shack on a rickety little pier on Mission Creek. It's a total throwback to some
other decade, with only a karaoke machine to upset the illusion. The menu is up on the wall, a weird mix of American
greasy-spoon fare and simple Filipino dishes, all for about $3-$5 a pop. This place is definitely weird, mostly because
of the customers. Watery truckstop style coffee and plenty of it, all-american breakfasts, tasty burgers.
Very plain food, but num nummy. I'm tempted to go back for the Karaoke experience! Hours: open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Eddie's Cafe 800 Divisadero Street (at Fulton) ph.(415)563-9780
Now this place is tiny! There are like 8 tables and a small counter, and this place is almost always packed on a weekend
morning. All full of hipsters with bleary eyes filling up on greasy american diner food. The trouble with Eddie's is that
they are only open between 9am and about 4pm, and not always. It's a breakfast/brunch/lunch kind of place. The servings
are ginormous and the prices are all around 5 bucks or less. Their potatoes are really good. They also have a weird
jukebox featuring Devo, Billy Ocean and Kraftwerk. Hours: 9am-4pm, varies on weekends.
Al's Cafe Good Food 3286 Mission Street (at 29th st.) ph.(415)641-8445
Another of the early-morning breed of good-old American greasy spoon diners. This place is all kinds of fun. The
walls are plastered with movie memorabilia, the waitresses call you honey and engage everyone in conversation,
they are a very lively bunch of folks. The food is good, solid, excellent pancakes and good coffee. This place scores
mostly for ambiance, though the food is great too. They have free lollipops at the counter, and everyone who
worked there admired my bright purple hair. Hours: early.
Flippers Gourmet Burgers 482 Hayes Street (at Octavia) ph.(415)552-8880
Reasonably priced juicy gnarly hamburgers, falafel, garden burgers, breakfasts and brunch (on weekends only).
Simple and to the point, this place serves what it advertises. Tasty burgers, excellent curly fries, they lay on the toppings nice and thick. For ambiance, it's so-so, though they have a nice outdoor patio, and warm muted tones indoors, mediocre seating for some, cozy boothy seats for others. The big fishtank full of big huge goldfish is a plus, and the waitpersonalities are happy and spunky. Prices range between $4-$9 or so. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Mad Magda's Russian Tea Room 579 Hayes St (at Laguna) ph.(415)864-7654
This lushly decorated funky little Cafe serves up traditional Russian delicatessen fare: borscht, piroskis, shashlik, blintzes and sandwiches, all at reasonable prices. The food is good, however, the atmosphere and the entertainment are the real attraction. Sit down and contemplate your future with a palm-reader, get a tarot reading, or have your tea leaves interpreted by a fortune teller. On the weekends, enjoy live entertainment after 8pm. One of the best things about Mad Magda's is the beautiful outdoor patio in the back, on a warm, starry evening you can nibble a scone and sip Lemonade, Coffee or Tea and watch the mysterious door, pondering what lays beyond. Mad Magda's serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Prices for entrees range between $5-$8, less than $15. Hours: Mon-Tue: 8am-9pm, Wed-Fri: 8am-12midnight, Sat: 9am-12midnight, Sun: 9am-7pm.
It's Tops Coffee Shop 1801 Market Street (at Pearl) ph.(415)431-6395
Everytime I go to this tiny, funky relic of a coffee shop, something really dramatic and weird happens, usually involving the
police, outside. Once there was some sort of heavy traffic stop involving about 10 copcars, rifles, hollering, the whole thing!
Everyone in the place, including the cook and the waitress, crowded around the windows to gawk and comment. This place
has been around since the 30's, or the 40's at least, and it has high historical kitsch value, though it's not the manufactured, artificial
kind of history one finds at Mel's or Max's. It's thoroughly genuine. The food is a little more expensive than you might imagine,
running around $8-$10 per person, but everything they serve is mighty fine. The omeletts are great, as are the sandwiches and
shakes. The wackiness of their hours of operation: Daily: 8:00am-3:00pm, Wed-Sat: 8:00pm-3:00am. Confusing!!
The It's Tops bathroom is also reviewed by milkycat.
Minh's Garden 208 Clement Street (at 3rd Ave) ph.(415)751-8211
So far, this is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, hands down. It's a little place, serving up traditional Vietnamese dishes, excellent soups, super-tasty noodles and super-tasty appetizers. The service is a bit of a toss-up, but the staff seems friendly enough if you give them a chance. Mostly reasonable prices, $6-$9 per person, or so.
Pluto's Fresh Food 627 Irving Street (at 7th Ave) ph.(415)753-8867
Pluto's Fresh Food for a Hungry Universe. This is sort of a yuppie nest, but the food is really good, and it's got kind of a funky atmosphere, a 90's take on the
space-age cafeteria one might expect to find in the Jetsons. You pick up a punchcard and walk along a counter displaying
a super-stocked salad bar, and you tell the person behind the counter what you want, and they mix you up a customized monster
of a caesar salad, in either "small" or MASSIVE, and believe me, the smaller one is a mighty huge meal. There are also
home-cooking favorites like turkey, meatloaf and stuff like that, and some of the tastiest free-refill lemonade around. It's easy to
eat waaaaay too much here for under $10 and that's Cool! Open Fri-Sat: 11:30am-11pm, Sun-Thu: 11:30am-10pm.
Einstein's Cafe 1336 9th Avenue (between Irving & Judah) ph.(415)665-4840
Einstein's Cafe is run by a non-profit organization called Youth Industry, which offers job training for inner city kids. The cafeteria-style cafe offers wacky
atmosphere and decor inside, a sun room and delightful (weather permitting!) outdoor garden seating. They have the best fresh-baked
honey wheat bread and big salads, soups and sandwiches at bargain prices ($3-$6 for a hearty meal)! This place is great
and it's also politically and socially kosher. open 11am-9pm.
All Star Donuts 399 5th St (at Harrison) ph.(415)882-0889
Not just your average Donut shop, All Star Donuts is a truly weird joint, but only past midnight. Hamburgers, sandwiches, teriyaki bowls, and yes, Donuts are all plentiful and even somewhat tasty! The truly marvelous thing about this place, however, is not the food, it's the customers. Speed-freaks, night-owls, party-animals, hipsters, nutjobbers and freaks all seem to congregate here, providing a neverending array of quality entertainment for the foolhearty diner. The coffee is pretty decent. Hours: 24 hours a day, every day.
Orphan Andy's 3991 17th St # A (at Castro and Market) ph.(415)864-9795
A Castro institution, the cozy (seating capacity: 62) Orphan Andy's has been feeding the appetites of the club&barhopping party scene since 1978. This friendly, down-to-earth diner is complete with comfy booths and counter seating and a very queer-friendly jukebox full of Patsy Cline, Madonna, Disco and Show Tunes. Orphan Andy's quirky, silly decor and staff reflect the celebrated warmth and acceptance of the Castro, and for many it has become an emotional, as well as visual, landmark. The menu is largely All-American Diner food, breakfast all day, ginormous goopy burgers, fries, sandwiches, shakes, salads and such. The food is all well-prepared, the portions are huge, and the coffee is good. Reasonably priced entrees range between $5-$10. Hours: 24 hours a day.
Orphan Andy's bathroom is also reviewed by milkycat.
Video Cafe 5700 Geary Blvd (at 21st Ave) ph.(415)387-3999
The Video Cafe is a weird place. It's a combination Diner/Video Rental shop where diners are treated to videos playing on multiple screens throughout the oddly spacious restaurant. Huge windows comprise one entire wall of the place, which is just *weird*, making you feel like you're somewhat on display for passers-by on the sidewalk outside during your meal. The walls are painted black, and covered with fading promotional posters and displays for some very lame films. The seating is cool, a bunch of really comfy retro vinyl booths and cool little bistro tables. There are always about 10 different languages being spoken at once, and lots of Russians seem to hang out here. The food is adequate, greasy spoon diner food at decent prices ranging from $3-$10. The deserts are pretty good. Hours: 24 hours a day, god bless it! Video rentals until 1am.
toSparky's Diner 242 Church Street (at Market St.) ph.(415)626-8666
The hipster waiters and waitresses are surly, the food's a bit overpriced and not all that spectacular, the decor is moderately boring and it's crowded and uber-noisy at times. So what exactly has Sparky's got going for it? Well, for one thing, it's open 24 hours a day, every day. And for another thing, all the cool kids seem to flock here after the clubs shut down, so people-watching is decent. In fact, Sparky's was voted "Best 24-Hour Freakshow" in sfWeekly's Best of SF 1998. Oddly, it was also voted Reader's Choice "Best Late-Night Restaurant" in the SFWeekly's Best Of SF 1999. Don't get me wrong, I think Sparky's is a pretty cool place, but the best? Nah. Not even. The food is mostly just diner fare, though they seem to want to attract health-conscious yuppies with their overpriced ethnicesque salads and such. Prices range from about $5 to roughly $12 for entrees. Hours: 24/7, baby.
The Sparky's Diner bathroom is also reviewed by milkycat.
toEl Balazo Taqueria 1654 Haight Street (at Clayton) ph.(415)864-8608
El Balazo, smack dab in the middle of the Upper Haight, is one well-decorated taqueria. The walls are painted bright, primary colors and traditional Mexican imagery- drawing from Dia de los Muertos, religious iconography, artsy gilded shrines and votive candles- abounds. The menu features unique ingredients, including Nopales cactus and Mexican goat cheese, and you get to watch the employees construct your customized vegetarian or carnivorian burritos and tacos while-u-wait. You get many options when it comes to beans, as well as salsas at the small salsa bar. The only problem with the salsa bar is the tiny little containers you're forced to use. The Aguas Frescas are sublime, especially the Watermelon, and the Horchata is top-notch. The best seats are downstairs at the windows, or upstairs, in the nooks and crannies of a creatively converted Victorian flat, where you can gaze out over the plants in the back yard area. The prices range from about $5-$10 per person, but the food is excellent and monstrously huge. Hours: Sun-Thu: 10am-11pm, Fri-Sat: 10am-1am.
The El Balazo bathroom is also reviewed by milkycat.
toPancho Villa 3071 16th St. (between Valencia&Mission) ph.(415)864-8840 homepage
For super Super Burritos, Pancho Villa Taqueria can't be beat. The bustling assembly-line food preparation staff constucts your tacos, burritos, nachos and what-have-you to your specifications. The ingredients are excellent and super-fresh. The dining area features weird leather-and-wood stools and well-worn tables, and a big painting of Pancho Villa himself adorns the rear wall. To do and notice: Ever-changing displays of Gen-u-wine Art on the walls, and the Security Guard who opens the door for you when you arrive. Prices range between $0.95 and $11.00. Hours: Open Daily 10am-12midnight.
Other Dining Resources
Bargain Bites a somewhat outdated (1997) sfgate guide to cheap eats!
Cheap Eats sfgate's search results for "cheap eats" ($7 or less for entrees)
Late Night Dining another sfgate list, this one of late-night eateries
citysearch7 eat & drink another searchable guide with reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Guide this site has some nice features, including user reviews
[ m i l k y c a t - home ]milkycat@milkycat.com