Cheap Eats in SF

[The Little Blue House]

I'm putting an open call out to all Bay Area eGulleteers (or frequent visitors thereof) for a discussion of inexpensive restaurants in San Francisco and its environs.

I'm talking full service restaurants with table service and a bill that's less than, say, $20 a person (to set an arbitrary figure) including tax and tip.

Being a recent emigrant to northern California I find it odd that in a major metropolis like San Francisco there is a general lack of abundance and diversity with regards to interesting and cheap restaurants. New York obviously has got em. So do Chicago and Honolulu. LA has a whole series of guide books in the Zagat's vein called Hungry? devoted to them. I can even recall places in Pittsburgh and Boston that weren't too hard to find.

I only ask this because after a rather perfunctory round of dining about, I find pretty much all the quality and talked about restaurants to be of a very similar model: entrees in excess of $17, cuisine very much of the Chez Panisse-Alice Waters local and organic mold, with modest adjustments for a Spanish or Italian, French or American, even an Asian accent.

A modest discussion of social, historical, politcal or economic factors that may have led to this condition would not be out of line either.

Passionate disagreements are very welcome, as are "ethnic" places.

[eje]

I'm putting an open call out to all Bay Area eGulleteers (or frequent visitors thereof) for a discussion of inexpensive restaurants in San Francisco and its environs.

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Dude, we're totally, like, trying to keep these a secret! Shhhhh! If more people start going they will raise their prices.

The Chow restaurants are the first that spring to mind. Pasta and comfort food with a seaonal menu, quality ingredients, and very reasonable prices.

Blue Jay Cafe also is pretty reasonable, perhaps a bit more expensive, with a similar menu to Chow. More of a Southern Comfort food in emphasis. I've only been there once, so I can't say for sure it still great or interesting.

A couple of restaurants in my neighborhood are Moki's Sushi and Pacific Grill and Little Nepal. Both are very good and fairly reasonable. In fact there are plenty of places to get very good Japanese food and stay under or close to $40 for a couple, as long as you don't get too carried away with beer or fancy sushi rolls.

I would describe Alice's, Eric's, and Eliza's restaurants as Cal-Asian fusion, and are certainly quite reasonable and interesting. There are plenty of other reasonable and more authentic Chinese restaurants. One of my favorites is Ton Kiang (technically Hakka Cuisine) where I don't think you will find your bill in excess of $40.

Walzwerk is a German restaurant with great decor, very good food, and prices in that neighborhood.

A modest discussion of social, historical, politcal or economic factors that may have led to this condition would not be out of line either.

I assume some of it has to do with the immense amounts of money which were flying around during the 90's. Plus, I believe, cost of living or doing business in San Francisco is still higher than anywhere else in the US. Gas, groceries, produce, beer, housing, rent...All of them are on par with New York and London.

[Lois]

eje, sounds like we used to be neighbors! I miss Bernal Heights. I always liked Moki's, though I think we usually spent more there because of our extreme addiction to the corn fritters and several of the sushi rolls.

Also in that general vicinity, Emmy's Spaghetti Shack is reasonable and tasty, and I think Blue Plate might fit might be inexpensive enough for you if you order carefully, though I can't really recall entree prices exactly.

I likeWalzwerk a lot. Suppenkuche, in Hayes Valley, is another German place that I think has decent prices.

My ideas of what is reasonably priced might be colored slightly by the fact that my husband and I aren't big drinkers, which does keep the price of dinner down.

For Mexican places with table service (as opposed to order-at-a-counter taquerias), I like Mom Is Cooking, way out in the Excelsior, and Los Jarritos on South Van Ness.

You can get a good meal very cheaply, and often with a white tablecloth, at innumerable Vietnamese places. I loved Lotus Garden on Mission, but it recently closed. In Chinatown, I used to eat lunch at Golden Flower on Jackson all the time. The number 40 (bun with pork and cha gio) is great.

[eje]

eje, sounds like we used to be neighbors! I miss Bernal Heights.

I really like Bernal. My wife and I have lived on the "Gritty South Slope" for about 3 years.

We are close to the farmers' market, Good Life Grocery, enough good restaurants to keep us happy, and have figured out fairly painless commute routes and schedules.

Are you still in San Francisco?

Erik

[Lois]

We lived on the north side of the hill (just above Precita Park) for five years, but moved to Sacramento last summer. I love it here, but I loved SF too and miss it--especially the Alemany farmers' market!

[Hest88]

Well, I just got back from a pho lunch at Golden Flower in Chinatown. There's plenty of cheap ethnic to be had.

I was also visiting friends this weekend in Noe Valley. They took me to Pomelo, a nice little place with both sit-down and take-out service of the CA cuisine kind. You could easily eat well there for $20 per person, if you don't order anything alcoholic.

[CtznCane]

My favorite inexpensive place is Cinderella Cafe & Bakery out on Balboa, I think near 6th if I'm not mistaken. An authentic Russian restaurant. I've never had anyone be disappointed with their food.

[eje]

I'm putting an open call out to all Bay Area eGulleteers (or frequent visitors thereof) for a discussion of inexpensive restaurants in San Francisco and its environs.

←

I forgot my favorite hole in the wall Italian in North Beach, L'Osteria del Forno on Columbus near Green.

Only about 25 seats, no reservations, cash only. Delicious thin crust pizzas, salads and specials. Unpretentious Italian food served well by people who really seem to care about food.

Erik

[tanabutler]

FYI, I picked up this month's issue of San Francisco magazine, because of the cover story: "112 incredibly good CHEAP EATS: 24 hidden spots where the food is fabulous and the price is right." Plus: "Complete listings of the best bargain restaurants in the Bay area."

On the list:

SF

Q

Thai House Express

Shin Toe Bul Yi

Tortas Los Picudos

Shanghai Dumpling Shop

Shabu-Sen

EAST BAY

Jamaican Soul (Berkeley)

Lanesplitter Pub & Pizza (Oakland)

House of Chicken and Waffles (Oakland)

Waikiki Hawaiian BBQ (El Cerrito)

Gaters Specialty Grill (Fremont)

Los Cocos (Oakland)

PENINSULA AND SOUTH BAY

Siam Royal (Palo Alto)

Chaat Paradise (Mountain View)

Hometown Noodle Vietnamese Restaurant (Redwood City)

Da' Kitchen (Mountain View)

Adandi Mediterranean Food and Market (San Mateo)

Sun Tofu (Palo Alto)

NORTH BAY

Happy Dog (Sonoma)

La Luna Market and Tacqueria (Rutherford)

Avatar's Punjabi Burritos (Mill Valley)

Drakes Beach Cafe (Inverness)

Betty's Fish and Chips (Santa Rosa)

Tabla Cafe (Larkspur)

The feature story in the back is about Jack Falstaff. The Bay Area Restaurant Guide "features 88 reviews of easy-on-the-wallet restaurants. At many you can find a meal for less than $4, and there's not a single one where the entrées average more than $17."

EDITED to include a few more details.

Edited March 31, 2005 by tanabutler (log)

[merle]

FYI, I picked up this month's issue of San Francisco magazine, because of the cover story: "112 incredibly good CHEAP EATS: 24 hidden spots where the food is fabulous and the price is right." Plus: "Complete listings of the best bargain restaurants in the Bay area."

Very interesting that the easy bay listings include no Oriental cuisine (yet SF has a number). Oakland Chinatown has a number of places much cheaper (and in my humble opinion, better) than the House of Chicken'n'Waffles. I've eaten dim sum in large groups and been completely stuffed for $9 (including a generous tip) at both Yo Ho and Joy Luck.

But I suppose anytime you are listing just six restaurants in the "east bay" you're going to miss quite a few places...