Southern Style Food - SF

[eje]

Up until recently, I have had nothing but disappointment with Southern style food in San Francisco, whether it was the bland Louisiana style food of P.J.'s Oyster bar or the weak cocktails, unsalted dishes, ditzy service, and battered(!) deep fried chicken at nouveau soul restaurant Farmer Brown.

However, a promising new restaurant, called The Front Porch, has opened recently. It is located on 29th near Mission Street. The Chef, Sara Kirnon, is formerly of Emmy's Spaghetti Shack, as is one of the owners, Josey White.

While they are still working out the kinks of the new restaurant and not every dish is a success, at least the basics, the fried chicken and black eyed peas and greens, are stellar. With reasonable prices and friendly service, that's reason enough for me to add it to our group of regular restaurant stops.

Where do you go when you get a craving for Southern style food?

[Toliver]

To answer the first question, yes, some Californians can cook it.

There used to be a place called Brendory's in Bonita (south-southeast of Chula Vista which is south of San Diego). It was a one room buidling (couldn't really call it a "shack") with a dirt parking lot filled with Cadillacs and Beemers belonging to the customers who travelled quite far to arrive there.

The chef would roam the dining room offering up deep fried alligator to the diners who were busy devouring jambalaya, red beans & rice, collard greens and platefuls of cornmeal-breaded catfish.

It was a legendary place that served incredible southern food that eventually went out of business when it tried to expand to a "better" location. The owner tried for a while to sell some of his bottled sauces through a local Costco. I don't know if he was ever successful at it.

Good southern food can be had. Keep the faith...

[annachan]

When I want some fried catfish with greens and piping hot corn muffins, I go to Hard Knox Cafe on 3rd Street by 22nd Street. The owner is Asian but from Texas. You can get many Southern favorites there like fried chicken (another favorite of mine there), smothered pork chops, turkey wing and oxtails. I've yet to be disappointed with the food.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I go to Nellie's in Oakland...

[eje]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Hard Knox has been on my list for a while now; but, I haven't gotten over to dogpatch recently.

There's a new bar over there I want to check out called the Retox Lounge. I'll have to make a night of it one of these days.

Carolyn, where in Oakland is Nellie's?

[Hest88]

Carolyn, where in Oakland is Nellie's?

Not Carrie, but Nellie's is on 3rd, in the warehouse area in West Oakland. There's nothing around there at all. The great thing about the area is that even if the parking lot is full it's easy to get street parking.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Carolyn, where in Oakland is Nellie's?

Not Carrie, but Nellie's is on 3rd, in the warehouse area in West Oakland. There's nothing around there at all. The great thing about the area is that even if the parking lot is full it's easy to get street parking.

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Thanks, Peg! I can almost taste those sweet potatoes now...

[Stu-i-moto]

While they are still working out the kinks of the new restaurant and not every dish is a success, at least the basics, the fried chicken and black eyed peas and greens, are stellar.  With reasonable prices and friendly service, that's reason enough for me to add it to our group of regular restaurant stops.

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Eje - tell me more about your background. I want to know where your adjective "stellar" emanates from. I don't want to get too excited and run over there to try the food - I can't tell you how many "southern" food places I've tried all across this great country that have only led to disappointment. It's not just a San Fran phenomenon.

So far, the only stellar southern food I've had has been at my grandmother's house in Queens and at church potlucks in Brooklyn (that my grandmother dragged me to when I was a kid).

[eje]

Eje - tell me more about your background. I want to know where your adjective "stellar" emanates from.

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Hmmm...

I feel a bit on the spot!

I can say I have no particular qualifications to judge soulful or southern food beyond what I enjoy.

Frankly, I grew up closer to Lutheran lovelies of Mr. Garrison Keillor than the South. In South Western Wisconsin, much pie was eaten and many church suppers were attended. Woo! Lefse! Lutefisk! They did send me to the Carolinas to find the Lord. I wish I could say I found BBQ and fried chicken, instead; but, I don't remember the food particularly.

Unfortunately, Rommegrot, was more likely on my Mom's menu's than fried chicken.

I've had much better than average pie, crisps, and crumbles! My mother always insisted on using lard in her crusts, and I've never had better. I've always had great hope for fried chicken. Though, really, fresh caught fried crappie and bluegill fillets are a more vivid food memory for me.

What was the question, again?

My adjective "stellar" only comes from what I think is fine tasty well made fried chicken. If you disagree give it a try, and let me know why.

edit - post cocktail eGulletting never a great idea.

Edited August 26, 2006 by eje (log)

[Stu-i-moto]

Eje - tell me more about your background. I want to know where your adjective "stellar" emanates from.

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Hmmm...

I feel a bit on the spot!

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Didn't mean to put you on the spot, Eje. I really want this place to be good because it's right around the corner from my house. I'm just being cynical about it-

Lutefisk, eh? Can you share a recipe for that?

I'll let you know how I find the fried chicken over there - thanks for the heads up!

[eje]

[...]

Lutefisk, eh? Can you share a recipe for that?

[...]

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I think the world is probably better off if I don't.

By the way, the second time we went to the Front Porch, we took our friend who grew up in Atlanta. She also approved of their fried chicken.

[melkor]

I had dinner at the Front Porch tonight, it was excellent. I think it'd be unfair to classify the restaurant as purely southern as the chef is from Barbados and the bulk of the apps are more heavily Caribbean influenced than Southern. Everything we had was very good - the grits are delicious, the corn bread should be available by the bucket as no reasonable person can eat just one, and the fried chicken liver starter is crazy good. The entire menu is well priced too - I'm glad to have another interesting restaurant in the city worth visiting multiple times.

[Stu-i-moto]

Up until recently, I have had nothing but disappointment with Southern style food in San Francisco, whether it was the bland Louisiana style food of P.J.'s Oyster bar or the weak cocktails, unsalted dishes, ditzy service, and battered(!) deep fried chicken at nouveau soul restaurant Farmer Brown.

However, a promising new restaurant, called The Front Porch, has opened recently.  It is located on 29th near Mission Street.  The Chef, Sara Kirnon, is formerly of Emmy's Spaghetti Shack, as is one of the owners, Josey White.

While they are still working out the kinks of the new restaurant and not every dish is a success, at least the basics, the fried chicken and black eyed peas and greens, are stellar.  With reasonable prices and friendly service, that's reason enough for me to add it to our group of regular restaurant stops.

Where do you go when you get a craving for Southern style food?

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OK, Eje - I finally went. Here's my honest opinion.

Note: the restaurant has only been open 4 weeks, so it is still in it's initial "burn in" period. Read: ruogh around the edges, even though it is packed to the gills.

That said, the service was very marginal, but they tried hard and maintained a good attitude which made up for a lot. They even brought us a couple of comp apps to smooth things out, which I consider a great gesture in any establishment.

The place was packed; we had to wait what seemed like an hour for a table. Eventually, we figured out we could just order apps at the bar and we were about to order our entrees at the bar when the table came available.

We had the fried chicken, the black eyed peas with collards, the grits and the cole slaw. The grits were the best of the three; the black eyed peas were quite good but needed more salt. The cole slaw was OK.

The chicken, their signature dish I suppose, was not authentically southern, but it wasn't bad. I have to say, however, that the crust (corn meal crusted - cheap way to get crispiness) was overdone/burnt, and the white meat was very dry. Good thing I don't like white meat. Plus, this chicken was deep fried, not pan fried. For my money, the chicken at Hard Knox Cafe is much better (and pan fried - the real southern way). I liked the chicken but I didn't love it. I'd give the food a 6.5 out of 10 and the service a 5 out of 10.

Eje, let me know if you want to go to Hard Knoz for some better chix.

[melkor]

I had another meal at the front porch about a week ago and they were serving an excellent braised ox tail dish as a special. I'm a big fan of what they're doing but I'm not sure its accurate to simply call it southern. The chef at the front porch is from Barbados, I'd say that the chicken is more Caribbean than southern style. If we're including other style fried chicken, I prefer the chicken at Shin Toe Bul Yi - though it being a Korean preparation I have a hard time comparing them.

[Stu-i-moto]

I'm a big fan of what they're doing but I'm not sure its accurate to simply call it southern. 

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I agree with that assessment -

the chicken at Shin Toe Bul Yi - though it being a Korean preparation I have a hard time comparing them.

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Where's that? I'm always on the lookout for an honest bird...

[melkor]

30th and Taraval. The fried chicken is called something like 'small pieces chicken, little spicy' on the menu - you can order it as fried chicken. It for some reason comes with a bowl of tofu soup. If you're two people, get the kal bi to go with it - if you're more people you can do the grill at your table thing. Don't order the skate listed under 'house specials' - raw cold bone-in skate with a blob of sauce on it. It'd be an understatement to say the skate is difficult to eat. The cold spicy noodles aren't my favorite - they're overly sweet, not at all spicy, and have a gluey texture. The chicken is great, the kal bi can be very good - the place is definitely worth a visit.