Mom and her two crazy girls
Happy Mother’s Day!
Little Star Pizza (Divisidero) – San Francisco, CA
There is only one deep dish pizza place in San Francisco that I get truly excited to visit and that place is Little Star Pizza.
With various locations in the East Bay, Mission, and Western Addition, it has the neighborhood street cred with fantastic accessibility. I have only been to the Divisidero location, though I’d encourage you to try out the one closest to you– I’m sure they’re all good. Little Star does not offer your light and pretty Italian-style pizza. This is the kind of cool pizza joint you go to for casual brewskis and a tasty slice (or 3).
Top: Outside sign, Bottom: 'The Classic' Pizza
Although I almost always get the ‘Classic’ deep dish (sausage, mushroom, onion, bell peppers), their thin crust pizzas (like the pesto one) are delicious too. In terms of flavor, I think what sets Little Star apart from other deep dish places (like Paxti’s) is the crust. While many places get the texture and thickness wrong by making it too flaky or biscuit-like, Little Star keeps their crust crispy, thin, and full of the cornmeal-y grit that stands up well to the heavy toppings.
They also serve a few other items aside from pizza, like a caprese salad and spicy chicken wings, but you’d have to tell me how those are. When I’m at Little Star, my entire food-capacity goes strictly to pizza (and maybe a beer).
St. Francis Fountain – San Francisco, CA
A fellow with thick-rimmed glasses and a well-groomed ‘stache speeds by on his fixed gear bicycle. You’re here! You’ve officially ventured into the epicenter of San Francisco’s hipster culture: the Mission district.
When you’ve lived in the city as long as I have, you really do need your hipster fix every now and again. For this, there is only one cure: Enter St. Francis Fountain.
St. Francis Fountain
St. Francis Fountain dishes out tasty bites and a healthy serving of ‘hip’ with their incredible supply of vintage candy, a kitschy interior, and a contagious attitude of indifference. The menu is an extensive variety of diner favorites, with the warm nostalgia of a mom and pop shop.
This was definitely an appropriate spot to meet up with old college friends Aiza and Amanda, since the food was just as comforting as their company. As a trio, we are not the easiest to please since we’re a mix of picky, vegetarian, and gluten-intolerant diners, yet surprisingly, the menu catered to all of our tastes.
Left: Jalapeno Cornbread, Right: Biscuits and Gravy with eggs and potatoes
I ordered a biscuit and gravy breakfast plate which was filling and amazingly flavorful. The potato hash was filled with bits of green and red peppers, onions, and a heavy hand of spices. The biscuit itself was not particularly memorable but the gravy was buttery, luscious, and packed with pepper. My friend Aiza got the griddled jalapeno cornbread and it was quite an experience. It was like a solid block of butter in the best way possible, with sweet corn and a bit of heat.
This place puts other greasy spoon diners to shame. Not only did it satisfy my unwavering love of breakfast, it also got the approval of my vegetarian and gluten-intolerant friends, with a dose of ‘hip’ to last us until next year. However, even though we’re good on the hipster front, I doubt we’ll be able to stay away from this tasty little joint when the insatiable greasy spoon urge comes back.
Humphry Slocombe – San Francisco, CA
There is a war happening in this town. An ice cream war.
San Francisco residents have been debating their favorite local creamery for years, and for those who are looking for a bit of excitement, Humphry Slocombe tends to top their list. Sitting deep in the mission, this tiny ice cream shop can draw a pretty substantial crowd when the weather is nice, so be prepared to wait.
Left: Secret Breakfast, Right: Store window
With flavors like Salt and Pepper and Jesus Juice (red wine and coca cola), Humphry Slocombe continues to experiment with strange ingredients to surprise and excite customers. My personal favorite is Secret Breakfast, which is a bourbon flavored ice cream with corn flake pieces in it. The flavor is amazingly deep for ice cream and has a nice texture with the added corn flakes. In addition to their many unique flavors, Humphry Slocombe is also well known for the richness and decadence of the ice cream itself. They use a luscious mix of local heavy cream and eggs which gives the ice cream the same dense quality of premium gelato.
I tend to be more of an ice cream traditionalist, but I do frequent Humphry Slocombe out of sheer curiosity for the flavors they will be offering that day. They do some pretty daring things as far as ice cream goes, and I’d never turn down a chance to sample a sweet frozen dessert with ingredients like foie gras or candied jalapeno.
Devil’s Teeth Baking Co. – San Francisco, CA
I’m sorry Tartine, but Devil’s Teeth Baking Co. is where it’s at.
I’m pretty lucky that I live on the outskirts of the city: easy accessibility to the beach, breezy parking (most of the time), and some incredible under-the-radar eats, like Devil’s Teeth Baking Co.
Devil's Teeth Baking Co.
A friend of mine had suggested a weekend trip to this bakery after she had discovered their enormous and crave-able breakfast sandwiches. I’m not one to pass up bacon, eggs, and cheese (especially when wrapped in a buttery homemade biscuit), so Alex and I met her and her boyfriend for a breakfast double date.
The bakery is located by Ocean Beach, in a very unassuming neighborhood with simple, functional decor. I wasn’t expecting a heavy meal, but after one look at their extensive display of sweets, treats, and bread-y eats, I knew we were going to be taking home some extras for later.
Clockwise from top left: Currant scone, cheddar bacon beer muffin, breakfast sandwich, fresh beignet
To keep it short: everything was outrageous. The currant scone was buttery, dense, but still flaky and light. The cheddar bacon beer muffin (insane, right?!) was a bit dry, but packed full of peppery flavor with a bold bite. The fresh beignets were probably my favorite (a Sunday morning special)– light, airy, and just a tad sweet. They took me back to the flavors of New Orleans (a trip I took over 5 years ago) and had the same warm comfort that I experienced in the French Quarter. And last but not least, the breakfast sandwich was indeed crave-worthy. Thick, crisp slabs of bacon were paired with perfectly scrambled eggs, a generous slice of cheddar, and stuffed into a homemade biscuit. These guys don’t mess around.
Devil’s Teeth is the kind of place you only need to try once before you dump your old bakery stand-by. That’s what it did for me. I’m no longer a believer in the Tartine morning bun, chock-full of pretension and foodie-buzz. I’ve been converted to the Devil’s Teeth beignet, …and scone, …and breakfast sandwich, which are all pretension-free and chock-full of sheer buttery awesomeness.