I know, I know. "I thought this was a blog about sandwiches in New Jersey?" Well, every now and then, I'm going to break the rules and since I've never traveled to this area before I figured why not Bourdain it (RIP). Since I only spent one night in SF and the rest of the time in Los Altos, I probably didn't experience the very best cuisine the Bay Area had to offer but I was able to cover a lot of ground over the course of an extended weekend. Overall, it was a great time, the landscape was beautiful, the weather was perfect (except when there was a 30-degree temperature difference between my hotel and the beach), and the National Parks Service on Alcatraz gave a much better prison tour than the Monmouth County Correctional Facility Scared Straight program did (no offense). I couldn't help but get some serious Florida vibes from the area, I'm not sure if it was the newness of most development, the five-lane highways, or the amount of eccentric white people I observed. Anyway, you're probably here for the food so let's get into it.
9. Seabright Brewery, Steamed Clams, Santa Cruz
Before the hair and makeup of the wedding I attended, I had almost an entire day to myself for exploration. Since it was 90 degrees in Palo Alto, I figured I'd take the drive to Santa Cruz (made recently famous by the movie "Us) to check out the beach and boardwalk. I probably shouldn't have been surprised to find out that it was actually cold at the beach and that since it was the first weekend of the summer everyone would be there. While driving around, I passed Seabright Brewery, which I thought was pretty funny considering Sea Bright is the beach I frequent in New Jersey. I will say the beer here was pretty good, the clams, however, were not great.
8. A Good Morning Cafe, Breakfast Burrito, Los Altos
I honestly wasn't planning on going to this place but after our Redwood Hike took about 2 hours less than we thought it would, we just decided to stop in here before heading to the airport to leave. I wanted to get a quick bite before heading to an In and Out near the airport, BUT, when you flash the words spicy, chorizo, and burrito in front of my face I will have no choice but to order it. Plus no one in this cafe understood English so I figured this had to be a win. It was just OK.
7. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Hot Dog, Oakland
After playing in a post-wedding softball game, I was inspired to spend the rest of the day watching baseball. So, we took the ride out to catch the 1pm Rays-A's game which of course warranted the purchase of some day-game dogs. The stadium itself is beyond old, and the hallways reminded me a lot of the old Giant's Stadium (which makes sense because this stadium also hosts NFL games somehow). It was a great experience though, as everyone there seemed to genuinely love the A's which is nice to see. (I guess I'm just used to games in DC where people couldn't give two shits about baseball and are just there for "business" purposes). The hot dogs were a good price ($6) for how big they were.
6. Estrellita Mexican Bistro, Oaxaca Chicken, Los Altos
Estrellita has been serving the Los Altos area since 1958 and with that kind of longevity, I figured it had to be good. You don't find many places serving Mexican food from Oaxaca so I decided on going with the Oaxaca chicken instead of my usual steak fajita order. I'm glad I did because the seasoning on this chicken was the shit. A perfect balance of spicy and tangy with some pretty decent black beans (made better by the queso fresco) and a mini cheese quesadilla. Since we have had nothing but amazing guacamole in California, we got an order of it. Unfortunately, the guac was fairly average. (Speaking of guacamole, I asked around and putting guac on a sandwich to call it "Californian" is acceptable so the Golden State grilled cheese from Taliercio's is now validated.)
5. Pa'ina, Chorizo Fried Rice, San Francisco
You don't get a lot of Hawaiian cuisine on the East Coast so I was glad I was able to experience this. We didn't only get the chorizo fried rice but it was the only thing I could grab a picture of. This place offered a ton of shared plates which is an awesome way to be able to try everything including Duck Baos, Poke Tacos, and Hawaiian favorite Spam Musubi. This spot was right around the block from the house from Full House (which was so underwhelming) and the Painted Ladies (also underwhelming although the park across the street did have incredible views of SF and the bay). Luckily, this meal was not underwhelming, everything was very good here.
4. Random Taco Truck, Tacos, San Bruno
The first thing I wanted to do when getting out of the airport was to find a taco truck. I plugged in taco truck into the GPS and off we went, 2.5 miles from the airport, to an industrial area that looked like it was from the set of Sons of Anarchy. It was perfect. There was a very nice woman working in the truck that day who cooked up my chicken tacos right there and she laughed at me when I asked her for extra spicy. She grilled up some of the best chicken I've had but I think she took it easy on the spicy sauce which wasn't insulting at all. For some reason, when I think California, I think eating tacos on the trunk of your rental car among warehouses, and I'm just glad I was able to fulfill that lofty dream 30 minutes into my trip.
3. The Bistro @ Courtyard by Marriot, Chorizo Breakfast Sandwich, Los Altos
I know it sounds crazy that one of the best meals I had the entire time was at the hotel restaurant but this breakfast sandwich was so good I had it two days in a row (one for research purposes and one for hangover purposes). This was maybe one of the most high-quality breakfast sandwiches I've ever had (outside of the state of NJ). Starting with the brioche bun, I knew I was in for something a little more quality. There was a TON of chorizo on this and the eggs were fluffy and cheesy. Generally, I don't agree with eggs to be prepared this way for sandwiches but it didn't fall apart at all. Also, this sandwich came with some of the best guacamole I've ever had. Again, not sure what it says about the rest of my trip when one of my favorites was at the hotel.
2. Golden Saba, Six Flavor Xiao Long Bao, Pan Fried Chive Dumpling, San Francisco
Since I stayed in Chinatown in my only night in SF, I figured it would be pretty dumb to not go to a dim sum restaurant. I'm really glad we stumbled upon this one (it had the highest google rating). It was a block off of the main Chinatown drag and is apparently a pretty new restaurant. Don't let the shoddy exterior dissuade you, inside you'll find an old man slinging dumplings in the window and very friendly service. Everything here was class, as we sampled six flavors of bao, some pan-fried chive dumplings, potstickers, and of course dessert bao. It may not sound like a lot of food but after this meal, I needed to be rolled down the hills back to the hotel.
1. The Buena Vista, Lobster Roll Chocolate Covered Bacon, San Francisco
After trying to avoid all of the tourist traps of Fisherman's Wharf, we came across the Buena Vista, which was recommended to us. After a bit of a shaky start (they don't serve food at their bar and it was self seating), we found a table and went to work. The Buena Vista has been around for over 100 years and was made famous by developing the recipe for Irish Coffee and introducing it to the U.S. Have to say, it was one of the best Irish coffee's I've had. Next came the Lobster Roll and it was very good, with a perfectly toasted bun. And finally, the main event, bacon covered in Ghiradelli chocolate. As someone who doesn't love sweets, I wasn't expecting much from this side dish. But I was blown away by how good this bacon was when covered in chocolate. I also discovered Beaver Brand Sweet Hot Mustard which made the waffle fries THAT much better. In fact, I loved this mustard so much I think I'm about to order some from Amazon so I can share how great it was at my next BBQ.
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