Mission Mission

Everybody, meet SanJalisco, formerly known as Los Jarritos.  MM reader Mark P. stopped by this weekend and noticed something was amiss:

Just stopped by Los Jarritos at 20th and South Van Ness, a great family restaurant that’s been at that corner at least 20 years. Sign on the door says they’re changing their name. I asked why. They said they’d been sued by the Jarritos soft drink company.

Indeed, despite the fact that owner Dolores Reyes opened the place back in 1988, around the same time that multi-national Novamex started importing their drinks to the US, and that jarritos themselves are actually small earthen clay pots popular in Reyes’ home state Jalisco; the beverage maker nonetheless remained undeterred to ensure sole possession of the name even after losing an earlier court decision in 2007. 

Reyes, lacking the considerable legal budget enjoyed by Novamex, couldn’t afford to keep up the battle in court, much less the $50,000 that the corporation wanted in order for the small restaurant to keep its moniker, and eventually decided to relent and change the name.  In all, it appears that almost 30 similar restaurants around the country with some version of Jarritos in their name were targeted.

You’d be doing yourself a favor by going to stop by and show your support thanks to the delicious menu featuring breakfast chilaquiles and other fabulous platano creations.  Pair that with their refreshing michelada for a fantastic hungover Sunday brunch that gives Boogaloos a run for its money.  Just don’t expect them to be selling Jarritos sodas anymore, though.

Great article on this over at the SFBG

[Outdoor Photo by Michael N via Yelp]

[Food Photo by vegansaurus!]

The Salvadoreño Market.

Little Otsu.

Which is more appealing? Personally, I think the blue one is the better deal.

Hey, sooner or later your neighbor with the unsecured Netgear is going to wise up and throw a password on that sucker. What will you do once that happens?

I was browsing SF ISPs since Comcast is getting hella expensive and stumbled across MonkeyBrains, based right in the Mission. They seem like a laid back bunch. One interesting thing on their site is their FREE wireless offer:

RESIDENTIAL AND BUSINESS in the Mission: We are starting a pilot program in the Mission District of San Francisco where wireless is FREE through the end of 2010 — all you pay for is the setup of an antenna on your rooftop. Speeds are 10Mbps to 20Mbps up and down. Fill out the Sign Up form and we’ll contact you to see if your house is eligible for this pilot program (it requires line of site to our antenna).

Sounds like an awesome idea, but you might not have a lot of luck convincing your landlord to install an antenna on the roof. Has anyone with a qualifying location taken these guys up on this offer?

So wrote reader Adam G. on Saturday night:

Went to Adobe tonight. Confirmed that they are NOT closing. A couple of art projects that features tag lines like “Everything must go!” and whatnot must have led to the rumor.

Darn art! Always making you think and shit.

Photo by SFist.

I happened to walk by this place while the friendly new proprieters were repainting the interior (the yellow brick road motif will not survive the transition) and beckoning passerby to stop inside and sample the sausage.  The habañero kielbasa was quite a treat, but the real intrigue lies with the brown sugar bourbon bacon.

Hence the working title for B-cubed, the new burger and wine bar set to take over the allegedly cursed former Senses location on Valencia by 22nd in about 10 days.  Seeking to be known as “the winemaker’s speakeasy,” the idea is to offer hard-to-find ridiculously good quality vintages at prices that people can afford regularly.  You can get it by the taste, glass, bottle, or case!

If they keep finding stuff like the Beaucanon Napa Cab Sav, with its black tea and tobacco musk, or the intoxicating Hesperian Cab Franc that I sipped, there’s a great chance that the curse will be lifted and this spot will become an habitual neighborhood hangout (especially since they’ll be open until 2am).

Now all we need is Zaytoon to complete its 2 year metamorphosis and along with Lucca’s, El Majahual, and Beretta, this will be a power bloc once again!

The Tens heard Adobe Books here might be under the gun. The Tens is upset:

Occasionally when a local business closes, I have no one to blame but myself (sorry Palace Steak House, I kept meaning to go). This one however, I blame on you. You as in the royal you, is that a thing? Like y’all. But not any of you in particular, just you generally. ¡Ustedes! Fuck, English sucks.

Read on.

Photo by douglemoine.

P.S. Who thinks more book stores should organize their books by color?

When I walk by Andalu, it doesn’t invite me in. It’s one of those places in the neighborhood that just feels too new and too upscale. When I walk in I feel a little out of place. But wait, apparently it did invite me in, because here I am, on last Sunday, ordering brunch. The thing is, I really like eggs benedict. Sometimes when I’m hungry I’ll browse the Flickr pool. But it’s not easy to make at home and it’s not especially cheap. Especially at Pork Store, which is the nearest eggsbenedicteria to my home.

At Pork Store I have to shell out something like $13 for the dish and, sure, it comes with coffee and juice, but I don’t always want all that liquid. (their online menu says that the benedict is $8.95, but maybe that’s only at the Haight Street location, or I’m just plain wrong) Plus, there’re the lines and the scene (which is maybe a plus and a minus?) and the quality, which is just so-so, but what they don’t have in quality is definitely made up for in bigness.

Boogaloos also has the lines and the scene, their benedict is great, but also 5¢ more expensive than Andalu, and comes with fruit or hashbrowns, not both.

Valencia Pizza & Pasta has a pretty good and very filling benedict, and there usually isn’t much of a wait or a scene there. Plus you get a whole orange.

I had the eggs florentine at Weird Fish once, it was good, but smothered in sauce.

At Andalu the benedict is $9.95 (pictured above) and is delicious. The eggs were cooked into little orbs that squirted their warm yellow yolk all over the place when popped. Which is a good thing, I think. And the polenta fries (not pictured, we got those with the french toast, which was also very good, but I’m not talking about that) were great dipped into the hollandaise. The only downside to the food was that I was still a little hungry afterwards.

So, what do you think? Eggs benedict – overhyped? Is there a better spot in the neighborhood (under $10) that I left out? Or should I just eat at home more?

While it might not have all the chuptzah of the new Bay Citizen community news experiment, the masters of Mediterranean dining at Old Jerusalem nonetheless have a website that refuses to be left out of the discussion.  Not content to merely the hold the title for Best Falafel in the Mission (according to vegansaurus!), they also appear to pursuing the award for Spiffiest-Looking Restaurant Website.

Not only does it play scientific sounding beeps and boops whenever you mouse-over various icons, but a video demonstration by a mildly attractive virtual tour guide instantly materializes to walk you through the various features, ensuring you don’t get caught on the wrong side of the checkpoints.  Of course, the discerning veiewer sees through all this pomp and circumstance to the generic interface overlaid with OJ graphics, but you still have them an A for effort.

Does anyone have any other favorite Mission restaurants or local businesses with hilariously incongruent websites?

[Link, thanks Travis!]

Previously:

Hands Down the Best Falafel in the Mission

Something is Going on in Zaytoon

Cheese-filled corn tortillas give reader Rian O. “major bonerpants” (his words), so he’s chronicling all his Mission pupusa dining experiences on his blog: riproarious. Scattered throughout these lengthy reviews are some deep philosophical questions, like this example of the Hipster Paradox:

When I see a hipster doofus like me at the counter, I get genuinely pissed. “Back off!” I whisper under my breath while starring into my iPhone. “Our kind will be the ruin of this place.”

These establishments are getting full writeups and a rating of 1-4 “Dios Mios” (rough translation: OMGs!).

Go ahead and tell him how much you disagree and how you’ve been backpacking in El Salvador so you know what’s up.

Well, how’s this for a scoop?  While the letters are still literally being added!

I’m not sure if this place will still be hair salon, or if it’s to be transformed into a retro thrift store, antique boutique, or gallery of some sort.  According to the overhanging sidewalk sign, though, so far it looks like a good place to score some blow.

Previously:

Vertical Clearance Needs Sidewalk Clearance