The Food Issue, part 2

There was a great little query circulating on Bluesky the other day:

And the answers amde me remember so many great Places of Yore that I immediately scrapped what I had planned for The Food Issue part 2 (which was going to be my go-to recipes, NO ONE CARES) and replaced it with a few of my lost faves (and some not so faves). Chime in if there’s one or more you fancied that I overlooked.

MacArthur Park was a big, airy steak and rack of lamb kind of place on Front Street that peaked in the 90’s and, judging from the Yelp reviews, then entered a long slow decline before shuttering around 2010. But in the 90s it was hopping! My Dad loved it, which isn’t a surprise because his favorite restaurant of all time was probably Houston’s and this was like a non-chain Houston’s. Also it was well-known as a “place you take your parents,” so no surprise there. I remember really good BBQ ribs.

Who remembers Clown Alley, a bizarre fast-foodish place in North Beach that was like a clown-themed Burger King and catered largely to post-bar drunks? I vaguely do. Here’s a great story in SFGate about the place, which sadly closed for good in 2009. I remember being unsettled by the huge clown mural on the wall, but the burgers were solid. (And while we’re on the topic of fast food and fast food-adjacent places, old downtown worker drones will recall the Wendy’s on Market, a two-story affair.)

Several people mentioned Q, a weird, noisy, wonderful spot on Clement that had sort of diner food? But different? (I’m just now reminded that it was formally “Q Restaurant and Wine Bar,” which is kind of hilarious because it was emphatically not a wine bar.) They did a lot of things with tater tots and mac and cheese, if that helps explain it. Big brunch business, once featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives! I miss this place.

Speaking of diners, It’s Tops on Market and Sparky’s on Church were both good.

Back when the Mission was still kinda sketch and still definitely cheap, Flying Saucer at 22nd and Guerrero was one of the first restaurants to serve interesting, unconventional (at the time) food at reasonable prices. It was sort of “fusion,” I guess. I only went once, and the only thing I remember is how crowded and loud, but fun, the place was. It was sort of the template for all future Mission restaurants, with heavily tattooed servers, weirdly named dishes, and a general feeling of hipster before hipster was a thing.

Moving to a radically different neighborhood, Cow Hollow, we arrive at Betelnut, an Asian fusion restaurant that closed in 2015. Despite being located in the second most annoying neighborhood in San Francisco and populated by, as one Yelper accurately put it, “Post-Collegiate Frat-Boys & Sorority Girls in William Rast Jeans, Miniscule Alice+Olivia Tops Toting Gucci Bags,” the food was actually really good, if wasted on those scoundrels.

Also featuring Asian fusion was Butterfly, which had a run in the Mission space currently occupied by Brick and Mortar before moving to the Embarcadero and closing in 2017. I remember the food being particularly good, especially at the Mission location (I went to the Embarcadero once, for brunch, I think).

Fog City Diner, at the foot of Telegraph Hill on the Embarcadero, became famous after being featured in a Visa commercial in 1990. But the food was actually good! It was originally helmed by celeb chef Cindy Pawlcyn and was really well thought of.

Unfortunately I was terminally broke for most of the 90’s and FCD was REALLY expensive so I didn’t get to go until the early 00’s and by then the bloom was off the rose and everything was just OK. The location was incredible, though, and just sitting with a drink watching the city go by was a good time.

Oh also I wrote a whole thing about Curly’s already. RIP Curly’s.