Good Mexican in the Haight and other San Francisco, CA Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: The Little Chihuhua

The NOPA - the all-of-a-sudden trendy neighborhood between the Upper and Lower Haight, has always lacked one thing - a good Mexican restaurant. Until now. The Little Chihuahua is a fantastic place that has apparently ended the curse of its location, which, for the past 20 years, was home to a string of truly awful Mexican restaurants - some of the worst in the City. As if almost to compensate for our years of suffering, we've been given this awesome place to chow down at!

Favorite Dish: What truly stands out at The Little Chihuahua is the meat. The quality and flavor of the meat is truly exceptional. Which is why, unlike most Mexican places, their burritos are not their strong point. Making a burrito with the Little Chihuahua's meat is like making a hamburger with filet mignon. You should really get something that accentuates and makes the meat the star. The tacos are excellent, as are their dinner plates. My favorite is the nachos.

Beer and wine are available, along with the usual horchatas and imported Mexican Coca-cola.

The Little Chihuahua is open 'till 10 PM every night, Th, Fri, & Sat 'till 11 PM.

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Theme: Mexican
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: (415) 225-8225
Address: 292 Divisadero St. (at Page)
Directions: One block north of Haight & Divisadero.
Website: http://thelittlechihuahua.com/

Restaurant Name: Golden Boy Pizza

Golden Boy is a rough looking, dive-y place in North Beach that has been serving up great pan pizza for nearly 30 years. The interior looks like a tool shed - corrugated aluminum siding covered with skateboarding stickers. It's always had a punk-ish attitude but it's pretty fun nonetheless.

Favorite Dish: The pan pizza, of course. 2 slices and a beer will cost you about $9 and you'll be more than stuffed.

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Theme: Pizza
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Green Street, just west of Columbus

Restaurant Name: The Pork Store

The Pork Store is a great way to start your day if you're in the Haight/Ashbury early. You might as well start here 'cuz nothing usually opens before 11 or so anyway. Big, hearty, greasy, delicious.

But be warned: like all other breakfast places, the Pork Store is absolutely mobbed on the weekends. Get there before 9 AM if you don't want to wait.

Favorite Dish: Mmmmm... let's see.... the blueberry pancakes are outstanding, their pork chops are killer, patty sausage is very tasty, biscuits & gravy... oh, it's all good.

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Theme: Breakfast
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Haight Street near Ashbury
Directions: Haight St. between Ashbury and Clayton.

Restaurant Name: Cha-Cha-Cha

Living next to a place for so long sometimes you forget how cool it is. Cha-cha-cha's heyday was about 12 years ago,when this was a thriving area teeming with nightclubs. Most of the clubs - like the Nightbreak and the I-Beam - are long gone, but the good news is you'll only have to wait one hour to get into Cha-cha-cha insted of two!

Before anyone had heard the word "tapas" there was Cha-cha-cha. I suppose that, technically, the portions are a little too big to be considered tapas - so call them what you will. As to what style it is - I would say Caribbean/Cuban with some really great sauces. Also a great selection of Mexican beer and their famous Sangria.

Try to get there at opening time or close to it, and be prepared to wait. Best on a rainy day! A quintessential San Francisco experience - don't miss it!

Favorite Dish: The Calamari with Lemon Aioli is worth the trip... to San Francisco! Other notables - the warm spinach salad,the chicken paillard, the shrimp, the fried potatoes with chili aioli, and, of course, the Sangria.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (415) 386-5758
Address: 1801 Haight St
Directions: There's more than one Cha-cha-cha now, but you MUST go to the original (that's this one!). Located at the corner of Haight/Shrader in the Haight/Ashbury one block east of GG Park.

Restaurant Name: Brother-in-Law's #2

It's impossible to miss Brother-in-Law's - just follow your nose. You can smell the delicious aroma from 2 blocks away. There are a couple of other BBQ places around the neighborhood, but Brother's is consistently voted either 1st or 2nd best in the City for BBQ by just about any poll (Big Nate's in SOMA is the other one).

Brother-in-law's has somewhat of a reputation for extremely surly service - especially to white people. I try to put myself in their shoes... this used to be a tight black neighborhood, and I'd probably be upset too if gentrification had driven out most of the people I knew. If it's any consolation, their service has improved in recent years; by improved I mean they won't say that they don't have any short ends when really they do, and they even sometimes smile!

Favorite Dish: The best thing they make by far is the short ends - the meaty part of the ribs. It costs a little more, but it's worth it. Second would be the brisket, and third would be the hot links. Their ribs are only OK (at least, compared to the shorts), but you may have to settle, because sometimes they run out of the shorts. I only had the chicken once and I wasn't impressed.

Their hot BBQ sauce is HOT - you can get the mixed, which, as you probably have guessed, is the mild and hot mixed together.

Brother's is take-out only. They have a table but you don't want to sit there. Don't even ask about a bathroom.

Brother's is usually open for lunch and dinner until at least 8, later in summer. They are usually closed on Mondays.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! After however many years B-I-L has been around, it's changed it's name! It is called "Lilly's" now. I poked my head in the other day and asked the woman if the food was the same, and she said the only thing changed was the name. Haven't verified that. I'll let ya know.

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Theme: Barbecue
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: don't bother calling
Address: Divisadero Street between Grove and Fulton
Directions: Go to Haight and Divisadero, go north on Diviz about 3 blocks and sniff.
Website: you've got to be kidding

Restaurant Name: The Cheese Steak Shop

There are lots of places in SF that claim to make authentic philly cheesesteaks and all of them are liars - except this one. Go in this place and you'll swear you're in Philly! There's lots of great framed pictures of "vintage" cheesesteak places from Philly and South Philly. The newspaper is tacked to the wall - so you can read it and have both hands free!

Favorite Dish: Helloooo.... the cheesesteaks! They make pizza steaks and garlic steaks and mushroom steaks and just about any other kind, but my favorite is the plain ol' cheesesteak with onions and sweet peppers. For you Phillites who are REALLY homesick, they even sell packages of Amoroso's rolls!

Most of the folks who eat here are local health-care workers ignoring the advice of their bosses. One word of warning: service can be sloooow... especially around the lunchtime crunch.

Others: The Metro Cafe near Haight and Fillmore makes respectable (though not authentic) cheesesteaks. Jay's Cheesesteaks has several locations and should be avoided like the plague - their cheesesteaks are TERRIBLE!

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Theme: American
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 415-346-3712
Address: Divisadero & Bush
Directions: Got to Divisadero and Bush, about 3 blocks north of Geary, and look for the bright yellow awning. This area is the HMO district; unless you're seriously injured there's nothing much of interest here.

Only open 'till 8 PM.

Restaurant Name: Raja Cuisine

What's the difference between Raja and the other Indian places on this street? It's the ingredients. You can really taste the care that the staff uses in selecting the spices. I would even say that the food is better than at Indian Oven - the older and more well known place a block away down Fillmore Street. It is not as aesthetically nice inside, though; if you have your heart set on a nice sit-down meal with real tablecloths and cozy atmosphere, then Indian Oven is the way to go - though there is usually at least a small wait and it is more expensive. If you're only in it for the food, try Raja.

Favorite Dish: The chicken vindaloo is excellent - I usually have to convince the waiter that I really do want it as hot as it's supposed to be. Good naan breads, excellent pakoras, a flavorful tandorii, and a good selection of beer.

They also have a $7.95 all-you-can-eat lunch special from 11:30 to 2:30! They open at 5:00 for dinner.

In addition, they do deliver, but I don't recommend you order for delivery from this place. They've forgotten stuff on more than one occasion.

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Theme: Indian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 415-255-6000
Address: Right on the corner of Haight & Fillmore

Restaurant Name: Irving Street Cafe

The Irving Street Cafe is a great local haunt, serving up delicious, large portions of breakfast and burgers. I've been going here for nearly 20 years, and the food has always been outstanding.

Dispite it's unpretentiousness, you may have a star encounter! One of the Irving Street Cafe's loyal regulars is rocker Chris Isaac, whom I've seen here a couple of times. There's a REALLY ugly airbrushed T-shirt of the crooner on the wall, but, if you're in luck, you may meet him in the flesh!

Favorite Dish: Basic American breakfast fare is all good, including the ultimate hangover food - corned beef hash. Their burgers are big and juicy. Portions of everything are generous. It's open from 8:30 - 4:00 7 days a week. They take CASH ONLY.

Like every other breakfast place in the neighborhood, it is mobbed on the weekends - go EARLY if you're eating on a Sat or Sun.

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Theme: Breakfast
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 415-664-1366
Address: 716 Irving btwn 8th and 9th Ave
Directions: It's only a block away from Golden Gate Park's 9th Ave entrance, so it's a great place to start your museum day.

Restaurant Name: Ali Baba's Cave

Ali Baba's is a nice little place in the Lower Haight. Very good mediterranean food, good music, big portions - a good budget eatery.

Favorite Dish: What makes this place stand out is their fantastic shwarmas, especially the turkey shwarma, which is incredibly good!

Warning: as with all unfamiliar ethnic foods, tell 'em to go easy on the hot sauce - theirs' is HOT!

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Theme: Middle Eastern
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 415-255-7820
Address: 531 Haight St.
Directions: Haight Street btn Fillmore and Steiner

Restaurant Name: Metro Caffe

Not to be confused with the Metro Cafe (one F) a few blocks away - this place cooks up a very respectable Philly cheesesteak. It's not as good as the Cheesesteak Shop on Divisadero, but it's close. They have excellent burgers as well. It's maybe a tad more expensive than it should be (a good size sandwich, fries and drink is close to $10), but it's very good for that greasy pig out!

Favorite Dish: Just the good ol' Philly with onions and sweet peppers.

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Theme: American
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 415-621-9536
Address: 247 Fillmore at Haight