Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
locals prize this place, run by two Italian women since 1990. At one point during
a recent meal, I accidentally dropped a knife on the floor. Even though the wait-
ress was across the room, she noticed, and I had a new one within 10 seconds with-
out having to ask. Salads are $6 to $9, but the best dishes are the pizzas (just
$5-$7) or the oven-baked dishes—try the
crespelle,
crepes filled with porcini mush-
rooms and topped with béchamel sauce ($12). One thing you won't find lots of is
pasta; there are a few dishes, but the chef generally likes to come up with more
adventurous oven-baked items such as pumpkin-filled ravioli and Cornish hen
roasted in white wine.
$$
Here's what stinks about tiny
Mama's
5
(1701 Stockton St., at Filbert;
%
415/362
-
6421; Tues-Sun 8am-3pm; cash only):
the lines. Especially on week-
ends, it can stretch around the block and take more than an hour to get through.
The reason, of course, is that the breakfast food is delicious, and servings are gen-
erous. Like Dottie's near Union Square (p. 72), it's a beloved brunch institution
that deals in comfort classics, but unlike Dottie's, which is in the Tenderloin,
you won't feel uneasy waiting outside of Mama's, which is in the heart of homey
North Beach. To stand a chance of getting in, arrive around 2pm, keep your party
small, or come on a weekday. The signature dish is the Monte Cristo, served
with homemade jam (there's a pot on every table), but the chocolate cinnamon
toast, smothered in chocolate sauce, also has its believers. Dishes are mostly
under $13.
$-$$
Up to seven house-made beers, none of them pasteurized or filtered (so
they're packed with flavor) are served at
San Francisco Brewing Company
(155
Columbus Ave., at Pacific;
%
415/434
-
3344; www.sfbrewing.com; daily noon-1am;
AE, MC, V)
each day; they're $4.75 per bottle, if you prefer it that way, or $9.25 by
the gallon, if you're crazy-thirsty. Your pint will be served warm, as is the British
style. All are served at a fabulous mahogany bar, and both the tile floor and the
ornate skylit ceiling date to the early days of the 20th century. Between 4pm and
6pm daily, most beers are just $1 a glass and $1.75 a pint. There's pub-level food,
of course, along the lines of burgers, gumbo, and a sausage sandwich that's made on
the premises ($7-$9). Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays after 8:30pm or 9pm,
there's live entertainment—usually jazz. In good weather, the seating out front are a
sublime place to watch the characters of Columbus Avenue glide by.
$$$-$$$$
A persistent stereotype of North Beach, no longer apt, is that it's a
hotbed of old-fashioned red-sauce and meatball joints. That might have been so
a generation ago, but most of those have long since disappeared. One exception
is
Capp's Corner
5
(1600 Powell St.;
%
415/989
-
2589; www.cappscorner.com;
daily 11:30am-2:30pm and 4:30-10:30pm; AE, DC, MC, V),
which is the type of a
sweet trattoria you've possibly been fantasizing about—family-run since forever,
red-checked oilcloth covering the tables, walls hung with old San Francisco pho-
tos and memorabilia, and a waitress with a gentle smart mouth. It's the sort of
place you wouldn't mind going to every afternoon with a newspaper when you're
an old codger. Meals are served family-style, meaning they're shared, and come at
two price levels: $17.50 or $20 per person ($13 for kids) for minestrone soup,
salad, and a main (such as pasta, veal Milanese, or my favorite, veal tortellini in
sun-dried tomato cream sauce). Food is excellent but homey, meatballs are moist,
