SOME SAN FRANCISCO FAVORITES

As you all know, SF is a food lover's paradise. And in this town, there are a lot of famous places to try. Unfortunately you also know that SF is not some place that we visit that often. We've certainly gone more lately with all our visitors, but it's still just once every week or two. A few weeks ago, with Tom's friend in town, we decided to head over to some places in the Mission that we'd heard about, but still hadn't visited. One was Tartine and the other was Bi-rite Creamery.

We started off with Tartine, a place famous for it's pastries and sandwiches. We met Tom's friend right out front and got in line to order some food. The place was packed, but we were able to snag a table outside. I ordered a few items for us to try since it was our first time there- a croissant for Tom, a ham and cheese croissant for him to take home, two sandwiches and two drinks. All this came out to a whopping $40, and swallowing my sticker shock, I paid up and headed out doors with my numbered sign.

As we waited outside for our sandwiches to arrive, we were able to observe the line which never really got that short, and all the people from the neighborhood walking around with their dogs. Here's the croissant, which I thought was pretty good. Tom also enjoyed it (and he's pickier about breads than I am)

And here's my turkey sandwich. Ok, I gotta say, it was rather large, so a lot more worth the nearly $10 that I paid for it. I ended up taking most of it home. And it really was quite good, though kinda greasy with all that butter and cheese.

And here's Tom's goat cheese sandwich, which he also liked. And even he couldn't finish the whole thing- taking one part of it home. He thought that the sandwich was pretty heavy, though tasty.

I didn't have any dessert at Tartine, because I was saving space for the famed ice cream at Bi-rite Creamery- just a block down from Tartine. I expected a long long line, which I'd heared about, but there was hardly a wait at all and we walked right in to order our ice cream. I was actually really surprised at the price- they were so much lower than they could be charging with a small cup coming in at less than $3 (keep in mind that Ben and Jerry's charges around $4 now, and they're not using fresh, organic ingredients of making their stuff on site).

Everyone had told me to try two flavors at Bi-rite, the salty caramel and the coffee toffee. (they even make their own toffee for the coffee toffee). And I gotta say, that coffee toffee was amazing- some of the best ice cream I've ever had. The salty caramel was ok, I prefer the burnt caramel from Toscanini's. On the right you'll see Tom's fruit bar, which he enjoyed, but I teased him for ordering it.

Overall, I found Tartine to be good. For the prices, I don't think it's worth a drive all the way into the city, but I guess I'd go if I were in the neighborhood, which I do plan on being more often after having Bi-rite ice cream- that's worth a drive from anywhere.