Sonic Drive In

After the big build up, I must say that I was extremely disappointed with Sonic. I've only heard good things about them, but then again, it could be that I've been listening to the wrong people. I guess I should have known better when someone referred to fast food as being great. (Exception noted for In-N-Out Burger.)

I asked for a burger with everything, hold the mayo. I got...you get guessed it, a burger with nothing but mayo. My "Iced Tea" had no ice. The service was slow. Basically, I could have picked up roadkill and had a more satisfying meal.

Overall, thumbs way down.

EDITED TO ADD: Another funny thing that happened was that the server we had was brand new. To make things worse, he nearly killed himself when he ran into our car with a tray of food.

E'Angelo

So, someone had to do it. Someone had to be the first bad food review on this esteemed site. I went to E'Angelo last night for some old fashioned italian fare and came to discover that it had gone downhill quite a bit. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but most of the food ended up tasting just a little off. The meatballs were super salty and all of the sauces were just, "eh." The one shining star of the night was the chicken with arugula and asiago cheese. That was pretty darn good. Lots of different earthy flavors from the nuttiness of the cheese to the peppery arugula, it all came together pretty well.

Coincidentally, the also started taking credit cards at their restaurant. A major convenience factor since half the times I go there I forget cash and end up having to walk around the corner to the ATM.

Well, I've had better at E'Angelo. I really just hope it was a fluke occurence. Usually the food there is pretty darn good.

E'Angelo
2234 Chestnut St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 567-6164

The Bell Tower

Last night, I went to dinner with a couple friends to The Bell Tower on Polk St. It was pretty good. Nothing to write home about, but the food was good and a great place for a casual meal and drinks. I had the French Onion Soup and the Fish and Chips. Being a FOS connoisseur, I give it a rating of Good. It was just missing something. I'm not sure what, but it felt a little empty. That being said, it is still pretty good and blows the FOS from Brazen Head out of the water, or soup as it may be.

The Fish and Chips were decent, but I probably would change my order next time and go for the chicken sandwich that my friends got. It looked pretty delicious.

1900 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 567-9596

Zushi Puzzle

I went out to dinner last night with a couple of friends to a sushi restaurant I had never been to before. The fish was amazing, the sushi chef was awesome and our neighbors at the sushi bar were a little strange. (Though very nice since they did buy us a couple rounds of sake) I actually think Roger, the sushi chef, ate more fish than he sent out on plates. Every time he would make something, he would cut himself off a piece and, for lack of a better word, slurp it into his mouth. I was a little worried that some of that "slurp" would end up on the sushi, but I don't think it ever did. Or, maybe that's the special sauce in the "Remix" sushi.

Oh, and they serve Orion Beer, which is one of my favorite Japanese beers.

The nigiri and sashimi was good. Their special rolls were very creative. Personally, I am more of a sushi purist and would prefer nigiri and sashimi. But these special rolls were very good.

Zushi Puzzle
1910 Lombard St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-931-9319

Make a reservation for the sushi bar so you can witness the slurping yourself.

Le Soleil

Yesterday for lunch, after the movers came to give us an estimate on our move, we picked up some Vietnamese food from Le Soleil. The food there is pretty good, though I have noticed that the price of the food has crept up slowly over the past few years. Regardless, the food they serve up is always consistent.

Since I am a sucker for vietnamese spring rolls, that is always on my order. In addition, we usually end up getting some sort of noodle dish. Other dishes to try include the special rice bowl with chinese sausage, shrimp, chicken and vegetables or the Vietnamese Crepe.

Overall, I would recommend Le Soleil to anyone looking for a casual Vietnamese meal. There are, of course, other restaurants that have better ambiance, more interesting menu selections, etc., but this one fits the bill nicely for quick, inexpensive and dependable.

Le Soleil
133 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-4848

Siam Square

Sometimes you just want tasty and inexpensive Thai food delivered. My choice in San Francisco is Siam Square in the Marina. Everything on their menu is great, their prices are reasonable and delivery is quick. Tonight, the food was at my door within 20 minutes.

My usual order?
Po Piah
Panang Chicken Curry
Tom-Yum-Gai
Pad Eggplant

Everything on the menu is very tasty though. (One exception is the Pad Thai, which isn't my favorite.) Maybe it's not as fancy as some of the other haute cuisine in San Francisco, but the sometimes simple food just hits the spot.

Siam Square
2414 Lombard St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 775-3963

Food, Wine and Sometimes Not Remembering Because of the Latter

I'm glad that I'm going to start blogging about restaurants/food/wines that I have tried. I admit, this is somewhat selfish in nature as I do want to be able to remember some of the spectacular places that I have been. But, I want to be able to share my experiences with my friends.