Akit's Choices for San Francisco Food

Here at Akit's Complaint Department, you might notice that some of my postings are not actually complaints, but at least some positive reviews on things like when the Dirty Harry DVD collection came out and it was quite affordable at Costco.

I thought that I would give a list and details about my favorite places to chow down in San Francisco and some places just a little away from the city limits.

1. Seal Rock Inn - It's on Pt. Lobos and 48th Avenue (end of the line for the 38L Geary Limited) and I really love their breakfast specials for $6.25 with decent portions (available Monday-Friday until 11AM, except holidays). I prefer the choice of breakfast meat with eggs, hash browns, and toast; but they also have french toast and pancakes as a substitute for hash browns and toast. I also like their half pound burger and their turkey burger with fries.
   
2. Kitaro Japanese Restaurant (Geary and 21st Avenue) - I have to say for the low price you pay for their boneless fried chicken dinner, you sure get a huge amount of chicken pieces. Also, get a 15% off coupon on the register receipt at the Safeway on LaPlaya. Big warning: they don't use Japanese rice that is fluffier and slightly sticky.
   
3. Sanmi (Geary, one block east of Mel's Drive In) - The price is a little higher for this Japanese restaurant, but you get it in high quality and freshness. Their sesame fried teriyaki chicken has this amazing crispy crust that is to die for. Also if you are lucky to try the fresh caught fish for sashimi, oh my, it melts like butter.
4. City Eats Dining Center (SFSU) - I have to give kudos for a residence hall dining center because of the large variety of items for all three squares of the day. If you love salads, this is the place; pizza and grilled varieties too. Even vegans will love the choices. SFSU students, faculty, and staff are welcome to dine by paying cash and recieving a discount (bring your campus ID). $6.50 for lunch is not a bad deal when that amount can get you a deluxe burrito and soda at the student center.
5. Costco El Camino Real - I'd stick with the hot churros and polish dogs... good for the price. Stay clear of that pizza, I've never seen something that greasy before.
6. Kam's (Balboa) - I rememeber eating there as a kid and although their cook has changed, their chow mein and "gourmet chicken" is still the same old favorite I loved.
7. John Campbell's Irish Bakery (Geary between 20th and 21st) - Such delicious big chocolate chip scones. Buy five and they are only a buck each. Their tea cookies are also very tasty too.
8. Irving Cafe and Deli (Irving between 22nd and 23rd) - My favorite place for a Vietnamese sandwich. The fresh bread (warmed and toasted too), fresh made mayo, and their BBQ pork makes it a killer sandwich. The imperial rolls are crispy and freshly cooked. A BBQ pork sandwich for under $5 is a good bargain, plus add some tasty pate too.
9. Safeway Deli - Why would I go to a supermarket deli, especially Safeway's? Their Hollywood Cobb sandwich is why. I can care less about the bread, but more about the ingredients they use. For $5.49, it comes with a thick boneless chicken patty, thick slices of smoked bacon, crumbled blue cheese (that really gives the kick), lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing. Buy seven sandwiches and get a freebie sandwich (you don't have to buy seven at once, but use your Safeway card).
10. Ono Hawaiian BBQ (Lakeshore Plaza, Sloat Blvd.) - The SFSU campus police sure likes eating there, and I totally agree. Their mini meals are priced well and provides plenty of food for a good lunch. Chicken katsu is tasty (the katsu sauce sucks, ask for teriyaki sauce), their BBQ chicken is not bad, their curry with BBQ chicken is better, and the short ribs are the best. Quick tip: If you don't want macaroni salad and cabbage, just say "all rice" and you'll get two scoops and a thin layer of rice on the bottom. For a lite snack, ask for a spam musubi that comes out with two big pieces with fresh grilled spam and hot steaming rice.
11. Tuttimelon (next door to Irving Street Cafe) - That yogurt sensation is hitting the streets around here. For a late night dessert, this fat free option is not that bad. Try the mango flavor frozen yogurt with some of those mini mochi balls.
    

OK, now I'm drooling. I'm getting a little hungry working on this blog at 3AM. Your favorite food places are welcome in my comment section. Maybe I'll visit some of your recommended places.

Can you park your car RIGHT?

Are you the owner of this vehicle at the Safeway lot on LaPlaya (the beach)?

Someone needs to slap you.

Online coupons, can't you just take them?

We all go shopping, yes everyone does. For the frugal person and the budget wise college student, coupons rule our lives.

I needed to purchase some new foot insoles and I checked-up on Dr. Scholl's website for some options. I found a two dollar off coupon for the one I wanted, and I printed it out. I went to my local Walgreens, purchased the insole, and presented the coupon. The guy tried scanning the coupon, but it would not read the barcode. He refused the coupon, rats, I could have paid $14.

Some other places are really nasty about accepting online coupons. At Safeway, I used a couple of coupons for dinner rolls and some soup, and the guy says that they don't accept it. I told the guy that I've used similar coupons and had no problem with them. I was also curious if they had a "no online coupon" policy posted anywhere. Haven't seen one yet!

The only place I do it these days is Albertsons at their self check-out stands, where as long as the product is not free, they honestly don't care, as long as the barcode can be scanned.

What's so wrong with online coupons? Most of them are savings of less than 75 cents, and each one has some form of verification to keep away the scammers.

Places I go for coupons: http://www.couponbug.com, http://www.coupon.com and these have codes on them that can be checked online to see if it is legit.

Let's summarize my rants:
Online coupons are great
There are little bitches at checkout stands that hates you.
Go to Albertsons, because they don't bother you.

Does it take three tries to get my sandwich right?

I was at Safeway today ordering a sandwich and I told the lady at the counter which sandwich I wanted and what I wanted changed and omitted.

My first request was that I did not want Italian rustic bread (too hard to chew), and I wanted their French bread. She pulled out the French bread and had to ask the co-worker to verify that it was the right bread. If you can't tell the difference between your store's baked breads, we have a big problem. If you can't tell the difference between macaroni salad and fruit salad, oh dear... Strike one!

She then read the little sign at the sandwich station to put on the ingredients. The spread that is used in the sandwich is the "garlic and herb spread" and I repeated to her that I wanted that spread. She said "you want ranch, right?" I said with a stern voice: "No, I wanted the one that was listed on the menu, the garlic and herb." She STILL put the damn ranch spread on. Strike two!

Since I knew that she really messed up twice, I had to keep my eye on what she was doing; just to make sure she doesn't spit in my sandwich, or I would have thrown that thing underneath one of their refrigerator units for a big surprise for their employees to clean-up.

Right before she was about to wrap the sandwich, I stopped her again and asked her, where's the salami? You only put ham in the sandwich, and the meats included is ham and salami. She put in the salami and gave me the sandwich. Strike THREE. She said, I'm sorry, and I said nothing because I was really mad.

I paid for my sandwich, and when I got into my car, I was cussing the f-word so many times because I have NEVER seen someone really mess-up my favorite sandwich order so many times. I'm typically not upset if they do a minor mistake that can be easily corrected, like me scraping the "olive mix" from the sandwich; yet she really crossed the line.

Next time, I'll never order a sandwich on the weekend. I'm making my own.

Let's summarize my rants:
Safeway makes some good sandwiches, if you get a competent person to do the job right.
Don't mess-up my order!