My Tenderloin SF food guide.
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8. Baked goods
Not only is the Arsicault in Civic Center much nicer and bigger than the one in the Richmond, they also have Parisian sandwiches. I love the jambon beurre sandwich. And the bacon scone. Their croissants are also the best and my French-raised wife says we can’t ever move beyond a 10 min walk from an Arsicault.
The French Spot has good salmon danish and Paris bakery has N African French baked goods.
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@LeafyEricScott mong thu
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@skinnylatte thanks! I'll put it on my map for next time I visit!
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@kzeta lmk if you ever wanna go. It’s my local
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@LeafyEricScott lmk if you want company!
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9. Not strictly TL, but there’s a Central Asian restaurant called Sofiya along Sutter (border of TL & Nob Hill)? I always loved that place back when it was Halal Dastarkhan. It looks like a greatly expanded menu with more service now. Phenomenal kebabs and plov. And honey cake
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Adrianna Tanreplied to Adrianna Tan last edited by [email protected]
10. My favorite all time SF restaurant is in the TL. It’s a little family run Cantonese-Venezuelan spot called Cantoo The Chinese menu is, to me better than Chinatown by a factor of 2, and the Venezuelan stuff is fun fusion too. Empanada. Black beans. The family was born in Venezuela and ran Chinese restaurants there. They speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish.
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11. My favorite all around non-sushi Japanese spot in the city is also in the area. Taniku is a small izakaya style place with a few starters, bowls, skewers and ramen. Their ramen isn’t as fancy as Mensho down the road but frankly I prefer their flavors and style of food.
They have a scallops and straciatella starter, hojicha panna cotta. I love those. Their skewers are the best without going to Rintaro. I love seafood ramen, esp their scallop miso ramen.
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@skinnylatte This isn’t TL but on the topic of baked goods, have you tried the ikea bakery? IMO it is weirdly quite good
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@tripofmice yes! Pretty good
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12. My struggle with sushi in San Francisco is it is often too expensive for what it is. Our top end sushi spots charge world class prices but are not world class. A $300 pp sushi meal is in SF not very different from a $50 sushi meal in Singapore. Or Thailand. So I never want to pay that money. (go to San Mateo for expensive sushi, like at Nagai)
Cheerful sushi I can do. Fishmandu in the TL is run by a Nepali couple who trained with a Japanese chef. To me, it’s the best cheapish sushi place
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13. As mentioned previously, the TL has a huge Mayan community. Lots of them work in food service. Lots of them eat here after their shifts. So we have late night Yucatán restaurants. Los Yucatecos: Poc chuc and salbutes and panucho and relleno negro. Also El Sabor Yucateco
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14. Delicious Sudanese food at Z Zoul cafe on Eddy. I also like Ararat Gyros and Van Ness cafe for wraps.
There’s a cute little sandwich place called Salty’s that has a delicious ‘Cardi B’ latte. A latte with cardamom and brown sugar
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15. I rarely do tasting menus. I’m tired of the format. I’m tired of most fine dining concepts. Especially if it’s just generic French or new Californian. No thanks. I’d rather eat my shoe.
But Ox & Tiger is kind of cute. It’s a tiny spot run by a Filipino and Japanese couple. They do everything themselves. It’s very interactive. The food is about their stories. I liked it. At least the food tastes good and they do it with heart. Lots of high end SF spots don’t do well in either.
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16. I’ve often been disappointed by Korean food in the city, but lately things have opened up and they are now in my neighborhood as well.
In the TL, Yasijang and Sungho for good quality and interesting Korean.
Further up Polk st I also like Maashita Galbi, and in Fillmore I also like Sikdang woori. These, along with Muguboka, are the main Korean spots I like
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17. Often when people ask what they should eat if they’re watching a show in civic center I send them to Chao Pescao. Latin Caribbean food in a pretty setting. Make sure you have plenty of time tho, service can be a little slow.
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18. Bar food and pizza
I actually really like the bar food at Shovels, a dive bar in the TL. They have fried cheese curds and also pretty good burgers. I like their burgers more than super duper. They also have vegan versions.
Nearby, outta sight has pizza happy hour and also good sandwiches. I am just very rarely a pizza and sandwich person, but when I feel like it, it’s good
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19. There is a bunch of totally illegal street food vendors in the area. Some phenomenal tacos but I couldn’t tell you their opening hours or fixed locations. There was a guy slinging Yucatán street snacks like marquesita. A super tasty egg roll / love letter style snack with cheese AND chocolate. Omg
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20. There’s a Mongolian cafe behind the public library now. Dumpling House Asian Cafe (not to be confused with dumpling house). Mongolian fried breads and piroshkis too.
This little neighborhood has so much great food. I live here partly because I don’t know how to live in areas where I have to travel *to* food. I’ve always had great food outside my door and the TL is the only place that really feels like that. Mission, too.
