Restaurants

The crouton makes it magic!

El Toreador in one sentence: Bright, cheery, always busy “sit down Mexican” place in West Portal, with bottomless bowls of chips, generous pitchers of Margaritas and big platters of comfort food.

Who you’ll see there: College students, families, couples before going to the movies.

Make sure to try: the sopa, the tasty tomato broth soup with one giant, yummy crouton floating in it. Also, the enchiladas will warm you up on the coldest, foggiest San Francisco night. Definitely go for the pitcher over the individual glasses of margaritas.

It’s okay to skip: the crispy taco plate. It’s a lot of fried, and they heat up the plate with the lettuce on it — not my favorite.

Service: The place is always busy, so they keep things moving. You’ll never have an empty plate sitting in front of you, and your water or soda will be refilled without you asking.

Average meal price:  Two people are in and out for $30 without booze, $45 if you get a pitcher.

Logistics:

• Be prepared for a line, you put your name on a list and wait
• No reservations
• It will be loud – it will not be romantic
• Kinda cramped, but in a friendly way
• Yes to credit cards

Parking:

On the street, can be tough to find, the smart move is to drop someone off to put your name on the list while you look for a spot

Location:

West Portal
50 W Portal Ave
(between Claremont Blvd & Portola Dr)
San Francisco, CA 94127
(415) 566-8104

Photos: Cat Lincoln

Paradise Cafe's Rasta Vibe

A celebration of rasta culture and a cheeky sense of humor create an unforgettable atmosphere at the Paradise Cafe,( also called Bob Marley Cafe) on the quiet eastern coast of Cozumel.  Swaddled by the Caribbean Sea and adorned with thatched roofs and bright red, gold and green accents, the cafe offers freshly prepared food as well as stunning beach views.  Walking up to the restaurant, the first things that capture your attention are signs proclaiming:  “Rasta’s Freedom in Paradise Yeah- Man.”  The signs sum up the general feel of the cafe and the beach.  Freedom to lounge, eat, surf or sprawl in a hammock  sounds like a reasonable idea for paradise. Read More »

Celia's Mexican Restaurant in SF is #1

Come for the delicious south of the border food, stay for another margarita! Celia’s Mexican Restaurant is a favorite neighborhood destination.

This neighborhood restaurant is locally owned and located in what is affectionately called the “Outer” Richmond District of San Francisco. That means you will likely only head to Celia’s if you live in the area, surf everyday, have family in the area or are lost. We fall into the “have family in the area” category and are quite familiar with this wonderfully foggy part of town.

If you like to bring the kids and dog to Ocean Beach then Celia’s could already be on your radar. We like driving along the Great Highway which is how we found Celia’s the first time, it is only a few blocks from the beach near the end of the line for the N-Judah trolley.

This time we stopped in for lunch and some neighborhood visiting. We were not disappointed by either. Did you know that Celia’s owner makes the house margarita mix from a secret recipe? If you like killer margaritas that pack a wallop then you should stop by early. Local regulars swear by its taste and grumble when it runs out early in the evening.

For lunch they started me out with complimentary chips and salsa and house made cole slaw. Yum! Then I had the chicken taco and chili rellano combination platter. Listening to the N-Judah trolley rumble by every few minutes, hanging out in this family run restaurant makes for a great meal.

Celia's Combination Platter w/Margarita! Ole!

If you like an old school sixties style Mexican decor and listening to ranchero music playing in the background, this is your place. For those who like to go head down south to Baja, Celia’s Mexican Restaurant will give you a kind of an Ensenada vibe without having to cross the border.   Now that is my kind of summer staycation!

4019 Judah Street
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 564-0662

Hmm, Why Is It Blurry?

I am originally from southern California, but moved to the Pacific Northwest to get away from it all. The things I miss the most are my parents and the Mexican restaurants.

Las Margaritas in Issaquah is within walking distance of home. It takes us 12 minutes to walk to the restaurant while dragging a three year old and six year old. We all know how they love to walk anywhere at the end of the day.

Read More »

We were in the mood to celebrate.

My boyfriend David and I had received word that we got an apartment we applied for in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, and some tasty food and drinks were definitely in order. So, we went to Don Pico’s Original Mexican Bistro in San Bruno. The family-owned restaurant has a warm, festive ambiance, usually with live music playing and the patrons clapping along while eating and drinking. It feels like everyone in the restaurant is celebrating something.

Sangria at Don Pico

We had been to Don Pico’s once before. My one regret at that dinner was not getting the sangria, which is one of my favorite drinks. Instead, I shared a pitcher of margaritas with David. Don’t get me wrong, the margaritas are divine; but David watched me as I stared longingly (dare I say lovingly?) at someone else’s pitcher of sangria at a nearby table, and he knew that next time, we were getting the sangria.

So, when we sat down at a table in Don Pico’s this time, David immediately ordered a pitcher of sangria. The waiter quickly returned with our pitcher and chips and salsa. The sangria was fruity and flavorful, but slightly heavy on the crushed ice, making it a little too slushy. As for the chips and salsa … well, I could easily eat chips and salsa all day. The salsa at Don Pico’s is just the way I like it: It’s not too chunky, so it’s perfect for dipping; and it’s got a little kick, but it doesn’t burn your taste buds and ruin your meal.

Chips and salsa at Don Pico

One of the things I love about this place is you really feel that you can’t go wrong picking anything on the menu. Beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetarian: It all looks great. The chef shops at nearby farmers’ markets for fresh ingredients and uses Niman Ranch meat. I opted for a two-item combo plate with a beef-filled tamale, smothered in a flavorful salsa sauce and topped with cheese, and a spinach enchilada, a corn tortilla stuffed with spinach and goat cheese swimming in tomatillo sauce, jack cheese and sour cream. David went for the Pollo Cancun, a delectable dish of chicken breast strips and Ortega peppers sauteed in tomatillo sauce. Of course, everything came with refried beans and Spanish rice.

Beef tamale and spinach enchilada at Don Pico

Both meals were delicious. Usually, I’m all about not stuffing myself, because I’m such a fan of leftovers. But this time, maybe it was because we were celebrating or maybe it is the sangria effect, but I cleaned my plate as did David. We’ve been to more expensive Mexican restaurants that served food that weren’t half as good as the food at Don Pico’s.

Don Pico’s
461 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94066
Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Closed Sunday and Monday
(650) 589-1163

So this is the hardest post for me to write. Why? Well, I worked for Chili’s for almost 15 years and I have a lot of prejudice’s, for and against this popular chain. So,  here we goooo…

One thing I love, love, love about Chili’s is, no matter which one you go to, it’s going to be the same. They use all the same recipes, and the standard for food quality is very high.

Mesquite Chicken Salad

My favorite dish, gosh I don’t know, I’ve definitely tried everything on the menu and I do have a few favorites. You can’t go wrong with the Cajun Chicken Sandwich, it has ancho ranch and onion strings which compliment each other. The Mesquite Chicken Salad is pretty good too. Yum!

So many people came in for the Chicken Crispers, not my favorite, but they are so popular that they will never leave the menu.

Another great thing about Chili’s is that, quite a few of them have Braille menus and foreign language menus. That’s huge! Not only do they have foreign language menus, but they also have allergy menus, all you have to do is ask and they will print one out for you. Again, awesome!

The only issue I have with Chili’s is sometimes the service is lacking. Like many other restaurants, it’s a great draw for the college age student, because they are so forgiving with their scheduling.

Chili

It’s just so hard to go wrong with Chili’s, there is a  little something for everyone on the menu. The kids still ask for it all the time.

Me, I could definitely go for a Presidente Margarita right about now.

Chili’s– Your Local City

Another good reason to visit Chili’s, especially during the month of September.

Photo Credit – Me and My iphone

Don Juan

I was out of town for two weeks and when I came home I realized that the local Mexican restaurant, Don Juan, finally finished their move. They had to move to a new building because their old one had, maybe 15 tables and when you are the only restaurant within walking distance, that’s not enough.

The new building is a whole block closer to my house, so now it takes only 5 minutes to walk to a great margarita joint. The interior is still on the smallish side, small enough to make it crowded at 4pm on a Saturday, but probably not so much on a Tuesday afternoon.

I ordered the shredded beef tacos with rice and beans, a cup of albondigas soup and a margarita on the rocks. The chips and salsa were good, the salsa in the first batch was spicier than the next few salsas we plowed through. I think they needed to stir the big batch in the back to get a more consistant flavor. The albondigas soup was awesome, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad albondigas. The tacos were different somehow to the normal shredded beef tacos that I usually order. They had some sort of red sauce on them that I wasn’t expecting, but I went ahead and rolled with it, because they were still good.

Every time we head to Don Juan the chili rellano burrito calls my husbands name and up till now he had been able to resist. He gave in, because he knew I was reviewing the restaurant and now was as good a time as any to try it out.  He thought it was going to be two great tastes taste great together, instead they cancelled each other out and made the offering kind of bland.

Normally we go to Don Juan and the food is excellent, as are the margaritas. This time the margaritas were excellent and the food was good, but not, oh my god, great. I’m going to chalk it up to new staff, new building, and an incredibly busy afternoon. It was, after all, only their third day open.

So if you are ever in Quartz Hill, California and you need to sate your mexican food craving, head to Don Juan, the margaritas are perfection.

Don Juan
42046 50th St West
Quartz Hill, CA. 93536