Underdog's Sports Bar & Grill

Underdog's Sports Bar & Grill

1824 Irving Street

San Francisco, CA 94122

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Checked this bar down the street with a friend last night, been wanting to try this place for a while since opening. From the owner of Nick's Crispy Tacos and Underdog hotdogs fame, its great to have this joint right near my house since the Sunset is in dire need of a mexican grubhub.  Not sure how authentic the food is but the tacos "Nicks Way" is the best. Nicks way is served with a crispy shell and also loaded with guacomole and other sauces. I tried the sampler platter which included all the meats, pork, chicken, and steak. Also ordered the quesadilla and the salsa/guacomole with chips. Overall pretty grubbing bar food. Despite being quite packed the service is really good and the energy in the place is quite loud and hectic but everyone their is just out to have a good time. Will definitely return to get my taco on.

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana

Pier 1 1/2

San Francisco, CA. 94111

Grub-O-Meter: 3 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$$$ out of $$$$

La Mar on the waterfront is a new peruvian restaurant that has been filled packed every night since its opening. The crowds are the young professionals, 20-30 somethings that are out to socialize and to get some peruvian food and drink. For our company party we all ended up here to cheer in holidays and I must say that the interior is quite impressive and nice and it looks alot bigger inside then it looks on the outside. The interior has a nice bar and open kitchen where you can see the cooks preparing your meal. So we all sat down to a pre-fix meal which was quite a deal because we got to sample 6-7 dishes of some of their signature dishes. When I ate here I was debating if I should put this in the blog since it is more upscale then most of the restaurants in the blog, but it's nice to have a range to compare. So with the 6-7 dishes we had lots of fish, beef, and rice dishes, cebiches, and much more. The seafood is quite fresh and the sauces are really tasty, lots of use of lime. There is nothing wrong with the food and I can appreciate it for what it is and when the occasion strikes places like these are appropriate, but for my tastes I think I would prefer a taco truck burrito over this, just a taste in preference. So overall for what it is nice environment, decent food, but a little bit out of the budget for me.

Toyose

Toyose

3814 Noriega Street

(between 45th and 46 Ave)

San Francisco, CA. 94122

Grub-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Toyose in the Sunset right near the beach is a crazy hole in the wall Korean joint that I never knew about until my co-worker told me about it. What's funny i'm not sure if this place is legally set up since it's sort of in a large garage. But popular to the twenty somethings this place is a great late night place which opens at 6pm but closeses at 2am. Great for after drinking or after night on the town Toyose has really great dishes to share with larger groups of people. Upon entering it was a lot nicer then I thought, with about 8-10 tables and wooden benches and wooden beams on the ceiling. A funny addition was the doorbell you can use at your table to call for service kind of like the Bubba Gumps Restaurant sign. This place has great tasting dishes, the kimchi fried rice, spicy chicken wings, seafood pancakes, potato croquets and so much more that I wanted to try. They had some other dishes you don't typically see at korean restaurants such as hot pots and casseroles. Also a great addition is the soju, not as strong as I have experienced from before but a great social activity for lots of people. Overall a hidden gem and great food.

Anna's Teriyaki

Anna's Teriyaki 

83 9th Street

(between Jesse and Larkin)

San Francisco, CA. 94103

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $ out of $$$$

Anna's Teriyaki is owned by a this cute Korean couple who's English is not the best but they are really nice. They have really decent lunch specials, bugogi, chicken, bento boxes, burgers, breakfast etc.. Usually the lunch specials are 5-7 bucks and you get a plate load of food. This place reminds me of alot of places I used to eat at when growing up, has a friendly comfortable atmosphere. What is also cool about the place is all the pictures of people who have come in to eat and it's interesting to see that this is pretty much San Francisco, all different types of people coming in for some good simple food.

Indian Clay Oven

Indian Clay Oven

2436 Clement Street

(between 25th and 26 Ave)

San Francisco, CA. 94121

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Indian Clay Oven in the Richmond district in SF is one of the better deals around for Indian Buffet. For only $8.95 for lunch you can get an all-you-can-eat meal for a bargain. The buffet has curries, appetizers, tandori chicken, naan, and desserts. This place is also quite nice with table cloth and good service. One of my staples for Indian in the city for sure.

Out the Door

Out the Door

865 Market Street

(Inside the Downtown Shopping Center Food Court)

San Francisco, CA. 94103

Grub-O-Meter: 4 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Coming to Out the Door I was a little reserved about this place because of the whole Asian Fusion thing with a stuffy crowd, but was pleasantly surprised on how well the dishes that we tried tasted. Not sure how authentic this is but who cares I suppose as long as it tastes good.

Located in the downtown shopping center's food court out the door is a great alternative to eating fast and well in the mall. Everything in the mall is around the same price 8-20 bucks for dishes so why not go to a sit down restaurant and pay the same prices for better food. I have never had duck porridge quite like this, the duck was all grinded up like bacon bits which tasted to me like beef jerky (which i dont have a problem with) and the base tasted pretty decent as well. The noodle dishes are pretty tasty as well,  although supposed to be a vietnamese noodle dish, tasted to me like pad thai, but maybe that was the chefs intention? Not sure but everything tasted good and would like to go back to try more dishes.

Sapporo-Ya Japanese Restaurant

Sapporo-Ya Japanese Restaurant

1581 Webster Street #201

San Francisco, CA. 94115

Grub-O-Meter: 3 out of 5 Bellies-Up

Cha-Ching-O-Meter: $$ out of $$$$

Sapporo-Ya in Japantown is a ramen joint that is a decent place to grab a bowl of noodles on the run. Never that crowded its a quick and easy meal, the noodles are hand made and served piping hot. The soup is a little on the salty, msgeezy side but can be tolerated if you dont mind

it a little salty. Tried the miso ramen and the vegtable ramen tasted pretty good on a cold day. Not the best place i have tried but when around Japantown not a bad  alternative.