The first annual Pelican Cafe – 2015 Best of Excelsior District – San Francisco has finally made it back from the editor. The Excelsior is a bit like what the Mission District use to be like with a little hint of the prosperity a few miles north. There are no wine bars out on the street. A few excellent cafes popped up five years ago and the food is slowly getting better. Instead of health food stores, Mexican grocery stores abound. Just about everything you need to survive day-to-day life can be purchased along this stretch of the El Camino Real, the route taken by Franciscan missionaries the first being Junipero Serra in the 1760s.
Best Salvadorian Bakery by a Bus Stop
Pacita’s Salvadorian Bakery
Address: 10 Persia Avenue
Pasita’s Bakery is the real deal. All kinds of Central American specialty pastries. The best stuff comes out of the ovens in the late morning so people line up at the counter in the afternoons buying bread, cakes and pastries. If you buy a lot they will put all your stuff in a pink box, one by one with tongs and tie it up with a string. This is how you know it is the real deal.
Best Burrito
Taqueria Guadalajara
Address: 4798 Mission Street
Phone:(415) 469-5480
Hours: 10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Last year some magazine or maybe it was ESPN voted La Taqueria on Mission and 25th the Best Burrito in the United States. Obviously the judges never had the Super Carnitas Burrito from Taqueria Guadalajara. Now don’t get me wrong, La Taqueria’s burritos are very fine, but the fact they do not put rice in their burritos should simply disqualify them.
The point of a burrito is that in tight times, one super burrito can feed a family of four and the next day people are still so full they skip breakfast. For the past few years the lines have started to grow longer at Guadalajara so expect the salsa to be fresh and the food hot.
Best Bar with a Bluegrass Jam
The Doctor’s Lounge
Address: 4826 Mission Street
(415) 586-9730
Hours: 8:00 am – 2:00 am
The Crab Fest followed by the bluegrass jam in December of 2014 made this the best bar in the neighborhood. I remember walking into the Doctor’s Lounge on that night. All the tables where set with linen and candles. The place was packed and everyone was digging into Dungeness Crab. The smell of garlic and white wine was from heaven.
The Beauty Operators Bluegrass Jam followed and there were good times all around. Interesting artwork on the wall. Pool table in back. Good place to watch a Giant’s game. Sunday Brunch with rotating chefs.
Best Hardware Store
J & J Value Hardware
929 Geneva Avenue
(415) 239-8998
J & J Hardware is old school. You walk in and the owner is there to help you find that weird bolt, nut, washer or screw. He knows where everything is so you can get on with your day. All the usual hardware goods. With street parking on the side streets, and Walgreen’s close by.
Best District 11 Supervisor’s Aid
Jeremy Pollack
Always fighting for us down there at City Hall, Jeremy can get the job done. He also is good at not scaring little kids and can play a mean bluegrass guitar.
Best Mexican Grocery Store
Casa Lucas & El Chico Produce
I had to call this a tie. Casa Lucas has better refrigeration and vegetables generally. El Chico has a better butcher and checkout cashiers. Also, if you are making guacamole that afternoon, you may be able to get a good deal on ripe avocados at El Chico. If you buy the half and half at El Chico, I warned you, it may make for good buttermilk. But we will forgive the refrigeration. El Chico Produce is in what once was a bank. Granite walls and high ceilings. A big mural of the Mexican countryside on the wall. Pinatas hanging all over the place. Welcome to the neighborhood. Se Habla Espanol.
Casa Lucas
4555 Mission St
b/t Harrington St & Brazil Ave
El Chico
4600 Mission Street
Best Dog Park
McLaren Park
Excelsior
Ruff, ruff, ruff…
Best Breakfast Spot
Andrea’s Bakery
4511 Mission Street
I have not actually eaten at Andrea’s but often buy pasties here that are very good. Close to a mural of Jerry Garcia. The breakfast are authentic central american style. Juevos, sausage and chorizo, potatoes and tortillas. Hearty fare.
Best Dry Cleaner’s
Kim K Dry Cleaners & Laundry
4571 Mission Stree
9am – 6pm
Someone forgot to give Kim the memo and it is 2015. Excellent dry cleaning at 1990 prices.
Best Book Store (within 5 miles)
Bird & Beckett
653 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
Phone:(415) 586-3733
Bird & Beckett Bookstore is actually in Glen Park as the Excelsior District does not have a bookstore. Not to fear. Bird & Beckett in Glen Park is the best independent bookstore in the city. Live music and poetry readings on the weekend.
Coolest Building Sign from the Past
Alemany Emergency Hospital
On the corner of Alemany and Onadaga. If those walls could talk. Not sure what this buliding is used for but what a great front door. Probably from before electronic health records.
Best Hill for the Next Episode of the “Streets of San Francisco”
Italy Street going west towards Mission coming down the hill.
Imagine a car race over this hill! Flying off the top and jumping each cross street. The car crashes into this tree at the bottom of the hill. where there is a mortuary so the screenplay is already halfway there. Where is Karl Malden just when you need him?
