Wild Animal Park

I know the blog's about food, but I'll occasionally post about interesting locations that we've visited. J. took us on a backstage tour of the Wild Animal Park. Here's a shot of the new baby elephant hiding under mama.



Say it with me now, "Awwwwww."

The Mission

I like going to The Mission in North Park for breakfast.



Their stuff is pretty good. On Sunday, October 14, I met up with T., K., C., and C. for breakfast. The food is simple and usually very well-made. I say "usually" because I once had burnt french toast there. Otherwise, it's all very good.

I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered a cheese quesadilla. The prices were very reasonable and this dish was $4.75.



Everything was very fresh. The cheese (white cheddar, I think) was delicious and melted nicely, keeping the quesadilla crispy and not greasy. The salsa was fresh and yummy. Very basic with tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime juice, and salt/pepper.

T. had the desayuno burrito. It looked really good, but it was loosely wrapped and almost fell apart when he picked it up.



K.'s blueberry-banana pancakes. She ordered blueberry and C. ordered blueberry-banana, but they switched the plates. They didn't notice until the chunks of banana began surfacing on K.'s plate. The berry sauce they dribble around the plates is incredible.



K. also ordered a side of potatoes (home fries?).



The food is great and the prices reasonable. The downsides: the wait and the service. D. doesn't particularly like The Mission and I don't blame him. Waiting 45 minutes or more for pancakes is usually not worth the time.

The service is usually ok. Snotty is par for them, but occasionally there's a friendly server. This time, however, the service was shit. There was no other way to put it. Our waiter disappeared for long periods of time, making our meal run to almost 2 hours. The manager attempted to seat our party of 5 in a small booth for 4. He was snippy when we said we couldn't fit and could wait longer. They rarely cleared off empty dishes, making the table (which was already small) very cluttered. Drinks were rarely refilled. Then, there was the pancake switch. They should have known who ordered what and delivered the correct dish to that person.

I can put up with the service, because it isn't a high-end place and I gauge the gratuity accordingly. The wait, however, is also a sticking point for me. I like going when there are fewer people and the lines are short.

Arrivederci

This Hillcrest eatery is packed on weekends. By packed, I mean that the hostess will laugh when you ask if they're taking walk-ins. I've enjoyed my previous visits there, but will I wait over an hour for the food? Probably not. Then again, I'm not willing to wait over an hour for most food.

On Saturday, October 13, we met up with friends at Arrivederci. I'd have to say that perhaps a little bit of the shine wore off (the restaurant, not the friends!). The last time I was there, I enjoyed a squid ink risotto that was quite delicious. This time, I had the spinach gnocchi with blue cheese cream sauce, which was fine. That's kind of the only comment I have about the entire experience. It was fine. Nothing terrible, nothing incredible. We had to wait, even with a reservation. The service was good. Ambiance-wise, they do a lot to create the feel of a rustic Italian building, but the noise is deafening. You have to scream to talk to your neighbor. Nothing particularly intimate about that.

The good part was that my gnocchi was nicely done. Not a ton of spinach flavor, but it was mashed spinach instead of spinach puree, making the leaves slightly recognizable. The sauce was a basic cream sauce. A tad on the heavy side and while it tasted like blue-cheese (I don't know which kind), I would have preferred more of a punch of the sharp flavor that typifies blue-cheese.

The bad part was the noise, the really salty bread, and the fact that T.'s toes were merciless mowed over by a lady and her walker. I was not a fan of the pile of vomit that greeted us when we exited the restaurant. It was literally right on the edge of the patio and D. almost stepped in it.

D. and I were discussing the menu and while the food was good, we felt it was rather unimaginative. Three bases (tomato, cream, wine) formed the majority of the sauces and the ingredients were pretty basic. His meal (tortellini with ham, peas, and cream sauce) could have been mine except for the blue cheese and the different pastas. I think that Italian food has become so mainstream nowadays that it isn't enough to stick to basics anymore. It needs to be inventive and work with a variety of materials from all regions of Italy.