Fog City Diner
1300 Battery St
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 982-2000
Categories: American (New), American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Embarcadero
3 star rating
Today I ate all wrong. I think I had some cheese and maybe a couple those trader joe's fake orange sushi. Then I went to the gym and played squash like a fiend (or maybe a whirling dervish). After 2 hours of draining exercise, my sister recognized my total calorie crash (incapacitating me for my drive back home across the bridge) and suggested eating at the diner facing the treadmills and elliptical machines. It had always seemed like a touristy spot, but in my calorie deficient mind I could produce no valid argument against.
We waited for almost 10 minutes for the hostess to appear and seat us. But after seating, service was prompt and polite.
We ordered and split all the items:
Jalapeno corn bread (for carbo loading) light wuth a good crumb, toasty edges and delish tangy sweet pepper relish. Followed by the ceasar salad (so we could pretend to be healthy- hey we were at the gym!) which was a perfect example of said salad- especially the cured anchovy. mmmmm
The macaroni and cheese (carbo loading) creamy and with fun bits of ham and green peppers and a crumb topping. But over salted, and missing that essential cheesy texture. Minus a star for the wrong kind of cheese for the dish. Salt & pepper calamari-both the rings and testicles (did I write that? I meant tentacles), were served with mini onions rings and jalapeno rings (salt & vinegar dipping sauce with spices & herbs). Good crunch on all components, but flavor was kind of bland.
Cleaning away our dishes and sliver, the buser dropped and dragged a dirty fork in an ark across the table leving yucky streaks and then walked away with out cleaning up. ugh.
Dessert was a toss up between the "world famous" tortoise sundae and the Mile High lemon merengue pie. Ultimately the MHLM was mostly ordinary overly sweet pie with a mediocre crust and strange tasting merengue.
Bill came to $55 including tax & 20% tip.
4 stars Over all great for carbo loading in a pinch. What can I say ? it's a prime location.
minus a star for patchy service.
I enjoyed my meal but I can't help feeling that if I weren't so hungry going in, the food would have scored lower. In summary-
Avoid since there are many better places to eat for this price