On a recent Saturday, we had a delicious brunch in the Hayes Valley of San Francisco at a restaurant called Straw. It’s on Octavia Street and conveniently located in a neighborhood where we could actually find parking. Just look for the sign in front with a carny in front of a knock-down cat game. The restaurant is carnival themed with Coney Island photos, knock-down cans, and ride signs. We lucked out and were able to sit in the Tilt-a-Whirl seat.
The food here is really good — not what you would expect for carnival fare. We had apple beignets (called State Fair), the Rocky Mountain Madame (open faced sourdough bread with a hole cut out for an egg), and then proscuitto with sauce on top with a side of potatoes and a side of pumpkin pancakes. Matthew had Wilber’s Revival, which was pork hash and grits. They even came out with a special platter for us which was a roller coaster design made with ketchup!
We are going to have to return for dinner to have the Ringmaster, which is a burger inside of a glazed doughnut! And we got Mary Jane candy with our check which, came in a jewelry box with a picture of famous conjoined Siamese twins. Our waitress was super nice and was interested in checking out the ACE website. For more about Straw go to http://www.strawsf.com/.
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– Emi Pearce
– photos: Emi and Matthew Pearce