El Tepa
As I walked into school to pick up Vida I heard her yelling from across the cubby area “Let’s go to Dylan’s G is going to Dylans”. It was already too late to have a normal evening—any dinner I could scrape together wouldn’t be ready before Vida melted down—so I thought beer and potato chips were a better idea. When we walked into the bar there was a Stella waiting for me on table and G was waiting for Vida before digging into the salt and vinegar potato chips.
What a difference a year makes. Vida and G climbed onto the large wooden chair by the phone without fighting about who was going to sit there first. They shared the chips amicably, went to the bathroom by themselves and then spent the rest of the evening collecting coasters. Vida encouraged G to see things her way using her most convincing (and condescending) teacher voice, tilting her head while pretending that she was actually considering G’s point of view.
When the coasters started sailing above our heads M and I decided we should head out. Vida was yelling that she was hungry from the back seat so I made a quick decision to head to El Tepa on 18th and Folsom. Every time I drive by this burrito place I am surprised it’s still open. It’s in an odd location between South of Market and the Mission. When we walked in I was shocked and relieved to see a few other customers. But, I could tell immediately that the food was going to be only marginally acceptable. I also understood why it has survived since it seems to be owned by the same people who own the successful El Toro. Same food, same dorky gendered uniforms. The bowls of “winter salsa” i.e. chopped up green tomatoes so common throughout taquerias during the colder months weren’t encouraging. The place wasn’t busy enough to keep the grill fired so there wasn’t even the illusion of freshness to go on. I ordered a rice and bean burrito for Vida and a spicy chicken one for myself. We ate quickly and left “El Tepid” for good.
Restaurant Total: 164
Long Island Restaurant
Vida still had the fabulous imperial rolls from Tao Café on her mind when we walked by Regent Thai were we had a similarly pleasant experience with “fried rolls”. She wanted to go back but I held to our mission and promised that they would have fried rolls as well as fried rice across the street at Long Island Restaurant.
There is a class of restaurants that seem to be entirely dedicated to doing a brisk takeout business and only maintain dining rooms for show. They are known primarily through their constant effort to hang paper menus on doorknobs throughout their “delivery area”. Long Island Restaurant on Church Street looks like it was outfitted by a cheap restaurant supply store. When Vida and I walked in, the way we were asked if we were interested in “for here or to go” made it seem that to actually stay in the restaurant to eat would be strange at best. We sat down and listened to the phone ring in the otherwise empty room.
I could immediately tell that there were not going to be any exceptional dishes. I could see no point in spending too much money on mediocre food so I ordered veggie spring rolls and chicken fried rice. The spring rolls were an immediate disappointment to Vida. They were just like any other spring rolls in a middle of the road Chinese restaurant filled with cabbage and bean sprouts. The chicken fried rice included the requisite frozen peas and carrots and not much else. Vida was happy with it though and she scooped it up with a large soupspoon so quickly that I could barely get a bite in before she was asking for more. I guess she was hungry. We ate dinner and drank our sodas quickly. This was one more restaurant whose flyer I could leave on the doorstep with a second glance.
Restaurant Total: 163
