Day 4 - Starting out the day right at Irving Street Cafe

[This location is now CLOSED]

Now that I've finished my Canada posts, I looked through my photos and saw with dismay that I still need to finish our LA Roadtrip post (from February) and our Bay Area Roadtrip post (from Spring Break)...so, like the tortoise trying to finish a race...slowly but surely will I finish these posts...

Day Four of our vacation would bring us to the Inner Sunset District...

My former student and my cousin both suggested hipster type places for breakfast in the Richmond District (just above the Sunset)...

Did I listen to them?

With all due respect, it was apparent that I did not. Instead we went to an established neighborhood greasy spoon...

which didn't have the glitz and glamour of some of the places that served New American cuisine or have entrees that were less than $15. On the contrary, this place didn't serve anything over $10.  When we walked in, I immediately noticed the old school counter...

as well as the randomly placed posters of rock crooner Chris Isaak...

There were also some other framed autographed photos of celebrities including the Phelps twins (who played Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movies).

Everything was pretty basic. I'd read online that they were known for their hash browns and was happy to see that hash browns were included in most of their breakfast combos.


Look closely and you can see another poster of Chris Isaak!

Underneath the poster near the front were more pictures of him...

The poster was for "Heart Shaped World", Chris Isaak's third album which was released in 1989 which contained the sultry hit song, "Wicked Game"...


It turns out that Irving Street Cafe is one of his favorite eateries!  Whadda ya know, eh. That phoeo of him in the James Dean'ish red jacket shows him at his "favorite" table in the restaurant.

Our hearty breakfasts:

Bert had the Breakfast Special, 2 scrambled eggs with chicken apple sausage inside and hash browns ($7.50).

Sorry for the crappy photo, but this was my "light" breakfast, two sausage patties, one scrambled egg, hash browns with a side of toast, which isn't shown in this pic (only $5).

TC wanted the Corned Beef Omelet with hash browns ($6.50)...

All of our entrees were pretty hearty and filling. Those hash browns were something else though! They had a very nice crust on them which can only come with a well seasoned pan.

The place is family run and owned, with an older Asian man doing grill duty. The lady working there noticed us admiring the Phelps twins photo (TC was especially excited since she's a total Potterhead) and she brought out a folder with signed photos of Peter Mayhew, better known as the tall dude that played Chewbacca in Star Wars.

No mints here, but Wrigley's gum!

I'm glad that I chose this place over a hipster joint where we would have spent three times as much for less food.

Back to Chris Isaak...For the young folks reading this, he may be old now but when this song came out 1n 1989, OMFG....Smokin' Hawt, haha! The chick in this video is supermodel Helena Christensen (who was also the girlfriend of former INXS frontman, Michael Hutchence at the time of his tragic death).


Every twenty years, the decades get "recycled". When I was in high school in the mid 80's, the "in" decade was the 50's because of the cool fashions. Now, it's the 90's turn if I am to believe all of the fashion trends that are making the rounds and the endless rerun of "Friends" and "Saved by the Bell" on TV.

The song's inclusion in also featured in this now classic scene of Ross and Rachel's date at the museum in "Friends"

The next morning when they wake up, they are in a museum exhibit with cavemen and little kids on a field trip are staring at them, ha ha.

Reviews:
California Travel, October 2009 - where they also described the nasty bathroom (I have to agree with them that it was indeed vile and totally filthy!)

Articles mentioning the Chris Isaak connection:
Joyzine - This must be old because it lists his age as '37' and his upcoming role in Bertolucci's film, "Little Buddha", which came out in 1993! Yikes, that's 21 years ago which makes him 58 now!
Chris Isaak & Silvertone Fansite, October 26 2004
and a more recent one, "10 Questions with Chris Isaak", Recordnet.com, August 4, 2013

Irving Street Cafe
716 Irving St.
San Francisco, CA ZIP
(415) 664-1366

There is no website but here are the *** reviews

My cousin mentioned several other places along this stretch of road and man, was she right! Everything was here and we stopped by several places before the rain started to pour...