Fuddruckers

I remember when this place opened over 20 years ago. My dad was pretty stoked it arrived in our little town with only fast food restaurants. I remember waiting online and standing by the meatlocker that enable us to look in from the outside. Hanging slabs of meat! Scared me as a kid, but I remember loving the food.

Years later, I rendez-vous'd with a friend of mine there and her three kids. Perfect place for us to catch up while the kids ran around and played video games. The food was good -- ostrich burger was tasty.

I recommend for families.

Lorax Development

Joel and Pat were great to work with when we needed to replace our tiled deck. From estimates to timeline, the guys at Lorax made things come together without incident.

Months later, we love our deck and don't experience any leaks that we had before.

I'd recommend them to others looking at more extensive work inside, too. In fact, we're looking to them to remodel our 2-1/2 bathrooms.

Lolo

My absolute favorite dish here, is the Sultan Like Lolita. It's ground kobe beef with an eggplant puree. So tasty. The name of the dish reflects the fun spirit of Lolo's and the little twist on the Mission. Mexican-Turkish influences in the food and decor makes you want to try new things and converse with good friends. Go. You'll be better for it.

Nova Beauty Salon

This is near my work. I've been able to make same-day appointments (within 1.5 hours) to get a manicure. They're quick and easy to get to. Great alternative to crazy expensive Bliss within the W Hotel (which is more of a splurge event).

For standard nail maintenance and pretty polish, Nova gets the job done fine.

Reigning Dogs & Cats

This place is also called EmBARKadero Social Club. First took my dogs there to get teeth cleaned (twice) and then got them groomed there a couple of times. Each time I brought them back they seemed truly scared. Paw-dragging scared. Why? I don't know. Normally they get excited to even go to the vet.

After grooming they were both clean and well groomed. After the teeth cleaning, i thought their teeth look pretty good, but when I took them into the vet for a checkup a few months later, the vet took a look at their back teeth and showed me some pretty bad tarter build up.

I haven't gone back and have stuck with grooming the dogs myself.

Stable Cafe

I have found my new go-to brunch place. I'm torn to even write this, because I want this to remain MY hidden gem, but the other part of me wants to share with other locals. Okay...

This is the same place that has hosted many SF Food wars (food competitions) and Saison (the once pop-up restaurant now located here).

It's self-serve with high quality ingredients. No wait. The owner of the place has his own chickens in Petaluma and supplies Stable with them for breakfast. These egg yolks or gorgeous an delicious deep orange-colored.

Pricing is perfect. Average entree is $7.

Pinkie's Bakery

It was fine bread. Apparently they supply breads to various restaurants in SF, though I was under the impression they were known for their cupcakes -- they have a cupcake all over their signage outside the place.

When I asked the cashier what they're know for she seem to give more of an off the cuff answer than one that was sincere, "Oh, we're known for our bread, bear claws, the brioches are pretty good..." I guess I was expecting her to mention the cupcakes under the cake glass or even the chocolate baguette rolls (unusual), but she didn't.

We tried the baguette, chocolate baguette rolls and their savory brioche (spinach). It was pretty good.

Martuni's

I've been to Martuni's on several occasions, but none matches my experience last night. we were able to sit right at the piano (makes such a difference) and my friend was the first to sing. It's karoke-style, except you need to know the words and you really really need to know how to sing. Seriously.

The pianist had a iPad with all his "sheet music" and could play just about anything.

My tip: if there is a group of you, go ahead and drop a $10 or $20 in the jar for the group. You'll get a ton of attention from the pianist and your requests will most definitely be heard.

Terroir Natural Wine Merchant (La Terroir)

Three guys run this place...two of them used to be servers at Chez Spencer. I've purchased cases of wine and have enjoyed tastings at the bar. The guys are all knowledgeable and friendly.

Yesterday was the topper though! A group of us stopped in to share a couple of bottles of wine and conversation. We accomplished both in the cozy, den-like mezzanine of La Terroir. Great place to meet up before going out to dinner.

Mission Cheese

We were there only for the cheese, but discovered they also served entrees! The cheese plate we ordered was the Monger's choice, which was described on the board as a plate for "the brave and adventurous". I loved it and shared with friends.

Our favorite stinky cheese: the Grayson!

Btw, the architectural detail inside is amazing. It's hard to believe you're in the Mission.