Back in the Chowhound days, group gatherings–“chowdowns”–were organized in a separate Yahoo groups mailing list. The list migrated to Google groups, but it could be that people aren’t following it anymore.
So, I’m announcing this here as well. Join us on a food trek down 24th Street in San Francisco. We’ll meet up at 11:30 on 4/20/2024 at the 24th Street BART station, and make our way east to around Treat St., sampling snacks along the way, then back up on the other side of the street. Google Maps shows about ten places to get food along the route.
Six people have already signed up via the mailing list. We can probably fit a few more–we’ll split into smaller groups if necessary.
(Don’t miss stepping into Belmar - La Gallinita Meat Market, 2989 24th St, if only for the heavenly scent of fresh carnitas. Tip: their lard, straight from the carnitas vat, is superb.)
What a great day for the stroll! Cerulean sky, surprisingly uncrowded along 24th, maybe because of the big Lowriders fesival and parade on Mission.
We decided not to split up, and the group of eight was just the right size, and we started on the north side of the street, getting one or two dishes at each stop, split among us. First was a stand in the BART plaza, with pan elote, a sweet cornbread with lots of kernels. Then, down to Wise Sons, for a pastrami and a turkey sandwich, and a big chocolate babka . Wise Sons had outdoor tables, so we sat for a while, while I got us a couple of slices at The Pizza Shop first, and one of us went across the street for a pupusa and another dish I don’t remember the name of. There was a cheese and pepper tamale in there as well.
Then it was down to Basa Seafood. The sign promised fish tacos, but they didn’t have any, so we got some deep-fried calamari and California roll.
Crossing the street we paused for a couple of tacos from Taqueria Vallarta (more outdoor tables!). A detour down Balmy Street to see some magnificent murals and another stop at a small stand for taquitos.
We stopped here too, and one of our party bought a large bag of their chicharrones. Not mere puffy things in the snack bags, but big meaty fried hunks.
I can’t thank @ernie_in_berkeley enough for organizing this! It was great to catch up with people I haven’t seen since before HO formed, and to meet some new folks too.
@ernie_in_berkeley kicked the event off by buying some pan de elote from a street vendor next to Bart. Fluffy and bouncy texture, punctuated with kernels of corn.
Donaji has cycled through a few different breakfast iterations over the past 18 months. Now, Wed-Sat starting at 830am, they have a brunch menu and some breakfasty items, both savory Mexican foods and pastries from Tatar restaurant AyDea. I got one of their always good spiced coffees for myself, and guacamole + crickets for the group. What did others think of the guacamole?
A highlight of the crawl was the chicharron at Belmar - La Gallinita. The two pieces I had were crisp and not at all hard—better than Espigo De Oro’s (which are good, especially in a burrito), and way better than the impenetrable ones at La Palma. Belmar’s overstuffed gortida’s are one of the top breakfast options along 24th, so I’m excited to ask for chicharron next time as a filling.
