Where to find bargain bites in San Francisco
— -- Cost-conscious travelers can enjoy bountiful pleasure at mealtime if they choose their itineraries carefully and order smartly. To help with the planning each month, USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver offers a menu of suggestions from a major destination.
Down-home dining: Profiles of cheap-eats classics
1. Rosamunde Sausage Grill 545 Haight St.; 415-437-6851 This tiny, no-frills operation does just one thing — grilled sausages on a French roll — but it does it so well that it has become a must-visit for road-food fanciers. More than a dozen varieties ($5.25-$5.50) are offered, including a vegan option, but the best are the spicy and smoky ones made from pork or lamb and topped with grilled onions or peppers. The storefront has six stools and a counter, but diners are encouraged to take their sandwich next door to Toronado bar and avail themselves of the generous beer selection.
• Top treat:Smoked lamb sausage with grilled onions and hot peppers, $5.50
2. Arang Restaurant 1506 Fillmore St.; 415-775-9095 Decisiveness is a necessity at this casual Korean eatery, where the menu boasts nearly 120 items, most under $13. That variety allows novices to be as exotic (steamed pork intestines, $10.95) or mainstream (fried chicken with spicy sauce, $12.95) as they wish. The specialty — and a meal in itself — is the bi bim bap ($6.50-$8.95 depending on the size). It comes in a sizzling stoneware pot filled with grilled sweet marinated beef strips, a fried egg, spinach, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, mushrooms and rice, accompanied by kimchee, tofu and a miso broth. The mini-feast makes the beer (including two from Korea) taste so, so good.
• Top treat:bi bim bap (beef/rice/vegetables in a hot pot), $8.95
3. Taylor's Automatic Refresher 1 Ferry Plaza; 866-328-3663; taylorsrefresher.com
The original Taylor's in Napa Valley's St. Helena redefined drive-in cuisine by taking a gourmet approach to the standard burgers/fries/shakes menu and adding fish tacos, rare tuna burgers, frou-frou salads and boutique beers and wines by the glass. Now there are two more locations, including one along San Francisco's Embarcadero. The burgers ($5.99-$9.99) are made with vegetarian-fed Niman Ranch beef, topped with high-quality cheeses, mushrooms and guacamole and served on egg buns or sourdough. Fish tacos, made with marinated grilled mahi mahi and served in corn tortillas with slaw, salsa and jalapeño-cilantro sour cream, are now the signature item.
