Eat This, San Francisco: Dives, Joints, All-Night Cafes, and Other Cheap Eats in the Bay Area

I work with a chap who keeps a box of gourmet jelly beans by his desk.Each day he calls me into his office and opens the box. "What shall we have today?" he says.We each pluck one -- just one -- of the mocha or popcorn or blueberry flavored jelly beans. We let it rest on our tongue. We savor it.Then he places the cover back on the jellybean box and we go back to work.Dan Leone's book serves the same purpose to me. In my lavatory, where I keep "Eat This" and where the author suggests it be kept, I am ensured a daily literary richness as I read one Leone review per day.Am I tempted to read more? You betcher boots. But I won't, because I will savor each lovely tasty and funny review without it clashing another.Not only that, I just want to stretch it out. It is not a book I want to end.In short: I've read lots of food books and restaurant guides. I don't live in SF, but I was intrigued by this book, a referral, and read it for its literary value.It's a gas.

As a long time fan of Dan Leone's articles and reviews, I am delighted to once again be able to enjoy the sense of humor that only can belong to Dan Leone. It is a treat to glimspe, if only for a moment, the S.F. dining scene through the eyes of Dan Leone! Thank You Dan! - traci o.

I was so glad to finally be able to buy this book by writer, musician and all around nice guy Dan Leone. This book was originally slated to appear in '98 when his then-publisher folded. While that must have been frustrating to Leone at the time, it has worked out well for his readers because we now get the entire arc of how he met, wooed and finally married his wife, the beloved "Crawdad De La Cooter" in early `99.So yes, here are reviews of all the delicious, greasy mom-and-pop diners, soup counters, taquerias and Thai food eateries that make San Francisco the best five-dollar lunch city anywhere. But we also get Dan's mayoral predictions, car troubles, sports injuries and tributes to his many-monikered pals.There's real emotion in the review of Ana's Restaurant (p325), written during his last night as a bachelor. Leone creates a sense of romantic happiness as he wanders through the Mission District, quietly contemplating his love but not forgetting to fill his stomach with a big bowl of seafood soup, every ingredient of which reminds him in some way of his bride-to-be."So you see? You see why I'm getting married tomorrow?" he ends the review. And we do and we're very happy for him.My only sore point was that this book was so long in the making that some of my favorite old reviews were cut because the restaurants they concerned had closed years ago. I hope that "Eat More Of This" appears before another six years go by.

I cook. In fact, I not-so-humbly think my fare is better than most restaurants, yea, even in storied San Francisco. So, I'm complacent. What? But, to paraphrase Groucho, I do like to take my cigar out of my mouth once in a while. And when I need a break, I want something to eat that isn't foggy with expensive atmosphere. This book satisfies, with twisty humor, trusty appraisals, wide variety and hither-to secret local haunts. You gotta!

Leone's book offers a practically inexhaustable list of cheap places to eat in the SF Bay Area. In addition, his writing style is good enough that I enjoy reading the reviews for their humor alone. Anyone who enjoys great satire and/or cheap food will want to own this book, regardless of where they live.