If
you're not a tourist or a hippie and you don't need shoes or a CD fix
at Amoeba, Pork Store is a great reason to brave
the Haight. This tiny restaurant between Masonic and Ashbury is local
legend for its breakfasts, and on a Saturday or Sunday morning expect
to join a line down the block. Also expect a waiter to bring you a Styrofoam
cup and keep it filled with coffee and cream until you're seated.
The inside is built like an Old West saloon on a smaller scale. A long high counter lined with stools runs down one wall, wooden loop-backed chairs and tables crowd the other, and a single setting fits into each window in front. A covered staircase in the back leads up one flight to a balcony overlooking the floor, so everyone can see you're going to the bathroom. You don't want to wait up there, though. Pork Store has poor ventilation and a wall-length griddle, so it gets smoky near the ceiling.
One amazing ambidextrous woman cooks all orders at the same time, keeping a mountain of hash browns cooking in one corner of the griddle alongside omelets and pancakes. These are the wonderful shaved-potato hash browns, greasy in the middle and crispy on the outside. If you're concerned about your health, forget it - she ain't got time to wash her spatulas, but it's the best grease in town. The biscuits are homemade and served hot, and if you're wondering about the name, yes, the Pork Store serves pork. For seven bucks you can get the Pork Store Special, two chops with two eggs any style, plus hash browns and biscuits or toast. The best deal is two eggs any style, which comes with hash browns and biscuits or toast for $2.95, but the spinach and feta or avocado and jack cheese omelets are worth the few extra bucks. You can get a tofu scramble - this is California, after all - but take a chance on the mysterious Scralifornia. It's almost as fun as ordering the Rootie Tootie Fresh 'n' Fruity at IHOP, just to hear yourself say it out loud. Hours are 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends.
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