St. Francis Fountain: Blast from the past
On colorful Lower 24th Street, an eclectic Outer Mission District commercial strip where Hispanics and hipsters reign, new sushi restaurants vie for attention with old Mexican bakeries and eye-pleasing murals. In the midst of this potpourri at the corner of York Street is a cheerful little diner called St. Francis Fountain. It’s been here since 1918, a dozen years after the 1906 Quake, and it will take another Big Shaker to put an end to its tradition of Big Shakes.
St. Francis is more than an ice-cream parlor (San Francisco’s oldest), just as the “Soda Fountains” of many decades ago doubled as diners and neighborhood anchors. One page of the five-page menu does feature old-time dessert favorites like Malted Milk Shakes and Egg Cream Sodas, as well as contemporary fare like All-Soy and Espresso Shakes. But it also features extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menus that are as eclectic as the ice-cream menu and the neighborhood’s denizens.
Old-fashioned comfort foods are at the heart of the menu, but customers who care about their hearts have choices too. You can order Buttermilk Hot Cakes (breakfasts are served all day) or Corned Beef & Hash, but the vegetarian menu includes No-Huevos Rancheros (tofu instead of eggs) and a Veggie Reuben (sautéed spinach instead of corned beef). You can order a hamburger or BLT sandwich, or you can try the Chorizo Hash & Eggs (two eggs in a pile of vegan chorizo with cilantro and tortillas). There’s also a kids menu ($1.75-$3.25).
More than a few diners have opened in San Francisco, especially in tourist areas, but the St. Francis is the real deal, from the old coat-hanger poles at each booth, ice-cream bar stools and countertop straw vases to the wooden phone booth in back with its rotary phone (remember those?). Most of the food is house-made using local ingredients, but without the attitude or the prices of most restaurants that pay attention to those things. It’s hard to pay more than $15 for a meal here, and that includes a milkshake and a full tummy.
The St. Francis draws a diverse crowd of local families, employees of nearby San Francisco General on their lunch breaks and out-of-the-area visitors who hear about this relic of another era. The most loyal customers, as always, are the neighborhood kids. They come in for ice cream or candy—hard-to-find candy like Sugar Daddys, Pop Rocks and Big League Chews. Just as they always have.
Posted by Bob Cooper
