Most days around 11:30 a.m. I start thinking about that question. After working in the Financial District of San Francisco for about a year, following are a few suggestions:

Yank Sing 49 Stevenson Street – Dim Sum. They have a take-out counter or eat-in restaurant. The take-out is especially quick and affordable, with combo platters ranging from about $5 – $9. Lunch goers will find all the likely suspects, such as potstickers, siu mye, chow mein, and BBQ pork buns. I usually grab a sesame ball for dessert. There’s a large patio for the take-out crowd.

The Sentinel 37 New Montgomery Street – Sandwiches/soup. To say that The Sentinel serves sandwiches is an understatement. They offer some of the tastiest meals I’ve ever eaten between two pieces of bread.  I love that Chef Dennis Leary (also of Canteen) hands me my freshly prepared lunch. Menu changes seasonally, as does the soup selection. The house-made pickle is an extra special treat. $8 – $11.50.

Mixt Greens several locations – Salad shop. Yes, the salads are pricey, but they are also quite large and filling. The ingredients are always super-fresh and the salads are made on the spot to your exact specifications–they even ask you how much dressing to apply. One word of caution: the line can be quite long by 12:30, but on most days moves quite quickly. I adore the Fusion salad. The sesame soy vinaigrette is addicting! Most salads in the $7 -12$ range.

Flames Mediterranean & Burgers 88 2nd Street – Burgers & stuff. When I need a greasy (in a good way) burger, or super gooey grilled cheese & tomato for lunch this is where I go–hands down.  They offer an array of sandwiches, such as tuna melts and veggie burgers as well as typical Mediterranean offerings such as shawarma, hummus and gyros. Also, the fries are hand-cut on the premises. Prices around $5-$10.

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Our weekend in Portland was filled with so much delicious food, but the doughnuts were my favorite. We visited Voodoo Doughnuts–the hipster hole in the wall doughnut shop with flavors including grape ape, bacon maple bar and captain crunch. I had the old dirty bastard (above) which was a freshly baked yeast doughnut topped with chocolate glaze, crushed Oreos and peanut butter. It was the peanut butter that truly made me want to eat a second.

Clearly the west coast is serious about high-quality doughnuts. East coast, how will you redeem yourself?

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This happens every time I go to the farmer’s market-I don’t eat beforehand and end up crazily hungry and overwhelmed by all the food options. And then I eat too much.

I started off with the soft shell crab sandwich from the Hayes Street Grill stand. The perfectly grilled bread really made this sandwich exquisite–that and small smear of mayo.

And because I’m sucker for spiced, cured pork I picked up the sampler cone from Boccalone. While I love the capacolla and soppressata, I’ve never acquired a taste for guanciale-salt-cured pork jowl.

To finish it off there was an ‘old fashioned’ (chocolate cake with boiled icing) cupcake from Miette.

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I had never heard of a quahog (KO-hog) until I moved to Providence in 2001, but quickly discovered that this large clam was on quite a few menus across the state.

(Read the article)

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I spent last weekend dining out on Clement Street: curry eggplant from Burma Superstar, and the special of the night, pork spare ribs from Q.

We hit Burma Superstar as soon as it opened at 5pm to avoid the dreaded long line, but the strict time planning was soo worth it. The eggplant was spicy, but not too hot. I took home the extras, but nibbled on the leftovers all night long. Lance had the sesame chicken, which was slightly too sweet for me, but perfectly lightly battered and not oily or sticky.

I had planned to have the mac & cheese at Q, but when I saw pork spareribs as the special for the night, I couldn’t resist–I’ve been on a pork kick lately. While the ribs were good, they weren’t the very best I’ve ever had–they were tender, but not quite as soft as I’d like. But I did like the fact that the bbq sauce was tangy & smoky and not overly sweet.  The garlic fries are tasty too, and quite filling.

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