Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco

Re:Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (Michael Hoffman)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:13:23 GMT

BT? Really? Nice to see you here. Stick around.

Re:Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (BT)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:50:55 GMT

cecif

plb

BT? I haven't seen that name here in years.

Me neither, but happy to now... especially since this place is near my parents, I've walked past several times, and I had been wondering if it was any good! Thanks, BT. I haven't been around either, but last time I looked I thought you'd gone similarly MIA.

Been lurking . . . some.

If you've walked by here, surely you've seen the line (which suggests it's good). That line is nearly always there which is why I don't eat here a lot more often than I do. If I try to get in alone at lunch time, I pretty much have to sit at the cramped counter along one wall where I have to pin my elbows to my sides--very uncomfortable but sometimes the craving for fried oysters gets too intense to resist.

I am really, really, really hoping the expansion will relieve some of the crowding but fear it will just expand the number of Civic Center office workers who try to eat lunch here.

As for the bread (@ doggydaddy), I don't want to say it's as good as what you are referring to because you might someday try the place and be disappointed. All I can say is that for me Brenda makes an overall better Po-Boy than many I've had in well-known NOLA establishments. Maybe it's her remoulade . . . . But really good artisanal bread (not just sourdough by any means) is not hard to come by in the Bay Area I can assure you. I don't specifically know where Brenda gets hers but I'll put the product of Oakland's Acme Baking up against any bread from anywhere . . . anytime (and their sourdough is hand's down the best).

Re:Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (cecif)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:48:49 GMT

plb

BT? I haven't seen that name here in years.

Me neither, but happy to now... especially since this place is near my parents, I've walked past several times, and I had been wondering if it was any good! Thanks, BT. I haven't been around either, but last time I looked I thought you'd gone similarly MIA.

Re:Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (plb)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:40:47 GMT

BT? I haven't seen that name here in years.

Re:Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (doggydaddy)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:24:11 GMT

Just curious. Is the bread for the Po'boys as light and airy as NOLA? It seems so. That bread is as unique as sourdough is to the Bay Area. While the French bread may be hard to duplicate, the bakers from the region can do it.

mark

Oyster (or shrimp) Po-Boy in {{gasp}} San Francisco (BT)

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:15:36 GMT

Generally I don't believe in eating food that's too far out of its native element and Cajun/Creole is way, way out of its element in San Francisco where little is more to be feared than . . . fat (or anything fried in it). But sometimes you just get a craving, you know? And if that happens, you should know (which is why I'm posting this) that there is a place to get a fried oyster po-boy (or a seafood beignet or gumbo or . . . .) that is simply wonderful; as good as I've had in NOLA (and I go to NOLA at least once a year). The place is called Brenda's French Soul Food. I guess Brenda, who is a New Orleanean, called it that because she thought "French" would go over better in the pretentious Bay Area than "Creole" but she sells Cajun/Creole food. And she sells a lot of it. Turns out the biggest downside to her place is that there's nearly always a line to get in, or at least there has been. It's under enlargement (and the new section may be open by now--I'm out of town so I don't know for sure).

Here's Brenda's web site: http://www.frenchsoulfood.com/home.htm

Here's a sadistic set of photos of her food: http://www.yelp.com/biz_p...T96iyUhAQanv9aJpd8AHbw