Instead of hanging in the Mission for brunch, we took a bit of a hike to Kate’s Kitchen in Lower Haight. It’s a completely non-pretentious place. Don’t be fooled though, it is still staffed by hipsters. But from the outside, it’s totally unassuming. The inside is pretty cozy and cute.
This painting of these fine United States if all kinds of awesome, showing what’s grown and raised in different parts of the country.
These are the ridiculous oatmeal pancakes with bananas and almonds. These are only two. How could anyone possibly eat four of them? They are served with a teeny little bowl of maple syrup. Yes, they’re quite good.
Although there were fancier french toast to be had, some with random stuff heaped on top, I just got the regular orange spice ones. Sometimes I waver from wanting something sweet for brunch or something savory, but these totally won me over that day. The service was fine and prices are pretty darn low. Plus, we didn’t have to wait the ridiculous waits of a lot of the Mission spots!

I don’t go out to eat lunch much during the week, but on special occasions, it happens. And on this particular friday, it was very special. I met up with two twitter friends. I’d never met them before in my life, but through our shared love of food, despite us living on separate coasts, we met up in South Philly to eat! B got the burger of the week – the octagon burger. It was a hefty grilled angus burger on brioche with mixed greens and tomato, topped with turkey bacon, sliced beets, cheddar, caramelized maple-honey onions, and roasted mushroom-chipotle aioli. As you can see, this was an extremely serious burger. And he got his with polenta frieds. To me, anything with beets on it is good in my book. I’m sure this thing was amazing. What’s probably more amazing is how anyone eats this thing in the first place. This requires a flip-top head.
S’s eggs benedict just plain looks ordinary compared to that crazy burger.
And the eggs benedict also looked sadly boring next to my special sandwich – the shanghai nooner. This was truly an awesome sandwich, one for the ages. It was rosemary-asiago focaccia topped with arugula-pesto aioli, mixed greens, tomato, roasted orange-garlic herb turkey breast, roasted butternut squash hash, red onions, roasted red peppers, melted swiss cheese, and topped with fennel-carrot pear slaw. I tried my best to eat half of it while I was there and I enjoyed every bite. And the sweet potato fries were amazing, especially with a slight bit of powdered sugar on top. It was still good the next day. Whoever thought this sandwich combo up deserves a big hug from me. During a busy lunch rush, we didn’t have to wait for a table and the food came out in decent time. This was definitely a lunch to remember for a long time. Sabrina’s, you never disappoint!

E and I usually meet up for dinners, but since she changed jobs, we can actually partake of brunch now. Sp we had our first ever brunch together at Cafe Lift. Cafe Lift is… where nothing else is. Well, it’s down the street from Prohibition Taproom, but that’s really all there is. It’s definitely a destination. It’s in the lower level of what seems to be a loft building. It’s decently roomy. It does get extremely loud here.
It’s all about brunch here. They’re only open from 9-3. E got some hot chocolate to start.
Ok, the food here is ridiculous, like seriously ridiculous. Ridiculously good, and ridiculously luxurious. If you are, say, watching your weight, or care about health, then just keep on moving. It’s all about excess here. So just soak it in and enjoy it. Tis the season for pumpkin canolli french toast. Made with challah bread, it is topped with homemade pumpkin canolli filling, maple soaked walnuts, powdered sugar, chocolate, and homemade whipped cream. This is super rich and sweet and not for the faint of heart. If you like french toast and pumpkin, then this is the dish for you!
They also do some great frittatas. This is the sausage frittata with spicy italian fennel sausage, sauteed spinach, and fresh mozzarella cheese. Man, so freakin good. Really, everything about this is good.
I got the huevos rancheros because I saw it at the next table and it looked too good to pass up. Toasted corn tortillas are topped with refried beans, roasted peppers, jack cheese, two fried eggs, grilled chorizo, and topped with fresh pico de gallo. Delicious, just plain delicious. And it’s served with these awesome potatoes and sour cream and a spicy aioli. It’s all damn good. It’s also tons of food and quite affordable. Yes, it’s a little bit in the middle of nowhere, but definitely worth the exploring.