Emmy's Spaghetti Shack in San Francisco, California: A Restaurant Review

I distinctly remember coming to this place just a few years ago and paying a whole lot less for a plate of their talked-up spaghetti and meatballs. I was gratified to find that senile dementia is not setting in for me already, and that my memory was accurate, when I found a snapshot of a menu from not so long ago online - Emmy's spaghetti has jumped from being 7.50 to 12.50 per plate in a fairly short amount of time. Back in the day, the averageness of the food was offset by the huge portions and the fact that 7.50 really isn't that bad for a filling Italian dinner in San Francisco. Now? I dunno, man.

This is a tiny place, literally a shack. It's clean and kept up well and all that, but definitely a bit on the cramped side. On Friday and Saturday nights they get a house DJ in there somehow, which you may or may not consider a plus (personally it tells me to stay far away on the weekends.) It also shares space with a bar called El Amigo, which I totally disregarded when I saw how overpriced their beers were. I remember just a few years ago this place was virtually unknown outside the neighborhood, now it's apparently a hipster "spot" with lines around dinnertime most nights. I'm guessing that's the main explanation for the sudden $5 jump in prices, rather than "the economy." It would also explain why Colt .45 is on the menu now, and why they also presume to ask five dollars for it.

The spaghetti really is decent here, with three pretty huge meatballs alongside a decent sauce, but I just can't get over the price jump. And they want $4.50 for like three slices of garlic bread on the side, can you believe that? OK spaghetti and garlic bread for $17, drink and gratuity not included. No effing way, not again.

I admit I haven't tried anything else on the menu due to their nutty hipster pricing, but they also now have a nightly specialty pizza, a meatball sandwich, orrechiette, stuffed baked Atlantic cod, and garlic & chili chicken. Sides and starters include Yukon gold truffle mashed potatoes, sauteed greens, marinated olives, salmon with flatbread, green salad, Ceasar salad, Maine mussels, deep fried squid salad, and antipasta.

This place used to be a cozy little unpretentious shack, but apparently they decided that business model wasn't lucrative enough and now it seems to be catering to the slumming trust fund crowd instead with "upscale comfort food." I'd rather just prep the stuff at home for less than half the price. Better quality, better company, and no chance of getting an earful of DJ Whitey Wack Beatz there either (and if he does show up I have just cause to chase him off with a shotgun.)