Lakeside Cafe in San Francisco, CA: A Review

The Lakeside Cafe seems to get a good deal of its business via the nearby Lakeview Medical Center, with people popping in while going to or coming from their appointments. This might lead you to think it's basically a Country Kitchen Buffet clone, given the huge amounts of seniors that patronize it, and the pie rack at the entrance combined with the general decor and ambiance do give it that sort of chain diner vibe for sure. This place is a cut above your Dennys and Sizzlers in food quality, however, and the prices are pretty reasonable too. It's also in an area with almost no other real diners for a mile in any direction, so it deserves some credit for doing better than it really needs to given the circumstances.

Don't let the "cafe" in the name fool you, this is a cafe more in the sense of a Seinfeldian coffee shop than the tiny nooks that are usually called "cafes" in San Francisco. Though the interior looks for all the world like a chain restaurant, it's actually owned by a nice Greek family that really takes pride in the place. I found the place clean and comfortable, with an environment that also seems to double as a natural repellent for hipsters. Not that you'll find too many of those over in Lakeside, but who knows where they'll crop up next in the city, they're like a roach infestation. Which I had no worries about the Lakeside Cafe having, as everything was impeccably clean, down to the restroom.

There's a couple of deals worth mentioning. There's a few breakfast combos for about six bucks that are moderate in portion, but tasty. I had two scrambled eggs with sausage, fried potatoes and toast for just shy of seven bucks when all the damage was tallied. Everything was good - the sausages appeared to be quite decent apple sausages, which was better than I was expecting for the price, and the fried potatoes were actually some of the best I've had in a long time, perfectly crisped and mixed in with bell pepper and diced onion bits. There's also a daily "early bird" for dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. This is about ten regular dinner platters such as country fried steak, meatloaf, grilled chicken and such for $15.

Another underappreciated quality of this place is the burgers, which are danged competent and big for $7-9 (with sides.) Burgers are another thing that Lakeside doesn't have a whole lot of options for, so if you get the jones while in the neighborhood, definitely check this place out. The buns are nicely toasted, the burgers are made with a generous amount of Black Angus, and there's a good variety of styles to choose from.

I always appreciate a good diner, and Lakeside Cafe is definitely a good solid one with reasonable pricing. I especially appreciate them when they are in an area otherwise underserved by diners, so good job Lakeside, keep up the good work.