The Double K Cafe in San Francisco, CA: A Restaurant Review

The Double K Cafe is a surprisingly good (and inexpensive!) little combination of a diner and a Vietnamese sandwich joint hidden away in a low-traffic area of San Francisco. Situated across the street from the 23rd Street T train stop in Bayview, I think it's actually the only restaurant for about three blocks or so in any direction from it. The lack of competition hasn't kept them from offering good food and good deals, however.

For breakfast, you've got your usual grill fare - eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, hash browns, pancakes and french toast. You can also get bagels and sandwiches. All of this is done pretty well, but the main draw is the price - usually $4 or under for a full breakfast. Tack on some coffee (just the usual Folgers pot) or a bottle of apple or orange juice from the fridge and you're still in the five dollar range. There's also donuts too, if you just want a sweet snack.

Lunch is around the same price range, mostly focusing on both deli and Vietnamese (banh mi) sandwiches. But you can also grab a teriyaki rice plate, pho, soup, vermicelli, egg and spring rolls, or a burger and fries. Their banh mi is a little more expensive than the most popular joints in the Tenderloin, but also quite hefty and utilizes a very nice soft French roll.

The interior is a mix of diner, truck stop and Vietnamese lunch counter, with a similarly mixed clientele. Neighborhood Vietnamese families come down for some home cooking mixed with Bayview warehouse workers on a meal break and office workers who wander over from Potrero Hill. It's a little cramped, but a chill atmosphere, and set to the tune of K-O-I-Teeee, the Bay's source of easy musical favorites from yesterday and today to get you through your workday. The people who work the counter really are nice and accommodating, but due to the usual crowded tables and Phil Collins moaning in my ear about just another day in paradise, I prefer to take my eats "to go" from this place.

There's really not too much in the way of choices here in the Central Waterfront area for food, especially when it comes to breakfast, so it's really nice to have this place here. Just be aware that they follow office hours for the most part, since that's most of their customer base - they're open on weekends but they close around 5 to 6 p.m. each day.