Java House, Embarcadero, San Francisco
Java House Restaurant, San Francisco
The Java House Restaurant is somewhere not to miss if you are ever near AT&T Park in San Francisco. For one thing, according to the plaque outside, it has been around since 1912 and is the oldest eatery on the Embarcadero. Constructed entirely of wood, it is more like a shack. The outside is covered in posters, mostly to do with baseball, but also a poster for the movie ‘I Love You Man’. If it is good enough for Herb Caen and Willie Mays, then it is good enough for me.
Inside you order at the counter. The menu is very basic and I warn you in advance, it is a greasy spoon. All the egg dishes have three eggs so high doses of the wrong kind of cholesterol. Obviously no oatmeal. There were some specials on the board but they didn’t appeal to us. We both ordered the cheese omelet with hash browns and toast ($7.50).
Seating is in three areas, a couple of tables near the counter, a side room and six tables outside on the sidewalk. We chose the side room where there were three sorts of chairs. All the furniture was a bit tacky to say the least. One thing I noticed was the sticky floor (and the table top was almost as sticky). Can’t complain about the view though, as we looked out over a marina with a collection of desirable small boats.
What about the decor? It can only be called a hodgepodge. Beer adverts were everywhere including a Coors frieze going round the walls and across the ceiling. Lots of signed photos of Giants baseball players. One outstanding feature in the side room was a large cut out sculpture on the wall of a cartoon couple jiving, dressed in clothes of the fifties. I wonder if it has been there since then?
After a false alarm when we thought Tom’s name was called, we collected our food from the counter. It came on a pink plastic oval plate. The hash browns were more like country potatoes and the omelet didn’t look like it was big enough to have three eggs in it but what do I know? The toast was buttered and placed on the same plate. We had to go get some jam from a side counter. The selection was not great.
My omelet was a tad undercooked but it tasted fine. Tom really liked the potatoes and the coffee was OK. We cleared our plates though, with just a greasy film remaining.
I made the trip to the restroom with great trepidation, which turned out to be fully justified. It was not the worst but, in the recent past, I can only think of one other which was worse. Would we go there again? Not to eat I don’t think but maybe for the coffee.
Java House Restaurant
Pier 40, The Embarcadero, San Francisco CA 94107
August 13 2010 07:11 pm | Breakfast Log
ellen on 17 Aug 2010 at 4:07 pm #
Try Crossroads Cafe for oatmeal. It’s across the street and up half a block. It’s run by Delancey Street Foundation http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/entercafe.php
Also across the street, South Park Cafe is good too. But no oatmeal there.
Margaret and Tom on 17 Aug 2010 at 4:18 pm #
Thanks Ellen. Next time we’re up there we’ll give Crossroads Cafe a try. I see they open at 8 am on Saturday and Sunday. It would be perfect before or after the Farmers Market.
Margaret and Tom