Ed U.
Yelp
Egad, this is my 5,000th Yelp review. Little did I know back on July 21, 2006 that I would still be doing this. I had never heard of Yelp back then, but by happenstance, I found the handful of reviews for the original Delfina on 18th. Delfina has since gathered over 2,000 reviews, but at 5,000 (with an absurd number of photos), I was wondering what the subject should be for such a dubious milestone. I landed on this true mom-and-pop in a neighborhood I barely know, Crocker-Amazon, because isn't that what Yelp is really about? Discovering and sharing experiences about new places that pass well under the radar of food elitists gunning for entitlement as social influencers.
This was a long ride on the embattled 14, and I was familiar with the name from the "other" Salad Place a few blocks up Mission on London Street. I had thought this was evidence of a burgeoning salad empire, but no, owner Gloria Aguirre straightened me out (in a manner of speaking) and told me that the landlord of the London Street location jacked up the rent which forced them to move to this way-south space. I'm not sure who owns the other location, but apparently it's not Gloria and her husband. The concept is the same though but expanded to include presumably meat since they added "& Rotisserie" to the name. It sure looked familiar when I entered.
Lots of freshly made picnic salads in individual trays in a refrigerated display case (photo: http://bit.ly/2GmU9Ar). I asked Gloria whether she still served those combo salad plates she did at thee other place. She enthusiastically confirmed that I could choose four salads for $16.43. Deal. I chose the Greek, the Quinoa, the Beets, and the Caprisi (photo: http://bit.ly/30Ydotx). I felt like I was eating at a family picnic where I was behaving uncharacteristically wisely. It was healthy eating, and I just really like their buffet approach here. I'll come back for the rotisserie part of the menu because that's what Yelp's about - regular (and sometimes irregular) people supporting local businesses doing the best they can in a city that doesn't provide much help.
FOOD - 5 stars...picnic-style salads for days
AMBIANCE - 4 stars...spacious new digs on a corner in Crocker-Amazon
SERVICE - 5 stars...Gloria's great
TOTAL - 5 stars...here are 5,000 reasons why
RELATED - Oh my, here's a history of my self-important Yelp milestone reviews: http://bit.ly/3aEIvyO