The Cheap Bastards Guide to San Francisco

Looking back, the Cheap Bastard has come to realize that this humble old site, cheapbastardsf.com, has been around a while now! In fact, we've been around long enough that the landscape of cheap is shifting right out from under our feet.

First and foremost, if you haven't noticed already, there's been a huge financial catastrophe which is continuing to unfold before our eyes. The upshot is that a lot more folks are in need of saving money 'case they don't have the money that the once did. On top of that, there's been some inflation too. Not out of control inflation, the actual rate is quite low, but some factors, such as the requirement that businesses such as restaurants provide health care coverage to their workers has caused lunch prices to go up.

Lunch in downtown SF was once a meal that, with a little skill, could easily be had for $5 or under. Those days have waned! Now, getting a lunch downtown for under $8 should be considered the standard for cheap.

But there are a few places we thought we should point out for their ability to keep it cheap. Do you have any suggestions? Ways to eat for less? Let us know!

1. San Buena taco truck – awesomely delicious burritos for $6.50 at the corner of Bush & Sansome
2. Yank Sing Express – sounds pricey, but their lunch special goes for about $4.50 on Stevenson between 1st and 2nd
3. Bindi – Indian boxed lunch – vegetarian curries and rice for $5 on 2nd between Market and Mission
4. Muffins Muffins – banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches located in a muffin shop for $5 on 2nd between Mission and Howard
5. Tea Garden – tiny Taiwan Chinese hole in the wall located in a parking garage – noodles and rice rolls for under $5 on Mission between 1st and 2nd

As the time has shifted away from Daylight Savings Time, and we’ve lost an hour of daylight, San Francisco bicycle commuters are increasingly riding home in the dark!. To alleviate the problems that this can cause (i.e. getting in an accident with a car, pedestrian, or another bike), the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition are giving away 2000 free bike lights.

You can pick up your free bike lights, and learn more about the program, by visiting the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Light Up the Night web sit..  Stations will be set up at various bike-trafficked locations throughout the city.

Now if only someone could get helmets on the rest of the cyclists who insist on going bare-domed!
Stay safe!

If you’re familiar with cheap food in San Franciscoo, and we hope you are!, then the burrito probably comes to mind as the iconic food. It’s cheap, quick, delicious, and filling! If you’re more prone to think of burritos as the dung bags you find frozen next to the microwave in a gas station convenience store, let us change your perprective – a proper burrito is a beautiful thing, food for the masses, the people’s meal!

San Franciscans generally feel pretty strongly about this subject – they already know where to find the best burritos, and everyone has an opinion on what constitutes the best. Well, allow the Cheap Bastard to join this discussion. Below is the definitive list (according to us, anyway!) of the top 5 best burritos in San Francisco:

1. Taquería Cancun – They always seem to top the “best burrito” lists, but it’s easy to see why, even despite their periodic inconsistencies. Cancun’s taqueros do it up right! Grilled tortillas, perfect pinto beans, rico rice, and great spicy salsa. The ones to get are definitely either carne asada or the vegetarian. Their meat is delicious and juicy and their vegetarian burrito is filling and delicious with whole slices of avocado.3211 Mission Street
   San Francisco, CA 94110
2. La Taquería. La Taquería is another one of those places that tops the best burrito lists. Again, they really are that good! La Taquería sets themselves apart from the rest by not including rice in their burritos. We were skeptical of this at first, believing that rice is a central burrito component, but it works! Without the rice, the tender beans and juicy steak are enhanced.2889 Mission St
   San Francisco, CA
3. Victor’s. Victor’s is off the beaten path, at least when baseball season is over. They’re located near Willie May Field where the Giants play, so they’re an ideal lunch spot on game days. Victor’s owner Gracie makes a point of addressing each customer as Guapo/a and serves a no-nonsense burrito, although it’s not a Mission-style one. Go for the grilled chicken with refried beans, guapa!
   210 Townsend Street
   San Francisco, CA
4. El Metate – This place is also a little off the main drags. El Metate features ridculously fresh ingredients and features a salsa bar stocked with expertly-created salsas. Their focus on fresh vegetables means that their vegetarian burritos are among the best anywhere!
   2406 Bryant St
   San Francsico, CA
5. Taquería San Buena – San Buena is a taco truck, so its location changes. But it’s food is top notch. Somehow, they excel at carnitas (pork refried in pork fat!) despite their small kitchen. Perhaps its cooked in the San Buena mothership, wherever that may be.
   http://www.tacosanbuena.com/

But this list is just the Cheap Bastad’s opinion? Surely, you must have your own recommendations for the best burritos in town? Let us know!

By now, regular readers of the Cheap Bastard's Guide to San Francisco Blog will know that our resident Cheap Bastard, Karen Solomon, is also an accomplished cookbook author (cookbooks, of course, are crucial to the Cheap Foodie Bastard's lifestyle – they offer a way to make delicious food without going to an expensive resaturant). But did you know she also hosts a quarterly food swapping event at local food community resource 18 Reasons?

A food swap is a way for a thrify food crafter to make a large batch of one delicous treat and walk away with a whole cupboard full of other crafter's artisan products all in one fun evening. For $5 (if you bring an item to trade with others – it's $10 if you don't), you can get entrance to the 18 Reasons space (wine tastings are included) and be part of the food swapping community with some of the most talented artisan food producers in the City of San Francisco. You can read more about the Jam It Salons on the New York Times' site.

For more information on when the next Jam It Salon will be held, please check out the 18 Reasons Calendar. By the time the next one rolls around, spring and summer produce will be out in force and the food crafters will be ready to trade, connect, and share with you!

The ever-popular Sunday Streets is back for 2011.  What is Sunday Streets? It's basically a San Francisco city-sponsored event where certain walking/biking routes are blocked off to moto vehicle traffic. Hordes of people come out to these events and they turn into a mobile ped-powered street party!

We're definitely going to go to as many as we can since, naturally, they're free!

Here the schedule for the upcoming Sunday Streets

• March 20: kick off event along the Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf to Mission Bay;
• April 10: Great Highway and Golden Gate Park; ‘Penguins to Penguins’:
• May 8: Mission route, including the popular route along 24th and Valencia Streets;
• June 12: Bayview route, 3rd Street from Mission Bay, Dogpatch to the Bayview Opera House;
• July 10: Great Highway route #2;
• August 14: Civic Center/Tenderloin route;
• September 11: Western Addition route, including North of Panhandle, Alamo Square and Fillmore and Japantown neighborhoods;
• October TBD; Mission route #2

See you out in the middle of the road!

Did we ever tell you that the San Francisco Cheap Bastard herself, Karen Solomon, is also a popular cookbook writer?  Yes, it's true, and those of you who bought a copy of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects can attest to her brilliance!

At the very least, we're sure you'd agree that DIY food projects are a great way to save money (and become popular with your pickle-loving friends!) while having fun making delicous food.

Well, now it's time to announce the upcoming release of Jam It's follow-up volume, Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It – a new collection of recipes sure to please both your inner foodie and outer Cheap Bastard. It'll show up in book stores in the summer of 2011.

We could describe what's in store for you, or you could just head over to the sample recipes posted to canitbottleitsmokeit.com.

Don't say the Cheap Bastard never gaving you nothing for free!

By: Sharat Ganapati

If you’re visiting a place away from, a place such as our gorgeous City of San Francisco, one of the most difficult challenges you’ll face is finding a place to stay.

That is, it’s challenging if you’re trying not to go broke while you’re doing it! Sure, you could just cozy up in a nice room at the W Hotel (in fact, we encourage it! But you must pay the cost to stay with the boss) or just give a call to the Holiday Inn and be done with it, but there must be some cheaper ways.

Well, yes, there are cheaper ways, but you may know already how to search for budget accomodations. If, however, you’re unfamiliar with some of the ins and outs of budget accommodations, let’s review, shall we?

1. Explore the offerings on a private home room rental service such as Airbnb.com. AirBnB.com is a relative newcomer to world of discount travel, but what an opportunity for Cheap Bastards!

   People with extra accommodations (often just a room, but sometimes entire houses, apartments, or even boats) offer up what they have on the website and set a price for it. Then travelers can book accomodations through the web site. The result is often significant savings over what you’d pay in a hotel. Now, there is no room service, continental breakfast, free ice, or SpectraVision in the room, but it’s a great way to get to experience San Francisco a little more like a local, and you might meet some interesting people.

   If you’re truly cheap, you’ll rent our your own room to someone else while your visiting us here in SF!

2. Of course, if you’re willing to go the “stay in someone else’s home” route, why not just do a Home Exchange! Check out HomeExchange.com for an example of a site that offers this service.

   On HomeExchange.com, people sign up to swap houses all over the world. It’s a little like a dating service web site, except instead of boyfriends and girlfriends, people are mostly interested in places to stay in interesting locations. Again, very worthwhile.

   Unlike AirBnB.com, the HomeExchange route does not involve any money (except for a small fee to list your place). The folks who list on the site seem very friendly and are like-minded cheapskate travelers.

3. 

   By: Francisco Gonzalez

   Another option, of variable rates of cheapness is looking for a Bed & Breakfast. Now, we realize that the very phrase “bed and breakfast,” at least in the U.S., conjures up mental images of kountry kitchen decor, overstuffed beds, and awkward conversations with hosts and other guest. But, that’s not always the case. In fact, some are just under-the-radar guesthouses with reasonable rates. It’s definitely worth a try, and it can place you right in the heart of the City. Look for a Bed and Breakfast on bbsf.com.

4. Some of you are asking for the realness, though. Hella cheap. That’s what couchsurfing is for. For that, be sure to check out CouchSurfing.org – an online community of fellow Cheap Bastards who love to travel, but refuse to pay to stay somewhere. On this site, you can hookup with likeminded cheapskates, and find someone’s couch to crash on. It’s free and it beats getting a tent and finding an out of the way park by a long shot!
5. If you simple must stay in a hotel, then check hotel clearance web sites such as Hotwire.com. You’ve probably heard of Hotwire, have you actually visited their web site?

   They provide an interesting service for those of us unwilling (or unable) to pay full price for a hotel room. Hotwire lists hotel rooms that hotels are trying to fill quickly. This almost always results in a lower price than what you would get if you were to book the hotel by calling it up directly, or by booking it through a more conventional travel booking service such as Travelocity. The result is a deep discount. The catch of course, and there’s always a catch when dealing on the cheap side, is that Hotwire won’t tell you the name or exact location of the hotel you book until you submit your credit card information. Hotwire’s service can be problematic for some, but you can use the cash money you save for more interesting things, so it’s worth it!

Good luck!

Yesterday, my son's nanny told me he was exchausted from navigating the “vortex of douchebags” at Tartine Bakery — harsh words from someone watching your infant son! I know what he means (yes, he's a “manny”), but still, Tartine is one of the best bakeries in the U.S., and, as an infrequent customer, does that mean that I'm included in that vortex?

All sobering thoughts (but I keep going back for those awesome morning buns!).

But let's say you're not in the mood for waiting in a 45 minute line at 7am on a Tuesday morning, or, more to the point, you don't have much of an appetite for spening $4.50 on a tiny nibble of deliciousness? Where can you get some quality baked goods fit for a Cheap Bastard?

Well, we recommend checking out San Francisco's abundant and declicous Latino bakeries. The majority of these panaderías are located in the Mission district, and offer their Latin American baked good for more reasonable prices, often starting around $0.69!

A personal favorite of our is La Oaxaqueña, at 2128 Mission between 17th & 18th Streets. In fact, they're not only good for breakfast, so stay for their southern Mexican specialties for lunch & dinner too!

If, however, you want to enter the”vortex” of Latin panaderías, head down to 24th Street between Mission and Potrero. There, you'll find a wealth of places to explore including La Victoria and Domiguez Mexican Bakery. It's best to walk around and explore what looks good to you!

Don't tell them the Cheap Bastard sent you, though. We really don't get much name recognition!

The rain is torrential, positively Biblical (at least by San Francisco standards), what do you do?  Play in the flash flood that formed outside your house?  Slide down the muddy hills in Dolores Park?  (ok, maybe that's not such a bad idea . . .).

Well, as good as those suggestions are, there have to be some better (though equally cheap) ways to spend your time on a rainy San Francisco day!  Here are some of our suggestions:

1. Free Museums.  Cheap Bastards are already aware, or at least you should be, that many museums in SF have a “first Tuesday” free day, but what if it rains on some other day?  Some museums are always free!  Some are touristy, but you haven't been in six years, so try the Cable Car Musuem, the Museum of the City of San Francisco, the Octagon House, or the San Francisco Fire Museum.  If you've got some quarters burning a hole in your pocket, check out the Musée Mécanique.
2. San Francisco City Guide Walking Tours.  These tours, run by volunteers for free are usually outside, but look at the schedule closely — some are indoors!  Perfect for day like today.
3. Walk around the Ferry Building Marketplace and see how many samples you can consume.  We've learned this one from wily aunties and hungry toddlers — you just have to look at every stall and see what's being offered.  If no samples are visible, don't be shy, ask for one!  With the money you save, you will hopefully have enough cash for a $3.50 capuccino at Blue Bottle.
4. Go to the library.  Yes, the favorite of homeless folks, bored kids, and literary poseurs.  But really, the public libraries are a great resource and they're better than cheap — they're free!  Find the one near you at SFPL.org. In addition to the books & computers, there are classes, exhibits, videos, and more.  Go on the right day, and you can even get one-on-one time with a librarian for personalized research assistance.
5. Grab a Beer at the Beach Chalet and watch the water come down!  Water's the last thing you want to drink on a rainy day, so what better time to drink than now?  It's not free, but for $5 or so (including tip), you can get a beer at the Beach Chalet, and sip slowly.  You can examine the very cool WPA-era murals while you're at it and, if you're in the mood for something a little stronger, don't forget to pack your hip flask of whiskey so that your “pocket bartender” can mix your some hot toddys.  Sure, the waiter might wonder why you keep ordering hot water with honey and lemon, but it goes down smooth!

So, those are our suggestions, but surely there must be more to do!  Please leave a comment to let the other cheap bastards know the best ways to while away the cold rainy days in San Francisco.

We've said it before, but we'll say it again:  Free beats Cheap anytime!  It goes without saying, really, but it bears repeating.  And what's a better way to get something for free than by just giving it up?  We're referring, of course, to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Gas-Free Fridays.  It's not that you need a special excuse to leave the car behind when you're commuting, or otherwise travelling around the Bay, but SFBC's Gas-Free Fridays campaign is a way to get out the word on cheap, cleaner, and greener ways to get from Point J to Point Q.

May we recommend some?  Of course, there's MUNI, BART, AC Transit, and even SamTrans.  Sure, they use power and fuel, but a lot less than thousands of cars do.  But  the best way to move around is still the good old bicycle.  It's cheap, easy, and with all of SF's hills, great excercise!

What are some of your tips on getting around San Francisco for cheap or free?  Mopeds? Skateboards?