Downhill Alert: Zebulon, formerly Francisco and Molly's, formerly Mr. Ralph's
Zebulon is an office-worker-oriented restaurant in San francisco, on Natoma just east of 2nd. I've said good things about their hamburgers before, and when they were Mr. Ralph's, I liked their breakfast sandwiches too, along with their homey post-loft atmosphere.
But we had lunch there today and boy was it weak. Two thin, dull sandwiches -- a skimpy ham+cheese on baguette, and a leathery, poorly assembled chicken sandwich. Plus some boring tomato soup and standard fries, and sodas. All for eighteen dollars.
For nine bucks a meal, I want chicken cooked more recently than several days ago. A real plate (instead of a basket) would be nice. And the skimpiness of these overpriced meals just made them seem more pathetic.
Needless to say, that's the last time we'll visit Zebulon.
Better times: Went to Rosamunde yesterday and had yet another beautiful cheeseburger. No downhill alert there, except, of course, for the gloriously downhill bike ride to downtown.
Eat!
Patrick
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I just wanted to ping this instead of starting a new downhill thread. Contrary to the above review, 'round the end of '02 I was liking Zebulon a lot. They had good little Egg McMuffin things in the morning for a decent price and their lunches had quite a few options I could swallow the location tax for at least once a week. I even told friends that they must put crack in their food it was so good.
Then I didn't work downtown and I'm back in SOMA now for the first time in a couple years. Where do I turn for slightly-swank lunch options that doesn't have a line out the door?
Zebulon.
It appears they have changed owners in the meantime. Their menu is slightly different (no more salmon burger and the salmon BLT thing is priced "AQ"). Also, they seem to use the same cash register system as Taco Bell, as I am now required to tell them whether my order is for here or to go in advance.
Of course there is a straw that broke the camel's back: Wrong order. Today was a beautiful day, I had my heart set on sitting outside and reading the new episode of The Believer. I also hadn't had a cigarette in 24 hours. I double-checked with the guy who brought my bag out...twice. "Club with side salad?" to which he offered a diagonal yes/no head motion. I retried, "Number 2?" to which he nodded. When I went to sit down I found out it was somebody else's order. Roast beef or something, and soup was involved.
The counter people thought this turn of events was quite humorous, and now I'm having to eat lunch at my desk. If I had a camera on my cellphone you could see how burnt the bread is on my sandwich.
