356004 Mon Jan 01 06:29:45 -0800 2007 6 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2142912 If this had not had a brief mention on Chowhound and an article in the Marin Independent Journal in the VERY unlikly event I even drove by this out-of-the-way bar & restaurant ... I doubt I would have stopped. It looks like a non-descript bar in a run-down industrial neighborhood. However, this 50 year old bar was recently bought by one of the owner’s of Mama’s in Washington Square and the other owner was one of the owners of Orsi’s. Yes ... it is true ... they are serving many of the breakfast dishes that Mama’s makes. Sitting on the counter was one of those fabulous brioches Mama’s uses for French toast dishes. I wanted to try the prosciutto, so even though I’m not an eggs Benedict fan, I ordered the procuitto Benedict. This was a lovely dish with a rich golden house-made hollandaise on top of two perfect eggs. I ate the proscuitto separately. It was good and I wanted to enjoy it by itself. There were some nicely browned home fries flavored with herbs. The coffee was good. The bloody Mary was better. This is a non-fancy bar ... tomato juice, booze, lots of fresh horsradish and spice ... no fancy-dancy celery stick or vegetable garnish. The only green thing near this drink was a tiny ... tiny piece of lime. I wanted to try the Mai Tai which the IJ said was Trader Viks original recipe. The menu says it is Quinn’s Mai Tai. The last time I had a Mai Tai I was in college and at that point in my life I was fonder of Tequila Sunrises and Black Russians. The last time I had a Mai Tai I owned a dress that was a then-fasionable bright pink Mai Tai color. So I forgot I didn’t like Mai Tai’s to begin with which to me always tasted like Kool Aid with booze in it. Nice marchiano cherry though. Nothing fancy here either ... plain glass ... drink ... cherry on top. The pancakes & French toast dishes looked every bit as wonderful as Mama’s SF. The fruit was the same quality too. The French toast dishes included: Swedish cinnamon, chocolate cinnamon, cranberry orange brioche, apple dore (gala apples in lemon butter), berry dore. Pancakes included: buttermilk, banana, blueberry, cinnamon apple, chocolate chip and dollar pancakes. There were about a half dozen omelets and other standard breakfast dishes. Other Benedicts were: classic, Blackstone (bacon & tomato), Florentine, smoked salmon & Dungeness crab. Breakfast is served daily until 5 pm. Lunch which starts at 11:30 offers basic sandwiches. The burgers looked good. Other sandwiches were Italian sausage, steak, grilled chicken, Dungenes crab, club, Monte Cristo, Mama’s Cristo (with apples added), BLT, tuna and a corned beef version of a Reuben. Clam chowder is always available and there is a soup of the day. Salads include crab Louie, shrimp Louie & Caesar. Dinner starts at uh, 5 or 5:30. There is a daily special Monday – grilled salmon Tuesday – meatloaf Wednesday – Laagna Thursday – Corned beef & cabbage Friday – Cioppino ($15.95 currently.. price based on crab seasonality) Saturday/Sunday Prime rib The rest of the dinner items are pretty basic and reasonably priced in the $10 - $12 range. The highest priced item was a steak at about $20. A few of the entrees: chicken Tuscan, chicken parmisan, pork chop milanese, linguini with clam sauce, pasta pomodoro, fish of the day, sauteed prawns. Appetizers also serve as the bar menu. They include quesadillas, chicken wings (baked with rosemary, orange juice & sweet vermouth), calamari, fish & chips ($6.95), prosciutto & fruit, beer-battered onion rings, garlic fries, garlic bread. They didn’t have a dessert menu because it changes daily. The décor is old-time bar. It was cozily decorated for Christmas with live trees in the bar and restaurant. There is a working fireplace in the bar area. The back restaurant looks out onto the canal which has a little marina. In the summer there is a large outdoor patio area which looks like it might be pleasant. The floors are painted concrete, there is wood paneling the likes of which I haven’t seen since I drank may last Mai Tai in college. The tables have colorful table cloths with olives and such. The staff is very pleasant. Unfortunately they had a problem where a lot of staff were MIA, so they were short-handed. I had a very long wait ... very long before my order was taken. One of the owners, I think it was Mr. Orsi came over and apologized explaining about the staff shortage. When my check showed up, they also brought another Mai Tai that they ‘accidently’ made and was complementary. You know, those were strong drinks. I did a lot of shopping in San Rafael before the buzz wore off and I dared get on the freeway. It was a pleasant way to say goodbye ... to the old year. So, let me give this one more try ... Happy 2007 & beyond ... chow ... Krys Marin IJ mention http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_4367939 Chowhound mentions http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/355190#2141193 Pier 15 Restaurant & Bar 15 Harbor St, San Rafael, 94901 (415) 256-9121 It is a road off of East Francisco where there are all those car dealerships. Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 am – 9 pm Saturday – Sunday: 9 am – 9 pm Mon Jan 01 06:29:45 -0800 2007 10264 rworange 1 2142995 Are you saying that they haven't yuppified the unpretentious character out of this good old local eatery? Let us hope. It's always been a place to meet your friends, kick back, and chow down without spending too much money. At lunch the fellows from the nearby auto shops would go there for their burgers and beer. One frequently saw a table full of very large guys in workshop duds, all speaking German. It would be a shame if the current resurrection got too pricy and tony for the natural customer base (this unfortunate experiment happened there a while back). I'll have to take myself over there and check it out. Mon Jan 01 10:42:27 -0800 2007 2142912 13619 Sharuf 2 2146793 No, I was the most Yuppie thing in there which is saying ... no yuppies. The latest owners are old pros ... they ain't going to mess with a good formula. Don't know what the food was like but it seems straight-foward simple food at good prices. It is really nice to know that I can get Mama's breakfast without having to drive to SF and get to the restaurant at opening or brave a huge line ... AND have it available till 5pm ... AND ... be able to have a mimosa or bloody Mary with it. Maybe this summer I'll give the cioppino a try. But you are right about parking ... sheesh ... even though they have a lot I had to park quite bit from the restaurant ... and it was Sunday with all the businesses surrounding the place closed. On top of it some lady almost hit me as I was crossing the street and decided to roll down the window and tell me about it ... almost didn't see 2007. Wed Jan 03 00:06:53 -0800 2007 2142995 10264 rworange 1 2188932 I went there today about 1pm and decided to have breakfast instead of lunch and ordered the eggs benedict. I'd say they were perfectly executed. Also, what rworange said. Next time I'll try the procuitto which would probably be more interesting meat. Great place, fairly dark old-timey bar with TVs on up front, and a very light room with big windows in the rear where most people were eating. http://ruthvenphotos.com/pier15 Mon Jan 15 00:16:05 -0800 2007 2142912 10724 Mick Ruthven 2 2189776 Nice pictures. My Benedict had a little more sauce but that was pretty much what it looked like. Hope you found parking. Mon Jan 15 07:35:09 -0800 2007 2188932 10264 rworange 1 2190080 >Hope you found parking Their lot was full with a Rolls taking one of the spaces, but I easily found space on the street close by. Mon Jan 15 14:33:07 -0800 2007 2142912 10724 Mick Ruthven 1 2486829 We stopped at Pier 15 around 2 pm Sunday on the way home from Russian River wine tasting. It looked the same as ever, same auto racing on TV, same local hippie bar crowd. Hubby got the Monte Cristo; I got an open-face omelet with bay shrimp, provolone, avocado, and salsa; my 16-month-old son got dollar pancakes. The omelet was cooked just right and was served with pan-fried potatoes. The Monte Cristo was eggy goodness, served with delicious strawberry preserves, although neither my husband nor I likes to eat the sandwich *with* the jam - we had the jam separately on toast. He got tasty (housemade) potato salad on the side. My son devoured all 3 dollar pancakes (dipped in the jam) and was covered in powdered sugar by the end of the meal. Hubby also had a ramos fizz, made (in his words) "the proper way" with fresh egg, although theirs is really a golden fizz since it uses whole egg instead of just egg white. I tried it and it definitely packed a wallop. We didn't try the calamari this time, although the table next to ours had them and clearly enjoyed them. I've never had dinner here, but might come back some time. It looks like they make their own desserts. I would definitely come back to try more brunch items. The french toast selection is impressive. BTW, we had no parking problems, but then again we were there mid-afternoon. Mon Apr 16 16:40:38 -0700 2007 2142912 13664 Anya L