A few months ago, a reader emailed me, asking if I would review Mission’s Kitchen on Valencia Street.
I like to give a place a little time to get their sea legs under them, I responded. Little did I remember that Mission’s Kitchen had already been a neighborhood fixture for about 20 years — on Mission Street. I’d say they’ve got their bearings by now.
While the Mission Street location has maybe seen better days, it is still much loved. The new spot is bright and cheery, and I was pleased to see that it’s on its way to becoming another institution.
On our first visit, the BF and I went for brunch. I opted for the chilaquiles:
The plate was massive, filled with a really good and homey rendition of this dish: House-made tortilla chips that held their crunch under tart, mildly spicy chile verde, perfect sunnies and excellent Mexi-rice, the kind you’d get at a quinceañera, made by someone’s tía, which is always my standard.
I also (over-)ordered a side of hash browns, because that’s an item I judge a breakfast place by. These passed: Fluffy inside, crispy top and bottom, and buttery all the way through. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, too.
The BF went for the Central American breakfast.
One of my favorite dishes, and his rice was perhaps even better than mine, filled with black bean umami goodness. Fried cheese is never a miss, and the plaintains had a good amount of sweetness.
By this point, I was having a bit of déjà vu, so I went back and looked, and sure enough, I’d not only reviewed the Mission Street location waaaay back in 2016, but it turns out we are ridiculously inveterate creatures of habit: We’d ordered almost the exact same dishes.
Now, I’d love to tell you that we tried them again to compare and contrast, but I shall not lie to you, Dear Reader. We just like what we like. But just to be fair, we went back and ordered something different.
This time, I had a diner classic, the club sandwich:
When you’re craving one of these double-decker, triangulated structures of crispy bacon, juicy tomatoes, and crunchy lettuce from your youth, look no further. I wouldn’t go so far as to compare it to Proust’s madeleines, but we all know that satisfying gut-punch of nostalgia when a bite of food takes you back to a simpler time. And the fries were decent too.
The BF went Mexi this time.
Huevos rancheros are another hit of nostalgia, but from across the border. The spicy red salsa on the eggs was killer, permeating the softened tortillas underneath, and the beans were the real deal — so full of flavor. I loved his breakfast almost as much as mine. Mission’s Kitchen does Mexican really well.
Our servers and even the cook staff were sweet and friendly, service was fast, portions huge, and prices unbeatable for a no-frills, family-run, tasty breakfast/brunch/lunch place in the neighborhood. And, happily, we saw families, 20-somethings, and seniors like us and beyond, enjoying the casual ambience and well-prepared food.
I also happened to see someone chowing down on steak and eggs and wished I had another stomach. Mission’s Kitchen serves up veggie omelets, tuna sandwiches, waffles, breakfast burritos, burgers, soup, and salmon BLTs until 2:45 daily. But I’d go back for those chiliquiles again, even 10 years from now.
Mission’s Kitchen
1020 Valencia St.
S.F.
