Diners Drive-Ins & Dives

While planning our California trip, Nathan took it upon himself to research some local, unique restaurants where we could get good food off the beaten path a bit. One of our favorite references is Diners, Drive-Ins’, and Dives and of course San Francisco has a ton of featured restaurants to choose from!

HRD Coffee Shop popped up and Nathan went crazy! Spicy pork kimchee burrito? That is right up our alley! Check it out..

Bar hopping before a Giants’ game the night before we were leaving took us right by HRD but when we got there, they were already closed for the day. However, as we stood outside looking at the menu, owner David Yeung walked out to talk to us. We told him we were headed home the next day but he assured us that if we came back before we left, he’d take care of us. He wasn’t kidding!

Walking into HRD the next morning for breakfast, we were greeted by David, Joanna, and Gary; the faces of HRD. Recommendations from all of them led us to order a spicy pork kimchee burrito and a Chinese bbq pork breakfast burrito. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe the flavor packed in these handheld delights. And the surprising ingredient in the kimchee burrito? Kiwi. It’s like your sweet little treat that you don’t expect.

Owner, David Yeung

Spicy Pork Kimchee Burrito

Chinese BBQ Pork Breakfast Burrito

And if the burritos weren’t delicious enough, their homemade hot sauce really set them off! I’m not one for using much hot sauce, but I couldn’t get enough of this! Every bite had to have some sauce on it.

We were so pleased with our decision to return before we left and couldn’t imagine that it could get any better. And then it did.

With about 1/4 burrito left for each of us, David came over with one of HRD’s most popular dishes; Mongolian beef cheesesteak. As a ‘thank you’ for coming back, he wanted to give us this sandwich on the house. Neither of us had ever been given food at a restaurant like that so we were so grateful for such a kind action.

And naturally, practically stuffed already, we looked at each other, wrapped up the rest of our burritos to take with us, and dug in!

Mongolian Beef Cheesesteak

Once again, we were not let down. The flavor from the marinated beef was out of this world! And the french fries were the perfect dipper to savor even more of the hot sauce.

David returned, once again, to our seats to make sure we were happy with everything and enjoyed our experience (much appreciated!) and I had to ask if they sold the sauce. An unfortunate “no” led Nathan to joking about taking the bottle from the table. A minute later, David brought out a bottle for us to take home, again, on the house.

I can’t thank David, Joanna, and Gary enough for such an incredible experience with our food as well as the hospitality. Immediately after walking out of the restaurant, Nathan and I decided that HRD will be our first stop every time we return to San Francisco! Most certainly an experience we won’t soon forget.