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El Trebol Restaurant
Rating Details »
Categories: Mexican, Latin American [Edit]
Neighborhood: Mission3324 24th St
(between Bartlett St & Osage St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 285-6298
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
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"After trying the steak torta, carnitas burrito, and giving the steak burrito another try I had to raise the rating to 4. Awesome stuff."
12 reviews for El Trebol Restaurant
I discovered this place and now I'm just hoping the hipsters won't catch on and ruin it. It's like el Farolito because the people who cook the food seem like they actually came from the country the food is from. But if you talk to them they're totally nice. I like to just talk to all sorts of random, different types of people sometimes because you can learn a lot about life that way. Anyway it's like that but maybe even more real and dirtier than el Farlotio.
I just had a burrito but they sell real food there too.
The churrasco is great here, flavorful and super tender, nicely accompanied by a generous pile of fried plantains. Everything else on the plate--rice, a slice of tomato and lettuce with Italian dressing--is just there to take up space. Tortillas optional if you want them, just ask the nice lady who works here. And $1.50 for a glass of wine. Beat that!
It's almost too quiet here, though there is a jukebox. But I like the unassuming, homey, mom and pop, old school, no-frills vibe here.
This review pertains only to the plantains.
I did a search on yelp for 'plantains' and this is what I came up with. The kind they serve are not of the gooey, deep-fried west African variety, but that's probably for the best (for me, my waistline, and my wallet, to be specific). They were lightly fried and slightly ripe, and there were a lot of them.
This is a good place to consume plantains.
Maybe I came on a bad day because I didn't get a 4-5 star experience .... I ordered strip steak, rice, and a double order of fried plantains. The plantains were so so but the steak was sooooo dry and tough I couldn't finish it. I also got the horchata and it was extremely chalky (is it suppose to be that way??)
The prices and the service was great. The lovely lady who served us was wonderful and helpful. I have to give it another try since everyone else seems to had a great experience.
3 stars for now ..
Dear Mission Hipsters. I swear to God if you find this place and take it over and make it your next new "secret" so underground "oh yeah this place is like so overrated" yet you go there every weekend when no one is looking kind of place, there will be murders. You are all warned.
El Trebol is what the Mission is all about. This is the kind of restaurant where the generic Thomas Kincaid-like cottage house paintings are older than you, the paint and table arrangement was an after thought, and where you'll rarely find anyone speaking English. This restaurant is here for one reason: to serve you delicious food.
This place has been here for roughly 30 years and hasn't changed at all (according to my father, who has friends who help build the damn place). You can a steak, salad, rice, platanos, and torillas for $7. I suggest the Churasco.
They only take cash, so don't come with your plastic. When the place is full, it may take a while to get your food (there is only one cook), but just sit back and enjoy your surroundings. Enjoy the Mission for what it was like before the boom.
And don't complain about messing up pupusas because they are Nicaraguan. Nicaraguans don't make pupusas. There are hundreds of other pupuserias in the area. Quit your bitching.
My friend Mac wanted to come here for his birthday one year. Knowing the group of people going, I thought for sure this was going to be a place where I was going to spend at least $50 on a meal.
SURE HAD ME FOOLED!
As the other reviewers have said, this is definitely bare bones decor. Nothing fancy. Just some formica tables, a jukebox, and the sweetest couple to ever run a restaurant.
Even though there wasn't a wine list to choose from, we were allowed to bring our own wine. Problem was they didn't even have a corkscrew, so they attempted to open our bottles with a paring knife. Now that's what I call service! Well, after hunting through some stores in the area, we were able to find a corkscrew and have our wine.
Now that we had our wine, it was time for some food... Mmm... queso frito (fried cheese), plaintains, pupusas! Everything around $5. My favorite meal is the puerco frito (fried pork). Service can be a bit slow, but that's only because the husband in the kitchen prepares every meal one by one as the order comes in. His wife then serves it with a smile to a table of drooling customers.
Please don't ruin this place by overrunning it because of this great review. If you see a crowd, just walk on by and come back another time.
14 people, $80-90 (and that's only because we doubled up on some orders).
I sat here in front of my laptop for a good 30 secs debating whether to write this review. Like others have said, a part of me wants to keep this place to myself. to keep the glorious, perfectly charred churrasco hidden in obscurity, to keep the marvelous homemade hot salsa on the DL, to keep the perfectly sweet sticky plantains hidden in the closet.
So why write the review? Because food like this needs to be released to the world, to be talked about and appreciated by those so inclined. Because tiny family-run home cooking joints are what the city is all about. That it's cheap and filling doesn't hurt either...
After helping a friend move out of her place, we decided to get some sustance and hit up the old pupuseria. I tried the chicken, beans and cheese, and the spinanch and cheese. I enjoyed all 3 but I think the other place on 16th is a little better. But the service here was more prompt. If I was ever in the area again and in the mood for pupusas- I would come here.
When any one in my family decides to take the plunge and visit the West Coast (oh wait, they did, instead they chose to visit the exact same time I was visiting Europe. Interesting choice on their parts!), I will for sure bring them here because this is one of the few places my restaurant phobic family would feel comfortable since most everything is priced below 5 dollars. AND the food doesn't even come out of a steamed tray. Yes, it is all lovingly prepared just for you! Food is typical Latin American style: rice, beans, meat and plantains. The place is bare bones, but very clean. If you're the kind of person that requires "ambiance" at every meal, you probably shouldn't come here. This ain't no Charanga. Your trip will be way more successful if you know some Spanish. Defenitely bring some money for the jukebox. It's pretty much like a tomb otherwise.
Don't eat here. Thank you.
You cannot get anything better for the price. Wine is a dollar, but I usually suck down a couple orange sodas or Dos XX's with my puerco asado plate that comes with beans, salad, and plaintains. Or you may find me drooling in the corner while waiting for one of their specials--steak with a absurdly delicious and green rub--garlic and cilantro? Who knows, I just shut up and eat. You can feed 4 people with 2 drinks each for under 25 total and the folks who run it are kind and committed to healthy, authentic dishes. Feels like coming home.
You can't really mess up pupusas. Their pupusas never fail to be a disappointment and are more of a tortilla, hardly any cheese and way too thin. And they don't have bean and cheese pupusas! What!!?
