Howard's Cafe
Category: American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset1309 9th Avenue
(between Irving St & Judah St)
San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 564-4723
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Breakfast
- Alcohol: None
73 reviews
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
"On the menu it reads: "Good Drinks, Good Food, Good Sports, Good Times." And that's what you'll get. Excellent (and clean, and well-lighted)…" read more »
60 Reviews for Howard's Cafe
Best service I have ever had at a diner, REALLY.
The food was exactly what our hungover table needed.
I will be back most definitely.
If you're in the mood for divey diner food I suppose this is the place to go. This is the kind of place I'd somewhat welcome if it was 12am, and I've come from a long, sweaty night of dancing. They're open fairly late for this 'hood, though - 9pm M-F...
Decor from the 70s. Signs that look like they've been around since the 50s. Pleasant enough servers and good ventilation. I ordered the fabled avocado, bacon and sour cream omelet, which was large portioned, nongreasy, with substantial bits of bacon and avocado. I could have used a tad more sour cream.
I much prefer Crepevine or Chow.
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For years I've walked through the beloved 9th & Irving intersection, having traversed it in every direction, at every hour of the day or night, in any number of various levels of inebriation--and I for some reason alway managed to overlook Howard's Cafe until recently. Maybe because it blends into the surrounding area and the plethora of other eateries in the area, but this place always has people in it eating up the great deal and it still remains relatively invisible.
The food at Howard's is satisfyingly good, and amazingly cheap for breakfast. Portions are American-sized and are sure to cure a hangover, or any hankering for an 'exactly-how-it-should-be' breakfast that may overcome you. You won't find a chef's special take on any menu item, or any tampering with tradition here.
So while the masses trod past this restaurant in search of a hip place to eat breakfast, the locals seem to know and love this place and it loves them back. After eating here a handful of times and sampling the array of other breakfast options in the area, I'm putting Howard's Cafe high on my list of go-to places for my morning grub.
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The food side of the Howard "the Mucky" Duck building. The only way the decor could have been better was if our table was a wagon wheel.
R.I.P. Bruno.
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I effing love this place. Howard's is probably one of the main reasons that I miss living in the Sunset.
Not only is the food really cheap and wonderfully nostalgic in that greasy, sexy, american diner sort of way, but every time I go in I get amazing service. Being a waitress myself, that is very much appreciated.
Howard's=Hotness
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Good food. Friendly staff. Relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Traditional American cuisine without attitude - which pretty much nails my requirements for breakfast.
the light and tasty is what I will have thank you... I say this to surly waitress as she exits the tiny room into the back. reentering moments later with my piping hot plate of mush. Tasty mush but mush at that.
Emily X. and I frequent this joint often on a hung over sunday when we need fuel for our long day ahead of us of model hunting.
That staff here is kinda lame, but the food is good when you hung over and it's cheap. I like that I feel like I'm a small eating hole off of some desolate road in alaska or canada maybe.
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Howard's Cafe is a solid breakfast place. I like it but I can't say it's "the best"....what does distinguish it is the service. Very good. AND I love the way they make little characters out of the fruit sides. I haven't been there in awhile but I seem to remember my fruit in the shape of a bird. Weird, yes, but every place has its distinguishing characteristic!
I've only eaten breakfast here. It's consistent and affordable good diner food. The waitresses are very nice as well.
It has been a long time since I had breakfast at Howard's, long enough ago that Yelp hadn't even been invented (well, maybe it had, but I had no idea). Always remember it being above-average with the price and eats, and had wanted to return for lunch.
Bouncing around the sunset today on some errands, it was the perfect opportunity to go back. Not to much to write about, other than my grilled chicken salad was superb, loaded with chicken, beans, veggies and a healthy amount of lettuce. I only wish spinach was an option. But at $6, it's hard to complain.
Howard's is a classic S.F. old school diner serving up some of the best American food in the City. I've been coming here for years--it was especially great when I lived in the neighborhood and could walk the few blocks to pop in before the line formed.
My breakfast favorites include the Veggie Omelet (no onions, extra spinach) and the Eggs Benedict. Their dinners are also great and are very reasonably priced.
If you live in the City you need to go here for breakfast at least once. You can walk off the bacon in the park just a block away.
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I've been wanting to go to Howard's Cafe for breakfast since reading its' reviews on Yelp, and I finally had a chance to hit it up on New Year's Eve.
I had the Eggs Benedict, and it was fantastic! The potatoes that came with it were also good, and were a cross between house potatoes and hash browns. The corned beef hash my girlfriend ordered was also quite tasty, so I may have to try that sometime.
In addition to being good, their food is very reasonably priced...I'll definitely be coming back here in the future, and suspect that this place may just become a part of my regular Inner Sunset restaurant rotation...
As a side note, our server hooked me up with a free piece of carrot cake for New Year's...excellent cake, and a great touch to end the meal!
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On the rare mornings we wake up in time to get to breakfast, this place is generally high on the list. Quick and dirty, just the way I like it. The potatoes are really yummy, the prices are cheap and there is zero pretension. It's small and usually crowded on the weekends, but so worth it. Breakfast like mom used to make (though I doubt I actually want to see the inside of their kitchen up close).
After the Kaiser Half Marathon/5K, my friend and I were starving and looking for someplace to get warm food. I knew we'd find someplace around 9th/Irving...
Howard's was the second place we looked at, and as luck would have it, a window seat for two opened up just as we walked in. Hooray! Coffee at last!
Our waitress was super nice, and attentive without being there all the time.
I got the corned beef hash, b/c the waitress said it was housemade, so I had to try it. And I'm so glad I did. Finely chopped, and fried so that there was a little bit of a crust to it. Good corned beef to potato ratio. Nice saltiness. Eggs were cooked just right and I chowed the whole dish :)
aaaahhh. happy.
This is a great little place in the sunset I visit once a week. The food is surprisingly of high quality and priced very modestly. It has the atmosphere of a small yet charming restaurant instead of that of a diner.
If you need a place to eat for cheap on weekday mornings this is your spot. I happened to have a random Wednesday morning off and stopped in, I had a breakfast special with 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, potatoes and toast for $4.95! No, that's right 4 freakin' 95. And even though I would have given it 5 stars for the price alone, I was pleasantly surprised when the food was actually tasty. Bonus. Sadly the special is only weekdays (excluding holidays) until 11. Damn my 9 to 5.
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I can't think of anything bad to say about Howard's except that sometimes there's a line outside. I love that the breakfast tab is $14 for two. The waitresses are kind of spacey, but the food options are good and the prices are more than reasonable. Haven't gotten any of the lunch/dinner options of yet, and don't think I will, Howard's is a breakfast joint. The coffee isn't the strongest, but the quality of jams/jelly's on the table are, mmm blackberry preserves, orange marmalade.... Its not your usual Sysco strawberry jelly. Yeah, its packaged, but still, better quality than most. I heart Howard's more than Art's. Don't tell the mobs of hovering hash brown sandwich lovers.
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Love this place. It's a great old fashioned "diner" type restaurant. Good food and reasonable prices. Good, friendly service, too. Who could ask for more.
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preface: this review is about their carrot cake. that's right i'm writing a whole review and giving them 5 stars based on their carrot cake.
after sushi for lunch i was craving for something sweet so my friend Ang suggested this place. one look at the cake and i began to drool. i had my fork in hand ready to dive in. i take a deep breath as i take a bite into the carrot heaven. the cake is moist and scrumptious. i taste the bites of pecans, shredded carrots and plump juicy raisins. the cream cheese frosting is light and airy. it doesn't taste like they added 2 cups of sugar and 3 stick soft butter to make the frosting. mental note: next time don't eat sushi before coming here so you can eat entrees here.
My friend Yvonne took me to Howard's about two years ago, and I've been thinking about this place ever since. Her whole family loves this restaurant and frequents it for breakfast. They bring in coffee from The Beanery, but judging from the crowd, I don't think most people do that anymore. I saw about three people doing that only--and one person brought in Starbucks (grasp!).
My husband and I went on a Saturday at around 10:00 am and the place was packed. I had to wait about half an hour since people really do stake out their tables and enjoy their time there. The waitresses are very good and don't hurry any of the folks, some are asking for more coffee after they have finished their breakfast, while others are casually reading their newspapers.
There were a lot of people with their kids. It's nice to know that there are kid friendly restaurants. I mean, these were little people. Some in high chairs. The kind that eat mushy breakfast foods and fruit.
My husband and I were getting cranky, but once people finish it seems like the great exodus almost...a lot of tables opened up. It makes me wonder if we should have come at 10:30 am instead.
My favorite (and I had it twice now) is the avocado, bacon, and sour cream omelet. There's a lot of bacon and avocado in the omelet and a good sized dollop of sour cream on top. I hate their potatoes though... what the hell is that stuff... it wants to be potato skins, but isn't... it's sort of almost charred... sort of, kind of. Anyway, I would rather have hash browns instead of that stuff. The English muffins were OK. Not enough butter.
My husband had the breakfast special which was eggs, bacon, potatoes, and English muffins. I'm not sure if he even had coffee. I was enjoying the avocado out of my omelet too much and remarking to him that there was a lot of avocado.
He still seemed glum after the breakfast so I went to Arizmendi Bakery Cooperative to get a baguette so he could feed the little birdies. Then, he felt much better. It was strange... the birds like the crunchy crust rather than the white insides I threw them. Nothing to peck at, I guess.
It's been three days since eating there and he hasn't said anything about liking the place; so I guess he didn't. The prices were cheap enough. I think my omelet was around $6.95. His breakfast, whatever it was, about $4.95. It wasn't a $9+ extravaganza.
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Today, we drove to The Bashful Bull on 19th and Noriega---well, I guess that says it all about how he feels about Howard's, I guess--, and he had himself the Chicken Fried Steak. He's strange that way. He has to have the eggs on top of the meat and the gravy over that. He also enjoys the pancakes there too. He says you don't get Chicken Fried Steak back East. He's a "cheap" man, and he'd rather go and pay $9.95 (or there abouts) for this meal... hmmmmmm
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Howard's is definitely a staple for anyone who lives in this neighborhood. I have breakfast here 2-5 times a week and never get sick of it. Don't expect some SF organic cafe, this is a good ol' fashioned diner. My favorite part is the U shaped counter...perfect for those dining solo. You'll usually see the same clientele here each morning which makes for a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. Can't go wrong with the breakfast special for $4.25.
Great diner food at Howard's! The prices are very reasonable- omlettes are always full and not ridiculously puffy, and I love that they serve slices of fresh orange with your breakfast. Homefries are nice and crispy, and their coffee is perc-o-licious.
While I'm mostly here for breakfast, I've also eaten here for dinner a few times and the food is similarly hearty. Big old sandwiches, good soups.
This is kind of a no-frills place, but charming. Definitely old-school 70s diner vibe, and I enjoy that; you almost expect Mel to come out bellowing "DINGY!!!!" If you like a non-hipster diner, you'll love Howard's.
The service is usually good, but occasionally they must get short-staffed and then watch out, it truly suffers... I was in a few days ago and out of about 15 or 16 tables, about 10 were really dirty and piled with used dishes, and stayed that way for the next hour. Seating ourselves was easy- we simply took the only clean, non-occupied table. The sub wait person was not organized, walking back and forth about 4 times for delivering menus, drink order, taking the food order, etc. when one trip would've sufficed.
Everything has an off day, tho, and I will still definitely keep Howard's in my rotation of breakfast joints.
Classic comfort food. Great meatloaf and potatoes. Great scrambled eggs and bacon. If you're not from the neighborhood, don't eat here. Please go to Park Chow and spend twice as much, wait twice as long and eat half as much food.
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A decent alternative brunch place if Art's is hopelessly crowded. The seating is comfortable, very homey, very neighborhood-y. Waitress was fantastic. She was friendly and fast like she really cared about customers. wow.
Food is alright. I had french toast which was sourdough and pretty plain. I prefer buttery and fluffy thick ones with loads of fresh fruit. Boyfriend liked his breakfast combo and thought eggs were perfectly "over easy" like how he wanted them.
Maybe I was just mad cuz I really wanted a bibimbop at Art's.
Love their greasy breakfast food! Hmm....I can taste their tasty potatoes in my mouth already. A lot of choices for sure and I wish to live closer to this joint and I won't cook breakfast anymore.
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I'm not a breakfast person. I wake up and drink coffee. If I could eat coffee for breakfast I probably would. Today though I wanted pancakes....odd, yes...but I NEVER deny myself my cravings. My Mexican grandmother always tells me.
"Si tienes un entojo debe satisfacer la necesidad porque algo le falta que tu cuerpo necesita."
Translation:
"If you are craving something you must fill it because it means your body needs something it's missing."
Who am I to undermine the wisdom of my abuelita.
The weird part....I. HATE. PANCAKES.
I don't know why that is? Is it that they are light and fluffy? Or that they are sweet yet delicate in taste? Who knows....I just hate pancakes.
So, to my shock and amazement I wanted pancakes. HA-WHAT!!!!!
Maybe my body wanted sugar...maybe carbs...maybe both. Either way...they have good enough pancakes that even I, as an avid hater of pancakes, almost finished both.
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its the age-old question: howards or arts?
well, seeing that the wait at arts could be a while, i often default to howards. not to say i don't enjoy this place. its a very very close second. i've only had the vege omelet (without bell peppers. i hate bell peppers) but its tasty and satisfying. the potatoes are standard but tasty. and for some reason, they have the best english muffins EVER. i should ask what brand they use but for now, i'll settle on getting my muffins at howards!
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Howard's has been a mainstay in the neighborhood for over 40 years. I think that when the original owner was still around, the food was much better but they still serve up a decent breakfast. The coffee is so so but I saw several people with their own coffee from the coffee house across the street as the other poster suggested. Breakfast is typical eggs with homefrys and toast, pancakes and french toast is also available. I had an omlette and coffee and the bill came to $9 w/ coffee. The service was fast and friendly.
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A great diner style breakfast and the closest thing to hash browns I have found in SF. The have excellent omelets.
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thoughts i had while eating at howard's cafe:
omg i can't believe the breakfast special is under $5!
do they even have breakfast for $5 anywhere anymore?
maybe at mcdonald's, but that's a $hit breakfast.
they must have rent control to be able to serve breakfast for $5!
oh wow my sunny side eggs are super crispy on the bottom!
oh wow the english muffin crunches just like those thomas' english muffin commercials!
oh wow and my pancake is pretty decent too.
omg all this for $5! this is going on yelp. five dollars!! this is ridiculous! absurd!! and i have money left over for an arizmendi's cookie. i'm SO coming back here...
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good clean cafe, quick friendly service, right off irving. Big plus to this place is the friendly waitresses that make this place special!
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I would give this place six stars and my firstborn if i could. the waitresses are hilarious and always brighten my day, the corned beef hash is coma/orgasm inducing and the coffee-dinner-cake combo in the evening is one bargain you can't pass up. now, if you are from the lowlands, please stay away. inner sunset people + friends + lovers only...don't want to make it too crowded now!
ps. the chef looks like chef from south park.
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Howard's provided me a down-home sandwich and mug o' Dr. Pepper when I needed it most!
Great for people watching.
I thought you could only find a place like this in Orland!
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Even though the decor let's you know that it hasn't changed since 1977, Howard's has good food and a friendly and attentive wait staff (after reading the other reviews - we must have gotten the waitresses on a good day!)
I only go for breakfast but it's good to know that if I'm craving Swedish Meatballs on a tuesday night I can get it here! Our waitress advised us on settling for just one plate of home fried potatoes instead of two - she was right! One plate is good for two hungry people! The potatoes are also fried to perfection - nice and hot and crispy and not soggy or in that crunchy way that let's you know that it's not cooked enough at all! As you can tell I take my potatoes very seriously! Also, she brought us water even before we can ask - that always gets an extra star! I need to go back and ask, "just what is BLACK BOTTOM PIE?"
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OK. I don't know what the 4- and 5-star reviewers are smoking. Maybe the same stuff that the people who work here are smoking. Anyway...
I know people love the "homestyle" stuff. But I can make eggs and bacon better at home. And I can do it in like 5 minutes. Come on, people! Maybe it's the restaurant's small, dingy feel that makes it feel homey... I don't know. For me, homestyle = bad (don't even get me started on Park Chow...).
So, the people who work here are not really friendly, but not hostile either. They're just weird.
The food. I got eggs benedict (I mean, maybe I should've known better, but I really wanted eggs benedict that morning and it was the only place that I found that served them in the 'hood on a Tuesday AM). Easily the worst benedict I've ever had in my life. The muffin was gross, the bacon was nasty, the egg was fully cooked, and the hollandaise tasted like lemonade.
My friends got eggs, bacon, pancakes. All were OK (not as offensive as my eggs benny).
I do give them the two stars for:
1. Fantastic potatoes. They're all crispy and crunchy and heaven.
2. It's cheap. I can't remember anytime that I left $2 for a tip (well, for a meal). I felt kinda weird about it.
I guess I could see myself going back there if I were really hungover and couldn't cook and didn't want eggs benny. Actually, if I were that hungover, I probably wouldn't leave my apartment... I'd probably rather curl up with a bottle of ice cold Gatorade.
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Best corned beef hash that I've found in SF. Don't skimp on the portions either. Cheap prices, friendly if kinda scatterbrained service (watch out for that crazy looking blonde waitress! She's nice though).
I can't really review more things than the CBH, because that's all I've ever ordered. I only really go here on Mondays or when Art's is way too crowded.
Funny story though about Howard's. I was sitting at the counter eating my standard CBH/eggs over easy/potatoes with sourdough toast one morning before work when some guy sits down, orders and starts to read the paper. It was the day after Jerry Falwell died and apparently this guy is one of the 75 people in SF who doesn't read news on the internet and didn't know that Mr. Hour of Glower had kicked the bucket nary 16 hours before. Suddenly a lament of, "JERRY FALWELL IS DEAD! AAAIIIUUUGGGH!! NO! NO! NO!" almost scared me into dropping my fork in shock. It was too early for me to be subjected to such vociferous emotionalism, and I got kinda annoyed. Then I softened up when the guy collapsed onto the counter in shock and agony and began sobbing. I kinda wanted to pat him on the shoulder and say, "there, there" a few times, but that would've seemed kinda wierd to all involved, including me. I flipped to the funny papers in Datebook and finished my breakfast. Homeboy stopped crying enough to eat his breakfast, but looked pretty dejected when I left.
Four stars for the entertainment and the corned beef.
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Not a bad breakfast place, but for equivalent breakfast food, but at cheaper prices, you might as well go to Art's Cafe right around the corner. $3.25 buys you 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 sausage/bacon at Art's. Same thing at Howard's costs $5.25 I believe.
Service the day I was there wasn't so hot. The waitress was friends with the 2 guys at the next table, so she gave them a whole pitcher of water. She never came by to fill my water glass. I resorted to asking the guys at the next table to fill my glass with their pitcher.
Howards has been here forever - great food and famous for their breakfats. No suprise that it's often crowded, especially on the weekends
Howard's Cafe is pretty good place to grab a bite to eat in the 9th / Irving area. There are many restaurants in the area to compete with, so the 5 stars go to these attributes:
Bang for the Buck. Simply put, it is hard to find other diners in the area that will serve tasty food at this price. They have cool horseshoe counter seating in the area. This is much more comfortable than sitting in line seating staring at the wall. The wait staff is great, attentive and cooler than the wait staff at neighboring diners. It is mellow and never ostentatious.
Besides breakfast, they actually have a great Dinner menu. I had their salmon fillet one evening after work. The price was good, and tasted great - where else can you find this dish with out waiting in line and paying more than you should. Yes, it may not being the trendiest place in the area - but if your goal is to get a great bite to eat, and not work on your Zoolander poses, then this is the pace to go.
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Well my opinion may be a little bias, being that HOWARD, is my Grandpa. Howard Johnson originally opened it up as a soda shop back in the fifties, my mom, and all my aunts and uncles basically lived there. To me its my little piece of San Francisco. I love the food, and the atmosphere. Yeah the decor is a little old and the pictures that line the walls are old too (my picture is from when i was 13 and I'm 27 now!!) But the food is great, its just like how my grandpa made it back in the day! I can still remember as a little girl sitting in the back playing with dough trying to stay out of the way.
Its great breakfast, and great lunch, and don't forget to try the pies!! It was started with my grandpa's love for cooking, he put his heart and soul into Howard's Cafe. I miss him dearly, so anytime I start to forget I can just go into Howard's and be reminded of what a great guy he truly was!
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