Charles "Two-Buck-Chuck" L.'s Profile

This is my new favorite place to eat if I ever have time to make it out to Dogpatch.

Affordable, tasty, and great service for the value. This is comfort food at a great price (LESS THAN $15).

Corn muffins for bread. Serious business.

Mission's best kept secret, a seemingly dumpy Chinese joint right next to a Burger King right off 16th St. BART.

No, it's not Mission Chinese where progressive technique meets Chinese food. If you want something like that, just GO to Mission Chinese. Don't expect it here!

Yes, it's affordable ACCEPTABLE Chinese food that doesn't make you feel like shit or thirsty. Although, you can totally get that feeling by ordering all your favorites and classics: Sweet and Sour "Insert-Meat-Here", Mongolian "Insert-Meat-Here", Orange "Insert-Meat-Here", or General Tso's "Insert-Meat-Here".

They still have all your crowd pleasers.

Aside from that, here's what's good here if you want some tasty Chinese:

Hunan Crispy Chicken
Braised Garlic Eggplant
Hong Kong Crispy Noodles with anything
ANY Claypot dish
Dry-cooked String Beans

I've had my carbon steel wok for about a year now, and it's performed excellently. It's gotten a nice patina from all the cooking I've been doing and it's my go-to pan for most things.

I went with the smaller-sized wok as I have a standard range in my apartment. I don't have a fancy 6-fire stove or professional grade range.

If you have a standard 4-burner stove, get the 12 inch size so you can generate enough heat for your wok to stir-fry. It's all about that high heat! I got recommended the 14 inch wok but it would have definitely not fit on my stove nor generate enough constant heat due to its size.

Review is only for pizza.

When you have so many Neopolitan pizza choices now in San Francisco (not like that's a bad thing), you begin to notice the differences. Where does Zero Zero stand?

Here's how I would describe Zero Zero'z pizza:

-Clean
-Crispy
-Fresh
-Garlicy

So what's missing?

It's not especially... filling. Underwhelming. I know I know...Neopolitan pizzas are supposed to delicate and delicious. Well, it's definitely those two, but it's definitely lacking in the flavor department in some cases. There's just not enough of....everything. Underwhelming is the correct word.

I'd gladly choose Pizzeria Delfina (really good tomato sauce) or Tony's (really good cheese to sauce ratio) Zero-Zero, but if I'm downtown and want Neopolitan pizza? Zero Zero it is.

It's a nice place with a cool vibe and beautiful architecture.

At $1.50, it's a steal for a 2-taco lunch.

Al pastor is pretty spicy, but it's chopped up into too little pieces instead of being chunks. It's still pretty good, but I still prefer Vallarta. Lengua and carnitas are really good here and they don't skimp on the meat.

Burrito's are pretty good, but they use yellow cheese, probably some Mexican tri-blend. It tastes kinda weird though, definitely not queso or anything.

I tried a torta today and would not recommend it. I thought I was gonna get a torta sandwich, but instead I got everything stuffed inside a hot dog bun. While the filling was tasty, it was just weird having it in a hot dog bun.

Overall, I'd say go her for cheap lengua and carnitas tacos. When you any other sort of tacos, go to Vallarta. If you want a torta, go to La Torta Gorda. If you want a burrito, I'm a Cancun fan.

The Romana is the one of the best pizza's I've had. Ever had that problem when you could never decide what pizza toppings to get? The Romana has you covered. It's an enormous pizza split into 4 flavors with 6 slices of each flavor. I had Romana #2 (you can choose from 4 flavors) with 5 people, and we struggled to finish it. At $35 and feeding 5 comfortably, it's a good deal in my book.

We also tried the award-winning margherita as an appetizer because we just had to try it. It was excellent. Must-try if you are a "no-bullshit" pizza type of person.

I don't have much to comment on service as I went for lunch (right at noon when they opened). I'll probably continue to do so because when we left the lunch line was huge.

Call me a heathen! I've found a place I prefer over Taqueria Cancun and El Farolito. I only wish it wasn't so far from me. Seeing how I live half a block away from Cancun, it's hard to get away.

When you get to the taco stand, the meats are all bubbling and crisping away on a traditional comal (round griddle). You get em dirty: tortillas, meat, and some grilled onions. They are on a thin paper plate. Be careful because you can burn yourself! You can also help yourself to as much onions/cilantro, salsa (3 types), and radishes as you like.

I had the suadero, lengua, and buche. They were all extremely delicious and flavorful without being dry. I need to go back and have a burrito to confirm my suspicions that this is my choice for best burrito in Mission, but I'll report back soon.

For now, best tacos in the Mission for me!

Just had one of the most memorable dental appointments in my life at Dr. Terry's office. I wanted to find a dentist that was close by and reliable. I've found her!

First, I have to say that Dr. Terry's staff is very good at taking care of the patients before you even see Dr. Terry. The receptionist was very friendly, helpful, and spoke clearly. I was reminded of my appointment via email (!) and a call.

Cleaning was a breeze. They made sure I was having enough time to break to swallow or relax my gum, and they were very thorough. Nothing seemed rush.

When I finally met Dr. Terry, it was great because she's full of smiles and energy. She let me know that I had a minor cavity and showed me the xray to confirm that I had something that would be a problem later if left there. Scheduling the next appointment was also a breeze, and I got a nice care package of toothpaste and toothbrush after I left :).

I waited about a month to get this appointment, and it was worth it. If you're looking for a dentist, look no further.

After coming here regularly for the past few months and experiencing the different menu rotations, I really "get" the food here. Take someone like Danny Bowien:  trained in NY and then few stints all over SF (winning Pesto World Championships while he's at it), but now makes Chinese food.

You're gonna get some cool shit going on.

Mission Chinese combines what you think about Chinese food and plays with it. Let's take Mongolian Beef, and put a tender beef cheek into it instead. How about cumin lamb? Let's make that with lamb belly instead.

It makes sense in my mind because he's taking your Chinese flavors and playing around with the cuts of meat or introducing a different technique. A good example of this is the Ma Po Tofu. When you get it, it's Ma Po Tofu in a truly authentic form, but he steps it up by using ground Kurobuta pork shoulder. This isn't your weird goopy messy at a run-of-the-mill Chinese joint. This Ma Po Tofu tastes like what you get in China.

I went yesterday to try out his new dishes using a smoker for "Chinese BBQ". It's funny because he's pairing a Mexican coke/hoisin sauce bbq sauce with a Texas-style BBQ meal. The brisket tastes like a BBQ joint brisket with an Asian twang. You even get the slices of white bread like in Texan BBQ joints. It wasn't my favorite, but the Xian Lamb Cheeks and Pork Trotters were crazy good.

The Kung Pao Corned Beef was my favorite of the night, combining sliced potatoes, chinese celery, roasted peanuts, tossed in a spicy concoction with his house-made corned beef. It sounds weird. It tastes great.

I continually enjoy the food here, and I'm never bored of it.

Approaching 6 months with living across the street from Cancun. Time for an update! I've tried to try every meat option available, but I still cave in and get the same things. Augh. I really need some self control.

Here's my current personal ranking, but I'm just not a beef guy apparently:

Al Pastor
Carnitas
Chicken
Carne Asada (sorry maybe I just don't like them here?)

I should get tacos and just round up the tongue, beef head, and brains.