Balompie Cafe

This location is closed. There’s a sign on the door saying that it closed on 2÷28÷2009 and to try their other two locations.

closed!!! wtf?

Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten in here. Maybe I should have just taken the food to go. I work just across the street after all. I would have enjoyed the food more, and I wouldn’t have left the restaurant muttering the words, «Damn Gnats!»
The Balompie Café has quite a menu specializing in Salvadorean food but also featuring sandwiches, pastas, burgers, salads and daily specials. There were about seven specials when I visited on Friday afternoon. I selected the Grilled Salmon with Rice and Salad, and I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi from one of several refrigerated cases at the front of the restaurant. You order at the cash register at the front of the restaurant just like the sign tells you to (
) then you grab a seat and wait.
In addition to bringing you a set of utensils, a server will bring you a big basket of tortilla chips and a dish of salsa (
). The chips were crispy and tasted fresh, but the crisp didn’t go all the way through the entire chip. There was a bit of chewiness involved as if the basket of chips had sat out too long. The fresh tomato, onion and cilantro salsa was a bit runny but tasted okay.
It took quite some time before the hot food arrived on the table, but once it did it looked pretty nice (
). Along with the salmon platter came two fresh and hot pupusas on a separate plate.
The salmon was very good. I would have preferred a bit of crispiness to the edges of the fish, but it was flaky and juicy and very well seasoned. The salad was fresh and crunchy mixed greens, sprinkled with some chopped tomato and dressed in what tasted like a house version of creamy thousand island dressing. The rice was nice and soft seasoned lightly with bits of carrot and soft white onion. The plain pupusas were hot and doughy. I wish there was something I could have dipped it in though because by itself it just tasted bland. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway as I never really got a chance to eat the pupusas.
About the same time that my salmon platter arrived a nest of pesky gnats began attacking my food. That’s right, I’m talking about the little miniature fly-​like insects that are a nuisance more than anything else. I must have killed about four of them just on the table surface, but the more I eliminated the more returned. Buzzing in my face, landing on my arm and eventually committing suicide on top of the hot pupusa plate. I managed to finish most of my lunch and just got the heck out of there. The server stood and watched as I waved off and smashed the gnats throughout my meal but didn’t react. Maybe eating with gnats is normal for her, but Balompie is losing a star on this visit. Damn Gnats!

If you’re around the Hall of Justice area and need an of inexpensive and tasty lunch, this place is highly recommended. The pupusas are yummy and probably really bad for you, but I can’t quit them! I love the plantains especially when it’s really caramelized. It’s rarely ever busy which is good, but the service can still be a little slow if you’re dining in. They only have one waitperson on staff.
Even though I’m no longer in the San Francisco area, I would go out of my way to have breakfast or lunch here.

This place does not compare to the 18^th st location. Some coworkers and I went and walked in and were like ‘Where R We?’ It’s like a cafeteria or taqueria where you place your order at the register and proceed to wait and wait for your food. The menu had a bunch of traditional items but they also had pasta and salads, who’d a thunk at a Salvadorean restaurant? The pupusas were good but the fried yucca was not. They were skimpy on napkins and had an old dirty water jug to serve your own water. I don’t know this place was weird and located in a weird area. Public transportation is not convenient and a taxi ride from the FiDi was ridiculous. You’re better off taking BART to 16^th and walking to the other one, even with the crack heads and all.

Well, I am giving four stars because the waiter was friendly and the food was good. The stuffed arepa, yuca frita, and their version of «pico de gallo» are SO GOOD! Love the beef… it was very tender. But, my meal didn’t come with rice and beans. which was a bummer for me. Anyway, this place is missing a star due to the business hour. They only open M-​F until 3 pm! So, it has very limited on when you can come and enjoy the food unless you work or live around the area. Even their place in Mission has the same business hour. They need to open for dinner for more people to come and enjoy their delicious food! But, if you are in the area for lunch, give it a try!

The pupusa lunch combo was the perfect amount of food. The shrimp and cheese pupusa I had was great and the beef one was still good. The staff is friendly and helpful. I also really enjoyed the fresh pineapple juice and plantains (not on the menu).

I like them pupusas… www​.youtube​.com/​w​a​t​c​h​?​v​=​F​q​l​w​QAvDC₈&feature=related
So here’s the Salvadorean skinny… it’s pretty good. It’s also a much bigger place than the front door would indicate as it stretches back to Gilbert Street with three separate dining areas. I would think this place would be popular with the throngs doing jury duty across the street. But there was barely anyone there today for lunch.
That’s too bad because they have quite an extensive menu of sandwiches, salads, and pastas along with the Salvadorean breakfasts and hot plates they offer. I tried the $ 8.95 Carne Guisada (see photo), which was a hearty beef stew with refried beans and rice. It was good and goopy, which is fine since it came with two plain pupusas to sop up all the sauce. For all that, I have to admit the fresh chips, hot from the fryer, and the freshly diced salsa (see photo) was filling me up before my entrée came.
There isn’t much in terms of atmosphere, a few burlap bags they hang on the wall as decoration. The service is genuine, so do come if you’re in the ‘hood during a weekday. They could use the business.
FOOD — 4 stars… hearty Salvadorean food but only open on weekdays for breakfast and lunch
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… not much but it’s a big space
SERVICE — 4 stars… friendly and quiet
TOTAL — 4 stars… a pupusa in the hand is worth two in the bush… I don’t know what that means

pupusa lunch combo (two pupuas, rice and beans, some lettuce cole slaw with too much italian-​esque herbs) for 6.50. Not bad for SOMA.
They have a bunch of bistec and pollo options. They even have what seems like the typical american fare. Eggs, and french toast and such for breakfast, and burgers and such for lunch.
The pupuas themselves werent exceptional, they were nice and greasy though. I prefer my pupusas cooled down, not steamy hot and greasy and they were great for dinner. For some reason I was taken away by their frijoles more than the rest of my 6.50 combo.
I must try their fried chicken, burgers, pasta and such.
4 stars for adding variety to my lunch time endeavors at a reasonable cost.
edit* oops this is for the SOMA one, elite Unilocalers how do i fix this?

Four stars for this being the first time ever that the waitress (the fantastic Evelyn) wrote down in Spanish «egg whites» on the order ticket to make sure the cooks made my dish correctly. That was awesome, and while the chicken tamale and refried beans were a bit heavy for my usual Fri breakfast, it was delicious. And the eggs were indeed white.

If you’re gonna get sent off to prison for 25 to life, I heartily recommend doing it with a belly full of fried plantains!
OK, so here’s the scenario: You’re on trial at the Hall of Justice for that time you got drunk, and then tried to convince people you were a chicken. Remember that? Yeah, it wasn’t one of your SMARTEST ideas. Everyone KNEW you weren’t a chicken, especially that police officer you tried to peck on the leg. The trial was going alright, until you got flustered on the witness stand and started clucking. The DA says that you’re a menace and wants to put you away for a long time. The judge calls lunch. This may be your last meal. Where do you go? What’s near the courthouse?
Let’s see… there’s McDonald’s? No. Taco Del Mar? No! Quizno’s? No. Taqueria Luna? Good, but too heavy to make it through the rest of the day, plus they’ve always got Law & Order reruns showing, and you don’t want that kind of reminder when you’re on trial yourself. Deli DeLeon? No, cold sandwiches and nowhere to sit isn’t the right way to eat a last meal. Caffe Roma? Too expensive!
But what about Balompie? It’s authentic El Salvadorian food, served in «just right» amounts, with eggs, sour cream, beans, pupusa, your very own «cube» of goat cheese, and most importantly with every order, you get fried plantains.
Also, Balompie is CRAZY inexpensive, never crowded, there’s lots of seating, and in case you missed it, they have pupusas! (They also make their own iced tea.)
Balompie may be your last meal on the outside, but if it is… it sure is a good one!