When I sat down with il gato for this week’s cover story, I also grilled the band about their favorite local eateries. And they had some pretty serious opinions on the matter. Below is a transcript of our food-loving conversation:
San Francisco Bay Guardian: So where do you like to eat in San Francisco?
Johnny Major: Little Chihuahua, have you ever been there? I’m an absolute addict. It’s the perfect food. Garlic shrimp burritos! And they have amazing carnitas burritos. I go there all the time. And Lower Haight has got some great spots like Memphis Minnies. It’s great Southern barbecue. Where do you go and get some real Southern barbecue here? Those are my two favorite restaurants.
Daimian Holiday Scott: I was raised vegetarian so initially coming out here and, which I’m still super into, I’ve never had the experience of eating lots of different types of meat, so getting like, veggie chili cheese fries or there’s [Golden Era] that has fake fried chicken sticks that have a bamboo dowel.
SFBG: Are you still vegetarian?
DHS: Still vegetarian. Yeah.
JM: From birth! Never had a piece of meat.
DHS: [Laughs] That’s John’s favorite line! It’s not true.
JM: I mean a real piece of meat. You ever had a steak?
DHS: No, I don’t know if I have really.
JM: There you go.
DHS: I lived in Berkeley a couple of years, and Berkeley is still one of the top food spots. And I love Little Star and that rosemary cornmeal crust. I [also] like pickled things so I pickle a lot – cured olives and sauerkraut.
Andrew Thomas: I grew up in Texas, so I’ve had plenty of steak [laughs]. I’ve dabbled in all types. I’ve been a pescetarian, I’ve been a vegan, I’ve tried it all and I’m pretty much back to eating meat. I live in Oakland so I’ve got lots of favorites in Oakland. But I lived in San Francisco for a year and one of my favorites is House on Nanking in Chinatown. And in general, moving up here – and my girlfriend is part of it too, she’s a big cook and into farmers’ markets – I’ve learned infinitely more about cooking and vegetables in general. And I have to say, my token place was Kennedy’s [Irish Pub and Curry House]. It’s pretty much an Irish bar meets and Indian place.
DHS: Indian pizza is one of my favorite things about living in San Francisco. Zantes is better but there used to be Raja in Lower Haight. I actually went to a [different] place that said they had Indian pizza – [it was] a cheese slice with garlic, spinach, and then some like, jarred Indian sauce on it. I was like, “what are you doing? How dare you?!” [laughs].
I walked home last night after Johnny’s [solo] show, and I got homemade apple pie with fresh whipped cream off a vender on Valencia. That’s tied into the city being one of the top two or three food cities in the world, which is so true and we’re so spoiled.