Four grade school friends, reuniting for a Friday night out in San Francisco ….four grandmothers (except one -- I don't have kids, just dogs) who just want to eat, drink and be merry. No, we didn't make reservations. On a Friday night. Is it possible to find a place downtown?
Apparently, it is
We decided to meet on the corner of Broadway and Columbus in San Francisco to eat at the New Sun Hong Kong Restaurant. This was a sentimental favorite since this was the favorite Chinese restaurant of the late father of one of the women. Fortunately, there’s reason why it was a favorite: the food is pretty darned good. Except we weren’t too fond of their version of calamari. We should have known better than to even ask for it. But everything else we bought was scrumptious. Fortunately, they did serve wine – choose between the house white or the house red. Not complaining. At least they served wine!
From China to Italy
After a dinner of fine food. mediocre wine and non-stop laughter, we walked up the street on Broadway towards Little italy in search of dessert and after dinner drinks. We passed by the Stinking Rose...and decided to keep walking. To the uninitiated, the Stinking Rose is famous for its dishes, ALL of them laden with garlic.
The first Italian restraurant we tried to get into wouldn’t seat us when they found out all we wanted was dessert. Their loss.
Mona Lisa, how we love you!
Then we came upon a restaurant with outdoor seating (and overhead heaters) at the Mona Lisa.
As luck would have it, there were seats available and they welcomed us with open arms.
We had a blast. We had three desserts and a generous helping of picture taking when we saw this insanely beautiful vintage car --- a 4-seater convertible that at first we thought was a Mini Cooper, but turned out to be a Fiat, circa 1960, with wood seats and wood trim. The owner had parked the car in front of the restaurant, and appropriately enough, it had the Mona Lisa on the hood. It was the natural draw as hordes of people had their pictures taken with the car.
Yes, we can!
Yes, it’s possible for four senior citizens to roam the streets of San Francisco, go out on a Friday night, find decent restaurants and be accommodated without making reservations.
It was a lovely evening. We talked about our days at Malate Catholic School in the Philippines, what paths we took since then, the life we led, and the lives we live now.
Our bottom line? Life is good!
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