Louis E. Madison

A short biography

Louis Madison is a practicing economist who has been reviewing San Francisco restaurants since 1982, when his first edition of San Francisco on a Shoestring appeared on the market. The last edition (10th) is still in bookstores.

Madison has also appeared a number of times on the KGO restaurant talk-show of Russ Riera, and has written columns regularly on Affordable Dining for The Independent newspaper.

Before coming to San Francisco in 1979, Madison lived in Egypt and five European countries for a number of years, and has traveled in, and savored the cuisines of, many other countries, notably the Far East, Japan, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Louis Madison wrote a bimonthly column of San Francisco restaurant reviews for iNeTours.com from September of 2001 through December of 2005.

A key to my reviews

I do not, as do reviewers for newspapers and weeklies, describe each dish that I eat, and point out the tiny pluses or minuses, e.g., too much or too little of a given spice, too hot or too cold etc. Nor do I review restaurants that I consider of poor quality, pricey, or unkempt. I limit myself to those restaurants where I judge the food to be of good or excellent quality, and affordable or very-affordable.

A good case in point is Clementine. The top chef is one of the very best in the City, so how could I presume to second-guess him on a certain spice, or nit-pick any of his dishes? Some dishes may turn out a little better than others on certain days, or less good than others, but overall the result will probably be excellent.

I have talked with some of the top chefs in the City, and they agree fully with this approach. In any case, I thought my readers deserve to know.

Affordable Dining in San Francisco–A Primer

A lunch consisting of soup, a generous entree over rice (choice of meat or shrimp), and tea, for $4.00?

A 5-course meal in an elegant French restaurant $11.50?

A Japanese 3-course dinner for $7.95?

A 1/2-lb flame-broiled hamburger, U.S.D.A. choice beef, with bountiful salad-bar topping $4.00?

Believe it or not, these and many others like them are available in San Francisco—if you know where to go.

The question a first-time visitor to San Francisco most often asks is, “Where can I find a good restaurant?” Nowadays, the next question is, “Is it affordable?”

“Affordable” is a relative concept. A dinner for $20-30 might seem very affordable to some, but expensive for many, especially for foreign visitors, since the dollar is very high.

Can one find restaurants in San Francisco that are “affordable” for persons with low or moderate incomes, which characterize the bulk of the people? As shown above, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”

It must be emphasized that in choosing a restaurant the first criterion is quality. One does not have to sacrifice quality for price. Many low—and moderately—priced restaurants have award-winning cooks, often with 10–20 years or more of cooking experience. Conversely, one can pay a lot of money and get a poor meal.

San Francisco is the culinary capitol of the U.S. It has approximately 3,500 restaurants, more than any other city in the U.S. on a per-capita basis. Since the City’s population is multi-racial, the restaurants follow the same pattern, e.g., Argentinean, Brazilian, Cambodian, French, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Moroccan, Philippine, Russian, Salvadoran, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, and, many more.

In addition, there are a large number of pizzerias, and restaurants specializing in vegetarian, hamburgers, sushi, fish and chips, pub food, sandwiches etc. All of these, in addition to the many fast-food burger and chicken places.

Is it any wonder that a tourist coming to The City for the first time is bewildered when it comes to making a choice of where to eat? Of course, native San Franciscans often have the same problem.

The reality is that of the over 3,000 restaurants in San Francisco, one can eat well for $10 or less – for an entree and appetizer or dessert (often, including tea) – in over 2,000 of them.

Hundreds of restaurants offer lunches of soup and entree, often with tea (Chinese) for $3.95–5.95. Dinners in the same restaurants are $5–8 for a large entree, and $3.95–5.95 for appetizer. A good meal for two-four persons would be one large soup (enough for 4) or appetizer, and one dish per person, or less than $10 per person.

In addition to these ethnic restaurants, there are numerous pizzerias, taquerias, cafeterias, creperies, Mid-Eastern, Latin-American, and American-style restaurants where one can eat for less than $10.

Most readers will love the restaurants in the above groups. However, many can also afford more than $10 for a meal, say, up to $15. (That would still make it close to $20 when one adds 8 1/4% tax and 15% gratuity).

Also, many who are normally on a tight budget will stretch it for a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary. I believe there are at least 500 restaurants in the City in this category. Many quote the entree “with soup or salad”.

Finally, there are restaurants with entrees above $15, say, up to $25, for that special occasion. Even these can be sorted out as “affordable”. Read further for ways to trim these costs.

One key for finding good "deals" is to take advantage of special offers, such as prix-fixe meals, early dinners, and use of discount dining cards. Here are some examples:

Early dinner. A good example is Caesar's (Italian), corner Bay & Powell Sts (tel. 989-6000), 4:30-6:30pm,$10.50 — consisting of soup or salad, choice of entree (e.g., roast chicken, grilled pork chop, pot roast, catch of day), and coffee. Same dinner as Senior Special on Sunday, 1:30–3:30pm, $9.25.

Prix fixe dinner. Baker St. Bistro (French), 2953 Baker St (near Lombard), 931-1475. $14.50, consists of soup, spring-mix salad, entree (e.g., leg of lamb), dessert (e.g., creme caramel).

Premier Dining Card, which has many 2 for 1s and other discounts, costs $34 a year, and offers a free 3-month trial. Call 1-800-346-3241, and ask for the San Francisco edition.

The Diners Out Club, 931-8471 has many 2 for 1 deals, and is $38.50 per year.

Visa Preferred Travel Card can be obtained free from the San Francisco Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (tel. 1-888-345-3467). It gives 20% off, or other discounts, when it is used in a large number of restaurants.

Finally, one can find restaurant ads in the S.F. Bay Guardian and the S.F. Weekly for restaurants that offer discounts or 2–for-1s. These two papers are distributed free all over the City every Wednesday.