If you’ve ever winced at the suggestion of Chipotle to fulfill a burrito craving, been laughed at for thinking it’s normal to wait hours for artisanal ice cream or felt taken advantage of whenever a Rice-A-Roni commercial airs, this list is for you -- and every San Franciscan who’s left these “49-square miles surrounded by reality” only to find that the rest of the world is a scary place where “Sushirrito” is a foreign word and people assume you eat every meal out of a bread bowl. Behold, our list of the 21 food things only San Franciscans could possibly understand.
1
Childhood tastes like an It’s-It ice cream sandwich.
2
Followed up by a pleasantly stale brick of pink popcorn.
Cranky Old Mission Guy via Flickr
3
It’s totally acceptable to wait in an hours-long line for Burmese food.
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4
Or wait an entire day for a scoop from Bi-Rite, no matter how foggy it is.
5
Baked goods purchased in Dolores Park are to be consumed at your own risk.
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7
Irish coffee from the Buena Vista is your favorite combination of booze and caffeine.
WikiMedia:
8
You have a love-hate relationship with Fernet.
9
The Tamale Lady is the best purveyor of drunchies.
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11
When you’re down and out, free samples at a farmers market make a fine breakfast.
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14
Subway doesn’t serve five-dollar-footlongs here, because the cost of operating in the city is too damn high.
15
There’s only one way to satisfy your sweet tooth in the Castro.
Danielle Chang via Flickr
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16
There are sandwiches, and then there’s Ike’s.
Eating Ike's via Flickr
17
You never realized how superior San Francisco sourdough was until you tried imitations somewhere else.
18
You don’t have anything against clam chowder in a bread bowl, but you might describe it as “a little bit Pier 39.”
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19
Rice-A-Roni is not “The San Francisco Treat.”
20
The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco, not China.
21
No Giants game is complete without garlic fries.
Wally Gobetz via Flickr
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Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Burmese food as South Asian. It is Southeast Asian.