Chile Pie x2

Pie. Ice Cream. Hand Pies. Sweet, savory, Chile Pies (and Ice Cream) has it all! You can visit them at their NOPA locations, or hop over to their Green Chile Kitchenette. Both are easy to get to by public transportation and also have street parking available (perhaps not ample, but if you have to lot lizard around a bit you can just meditate on your reward of pie a la mode).

Tea Time visited their NOPA location first. It's a medium sized resto with an ice cream counter (Three Twins, Yo), plus a great pie station as well. Tea Time was hungry, so we got lunch before dessert. It's a nice bonus that Chile Pie serves savory pies as well as traditional fruit pies, cream pies and nut pies. (Oh, don't forget the Frito Pie!) We settled upon a hand pie with side salad. This meal was filling even though we shared a plate. We really enjoyed the salad, it was a a great counterpoint to the hot pie.

Chicken hand pie and Beet salad on kale  with a yummy biscuit.

Hand pie cross section.

Pies, glorious pies! Whole to-go or by the slice.

Tea Time had spied on all the pies prior to ordering, and we settled on a winning combo. We'd eat this duo again and again.

Berry Pie with 3 Twins Chocolate Ice Cream-FTW!

The Green Chille Kitchenette was calling our name to check it out too. So after a little bit of wandering the Castro J.K. and I were ready to eat! The kitchen-ette is a place to get a quick bite, with fewer tables and less space. However, they still had plenty of pie. We let our stomachs do the ordering and ended up with leftovers! Our cup of savory sausage soup came with a biscuit and side salad, plus a shot of sour cream to tame the minor heat in the soup. We also got a full order of the beet and kale salad (which was just as tasty here as at the first resto). Finally we ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich with slaw. (J.K. took home half a sammie and lots of salad-it was a large serving!)

Cup of soup with side salad and yum-o biscuit

So nice we had it twice!

Pulled pork sammie with slaw-fritos on the side

This peanut butter pie with a chocolate cookie crust was very tempting...so we gave in. Of course we got it a la mode, can't resist those Twins! If you love peanut butter, this is the pie for you. J.K. and decided we prefer the berry with the chocolate ice cream, but that's just our taste buds talking.

Peanut Butter pie with Three Twins Chocolate ice cream

Even though the holiday rush is over, you may still find an occasion for pie. If you don't have the time/inclination to bake, head on over to the Chile Pies nearest to you (or just give them a call!) and grab what strikes your fancy. Don't forget to get some scoops to go on the side. Ice Cream is this years hottest accessory for baked goods.

Anchor Oyster Bar

Today the hardy Tea Time Adventurers decided to brave the misty weather and visit the Castro. We were hungry, but none of the many restaurants seemed quite right, until we reached Anchor Oyster Bar. There wasn't a menu in the window, so we went to the Internet. After Anchor's site started to load very slowly on J.K.'s phone, we checked Yelp, which gave Anchor two dollar signs and a bunch of rave reviews. So we decided to splurge, and we're very glad we did.

The space is tiny, but it comes across as cozy, and the staff let us take a four-top, even though we got there just before the lunch rush. That gave us space to stash J.K.'s giant tote bag and Angela's backpack and bike helmet. There's a printed menu, but we didn't get any further than the specials board above the bar.

We started with oysters. Today's selection was Kusshi, BeauSoleil and St. Simone. We couldn't decide, so we ordered two of each.

Happy little oysters. And happy Adventurers!

We couldn't resist the crab "burger," a large pile of crab meat on an excellent roll. (Maybe we should blame imotiv and Scoma that we've got crab on the brain.) The staff at Anchor were nice enough to put the house made tartar sauce on the side so Angela could hoard it all.

This sandwich was definitely ready for its close-up.

The burger came with a bowl of clam chowder, which the staff split for us into two bowls. This special was a great choice, giving us the chance to try a little bit of everything in the Anchor seafood world.

You don't have to worry about running out of oyster crackers!

We needed a salad to go with all this seafood, so we chose the dinner salad with shrimp from the menu. The olives were Giant. Angela hasn't had olives like that in a long time, in fact she should ask where they come from next time we stop in for an oyster fix.

Fresh lettuce, Giant olives, perfectly ripe tomatoes and plenty of shrimp.

Altogether a delightful experience. The staff was attentive, pleasant and caring, and the food was delicious. The bill was a shock, but only because it was Less than we had anticipated after deciding we should splurge. Check out this gem to enjoy their generous portions and reasonable prices! Tea Time managed to hit it when there wasn't a line, so we suggest a weekday lunch unless you want to make plans to people watch in the Castro before you eat.  (Which could be an adventure in itself!) There's a long, padded bench in front for the wait line, so your people-watching will be very comfortable. If the weather cooperates, that is.