Restaurant Review: Oscar's Burger & Deli San Francisco, CA

Oscar's Burger & Deli
1850 Cesar Chavez
San Francisco, CA
415-206-9824

* Eat-in or take-out (limited seating)
* Cash or credit
* Limited metered parking on street

Oscar's Burger & Deli is an interesting little place that serves up deli sandwiches, American and Middle Eastern food. And it's all pretty decent. On Cesar Chavez in an industrial area full of warehouses and such, it's kind of out there unless you happen to be working in Bayshore or Potrero Hill, or maybe going to the Southeast Community College of San Francisco campus. If you're in the area for whatever reason, though, it's a pretty nice lunch spot in an area largely devoid of restaurants.

On the menu you will certainly find some burgers. A plain old single burger is 3.39, a double 3.99, and add mushroom or bacon for twenty cents more. They also have some specialty burgers - a California Burger and a Guacamole Burger at 4.59, or an Oscar Steak Sandwich for 5.99. For the veggies there's a Gardenburger at 3.59 and some grilled chicken breast sandwiches for around $5. They've also got a range of hot deli sandwiches with the usual meats at around $4-5 and cold sandwiches at $3-$4. You can snag a half pound of potato, macaroni, tuna or crab salad for $1.69. The prices are pretty good, but unfortunately they don't include fries with any of the burgers or meals - that's an extra $1.25, or $1.75 if you want curly fries.

They also have various Middle Eastern dishes such as felafel. Of note also is their hot dog, which is unique in the way they prepare it. They basically grill up a beef hot dog and make a mini sub sandwich of it, something comparable to a Subway 6-incher on a roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and mayo (you can probably sub ketchup for the mayo if so desired). At around 2 bucks it's worth checking out. There's also a large cooler of the usual beverages and they have coffee in the mornings.