Restaurant Review: Muddy's Coffee House in San Francisco, California

Muddy's Coffee House
1304 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA
# 415-647-7994

* Eat-in or take-out
* Cash only
* Very limited parking on street
* A short walk from the 24th and Mission BART station

Muddy's Coffee House, on Valencia Street near the heart of San Francisco's Mission district, is what I picture coffee houses in Seattle being like during the major coffee boom there. With the exception of the free Wi-Fi. And maybe not the tabletop Ms. Pac-Man either. But otherwise, pretty much what I've always pictured - very no frills with a wooden floor, wooden chairs and tables, board games, baristas who are required to have tattoos and piercings and project an attitude of being far too Hip to serve the likes of you, alternative music playing that has been pre-screened and approved by the Feminist Vegan Overlords, and strong black coffee. Is this what it was really like during the Seattle coffee craze? I dunno, but I suspect so.

The house coffee here is very dark and very strong. I didn't think it tasted particularly good, but it wasn't particularly bad either, and it certainly serves to wake one up and give them that jittery energy that often leads to later nausea and post-crash napping. They have some latte and espresso things, but the menu is surprisingly spartan for a coffee house in this area. There isn't much in the way of blended coffees (I think mocha is about as far as they go) and not a fruit smoothie in sight.

Basically, you want to just stick to coffee here. Plain and simple. Everything else on the menu is vastly and unabashedly overpriced, from the bottled juices to the very limited selection of pastries and bagels.