Restaurant Review : the Olympic Flame Cafe in San Francisco, CA

Olympic Flame Cafe
555 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA
# 415-885-0984

* Eat-in only
* Cash, credit, debit
* Very limited parking on the street
* Close to Union Square hotels, #38 bus line
* Good for families

Another day, another diner. Olympic Flame is located in the skirmish area between the Tenderloin and Nob Hill, just about where the higher-end hotels and clubs start to form a perimeter wall against the wheelings and dealings of the illicit drug / street person community that creep up the avenues of Turk, Taylor and Jones. Catering mainly to tourists and other passers-through staying at the many nearby lodgings, the place is a cut above the average Tenderloin diner in both cleanliness and spaciousness.

Breakfast is on order all day, and is the speciality of the place, but they also have some lunch and dinner items. Regardless of what you order, come prepared to pay about $10 per head before tip. The prices are high for diner food by general standards, but just about average by good old expensive San Francisco standards. Considering it's in a highly touristy area, it could be a lot worse, I suppose. Anyway, no complaints about the food and the service always seems to be friendly. Breakfast consists of the usual range of diner fare - the pancakes are particularly decent here, and the omelettes are considered a feature of the house. There's a few rotating lunch specials which are posted on the front door and window, but for the most part the lunch and dinner menus consist of sandwiches, soup, salad, burgers and the requisite New York steak that no one ever orders because it's like $15. Sides and beverages are the standard fare, at fairly reasonable prices. Don't expect tremendous range, but if you are looking for a diner you are probably looking for either hearty breakfast or a good burger, and this place delivers on both those counts.