Fútbol Not So Central
7th Street location OUT OF BUSINESS — two other Balompié Café locations remain in operation.
Mackie and I lost our pupusa virginities at the now-defunct Our Place #3 on 7th Street. The joint had so many problems that I’m shocked that Our Place #1 did well enough to spawn Our Place #2, let alone a third incarnation, but the pupusas were rockin’.
Finally, service so slow that the Hall of Justice crowd couldn’t get their food before the end of their lunch hour did the joint in. But, like a phoenix rising from its ashes, another pupuseria took its place. It was – be still my beating heart – BALOMPIÉ!!!
Oh, I forgot to mention, the modest storefront in question is just around the corner from where Mackie and I call home. That’s why I was so excited.
The menu at this Balompié Café outpost is different than the mother ship in the Mission – narrower selection of Salvadorian specialties, more American-style breakfast and lunch dishes to satisfy the locals. Be sure to check out the specials handwritten on the white board, in addition to the printed menu.
The food, however, is every bit as good as that in fútbol central. I’ve tried the pupusas ($2.25 each, minimum order of two), lemon chicken ($7.95) and yucca ($8.75). All have satisfied me.
I was not so taken with the fried chicken ($7.95). It looked really good at the Mission location but I never ordered it there because it comes with soup that didn’t strike my fancy. It’s on the menu sans soup at the SoMa outpost so I gave it a whirl. Not so good. Dry, batter not consistently covering the bird. With so many other great things on the menu, I won’t be trying it again.
There’s a bit of pupusa inflation going on here – while all pupusas, except shrimp, are $1.60 in the Mish, here they’re all $2.25, including shrimp. I guess the SoMa crowd isn’t as cost-sensitive as folks in the Mission.
This is an order-at-the-counter, take-a-number-to-your-seat style place so service can be a bit spotty if you want refills on your chips (ask for some of the red pupusa sauce to dunk your chips — much better than the salsa served with them) or iced tea (excellent, by the way). The staff is every bit as friendly as the ones at the mother ship, which is a big plus. The décor is not so fútbol-centric – a desultory banner and ball but not the hardcore display of fandom shown in the Mission.
In a neighborhood where good lunch eats are hard to come by, Balompié
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