July 27, 2007

Gaffey Street Diner

By now you know just how much of Food Network I watch. So it should be no surprise to you that we would find a new place to eat from watching one of the shows.

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was talking about breakfast and they landed in San Pedro. Boasting "Best home cooking in the harbor", Gaffey Street Diner really does home cooking. They make their own everything, nothing much coming out of a can, from salsa, green beans, home fries, and chorizo.

That's right, folks. Home made chorizo made fresh daily!

We drooled excessively during the section and being only a few bridges away, we finally went over to check it out.

And boy oh boy was it good!!

The Diner isn't hard to find but you can surely missed it if you're not paying attention. Coming off of the Vincent Thomas bridge, you take a left at Gaffey. Now, get over to your right. A few streets down, you'll spot their mural. Can't miss it if you're looking for it. Inside the diner is nothing spectacular. Just clean and spacious diner with vinyl seated booths. All locals in there, it looks like. A good sign, indeed!

Knowing about the fresh chorizo, Brandon and I both went for it. I ordered Gaffey Street Diner Special of chorizo and cheese omelet the size of Rhode Island topped with fresh guacamole with a side of home fries. Brandon got the breakfast burrito the size of my forearm stuffed with essentially what I ordered minus the guac.

Did I mention that the portions are huge? And it's cheap? They do charge $1.50 for split plate though. Rightfully so. I mean, the portions are HUGE!

The chorizo was flavorful. It has just enough spices to keep you eating. (And better yet, unlike chorizo at some other place, it didn't do a number on my stomach!) The best part? It didn't have a pool of grease anywhere.

The home fries was just out of this world good! Delicious enough on its own, I would have ordered the home fries with bacon and be done with it. I mean, the best home fries I had around this part of town. Tasty, crispy at parts and tender the rest. Throw a few dashes of Tapatio on top and off to the races we went.

Sure, we weren't very adventurous our first time out. Our mission was solely chorizo. But next time, we are going to try everything else that are recommended by DDD and some other internet sources.

Like Eggs Benedict. 2 poached eggs on home made biscuits with Hollandaise sauce and not the lame slices of Canadian bacon but a hefty chunk of ham steak. (See the picture on the Diner's website there, first one on the left? Yeah, that's it.) Speaking of biscuits, they also said that biscuits and gravy, made fresh at the Diner of course, are a meal in and of itself and are to die for. Their chicken fried steak I heard is also excellent and burgers tasty.

And then there is the John Wayne Special monstrosity: a tortilla topped with home fries, two eggs over medium and cheese covered with Spanish sauce and surrounded with sausage. DDD chat with the owner and revealed the story that the Duke came in from shooting a movie and after a rough night of boozin' and wanted something to clear up the aftermath. A special was born!

So, folks. Get on down the road on a Sunday morning, or any morning really since they open at 5 a.m., and head down to the Gaffey Street Diner. Be prepared to get stuffed.

Once we recovered from today's food coma, we'll get out there again. Guaranteed!

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