LOCALS: Mark on San Francisco

It’s time for the second edition of LOCALS! In case you missed the first interview, once or twice a month I will spotlight a different travel blogger, and quiz them on their hometowns. After 10 questions, hopefully you’ll feel like a local too!

Meet Mark Mendiola Guerra – a travel writer who’s focused on Mexico, and shares his passion at Mexico Unmasked. Originally from Texas, Mark has been residing in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997. When he isn’t focused on travel writing or exploring San Francisco, you can find him doing some acting as well. Now, on to Mark’s answers!

1. First and most important question of all – which restaurant in SanFrancisco has the most authentic Mexican food?

Wow, this is a very difficult question to answer because there are so many regional dishes in Mexico and San Francisco offers a wide range of eateries offering foods from all parts. For me, being a HUGE fan of Yucatecan food, I’ve found this place called Poc Chuc on 16th Street near South Van Ness to be really good. The owners are from the Yucatan and prepare some tasty and very “authentic” dishes in my opinion. My personal favorite is the dish the restaurant is named after: Poc Chuc. It’s this really flavorful pork that’s marinated in sour oranges then grilled…dang, some yummy stuff there!!

2. What is your favorite weekend getaway from the city?

One of my favorite getaways from San Francisco is Bodega Bay along the Sonoma Coast about 70 miles north of here. It was made famous by Alfred Hitchcock when he filmed part of his film, “The Birds” there in the 60’s. I love it because I’m such a water person and I’m always looking for secluded spots with the sound of the ocean nearby. Plus, it’s a beautiful country drive that helps me decompress and escape the city for a while. It helps too, that there’s a place at the pier that sells some really good fried fish and calamari. It’s this little hole-in-the-wall, but it totally makes the trip complete for me…haven’t been there in a while, so I hope it’s still there! Sure would be sad if it’s not!

3. Which San Franciscan neighborhood do you like the best?

This has to be the district I live in now and have for several years, the Outer Richmond! I live near Clement Street and just really enjoy being able to walk to restaurants and catch public transportation into the City whenever I have to. It has this great vibe to it that is so different from other parts of San Francisco. Because I sometimes hear the foghorn at night, it totally smacks me and lets me know that I live in the best US city…I just love it!

4. It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in the city – where can we find you?

At the nearest bar of course…Ha! Ha! Just kidding! Because the district I live in is in the “fog belt”, we don’t see a whole lot of sun, so if I need my fix of vitamin D, I sometimes head over to Dolores Park and take a good book with me. Afterwards, I’ll head to El Farolito, a taqueria in the Mission District for some “vitamin T”…tacos, tortillas, tortas…etc. LOL

View from Dolores Park

5. What is your favorite local festival or tradition?

Fleet Week…hands down! It’s just an incredible sight to the see the Navy’s Blue Angels skirt the bay waters with such grace and precision. How they maneuver those beautiful machines through tight spaces is beyond me, but it totally makes for a great way for me to spend an early October weekend!

6. Say you have guests in town who have never been to San Francisco -
where do you take them first?

I don’t take them anywhere! I lie and tell them I’ll be out-of-town so they won’t bug me!! OK, ok, I’ll get serious! Well, I make it a point to skip all the usual tourist spots and take them to my neighborhood in the outer Richmond. But, on the way there, from the airport usually, I like to take the back way home and drive by the Great Highway, passing up the Cliff House and then going by the Legion of Honor Museum and snaking my way through Sea Cliff, Robin Williams’ old neighborhood (not sure if he still lives there after the big divorce). These are some of the best views of the coast and you also get to see the GG Bridge from a different angle. Yes, THIS is why I live in San Francisco!!

7. What is your favorite museum, local artist or public art piece in the
city?

This relates to #6 above. I just love the Legion of Honor museum in the Outer Richmond near my home. The views are stunning and it’s really cool to be greeted by a sculpture of Rodin’s “The Thinker” on your way in to the facility. Unfortunately I don’t visit as often as I should, but one of the best exhibits I recall seeing was “Picasso: During the War Years” in the late 90’s.

8. Beer. Cocktails. Shots. Who serves the best drinks in the city?

BEER! I’m a beer drinker and living in the Bay Area is such a treat because there are so many great places. When I first moved here, I used to go by this place in SOMA (south of Market) called “Twenty Tank”…it’s no longer there and I was really sad to see it go. I remember this one brew they had which was real hoppy (the more, the better for me!) and they touted it as having “a steak in a glass” because it was so thick. Well, being a transplanted Texan with a major carnivorous bent you have to know that this was just the “protein fix” I was looking for..ha! ha! Can you say HEAVEN? Nowadays, I really like Dalva, this divey, dark bar on 16th Street near Valencia. They don’t do home brews, but they have a pretty wide selection of tap and bottle…can’t really go wrong there!

9. What is your absolute favorite restaurant in San Francisco?

I have a couple of favorites! For Chinese, I love going to Henry’s Hunan off New Montgomery near The Academy of Art. I’ve been going there ever since I moved to San Francisco in 1997. Their food is some of the best AND spiciest around. Give me some of their Kung Pao, chow mein and a cold Tsingtao beer and I’m happy! Another favorite of mine is El Farolito Taqueria in the Mission. They also have a location in South San Francisco which I frequent often. My favorite dish is their “cabeza” (head) tacos. These goodies are made of roasted beef cheek meat. It’s THE best and something I grew up eating back in Texas. It’s known as “barbacoa” in Texas, and the traditional way of making it (as inherited from the Spanish) was over coals in a pit in the ground for several hours. Ohhh, I miss Texas!

10. And for the finale – when you eventually move down to Mexico, and
leave San Francisco for good, what would you miss the most?

I’ll miss so many things when I do leave San Francisco, but the biggies will be the super creative vibe, the compactness of the city, the diversity of food and hearing that fog horn at night reminding me of “where” I’m at as I lay my head down for the night! I will visit her often tho!

A big thanks to Mark for taking part and sharing his inside knowledge of San Francisco!

If you’d like to experience San Francisco like Mark, check out these links:

• Eat Yucatecan food at Poc Chuc
• Enjoy European art at the Legion of Honor
• Relax at Dolores Park
• Get drinks at Dalva
• Visit during Fleet Week

Would you like to be featured on LOCALS?  I’m always on the search, so if you’re a travel blogger located in the California, I’d love to interview you!  Just send me an email: ashley “at” No-Onions-Extra-Pickles “dot” com.