Lafayette Coffee Shop — Restaurant in San Francisco

This one of the last type of restaurant in the Tenderloin district. Today, Vietnamese food, sandwich shops and coffee places dominate the neighborhood.

The food served here is distinctively American food with large main dishes that are of the stick to your rib type affair and of average to better than average quality.

The soups tend to be on the salty side, the "salad" that comes with the complete dinner is lettuce with a tomato slice and gobs of thousand island dressing; oil and vinegar are available, but you have to ask when you order.

Value is the top priority here; veg consists of canned corn, peas or carrots, instant mashed potatoes + your main dish.

Large portions, honest ingredients, home style meals are reasonable to inexpensive make this a go to destination if you're in the area.

Once upon time, there were many such places in the neighborhood, but now, somehow, it has survived and is the last...

This place has the best fluffy pancakes in all of San Francisco. My friend and I both ordered the hot cakes with bacon and eggs. One side order of sausage and one side order of hash browns and a side order of toast for our eggs, which all three sides were plenty for us to share. A glass of o.j. each as well as a cup of coffee each and our bill came to $30 and some change. Everything came out fantastic but the pancakes soared above all the rest. Great place for a breakfast meal. Excellent service but keep in mind we went around 2pm there was only two other tables so we definitely caught them at a no busy time. I highly recommend to anyone who is looking to find a cheap...

I used to eat at the old location, on Hyde or Leavenworth, from '94-'05. I LOVE their omelettes and bread pudding. I was surprised to see they'd moved and I'll definitely miss the old location which once had a peace emanating Buddhist temple across the street. But was I ever so happy to see May, who's been here ever since then! I love that woman!!! And the other big surprise - the prices are still the same as back then!

I will always swing through Lafayette Coffee Shop when visiting SF for good old fashioned breakfasts. So much of what I loved of the City is gone, but not here. Thanks May and family for keeping some of the history of the SF I...