It’s my annual week of staying in The Mission District of San Francisco, California.
My brain wanted to head over to Mission Chinese for lunch but I wanted to make a stop at The Scarlet Sage first. It’s a nice little herb and crystal shop that sells things like incense, tarot cards, and herbal medicines, on Valencia Street where I like to pick up a souvenir or two of my annual stay in The Mission every August. Sometimes a crystal, sometimes a bar of soap.
As I was walking down the street, I passed this new place – MIXT – that took over the storefront, at 901 Valencia, that used to house the infamous La Rondalla. The last time I had been in this place, I was sitting at the bar with my friend B. and a couple of the guys from Stumbleupon having beers in the middle of the afternoon. Today, I almost didn’t want to go in, but I did.
The inside is now white and sterile and clean and well lit, and everything it never was before, and my brain was still yelling Mission Chinese, which is also situated in an old funky hole in the wall.
But my tummy was asking, rather politely, for salad.
I stepped in the door and grabbed a menu, standing off to the side while I read it. It sounded yummy. Nothing excites me more these days than a bowl full of greens and veg. Looking around, I also noticed that the salads were pretty big.
My mind was fighting me, so I decided to go over to Paxton Gate to look at their rock collection while I waited to get hungry enough to eat. When I finally did, the salad won out.
Which I’m glad for. The Golden Warrior Salad was big and delicious: baby spinach, mixt greens, cabbage, avocado, coconut chips, cucumbers, chickpeas, carrots, celery, fresh herbs, mixt seeds and topped with a raw tumeric ginger vinaigrette.
I really don’t like chains, really really don’t like them, and MIXT is a chain. I don’t know how far and wide it goes, as it looks like there are a couple in LA, but there are a number of locations around San Francisco, mostly in the Financial District. Chains these days are starting to wise up and are serving fresh delicious food that people like me will actually feel good about eating. I say if you are in the neighborhood and looking for some good clean food – this might be a really good choice.
