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Golden Coffee Has Been Replaced with a New Kebab Spot

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Golden Coffee after it had closed, but before Berlin Donner & Kebab opened.

Alas, San Francisco’s greasiest spoon has closed down. Golden Coffee Shop was not a destination by any means, but if you lived in the Tenderloin/Nob Hill/Tendernob region, you definitely had at least one hungover meal there. And that meal was so greasy, it probably ran right through you.

When I lived at Jones between Post and Sutter way back in 2003 or so, Golden Coffee was an absolute staple. In fact, it was one of the very first places I thought to include when I did the original Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply zine that came out in 2004. I just checked my 2007 book of the same name, and the price of two eggs, four strips of bacon, hash browns, and toast was $4.50!

By the time it closed, I think the same deal was still only around $8.

Me at Golden Coffee in 2006 during the photoshoot for my 2007 book Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco. This classic pic is by Victoria Smith.

Golden Coffee was the kind of diner that every neighborhood should have. Besides the fact that it was cheap and good, it was just a perfect place to sit and read the paper in the morning while having a cup of coffee and finishing your meal. For a long time coffee was just $1 and it came with free refills. You can check out photos of what Golden Cafe used to look like right here, since I don’t have the rights to post the pics on this site.

You can still find a few places in SF with the same vibe and family cheap prices like Jim’s Restaurant on Mission Street and Eddie’s Cafe on Divisidero.

Berlin Doner & Kebab House at 901 Sutter Street

Luckily, something delicious sounding has moved into the old Golden Coffee space. Berlin Doner & Kebab House is exactly what the name suggests. They’ve got things you’d typically expect from a kebab place like hummus, baba ghannoush, dolmas, and of course, kebabs. But they also have a dish called German Salsa. I’m not sure what that is yet, but I’m excited to find out!

While I mourn the lose of Golden Coffee, I wish the folks at Berlin Doner & Kebab House the best of luck. I hope they become as ingrained in the neighborhood as their predecessor.

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Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is a travel writer, poet, TV host, activist, and general shit-stirrer. His website BrokeAssStuart.com is one of the most influential arts & culture sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and his freelance writing has been featured in Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The Bold Italic, Geek.com and too many other outlets to remember. His weekly column, Broke-Ass City, appears every other Thursday in the San Francisco Examiner. Stuart’s writing has been translated into four languages. In 2011 Stuart created and hosted the travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful on IFC and in 2015 he ran for Mayor of San Francisco and got nearly 20k votes.

He's been called "an Underground legend": SF Chronicle, "an SF cult hero":SF Bay Guardian, and "the chief of cheap": Time Out New York.