I’m from New York City. I live in San Francisco. For several years, I dated a chef who worked at Moose’s, Stars, and the like. I am such a snob about my soups I usually don’t even bother ordering soup at restaurants. At this place, I asked if there were any way I could have some to go.

This family run business does their cooking like they are cooking for a favorite relative. Everything is made from the freshest ingredients available. Even the soups and sausages are made from scratch; soups are often days in the making. They usually have something that will look familiar to the average American, and it is always good, but the regional specialties are where they really shine.

I have eaten there almost a dozen times and have never been disappointed. The portions are generous, the place is impeccably clean and yummy smelling, the service is excellent (as long as you value a genuine concern for the patron’s happiness over snobbish pretentiousness) and the prices are so reasonable for the area I fear for their continued existence.

I would not hesitate to bring in a child, my mother, a date or a business associate I wished to impress.

Tell them the sort of food you like – spicy, vegetarian, lots of meat, whatever it is – and they will find you something. When they ask if you would like to try some Romanian wine, JUST SAY YES! Once you have tried everything you think you will like, try the other things too. Who knew cabbage could be edible, let alone come in a sauce so good my companion wiped his plate clean with a piece of bread?