Everyone has their hangover cures: Some folks need iced coffee, or eggs, or pancakes, while others just need a mountain of melted cheese. Below are five of my favorite hangover cures for when you’ve moved past sipping ginger ale (or in my case, a Coke over ice). May the force be with you.
Bun Mee: Sloppy bun
Hands down, the winner at this Upper Fillmore spot is the Sloppy Bun, with red curry ground beef, aioli, shaved onion, Thai basil, and jalapeños, and you gotta get it with a fried egg on top. And here’s the best part: you can have it delivered. Hallelujah.
El Farolito: Super quesadilla suiza
Let this place be the little lighthouse to your hangover salvation: this honking quesadilla is a life-saving pile-up of your choice of meat (get carne asada or chorizo), cheese, sour cream, avocado, and salsa. Do not attempt to take it on alone—work as a team. (And pray no one puts money in the blaring jukebox until you’re all done.)
Lou’s Café: Breakfast sandwiches with hash browns
This friendly, family-run café will save you with their breakfast sandwiches that come with hash browns inside. Nope, they are not afraid. Try the one with corned beef hash, egg, cheddar cheese, and Lou’s special sauce on ciabatta, and get the jalapeño spread for extra oomph.
Mozzarella di Bufala: Brazilian pizza
This pizza has saved my hungover ass so many times I should create a shrine to it made of bottles of bourbon. And delivery means you can stay in your PJs while watching bad TV. It comes with black olives, linguiça, onion, and crumbled hard-boiled egg. Sounds wrong but is oh so right. Get that bad boy with a thin crust! Back it all up with a Coke and you should be good to go.
Turtle Tower: pho ga
When you’re having what I call a sensitive hangover (i.e. you can’t eat anything too heavy), a steaming bowl of the chicken/pho ga here is the way to go. The silky noodles, juicy chicken (they use free-range chicken), and aromatic broth will get you on the road to recovery, fast. The steam rising from the huge bowl is like a culinary spa treatment. Inhale. In the beverage department, you can find additional healing with an iced coffee, lemonade, or fresh coconut juice (score).
What’s your hangover cure? Please, share the wealth in the comments below.
Marcia Gagliardi is the contributing food editor for 7x7 and author of the weekly Tablehopper e-column and book The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco. Email her at marcia@7x7.com, and read more at tablehopper.com.
