For your next dinner date, forget about that Greek restaurant in Mission and opt for something different: Forest Lawn’s International Avenue. While it’s an area notorious for crime, not cuisine, it’s starting to shed its tough reputation, gaining recognition as one of the city’s best spots to shop for and eat ethnic food.
Shopping
Shun Fat International Supermarket (3215 – 17 Ave. SE)
You’re not in Safeway anymore. This is the place to shop for all your Asian cooking needs.
XY Picks: Lychee and sesame seed ice cream (perfect for cooling your mouth after a spicy phad thai).
Gunther’s Fine Baking (4306 – 17 Ave SE)
The smell of fresh-baked goods will draw you into this European-style bakery, a staple in the area since 1971.
XY Picks: Chocolate macaroons filled with a hazelnut-chocolate cream (perfect for hand-feeding to your girl) or Tyrolean-style rye bread (slather with butter at breakfast).
Dining
Pyramid Halal Kebab and Fish (1919 – 31 Street SE)
An eatery and market of Egyptian and other Middle Eastern fare.
XY Picks: Try a Basboosa, a tasty cake for dessert.
Fassil Restaurant (3608 – 17 Ave SE)
Duck into Fassil on a cold night and warm up with a spicy Ethiopian wot (stew) peppered with cardamom, fenugreek, coriander and black cumin and served with injera (flatbread).
XY Picks: Hakim, an Ethiopian Guinness.
