San Francisco is often referred to as “The city that knows how”. What exactly do San Franciscans know how to do you may ask? Well among a million other great qualities, people from the bay area know how to brunch. Restaurants serve all types of delicious food ranging from pancakes to eggs benedict to lox bagels to bottomless mimosas. If you can name it, you can probably order it for brunch. Every weekend, San Franciscans, including USF students, flock to their favorite brunch spot. This may sound like harmless fun (and trust me, brunch is always fun) but brunch can start to break the bank pretty quickly, especially if you’re a college student. Since Brunch is such an integral part of San Francisco and you shouldn’t have to go broke getting it, here are a few tips on how to do SF brunch on a budget.
1. Save your spare change: Saving up your spare change in a jar or bowl quickly adds up week to week. You may not be able to pay for your entire meal but even if you can only gather $5 dollars, that’s the price of an uber pool ride or half a stack of pancakes at Stacks.
2. Save on car services, take muni: If you don’t live around the brunch heavy neighborhoods of San Francisco, it can get pretty pricey to take a car service (lyft, uber, taxi) which only adds to your cost for the afternoon. Muni is free with your USF ID card.
3. Look at those little dollar signs on yelp: I’ve been in the situation more than once where someone invites you to a restaurant and you don’t realize how expensive it is until you get there. Check out restaurants on yelp beforehand to avoid unexpected costs.
4. Split your meal with a friend: “Sharing is caring” definitely extends itself to the art of brunching, especially since most places serve huge portions. Think of it as brunch, 50% off.