The essential neighborhood amenity is not the beer garden, coffee shop, or sandwich counter. It's the food store, where your essence itself is nourished — literally, as in amino acids to fuel brain activity and locomotion. If the food store includes all of the above extras, as well as the quality of a Rainbow Grocery, the price point of a Cala Foods, and the attitude of an anti-Whole Foods? Well, all the better. Owned by the Vardakastanis family since 1981, this antidote to supermarket blahs and bodega chills is quite possibly the last vestige of neighborhood normalcy in the giant outdoor mall that is today's Haight-Ashbury. Yet realness persists, fueled by Americanos and mochas crafted by baristas who remember your name, by the fresh-made sashimi and sushi rolls, by the pulled pork, mac and cheese, chicken curry salad, and other ready-to-go victuals at the deli counter — and all that's before you get to the actual groceries.