Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour.

Blocker, No. 5: Divisadero St. in the Western Addition

A couple blocks south of where Lower Mervyns Heights butts heads with Upper Chopper City, Divisadero’s business-dominated stretch begins to take shape. There’s a little of everything on this block between McAllister and Fulton, from the throwback corner diner, to the auto body shop, to the bar whose front window announces a list of “rules” to be obeyed. There’s also the Muslim center and the tattoo parlor. Even the pair of pizza places on the east side of the street take divergent approaches.

The block’s eclecticism doesn’t seem to bother anyone early on this Sunday evening. The pies at sit-down place Little Star Pizza (deep dish or thin crust -- you choose) look to be as popular as any in town tonight, while down the sidewalk at quick-service Stelladoro, police officers and less-armed customers quickly nip in and out for cut-rate slices. A door or two away, at the corner of Divisadero and Fulton, the sticker-strewn counter at Eddie’s Café appears as if it’s been helping mitigate hangovers with omelets, bacon cheeseburgers, greens, and grits for decades.