Thanks man! Re: Saratoga, completely agree. Everything was good, but a bit pricey considering. Would def go back when it's not busy (if that time exists) to have more cocktails and sample more...would've got the burger but she's not a big meat eater and I wasn't that hungry.

Anyway..let's wrap up Friday.

We lounged around the room and Anne called a friend she had gone to school with that lived in the area. We made soft-plans to meet up with her after dinner.

We were close to, and wanted to check out, Chinatown. I'm a sucker for Americanized Chinese food and I figured SF would have some good options.

We ultimately settled on Hunan's Home, which was exactly what I was looking for. We walked by it earlier in the night and there was actually a small line out front--complete with a velvet rope lol.



We decided to shop a bit to let the crowd die down--Anne wanted a cheap, Asian-styled robe.

No luck finding one that fit, but it was cool to haggle with the shopkeepers.

We went back to Hunan's Home and ordered a light dinner: some soup dumplings and mu shu pork to split. The mu shu was delicious, but the dumplings were a bit heavy on the pastry. Anne loved them , but having lived in Shanghai for a few months and living off them exclusively, I've become a bit of a snob I guess.

We finished dinner but Anne's friend was playing trivia at some bar so we still had some time to kill. She recommended we check out some popular bar called Li Po, so we did.



We each ordered the drink they're famous for, a Chinese Mai Tai. Which tasted like every other Mai Tai I've ever had and hated.

The upper bar was crowded, but we wandered through the back, down a narrow flight of stairs and through a corridor into a lower lounge/dancefloor. It reminded me of a bar in Austin so I liked it. They played '90s music, had tacky lights on the wall, and everyone was feeling no pain.



We had one more drink when Anne got a text that we should meet her friend, and a couple of her girlfriends, at some bar on Haight. So we did.



Anne's college friend, and her friends were all a bit tipsy and fun. We had a few tequila shots and decided to walk to another place. I forgot the name of it, but the bartenders took pride in their work--which I always appreciate.



They all started to hit a wall, so we said our goodbyes and planned to meet up again with them the next day (never happened, they were too hung over).

We grabbed a Lyft and headed back to Vitale. It was about 2:30 by the time our heads hit the pillow.

Just went to Marina Meats (don’t judge, was just passing by coming home from Sonoma) last night and got a New Zealand Wagyu ribeye for $31 a pound. Put it on the grill and it turned out incredibly nice. I will return.

aura: Great TR. I didn't want to bias you with any recs beforehand, but apple fritters and glazed (both plain and chocolate) are my favorite things at Bob's. What a great place. The bar near Kezar pub, maybe the Alembic?

O: OK, some TL recs...

Lers Ros - maybe my favorite Thai place in the city. They also have Hayes Valley and Mission locs now, but this is the original. FYI I did not like their new place Esan Classic.

Saigon Sandwich - don't worry if there's a line, they crank out these great $4-5 bahn mi insanely fast.

A La Turca - delicious turkish food.

Brenda's - everyone has heard of this place. I think it's very good, but not worth the hype/wait. Worth going for beignets and others Southern/soul food at off-peak hours.

Kim Thanh / Tuyet Mai - just a couple of many good Vietnamese/Chinese restaurants in the area.

Turtle Tower - one of many pho-centric Vietnamese places. People love this place, but I haven't been for years. I usually go to Tu Lan on the other side of market.

Shalimar - cheap, tasty Pakistani/Indian. lots of these joints around there.

Rusty's - one of the newer sorta hipstery places, but this is tasty southern/BBQ.

There are tons of newer, nicer places opened in the Tenderloin in the last year or two. These are more casual neighborhood spots, most of which are pretty cheap and have been around for a very long time.

El D--just image searched Alembic and that's it lol...impressive.

Before I run through our final day I saw a couple of pictures I meant to share but forgot:

Buildings like this are all over Mission district and were fun to see. Again, reminds me of Austin.



Also, since we ate so late at Hunan's Home, we were around when the kitchen staff assembled to have dinner together. It was kind of cool to see.



Ok, so onto Saturday.

It was overcast again. He went downstairs for the breakfast again, which was good, but not worth the price unless you get a discount. We were pretty full after that so we headed up to the room to chill and wait for the rain to subside before doing a few of the more touristy things you can do in SF.

We watched I, Tonya in the room. It was entertaining but too long. Anne fell asleep by the end. Although I was young, I can still remember that scandal, so it was a bit nostalgic for me. Anne was too young to remember and couldn't believe it was based on a true story.

Anyway, after the movie ended we got our **** together and headed over to check out the Golden Gate bridge. I'm pretty fascinated by this bridge, and it's just beautiful. I recently watched a documentary called The Bridge, which added a bit of eeriness to my intirgue.

For those of you who haven't seen it, The Bridge documents one year of jumpers who chose the Golden Gate bridge as the spot to end their lives. It interviews family members and goes a little into the mystique of the bridge and why it's the most popular spot in the world for suicide. I found it fascinating, others I know aren't able to finish it.

We take a Lyft to the bridge and grab some hot tea. We're not dressed very warm, but the rain has stopped.

Obligatory shot:



Random candid of Anne taking a pic:



My favorite pic I took of the bridge:



We make it about halfway before getting cold and deciding the second half is probably much like the first, so why bother.

I also grab my only souveneir of the trip (aside from the gummies we bring back to LA). For the pure nostalgia of it.



It's around 4 or so and Anne wanted to see Lombard St. since it's the only thing she can remember from a trip she took with her mom back when she was a kid. So we do that.



We decide to talk a towards Little Italy and get some Italian food.

Anne calls a couple spots and we make a reservation for 7pm, which means we have another hour or so to kill. Being close to Chinatown, we obviously decide to head back to Li Po for some more drinks (no more Mai Tais, shot of tequila and a beer for each of us).



After the drinks we walk over to Cafe Macaroni. A very small, very crowded, very old schoolish Italian restaurant.



It's packed inside, and everyone seems to know the owner who's running around with a wine bottle in one hand and parmesan cheese in the other. I found it interesting that the kitchen was at the front of the restaurant in full view of everyone (including passers by on the street).



Dinner was very good. I had the Spaghetti and Meatballs, Neopolitan style (which I'm told means the meatball is made of beef and pork) and Anne had some pasta with mussels, clams, etc. Would recommend, but I'm sure there are a million places just like it and better elsewhere. We were happy and full when we left.

After dinner we were planning to head back to Mission District to check out this cool chocolate bar, but by the time we got home and went up to the rooftop for another toke, we were pretty much done.

We hung out back in the room for a bit. I filled out a card to get breakfast delivered to the room the next morning, and we fell asleep.

We flew back early the next morning.

Thanks for letting me share, take care ya'll.

Aural,

Mai tais are delicious. I recommend giving them another try sometime. However those Chinese mai tais at li po (great bar) are terrible and made with a disgusting Chinese liqueur that has been discussed itt before. You were also right across the street from my favorite Chinatown dive bar, the Buddha bar!

The alembic guess wasn’t very impressive at all. I don’t know the haight well at all, but the alembic was one of the first bars in the city to really get into the whole classic/craft cocktail thing and is very well known for great cocktails.

You lucked out on the Italian spot. There are indeed a million spots around there that all look exactly the same, but a lot of them suck. Macaroni is a very good spot, and I really like their spaghetti and meatballs.

Sounds like a great trip, thanks for the report!

The Buddha, with the neon pink sign right? We went there but no seats were available

Re: mai tais, maybe I will need to give it another shot. When I bartended years ago we also used a ****ty mix, so I don't think I've ever had a good one.

Glad you enjoyed the TR, your advice was much appreciated

Work has been pretty nonstop recently, but I got an unexpected reprieve last Saturday/Sunday, so I decided to celebrate by drinking a LOT of beer. Here are all the places I went, listed in order from good to bad:

Toronado -- Man where has this bar been all my life. I've never seen anything quite like this. It is REALLY divey. It reminds me of the uber-dive I used to frequent when I lived in NYC (Johnny's in West Village). Yet the beer list is amazing. It's tailor-made for a simple man like me who doesn't get adventurous in trying new styles, but just wants a great selection of IPAs and double IPAs. Multiple selections from Russian River, Alvarado St., Fieldwork. I think about 40 taps in total. Cannot wait to go back.

Fieldwork (Berkeley) -- El D has already talked about this place so I won't add much other than to say that my suspicion was confirmed, the Berkeley location is way better than the San Mateo or Monterey ones. Usually love their double IPAs but from the taster I got, I was surprised that the Radlands single IPA was my favorite.

Hogwash -- Restaurant built around sausage sandwiches and beer. I've walked by this place a million times and always thought about going in and finally went Saturday. Sandwich was 7.5/10 (I forget which one I got, but the menu is all pretty similar, it's just sausage on a roll). I'll definitely be going back at some point. The beer menu was a 4/10, I got my standby Fieldwork double IPA but there didn't seem to be much else interesting on the menu.

Old Pro (Palo Alto) -- Went here Friday night for the UNC/Duke game. The bar food sucks and the beer is overpriced and not great (we were drinking Knee Deep Breaking Bud all night, which is fine but unspectacular), but I give it higher marks because it's probably the best venue for watching sports I've found in the Peninsula. You could go here on a random Monday in June and ask them to put on Phillies/Marlins for you and they wouldn't hesitate. Places like these are rare in the Peninsula, so I'm sure I'll be back.

Danny Coyle's -- Typical dive-ish sports-ish bar (I think they're especially big on soccer here). Only went here because it's a UNC bar and my college buddies wanted to meet for the UNC/UVA game. I really have nothing to say about this place, there are 200 bars exactly like it in every big city. Don't ever suggest going here, but if someone else wants to go here it's not a tragedy.

Black Hammer -- Will not go back. Tried a 5-beer sampler, even making sure to branch out from my usual narrow tastes, and did not like any of them. I mean, I would rather drink at the BJ's next to my work. It's a shame because their concept is to have a brewery with wifi/comfortable seating that you can work from, and this sounds great to me. But, there's way too much great beer in SF to ever drink the crappy stuff, and this beer is the latter.

Joe,

Toronado is an institution. On the off chance you haven’t been, you should check out zeitgeist too.

The best thing about black hammer is the water station has a sparkling water tap and bitters.

I have not been to Zeitgeist! Maybe later today if I end up in SF. Thanks!

Joe,

I would wager a lot you dig zeitgeist. Optimal when nice out because they have a giant patio, but always good. It and toronado had great beer lists before craft beer was a whole “thing.”

Then if you’re there, crafty Fox is basically right around the corner.

And then you’re just a couple blocks from the willows.

And then you’re just a couple blocks from CBS.

And then you’re just around the corner from cellarmaker...

I know this is a very silly request but we're going to see a show at Cobb's tonight south of FW, and we've got a party of 10-11 looking to grab dinner beforehand. Show starts at 945, so sometime around 8 for dinner?

El D, this is specific and tough enough where maybe you wanna flex your muscles...?

I screenshotted this, and am sending it to friends whom I am challenging to do this with me. This sounds like such an awesome day.

I'll have to buy you a beer someday El D, your advice here has really contributed to the immense enjoyment I've gotten out of my first 7 months living in California.

N,


What does south of FW mean?

Alas, was out all day, but I would have just told you to put 10 people / north beach / 8 into opentable and see what comes out. Or just walk around Columbus and walk into some random Italian cafe. Or go to Kennedy’s Irish pub and get Indian food. Or grab bar food somewhere. I imagine you probably did something like that. 10+ parties are a pain, and I go out of my way to avoid being part of them.

Joe,

Hit fieldwork yesterday.

Destination unknown - really good double ipa, raspberry parfait which was good but the sweetest of their sours I’ve had (Party cove is one I really love), and el Cortez - spiced chocolate stout (excellent, but not in the same league as Eliza and hot chocolate, which are both bigger beers and amazing, especially when on nitro and/or BA/imperial versions).

El D -- I was also drinking Destination Unknown on Saturday! It's pretty popular right now at the bars I frequent on the peninsula and City Pub in Redwood City had it this past weekend.

Interesting how Fieldwork switches up their Double IPAs every couple months, I assume they're trying different blends of hops and dont want to stick with one branding on their flagship DIPA (at least for now)? Alpha Acid does this too, and I believe Alvarado St and Cellarmaker are the same way.

I'm gonna start posting in the beer thread -- caveat that my tastes these days are confined to the hoppy stuff.

Sushi peeps,


Robin. Mixed feelings here.

Omakase only. They ask you for a price target, ranging from $79-179. Chef suggested $120 as a good point where we’d get a good sampling of all the good stuff, and we could add on if we wanted more, so that’s what we did.

Very creative, “new school” sushi. Great ambience and service. Sushi on the small side for sure, but high quality and a lot of thought work put into the dishes. But a couple of times (black garlic on chu-toro and kumquat on something) the garnishes overwhelmed the fish.

He told us when we had a couple pieces left and we told him to add a few more pieces, I think we had 3 extra. Finished with some amazing ginger soft serve.

Full at the end, but an hour later I could go for a snack. $145/ea for the food, plus about $100 total for a beer and 2 sakes each.

I love that it’s not a set in stone fixed menu style Omakase and the chef (Def would recommend the sushi bar) tailors it to your preferences. In our case that meant extra uni. But I didn’t love that the fish got overshadowed a few times and it could have been a little more food.

So, a recommendation from me, and I’ll be back. But not sure if it’ll make it into my top sushi places list.

Next two places to try are Hinata and Ju-ni, excited to try them both.

I think this is probably a combination of philosophy, hop availability and dialing in recipes as they go. From the marketing side I'd guess it also plays into FOMO aspects of the current craft beer culture.

Joe,

Fieldwork and cellarmaker switch up everything all the time, rotating through some recurring favorites and some new beers.

Went to a James Beard Foundation event in Napa last weekend that was super good...

Piazza Del Dotto was being super generous with the pours (and refills!) of their $200 and $350 cabs, and while at one point I felt pretty buzzed, I finished the night as sober as possible with that much wine in me due to the sheet amount of food. I could barely touch the kobe as it was like eating a stick of butter on a full stomach at that point.

JL,

That dessert looks insane!

Which price did you pay? If that included the wine pairing, that’s a great deal at any of those prices.

The dessert was fun since it was a custard formed to look like a bar of chocolate. Very cool use of molding and chilling and by the time it got to us was completely room temp, silky custard. Also not listed on the menu but there was a graham cracker crust under the custard which was a really nice combo, must have been brown butter because the wheat & nuttiness really stood out.

We paid the $190 price, which includes the food and the pairings, and the appetizers (not pictured, done by Janelle Weaver from Bewildered Pig - including the best miso deviled egg I've ever had) and initial tastings during the social hour. Each person also got a small gift - a clay salt pig from some pottery place in minnesota, but I threw out the card with the details. Anyway, the value was terrific at any of the price points. That really stood out to me as my wife and I had just had her birthday dinner at La Folie on Polk for around the same price (~$500) and were incredibly underwhelmed.

wow. i know you've jacked the contrast up, but still, some of those dishes are visually stunning. looks great.

Yeah those shots are pulled from IG so they're partially filtered, but here are the originals: https://imgur.com/a/OCEqx

The plating, especially the "A Squab died here," was really nice. And honestly that saag paneer was the best I've ever had, even though it was a completely bastardized version with fresh feta and english peas.

Probably the cheapest wine on that list but that Chardonnay is a head turner. Food looks amazing and the pairings as well.

Haha didn't meant to upload that one. Wife liked that sauvignon blanc, very fresh and super approachable at $27/bt so she asked me to take a pic to remember.