— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
It was just over two months ago that the Third Eye Blind front man stood tall on the Bottom of the Hill stage and declared, “We're right at that moment before Valencia turns to complete shit.” Now, he's bemused and excited about slamming his face with a plate of Mission Cheese's finest.
(In all fairness, cheese is a magical food product and we welcome its existence in all forms.)
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
The closure of Nap's 3 certainly was a bummer. We always loved the ceaseless weekend train wreck of a karaoke night hosted by Nap himself, and squandering away a warm-ish summer night on their back patio has led to many fine memories. But while we loved Nap's, the new occupants of That Bar Next to El Rio are giving us something to look forward to.
Virgil's Sea Room is the name, and it's being opened by Hard French DJ Tom Temprano, Lexington Club owner Lila Thirkield, and Nickie's bartender Gillian (as Tom tells us, “I can assure you our Guinness will be properly poured”). Hard French and Tom's other DJ nights will be staying put at El Rio—Virgil's is just where he'll be slangin' drinks on nights off. As he puts it:
I've always been really interested in the opportunity to own a space and this was a great opportunity to work with fantastic people. Plus, I am in love with the neighborhood — I actually live a couple blocks away and so it's a magical fit.
But the best news? Virgil's will be keeping the karaoke nights going, and they're hoping to have Nap come back to host regularly (no word if they'll keep lousy karaoke equipment we often blamed our frightening Tina Turner renditions on).
As for the back patio, they won't be able to open it at first because of permitting issues [Edit: permitting issues are not to blame for the late patio open], but they're working to snuff and open eventually. For now, they're focusing on fixing up the front of the house, which apparently needed some repairs.
Tom tells us they hope to open ASAP, so be on the lookout.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Whenever I read about local coffeeshop news in TechCrunch, I generally expect the news to not be good. But in Philz' case, it might not actually be so bad.
According to TechCrunch, Philz raised over 3.75 million cups of Tesora worth of money to expand the 13-shop operation outside the Bay Area:
Today, Philz Coffee is adding some growth capital of its own. Although the company isn’t ready to disclose the exact amount, [Phil] Jaber says that the company has raised an eight-figure round that’s on the lower end of the spectrum. From what we can gather from sources, it appears to be in the $15 to $25 million range. The lead investor in the round is Summit Partners, and as a result of the firm’s investment, Summit Managing Director Greg Goldfarb will be taking a seat on the startup’s board of directors.
It's been a helluva story for Phil and his emerging startup. Founded 25 years ago as a modest corner store at 24th and Folsom, he spent decades perfecting his secret coffee blends. Then in 2003, after decades of limited growth in the corner store market, Phil pivoted the company launched Philz Coffee in the same location. Philz soon brought on rockstar Silicon Valley CEO “his son”, opened over a dozen more stores, and cemented partnerships with Virgin America and Facebook, giving the small neighborhood coffee house the totally reasonable $40-70 million dollar valuation they have today.
Of course, one of the best features of Philz was never the coffee itself, but rather his shop felt like the kind of welcoming, worn-in den that only an old artist would open. How they'll be able to replicate that freewheeling culture which they've become know for across hundreds of stores remains to be seen.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Famed Latino queer bar (and all-around fantastic comedy venue) Esta Noche is in danger of closing. As they put it, “Last year the Board of Supervisors made changes to laws that can make it harder for small businesses to afford their permitting and license fees. Unfortunately, Esta Noche will have to pay for all their licenses in one bulk payment, which is already one month late.” Now they have two weeks to pay off a $9,000 debt to the city or they won't be able to stay open.
Taking a page from Adobe Books' fundraising success, the 16th Street club has an Indiegogo campaign up and running. And on the 18th, “local queer DJs, drag performers, and politicians” will come together to party and fundraise for the venue.
Let's hope they pull it off, because the neighborhood probably doesn't need another Thieves bar…
[via Eater]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
We got the keys! Over 4 years after the CBC was born in The Mission, we're heading back opening a shop on 24th St!!! twitter.com/cremebruleecar…
— the creme brûlée man (@cremebruleecart) April 29, 2013
The Crème Brûlée Man, the purveyor of desserts disproportionally popular with social media professionals, connoisseurs of San Francisco's litany of beigeist eateries, and people who just plain like sugar lit on fire, has announced he's opening a new shop on 24th Street.
Yum.
[Twitter]
— By Zach Perkins |
Pic via Haighteration
Just over a month after Bi-Rite Divisadero opened it's tiny, velvet roped doors and pay-by-the-hour parking service, neighborhood BBQ staple Da Pitt has been served an eviction notice. The full rebranding of the Divisadero strip from “Western Addition” to “NOPA” is hereby complete. Haighteration has the scoop on the eviction. Get it while you still can.
Pic via Haighteration.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Remember when Medjool had a roof deck that we all hung out on top of on warm summer night? Me neither. But the folks at Lolinda hope to revitalize the roof, bringing us a most buzzable spot to squander away our evenings. SF Magazine has the details:
Everyone would probably be relaxing in a rooftop restaurant on this glorious Monday, so let’s talk about Lolinda. Since Adriano Paganini opened the restaurant in August, customers have constantly asked when the notorious roof deck will swing back into action. No one has been up there since Medjool closed in early 2012, but we’ve known for a while that Paganini had something special in store. Late last week, he revealed that the roof will be called El Techo de Lolinda, offering a new menu of Latin street food and classic Latin cocktails like mojitos. El Techo will be open for dinner every night of the week, and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. The whole space has gotten a major overhaul—apparently with some rather fancy and amazing Australian heat lamps.
[Thanks, Sam!]
— By Alissa |
Cheese
Queso here's the deal: Bender's is now hosting a Stinky Cheese Club on the third Tuesday of every month (tonight! 5pm!) because Bender's is a magical place staffed by beautiful geniuses who were put on this earth to make us happy. Here are the details from the Facebook invite:
The Cheese Stands Alone!
Every 3rd Tuesday join Tuula and Mikey for the monthly meeting of the STINKY CHEESE CLUB.
Come down, bring some cheese (or crackers, meats, pickles, etc…) and get a free can of PBR or Well Drink, and enjoy the spread…
There you have it! Come provolone or bring a friend, but be sure to pitch in your favorite wedge. Either way its guaranteed to brie a grate evening.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Gray sends us this alluring photo of a crowded refrigerator and a quick review of Evil Twin's unfortunately named Mission Hipster Ale: “It's like a typical Dolores kid: brightly colored, proud on the outside, but somewhat boring and bitter on the inside.”
(For what it's worth, the brewery describes their creation a bit more favorably: “This super-exclusive, counter-culture pale ale is dedicated to ‘The Mish’ aka Mission District in San Francisco. It’s an homage to skinny jeans, tote-bags, fixie bikes with drop handlebars and Dolores Park.”)
Anyway, if you're looking for some somewhat boring and bitter beer, you can grab a pack at City Beer Store in San Francisco's 'NoMi' aka North of the Mission neighborhood.