Perhaps I'm just oblivious, but I've never once laid eyes upon such a brilliant marriage of sugar and sugar.  I'm just shocked no one thought to combine the sale of these two types of treats before; it's just such an obvious merger, like putting KFC and Taco Bell under the same roof.

Also, I apologize for the shirtless dude wearing a cowboy hat that made it into the shot.

Admittedly, I'm a fan of Latin American Club.  Reasonably priced drinks, outdoor seating, and easily some of the strongest pours in the Mission.  Plus, sometimes it's nice to take a break from the Jameson/PBR doldrums of Mission dives and have yourself a pint of tequila.  What's not to love?

The problem is everyone else is a fan of LAC, and I don't mean that in the “I was a fan before you were a fan” sorta way.  Rarely a night goes by when the place isn't packed—hot and sweaty, slow service from irritated bartenders, and so on.  So imagine my surprise last night, Cinco de Mayo of all nights, to walk past this place and see it only a third full.  Figuring I'd seize the opportunity, I went up to go in only to get denied.  “I hate to say it, but we're at capacity.”  What the what?  According to the bouncer, SFPD went around to bars, began enforcing capacity limits, and promised to return and make sure everyone was sticking to the limits.

No doubt a bummer to the bartenders, as last night was a key night to clean up vomit and bank a grip of cash from bros wearing blinking LED necklaces.  I just hope this doesn't become a new thing in the neighborhood.

Like Blue Bottle before them, La Cocina's Caleb Zigas released this statement announcing that La Cocina intends to move their food trailer out of Dolores Park:

San Francisco is a city full of dialogue. It's one of the many reasons that people love this place, and a reputation that we've gained over the years. The last couple of weeks have seen an intense dialogue about Dolores Park, one that we've been very much a part of. It's clear that people and communities are passionate about Dolores Park. We are too - it's one of the reasons that we first leapt at the opportunity for our clients to have a presence there. it's a park that is, in so many ways, symbolic of this city. From the views, to the people to the history and, well, even to this.

La Cocina pursued this opportunity because it is a great way to bring great food, made by great people, to a great community in a great park. We still believe that all of these things are, well, great. But being part of a community means listening to the community, and we take that seriously. We will be launching our trailer tomorrow at Dolores Park, pursuant to our contract with the Recreation and Parks Department, and are thrilled at the opportunity to do. Through conversations with the Office of the Supervisor [Wiener] and other interested parties, however, we are committed to a compromise that works for everyone. To that end, we are enthusiastic about the prospect of moving our trailer from inside of the park to the curb cut-in space at the entrance of the park at Dolores and 19th. Working the Supervisor Wiener and the appropriate City Departments, we would still honor our contracts and payment agreement to Rec and Parks, ideally generating at least some positive economic impact for them while serving the neighbors and community of Dolores Park to the extent possible. We have understood that this process could take up to six months, and, if at that point we have not been able to move, we will be happy to find a space for our trailer and vendors where they are embraced by the community elsewhere.

At the end of the day, we very much believe that a happy ending is an agreement that everyone can be happy about. And we are excited at having found this potential ending after this long road.

According to Chicken John, the new location would be on the curb on Cumberland St., just off of Church between 19th and 20th, and the move/compromise is being actively worked on by Supervisor Wiener.  Crisis averted.

In other (now dated) news, Chicken John had an op-ed published in the SFBG this afternoon that makes for an interesting read.

[photo by Gary Stevens]

16th Street is pretty shitty for tacos, no doubt.  But if you were a gang member of the MS-13, the gang that controls the northern part of the Mission, would you consider the limited selection of tacos crappy enough that you'd cross into enemy territory for a delicious 24th Street taco?  According to the SF Weekly, they do just that.  In the Weekly's “Insider's Guide to the MS-13 Gang,” members would “dash” onto 24th for tacos:

10. You can cross into rival gang turf — for a tasty taco.

In one of the more bizarre moments of [former MS-13 member Abraham] Martinez's testimony, he said he'd venture into the heart of [rival gang] Norteño territory on 24th Street to get food at one of the taquerias. “I'd make a dash for it, in and out really quick. Or I'd have someone go for me.” Try Yelping that.

In a follow-up post, they looked into the court transcript to see what taquerias are worth the risk, but there weren't any good answers:

Phillipsborn: There are some taquerias on 24th Street you like? There are times you'd go in disguise to get some food?
Martinez: That's incorrect. I'd make a dash for it, in and out really quick. Or I'd have someone go for me.

The Weekly conjectures that Martinez would head to El Farolito, Taqueria Vallarta, or La Taqueria Guadalajara.  I'm pretty certain it was Papalote.