Un-retiring freebies
Learn to make communities more livable, all expenses paid
Matt Potter 8 p.m., July 26
Tin Fork
The historic Nanking becomes Vietnamese Food Shop
Asian Grab and Go
Something’s staring back at me through the chainlink fencing. Sunlight glints through the sockets of his eyes. Wow. King Kong? His giant skull. In bits. On the grass. “Buddy, I said bring the drill,” says ...
Chaldean pizza, Chaldean ribs
What's inside counts
"It’s the only thing that’ll settle the kids down for the evening,” says Mr. F. He’s talking about this place’s big deal: “Pizza, $5.99.” And that’s for a 14-inch pepperoni pie. A big permanent sign ...
BLVD's small plates and the blues
Sunday night surprise in La Mesa
La Mesa on a Sunday night? Looks deader than a dodo on downers. Okay, a couple of bars send out lights like lonely lighthouses. Chances for eats? Ha! But then, someone’s just put this sandwich ...
On the water, planning taco brasserie on Champs Elysées
King and Queen of Pork set up on Embarcadero
"Elvis? He stole Roy Orbison’s thunder.” John’s serious. “Roy was the bigger talent. Just because Elvis had the looks, all the girls went for him. But Roy was the great one.” John is kinda qualified ...
Great cheesy gunk
Lunge into a feed at Cafe 21
"Messy Hair, Don’t Care.” That’s what the back of this girl’s T-shirt reads. I can just see her and her boyfriend through the leaves of the grape bower. They’re chowing, chatting, cooing, billing. But actually ...
Alpha Project opens its first restaurant
Pizza, pasta, panini, and programs
Oh, man. Two steps forward, one step back. People have had their hopes raised a lot for this end of East Village. First, Quartyard opened, was a raging success, then it closed. Then that sidewalk ...
A Golden Hill feast
“Oh man. Can something so good be actually good for you?”
"Hey, want buy this Bluetooth headset?” Guy’s talking to me. I’ve just come down to sit in the bus stop. “Cost me $90. I’ll give it to you for $30.” We’re at the #2 bus ...
So like Thessaloniki
I gobbled Groovy Greek grub before the Quartyard closed
"No-o! Not Quartyard! Say it’s not so-o!” The guy with the wailing voice was, uh, me. This was last week. I was staring down the line of lights of the bar near the doggy park ...
Topped with a twang
He plops a slice of swiss cheese on top. It sits stiffly, then folds over in the heat.
You can hear his laugh from all the way out in the corridor. It sounds like he’s having some rip-roaring conversation with Jimmy Kimmel and a live audience. This is Ernest. He’s the chef here ...
A drum-tight belly by way of Taqueria Revolución
“Bedford! Hungry! Food! Now!”
"The southland has much more interesting Mexican food,” says Juan Carlos. “I’m thinking Chula Vista, I.B., San Ysidro. But in North Park the other day, we had been drinking, we needed something to put in ...
Call from a lobster
Walk to Vessel at Kona Kai, waddle out
First off: I challenge anyone to beat my speed-walking time, from Anchorage Lane at Shelter Island Drive to the Kona Kai Club at the southern end of Shelter Island. Ten minutes. A good country mile. ...
