Food + Drink Archives

SF’s New Trader Joe’s Is (Like… Actually) Slated to Open on Time

2Apr

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Nature + Climate Crisis, News to Know

SF’s New Trader Joe’s Is (Like… Actually) Slated to Open on Time

The city’s Trader Joe's in Hayes Valley is still scheduled to open by the end of June. The SF Bay Area is no stranger to deserts — deserts here connoting scarcity of resources, that is. Since 2021, over six Walgreens locations have closed in San Francisco, leaving residents to travel further for their prescriptions, as well as acquire certain location-specific vaccines and other medical goods. An analysis conducted by ABC7 found that 600 neighborhoods across the SF Bay Area are in low food access zones, a.k.a. referred to as a "food desert,” meaning residents are half-a-mile or more from a grocery store; this figure represented a 40-year-high when that figure was published. For San Franciscans in Hayes Valley, news that the neighborhood’s much-hyped Trader Joe’s location is still e...

Beloved Restaurant in SF’s Noe Valley Neighborhood Will Shutter This Month

20Mar

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

Beloved Restaurant in SF’s Noe Valley Neighborhood Will Shutter This Month

On March 30th, Birch & Rye — the Russian eatery in San Francisco that offered healthier interpretations of the cuisine — will permanently close after just two years in business. San Francisco’s restaurant scene is in a bit of a dichotomous space as of late. One on hand (side of the table?), there’s a renaissance of pop-up eateries and fresh openings that aim to expand the city’s gastronomic landscape. But on the other hand (again… side of the table?), there’s, simultaneously, a wave of restaurant closings; the Mission’s We Be Sushi rolled its last Maki on February 29th, according to Mission Local. Now, Noe Valley’s celebrated Birch & Rye, which opened in February of 2022, is joining the list of sudden restaurant closings this year, with its last day of business scheduled to...

San Francisco Lands on James Beard Foundation’s 2024 America’s Classics Award Winners List

28Feb

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories

San Francisco Lands on James Beard Foundation’s 2024 America’s Classics Award Winners List

Mandalay joins just a small handful of American restaurants to be awarded the prestigious James Beard Foundation acknowledgment since it began over 30 years ago. San Francisco has among the densest number of eateries and watering hotels that land in Michelin-starred rankings or acknowledgments on the World’s 50 Best anywhere in the country. (The only metro that matches it comparatively is New York City.) It’s almost comically easy to stumble up and find award-winning sustenance in the seven-by-seven; a stroll around Union Square and the lower slope of Nob Hill puts you in the way of three Michelin Starred eateries — Kin Khao, O' by Claude Le Tohic, and Sons & Daughters. Joining that laundry list of laudable places to dine is Mandalay — which is mentioned in Michelling Guide for San...

This Instagram Account Is Tracking (and Ranking) the Best Breakfast Burritos in San Francisco

25Jan

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories, San Franciscans We F*ck With

This Instagram Account Is Tracking (and Ranking) the Best Breakfast Burritos in San Francisco

BayrittoWatch is presently over twenty-four SF burritos deep in its survey of the local breakfast food stable… with many more left to try — and tier. ‘San Franciscans We F*ck With’ is our ongoing series that highlights locals who we admire for their tenacity, creativity, talent, and generosity. Growing up in North Texas, and then later migrating south to Austin after I attempted college (as any wayward queer person in the Lone Star State does at some point), breakfast tacos have always been a rotating morning delicacy in my life. Pillowy tortillas enveloping faultlessly cooked eggs, well-browned potatoes, and crisp bacon, more often than not also accompanied by slices of ripened avocado and capsaicin-rich pico de gallo, offered sustenance and comfort, simultaneously. Even the...

Is San Francisco Finally Done With Instagrammable Attractions?

12Jan

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Culture + Travel, Editors' Picks, Food + Drink

Is San Francisco Finally Done With Instagrammable Attractions?

'Yes, and?' I can’t honestly recount how many times (in my time penning lifestyle listicles) I used the catchword “Instagramable.” Initially, that descriptor existed as a sign of mental exhaustion; what little creativity I had left for the day had been long spent — which meant I had surrendered to using clickbait slang. Perhaps the most disappointing: That phrasing, to my dismay, had a profound resonance with readers. And in fact, I had even dedicated entire articles to these Instagrammable locations. Because they were popular. Because they “got the views.” Because it appeared it was what people wanted. But what people wanted wasn’t to photograph glorious views of San Francisco or a quirky rainbow cookie or an awe-inspiring public light installation. No, what they wanted were likes comm...

The Historically Racist Service at San Francisco’s Swan Oyster Depot

20Oct

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Editors' Picks, Food + Drink

The Historically Racist Service at San Francisco’s Swan Oyster Depot

Personal accounts that claim racist behavior at Swan Oyster Depot are shining a problematic spotlight on this otherwise celebrated San Francisco eatery. *This article was originally published on August 24, 2021; it has since been removed from its original publisher and moved to Underscore_SF; the content remained unchanged, sans edits made for continuity. When local designer Tin Dinh treated his then-boyfriend and out-of-town sister, whom he hadn’t seen in over a year since the pandemic began, decided to dine at Swan Oyster Depot— a San Francisco institution famous for its no-frills counter nook that serves raw bar fare — they were all immensely excited to catch up with one another over fresh seafood. The trio waited in line for nearly two hours, eventually snagging a spot atop...

The Weekend Catch-Up: Long Live This Cornerstone of San Francisco Matcha

30Aug

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories

The Weekend Catch-Up: Long Live This Cornerstone of San Francisco Matcha

Plus: San Francisco's "doom loop" tour was an epic failure — and exposed a City committee member as the organizer behind it. In just five short years — two of those years marked by a carousel of pandemic-born closures, reopenings, and stay-at-home orders — Stonemill Matcha helped San Franciscans acquaint themselves with authentic matcha. The sprawling Mission District cafe was heralded as a touchstone for SF matcha heads; it, too, played a key role in the city’s reputation as a mecca for matcha along the West Coast. Stonemill Matcha wasn’t only just an Instagram darling, it was an IRL source for ceremonial-grade matcha, matcha-inspired sweets (think matcha mochis and mooncakes), and a place to experience time collapse while holding handmade ceramic tea cups. But one of San Franc...

I Got *V* Stoned at SF’s First-Ever Pizza, Bagel, and Beer Festival

23Aug

By Matt Charnock2 Comments

Editors' Picks, Essays, Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories

I Got V Stoned at SF’s First-Ever Pizza, Bagel, and Beer Festival

‘At one point, I earnestly believed I saw Julianne Moore and Laura Dern cackling over two cold hard ciders.’ As my ostensible youth flickers into irrelevance, few activities coax me out of my innate introversion and into the greater, unknown collective. But the promise of complimentary meals and attractive novelties exist as evergreen proddings. (I could also argue that the opportunity to engage in fulfilling sex lives in that same canon, though time dedicated to after-work napping now usually takes prominence over any fleeting horniness.) This past weekend on Saturday, August 19th, the intersectionality of those two nouns met in San Francisco’s first-ever food festival dedicated to all things carbohydrates, specifically pizza, bagels, and beer. Making things neurochemically more...

San Francisco Is Getting Its Own Pizza, Beer, and Bagel Festival

31Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, Hyperlocal News + Stories

San Francisco Is Getting Its Own Pizza, Beer, and Bagel Festival

San Francisco is a city that's known for its gastronomy — and, at long last, SF is getting its first taste of a food festival catered to those who regularly befriend carbohydrates. Unlike butter, bagels, in fact, are a carb. Cheese is serotonin. Beer is hydrating. These are merely universal truths that punctuate life on this mortal coil. For too long, San Francisco has been devoid of a foodie festival that marries this trifecta in harmony. (After all, we know just how successful pairing two cult-followed goodies — like, say Ube, and Mathca — is in the city.) Well, San Francisco is set to finally have a celebration of this holy trinity when SF’s first-ever pizza, beer, and bagel festival debuts on August 19th in North Beach. Featuring over 45 food and drink vendors, the extravaganza ...

8 of My Favorite Neighborhood Treats in San Francisco

25Jul

By Juanita MORE!No Comments

Food + Drink, Queerness

8 of My Favorite Neighborhood Treats in San Francisco

SF is home to an ever-rotating number of bakeries, donut shops, and street-side cafes — but the best treats are always in my orbit. I am a creature of habit. I find comfort in routine and the predictability of my daily tasks. For instance, I wake up at about the same time every day and make a pot of Esperanca, Brasil Ritual Coffee, which tastes like orange marmalade, milk chocolate, and toasted pecans. I then return to bed to watch the gayest news program currently on television — ABC7 Mornings with Reggie Aqui, Jobina Fortson, Drew Tuma, and last but not for a second least, Kumasi Aaron. Watching the news with them is like catching up with old friends with many important issues to discuss. It's the same with Jackson and Macho; keeping the boys on a schedule is incredibly important for...