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Archive for the ‘Bars’ Category

Polk Folk, You’re Invited

Polk Folk, You're Invited

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Where to Be on April 30

It’s that time of year again. The time when young, urban professionals, neon wristbands at the ready, descend onto the street of Polk in search of reduced-priced drinks and loose lips to kiss. Eight years running, the annual Polk Street Pub Crawl presents “daytime drinking at its finest” (speculation!) on April 30, sending April out with a slow stumble home. With the much-awaited shutdown of The Wine Bar, we have a newcomer this year: Black Sheep. The usual participating bars, including Shanghai Kelly’s, Rouge, Cresta’s, Green’s, The Buccaneer, Rex Cafe, and Tonic, will also be joining the drunkwagon. Tickets, usually $6 a pop, go on sale Tuesday at 10:30am. But don’t you worry, sweet thing: this is no sold-out-in-seconds MGMT show. You’ve got a good two weeks to buy your tix.
Not eager to be surrounded by bros waiting twenty minutes for a $1-off light beer? Then I highly suggest steering clear of Polk Street between Broadway and Union that day. Many a Saturday, I discreetly craft a public house stroll of my own, and believe it or not, I don’t shell out six George Washingtons for it. The trick to snagging drink specials on an off-day? Put on your freshest face and your widest smile, befriend the bartenders who so gracefully put up with your inebriation, and take a roadie to-go.

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Thanks to one of my tweeps for passing this along. Mike “The Situation” of the infamous Jersey Shore will be signing bottles of Devotion Vodka this Saturday from 5:30pm – 7:30pm at the Jug Shop in Russian Hill. It’s not April Fools’ Day so I think The Jug Shop (1590 Pacific Avenue at Polk) must be trying to spook the sh*t out of us. I might also add that Devotion Vodka’s director of West Coast sales, Johnny “Love” Metheny, lived just over the hill on Franklin Street near Lombard and has been spotted handing out Devotion wristbands to recent grads at Silver Clouds on Saturday nights. Now that’s devotion.

Speaking of New Jersey, I interviewed Jonathan Adler this week and the best quote to come out of it was: “[New Jersey] is a great place to be from because it gave me somewhere to want to crawl my way out of.” I myself am actually from New Jersey, so I am allowed to laugh at this . . . you West Coast people will get a whipping if you do.

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Shout out to the geeks at IntoMobile for spotting this one, Red Devil Lounge (Polk and Clay) is calling itself “the iPhone of nightclubs: four full bars but crappy service.” Only in San Francisco.

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CrawlSF’s 4th Annual Polk Village Pub Crawl will kick off at 4 p.m. this Saturday, July 31 at McTeague’s. The lineup of watering holes is situated on the lower Polk, including Hemlock, Vertigo, SNOB, Blur, Route 101, and R Bar. The neighborhood is bound to be sloppy on Saturday, so if you want to steer clear of the boozehounds, give Hyde’s Street’s more prim and proper wine bars (Bacchus, Café Meuse, etc.) a try for a change this weekend.

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New Bar to Take Over Cossu

A group called Red Stick Enterprises applied for a new liquor license for the space at 1516 Broadway, formerly Cossu, which closed last July. No specifics beyond that, but I’m sure the Polk folk will be happy to have another watering hole in the ‘hood. It’ll be interesting to see whether the owners keep the extravagant Moroccan theme or try to tone it down a bit.

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To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Russian Hill’s New American eatery Luella (1896 Hyde at Green) is offering wine by the glass for only $5 Sunday through Thursday throughout the month of March. Seeing as the restau’s most wallet-friendly glass of wine goes for $8, this is definitely a good deal. Better yet, you can scoop up this deal whether you’re in the dining room or in the bar — forget eating, let’s booze! Will I see you there mañana?

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A Eulogy for Nob Hill Tavern

Aww, man! I feel like all of my favorite watering holes are evaporating into thin air lately. The latest is Nob Hill Tavern (1390 California at Hyde), which according to Eater SF is being taken over (overtaken!) by the owners of R Bar. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of R Bar, and the bartenders there are especially nice. So I’m sure Pour (the new name of the place) will be well-liked. But, Nob Hill Tavern, despite its somewhat sketchy clientele, was a favorite for a few reasons.

The only reason I ever happened upon it to begin with is because I searched Yelp for the keyword “darts” — I love darts! There are few places to play darts that have more than one board and enough room to throw without invading someone’s personal space; NHT has five or six I think. Subsidiarily, I invented a magical game there: yoga darts! Not quite sober, of course. And to throw something sentimental central in there, it was the place where I learned that I had become an aunt. As you may know, being an aunt offers all the perks of parenting, without any of the responsibility; love it!

I hope the R Bar team leaves at least one dart board for me, preferably with a plaque engraved with the words “Polk Sheet.” Thanksss!

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First of all, let me say, “Who ‘dat!!!” Okay. Now that that is said and done, I’ll move on to my list of places to hang out in the area on the upcoming Superbowl Sunday. This list will inevitably be updated, and please feel free to contribute with events and specials in the comments.

  • If you’re a Saints fan, the best bar near Russian Hill to be in on February 7 is none other than Black Magic Voodoo Lounge (1400 Lombard at Van Ness). It has TVs like every other divey sports bar, but better yet, it’s got New Orleans locals and enthusiasts . . . and lots of liquor (including NOLA’s finest Abita Beer), so it’s bound to be lively. Please wear black and gold : )
  • Shanghai Kelly’s (2064 Polk at Broadway) will also be hosting their annual Superbowl BBQ party. The deal is open bar with barbecued grub. Ladies, it’ll cost you $40, and gents it’ll cost you $60 (if you’re somewhere in between, you should probably go to Divas). Seating is limited, though, so you should stop by the bar or call in to reserve your seat soon. (more…)

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Casablanca Café (1609 Polk at Sacramento) has newspapered its windows. You bohemians will have to find a new place to smoke your smelly hookah and drink your discount beer. Interestingly enough (or not), the other Moroccan spots in the ‘hood, Tajine and Cossu, have also recently shuttered their doors — anyone want to cry foul?

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