American Bao Bar is now popping up on Fridays and Saturdays at LOT 7 in the Mission (except on May 11th!). The menu is focused on the street foods of Taipei and Singapore, with a bit of California flair—just wait until you try the red curry/chicken coconut “XLB”-style soup dumpling, ohmagerd. The dinners have been selling out, so curious diners are encouraged to reserve a spot anytime between 7pm-10pm by emailing here (although you can walk in if you decide you wanna check it out last minute). Everything is served in a family-style prix-fixe menu format, and at $37 a head, it’s quite a spread. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on the latest news. 974 Valencia St. at 20th St.
Over in Hayes Valley, the newly open NOIR is now hosting a lunchtime sandwich pop-up during the week called THE LUNCHPAD. You can take a look at the sandwiches here, which range from an Italian beef to the A-Bomb (roasted turkey with habanero candied bacon, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a smoked pepper aioli); look for soups and salads soon. They are open five days a week (this week was their soft opening, but they’ll be open Mon-Fri 11am-2pm starting Monday April 22nd); they will additionally start serving breakfast in the next couple of weeks. You can keep track of ‘em on Twitter. 581 Hayes St. at Laguna.
On Tuesday May 7th, check out the ever-exciting food scene in Temescal with an Oakland Dishcrawl. The crawl begins at 7pm, costs $45 per person, and includes stops at four different Temescal restaurants. The specific spots are a secret until the crawl begins, and you’ll be notified of the meeting spot 48 hours beforehand.
Red curry chicken XLB at American Bao Bar. Photo by Tomomi Tsukioka.
