The Chatterbox

After a pandemic season of changes, from running their takeout window to collaborative meals like Lord Jiu’s, LORD STANLEY’s husband-and-wife owners and chefs Rupert and Carrie Blease are transforming the restaurant into Turntable at Lord Stanley this fall. They are going to host world-renowned and up-and-coming chefs to…

Back in June, I mentioned LINDEN & LAGUNA was taking over the former The Riddler, and it’s now softly open. Owner Chris Nickolopoulos (of Maritime Wine Trading Collective, a boutique wine import, production, and distribution company based in San Francisco) has updated the space which feels a bit more…

I was happy to receive the email about Patricia Unterman’s HAYES STREET GRILL’s reopening, serving lunch Friday 11:30am-2:30pm and dinner 5pm-9pm, an all-day menu Sat 11:30am-5pm and then dinner until 9pm, and Sun 12pm-6pm—they’re also opening for performance nights on Thursdays, so check…

A quick follow-up from my previous post about things happening in the Namu Restaurant Group. I wasn’t given clearance to write about it before I left, but the brothers converted the former Namu Stonepot on Divisadero into a stealth Sunset Squares pizza shop, offering both their square and round…

Hoodline announced that HOT JOHNNIE’S is now open in the former Nizario’s Pizza in the Castro (and an adjoining space), slinging house-smoked pastrami sandwiches (for $20 a pop—at that price, I’d love to at least see on the menu where chef-owner Jonathan Young is sourcing the…

On Friday evening, I was able to take the elevator once again to the top floor to admire the unique views from EMPRESS BY BOON in Chinatown, previously The Empress of China, a banquet hall that also had an awesome lounge where I’d take out-of-town guests for an “only…

Well, the moment has arrived: owner Michelle Polzine of ~20TH CENTURY CAFE~ has announced the last day of business at the café: Saturday July 10th. (Just in case you missed the how and why, you can read her original note about her decision to close here.) You can still try…

The pandemic sure continues to wreak some havoc on our restaurant scene, and it definitely caused some big changes in the Namu restaurant group. The team has been making some updates on their Instagram account, including announcing the closure of Namu Stonepot on Divisadero (ugh, I will miss their stonepot…

Do you smell the coffee brewing in the Portola Garden District? After being closed for months, the former Four Barrel location is reopening under new ownership as HEY NEIGHBOR. The owners are Dee Derisse—who was such a regular at Four Barrel that they ended up working there for a…

I was so impressed with the pic of the new OLIVIER’S BUTCHERY location, which opened a block away from their previous spot. Come by and admire the gorg new cases and layout. Chop chop! Open Wed 10am-6pm, Thu-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-6pm. 1192 Illinois St. at Humboldt. After suffering a…