The Lush

I was not happy to return home to the tragic news in Hoodline that Jay Johnson, the owner of Club Deluxe and the Orbit Room, had passed away at the young age of 61 (screw you, cancer). The Deluxe has been such a gem for more than 25 years—I…

On Thursday May 7th, chefs from nine Bay Area restaurants will be heading to the Sierra Nevada brewery in Chico for a special collaborative beer dinner in the brewery’s Big Room. Chefs and bar managers will be at the brewery attending “beer camp,” where they’ll be crafting a…

Last week, SocketSite reported that LUCKY 13, one of the best damn divey bars in this town, may be demolished to make room for condos. There has been lots of concern about this, naturally, because everything about this is so symbolic of San Francisco in this moment in time. While…

Husband-and-wife team and wine industry veterans, Mark Nevin and April Sack, are opening a new wine shop and bar on Geary near the Masonic hill, called TOFINO WINES, at the end of March. The new project is focused on wines from small, family producers in California, France, Italy, and Spain.…

A couple of updates for you in sommelier land: first up, as you may have noted from the matchmaker ad we ran last week, ~QUINCE~ is looking for a new wine director. Previous director Jai Wilson has departed and is now with Bar Agricole and Trou Normand. We’ll let…

The Mexican-American Vintners Association is an organization dedicated to promoting and organizing Mexican-American winemakers in California, and on Wednesday April 8th they’ll be in town for  their Spring Tasting. It’s at Fort Mason from 5pm to 7pm, and will showcase wines from 15 different wineries. Some of these…

Looking for some old-school prices? The happy hour at ~SAM’S GRILL AND SEAFOOD RESTAURANT~ is here to remind you of the good old days with their Throwback Thursdays Happy Hour every Thursday from 4pm to 6pm. Your second beer will be priced at a retro $0.50, glasses of…

Celebrate female bartenders in all their badassery on Sunday March 15th from 4pm-8pm at the fourth annual Speed Rack competition. The competition pits local female bartenders against one another as they shake up rounds of cocktails for a panel of judges. Contestants will be judged based on the accuracy and…

Almost exactly a year ago, we reported on Uptown’s Bar Dogwood expanding into the space next door and opening Darling’s, which is now going to be DARLING’S ELIXIRS. Owner Alexeis Filipello is paying homage to the space’s former existence as Darling’s Pharmacy in the 1920s,…

We already knew that the LEXINGTON CLUB was going to be (sadly, tragically, unbelievably) leaving us after 18 years of biz, and now the other shoe has dropped with the news of who’s moving in: The Plumpjack Group. We’ll see what they plan for the space soon enough.…