These last three days seem like a blur. I haven’t checked my email, I haven’t checked the comments here, I haven’t even had my cell phone on. It’s been nice. Having just walked around the northern half of San Francisco, though, I think it’s time to let my feet rest and see what the world is up to.
I see I mis-marked one of my posts for automatic posting… going… going… gone.
As for my trip so far, my comments on Day 3:
– The Pork Store was busy, like an hour line, so we went over to All You Knead. Good breakfast, polite service.
– Amoeba Music still rivals Cheapo Records in Minneapolis. I found a number of CDs I want to listen to, like a bunch of older Peter Himmelman discs, in their clearance bins, all $4 or less.
– I collect canned meat, and this town is the bomb when it comes to weird canned, jarred, and otherwise preserved meats. A trip to the Sunset and visits to two Asian supermarkets along Irving and I now have ten new specimens. One is called “Crisp Fish” and is a bunch of neon tetra-sized fish in oil. WTF.
– The Pacific Ocean is still awesome. Good old N Judah line still goes there. Well, almost there. The bathroom at the end of Judah might qualify as “worst bathroom in Scotland.”
– The Magnolia Brewpub has decent beer, but the service is decidedly sub-par. First, I am not really used to being argued with by the waitstaff. When someone who is not my waitress takes our beer order and our waitress returns with three beers, none of which are right, the first words out of her mouth should not be “no, this is what you ordered.” No, really, I was here, you were not, and I know the Sara’s Ruby Mild from Prescription Ale, which I did not order. Second, it took three rounds of ordering, effectively nine tries, before she actually listened to us when we said we wanted the CASK version. CASK, not TAP. Third, we were just lucky to get a seat in the place, too. We put our name on the waiting list and asked the girl how long and where we should wait, and her reply was “oh, you can wait outside if you want.” She wrote “outside” next to our name. 25 minutes later we went in to find out what the holdup was, and they said they’d called our name but no reply. Yeah, no shit, we were outside, which is what the note said next to our name.
So anyhow, if you are thinking of going to the Magnolia Brewpub on Haight St., well, don’t. Or sit at the bar.
– In contrast, the Toronado Room had great service. The last time I was there one of the bartenders wasn’t so helpful, but the guy working Saturday evening was great.
– Ate Indian at the Punjab Kebab House. Decent. Spicier than the New Delhi Restaurant from Friday.
– Tried drinking at Edinburgh Castle but they apparently aren’t interested in serving customers. I don’t know what it is, but the bartender just refused to help anybody. So we went to the Irish Bank. The service was okay there, aside from a flubbed order, and we just decided to call it a night.
Notes from Day 4:
– The Packers rock San Francisco. By ‘rock’ I mean ‘own.’
– Reconfirmed: San Francisco Brewing Company has good looking staff. And good beer. Try the Emperor Norton Lager and tip the wonderful ladies well.
Notes from Day 5:
– The Pork Store has great breakfasts, if only because their bacon is perfect and they serve hash browns.
– Fisherman’s Wharf: boring & touristy in general.
– Walking out on Golden Gate: cool.
– Coit Tower: lots of freaking steps.
So there. Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it.