Mission Mission

Now for some bad news from the Castro:  Ike’s Sandwiches received an eviction notice from the SF Superior Court.  It seems that the popularity of the place finally caught up with it and that all of Mr. Shehadeh’s attempts to placate the demands of his NIMBY neighbors were for naught.  Which is a shame, because he definitely tried.  To wit:

1. A ventilation hood required by the City for all sandwich delis was prevented from being installed due to a lack of a permit (which is provided by the City)
2. His workers started working later (at 8:30am) so they wouldn’t disturb the morning slumber of neighbors
3. Despite being served with a fine of $250 per day by the City, he decided to remain open and pay the fine on top of normal operating costs and employee salaries

And let’s not forget how those same NIMBY neighbors originally tried to extort Ike for a million dollars!  The eviction is scheduled to take place on August 26th.  Hopefully Ike will be able to find another location nearby.  Do yourself a favor and try a Menage a Trois before then.

[Photo by slowpoke_sf]

Previously:

Ike’s Sandwiches Coming to the Mission… In Vending Machines?

Is this even normal?  I was always under the impression that as long as you didn’t try to go to this place during the ridiculously crowded weekends, you would be okay.  Instead, perhaps owing to the welcome afternoon sunshine, the spot was packed with a waitlist at least ten-deep, so $4 mimosas had to be replaced with the $6 ones down the street at Revolution Cafe.

At least it meant that we got to hang out at the 22nd Street Parklet with these guys:

Previously:

Boogaloos: New Menus Means New Prices

Bike Racks For Boogaloos (and Friends)

22nd Street Parklet to Include Big-Ass Marimba

Joshua and Ashley, on a quest for parfait, ended up at St. Luke’s Hospital:

We went up to the cafeteria and found a gold mine of delicious food made to order at extremely cheap prices. This parfait fed the two of us for $1.53.

Yum! I wonder what other sweet deals are to be had up there.

Sources say that after he was turned away due to the +1 hour wait, his entourage proceeded to Arinell, the best pizza in the city.

[Photo by ladylexy, via SFoodie]

Kati over at Ohio to San Francisco (from whence this picture came) says:

I’m not sure about eating basil from a planter box on Harrison.

Me neither. But, I looove me some pesto, so I won’t ask and please don’t tell.

Seriously, what is going on here?

Previously, the only times I’ve ever been able to try the critically-lauded sandwich mastery at Pal’s Takeaway (24th and Hampshire) has been on days that I’ve called in “sick” to work, owing to their lunch-minded weekday-only schedule.  Well, now I’ve got a chance to try the best sandwich this side of Valencia without lying to my employer, as MM reader Kathryn fills us in along with this little tip:

Rumors are Saturday’s menu might include the albacore and bacon, and possibly roast beef w/ balsamic figs.

Holy. Yum. Cakes.

Of course, you would know this already if you had been following their twitter!

(Thanks Kathryn!)

[Photo by slowpoke_sf]

Previously:

Any Pal of Pal’s is a Pal o’ Mine

Looks Like I’m Having Four Sandwiches for Lunch on Wednesday

Laugh all you want, but last time things didn’t turn out so well!  Just mere meters away from where the last sinkhole wreaked havoc on 24th Street, the nascent formation of another begins, bending space and time (and concrete).  I would hate for anything to get in the way of everyone’s favorite tortilleria, with its fresh, plentiful supply of huaraches, gorditas, and those delectable nopales (cactus) tortillas, but I’m starting to worry about a pattern here.

Still not impressed?  Well, it does look a little more sinister from the other direction:

But how deep does it actually go?  Do your best Jules Verne impression after the jump:

(more…)

Whenever someone asks me where to find the best pizza in the city, I always just simply say Arinell.  When it comes to proper zest and sourness of the sauce, appropriate reservation of cheese allotment, perfect texture and crispness of crust, timeliness of service, and fair pricing, Arinell proves adept mastery of all categories.

The only area fit for improvement was accessibility, as the pizza maestros were only open until 10pm on weekdays and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.  Well, no longer.

Arinell is now open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, as proudly proclaimed on their new vinyl sign.  Look for neighboring  Thrill of the Grill to go out of business within the next month.

Previously:

Behind The Scenes At Arinell

Rules Signage at Arinell Pizza

Last week we held a contest in partnership with INNA pickle INNA jam. To win a bunch of jams and pickles, you needed to tell us your best story involving pickles or jam or being in a pickle or jam. Jen’s story takes the cake:

Revenge is best served smeared with a dollop of strawberry jam. We were chugging along in our old tank of a Volvo, in bumper to bumper traffic, trying to escape the blizzard sweeping into Lake Tahoe. The litterbugs in the car in front of us decided to toss a nearly full can of Coke out their window. Had the half-frozen can actually struck our windshield, it doubtless would have shattered our only protection from the blisteringly cold weather. Instead, it miraculously missed by a centimeter, bouncing instead off the metal side structural support. Furious, our driver managed to maneuver in front of them. Being unable to handle both breakfast and windy mountain roads, I had skipped breakfast that morning. Fortuitously, the jelly donut was still perched on the dashboard. The shotgun passenger rolled down the window, took careful aim, and lobbed the donut at the thoughtless louts in the car behind us. It splattered directly in the center of their windshield. Trying desperately to get strawberry jam out of their only line of sight, they made the mistake of turning on their windshield wipers. The result was that their vision was now completely obscured by smeared strawberry jam, and they had to pull over to clean it off by hand in the icy cold.

Whoa! Way to use some jam to get yourselves out of a pickle!

The folks at INNA will be delivering to Jen’s front door the following prize package:

2 jars of albion STRAWBERRY jam
1 jar of plenty spicy JALAPEÑO jam
1 jar of bread + butter persian CUCUMBER pickles
a perpetual postcard calendar

Yum!

The rest of us can still be winners too, by cashing in on INNA’s July-Only Annual Jam-and-Pickle Subscription Special!

Previously:

Legit Rap Song About Volvo Station Wagon

VOLVO!!!