Mission Mission

KronnerBurger is just the best. I won’t go into anymore detail than that, since the menu doesn’t either, and part of the fun was being surprised by the nuances and details of the preparations of everything. The food was outstanding, the drinks were outstanding, the space is fun, the music was pretty interesting, the service was great. KronnerBurger is the best. (And they’re open tonight and tomorrow, 5pm-2am.)

(Oh and, yeah, it’s not Cronenburger.)

Confidential to Nick Pal: Hurry up and try the Scotcholate Milk, because it should probably be this week’s Drink of the Week.

I’ve always been intrigued by bars and restaurants that get their own private barrel of whiskey. Four roses does these branded bottlings a lot: Nopa used to have one, I think Elixir still does, even Beltramo’s, the South Bay’s most famous liquor mart, had their own branded bottles of Four Roses. For me, though, it’s hard to form an opinion on a spirit with just one shot in the course of a dinner or a night out.

Enter Hog & Rocks, who is offering their private barrel of Elijah Craig 12 by the bottle. Here’s the deal: you pay up front for the bottle, they put your name on it, and they keep it behind the bar. Then, any time you want, you just walk in and have them pour you a shot. I’m especially looking forward to convincing friends to go with me without mentioning the program, and then just walking up to the bar and having them pull out my personal bottle like a boss.

They also allow you to add up to four names in case you don’t think you can go through an entire bottle yourself. But I live a few blocks away, so I’m not worried.

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.

Head on down to Beauty Bar tonight if you wanna scope their fresh new paint job and DRINK FOR FREE:

Once again the Beauty Bar is ready to celebrate another great year. As a gift to our costumers there will be an OPEN BAR from 9-11pm. Come enjoy an evening with our staff and some our favorite DJs from this last year with a great party to kick off the holiday season.

DJs-
Razo
Omar
Cat Fancy
Vanilla Gorilla
Where My Ladies At

OPEN BAR 9-11pm
Happy Hour till 8pm

Omg. RSVP and invite your friends!

[Photo by marmotilla]

Yup.

[via Rhea's on Twitter]

Flautas/sopes at SanJalisco. My food photography sucks.

I can’t even keep up with all the new restaurants on Valencia anymore. But who cares because South Van Ness is where it is at in terms of culinary delights (hi, Whiz Burger). SanJalisco (formerly known as Los Jarritos) is an old standard in the Mission at 20th and SVN and a longtime favorite of mine. It is never too crowded, the staff is friendly, and the menu has an illustration of a friendly goat waiter. Oh yeah, and you can get not one, but two dishes made vegan AAAAND you can get them in a combo plate! The potato flautas and cactus sopes combination plate is my jam and I’m pretty sure it will cure any hangover. Just be sure to tell them “no dairy” because both come with cheese and sour cream. They’re used to us crazy vegans at this point so they’re chill and understanding about special requests.

For some masochistic reason, I subjected myself to Yelp and saw that people were hating on SanJalisco due to the fact that they don’t serve margaritas. Shut up, Yelpers! If you’re really desperate for a margarita, just hit up Muzio’s market beforehand and buy a can of The Club Margarita and an airport bottle of tequila and drink it on the way there. OR stop being a dork and order a Negra Modelo or Bohemia–both are vegan!

They also specialize in birria dishes (hence the friendly goat waiter mascot–boohoo) and other non-veg dishes so it is a good spot to go with friends/family of all different eating persuasions.

Ryan Farr has been the king of the meat scene in SF for a few years now, and he’s a very bloggable dude (see the “previously” section at the bottom of this post), so we’re very happy for him and 4505 Meats that they’re finally opening their very own shop. Here we go:

It’s with great excitement that I share the news that 4505 Meats is opening up a small butcher shop in a couple weeks at 1909 Mission St. (at 15th St.), four blocks from Rainbow Grocery, just around the corner from the 16th street BART station and a block away from Four Barrel.

Opening a shop is something we’ve been talking about for four years, and now– after two babies, over 100 classes, and two books (4505 Meats’ Sausage Book will be released by Chronicle Books in the spring of 2014), we are finally doing it.

The shop’s opening hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday to start. My wife Cesalee and I have lived a block away from this space for over 10 years; we believe in this neighborhood and think our butcher shop will help make it an ever more dynamic place to live and work. We’re also working on a larger concept in a different location of the Mission, which we hope to open next year.

I will be there daily, cutting and grinding meat to order, and will always be happy to answer your cooking and butchering questions. The shop will also be serving ready-to-eat hot 4505 sausages and dogs with house-made sauerkraut and mustard, and smoked meat by the pound. We’ll also have the infamous ’Zilla Dog: our bacon- studded hot dog smothered in chicharrones and Namu kimchee, in addition to the sexy Kink Dog and other tasty dogs in the normal 4505 fashion.

A variety of cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, sausages, bones, fat, stock and other prepared items like pork green chili, deli meats and terrines en croute will be available for you to take home and enjoy. In addition, we’ll have your holiday needs covered with smoked hams, stuffed pork roasts, truffled geese, and an abundance of festive holiday treats. And of course, there will be chicharrones!

We will continue to be at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Markets on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays, the Mission Community Market on Thursday nights, and the Montclair Farmer’s Market and Divisadero Farmers Market on Sundays as well.

With gratitude,

Ryan and Cesalee Farr, and the 4505 Meats Crew

Congrats, y’all!

[Photo via Inside Scoop]

Who here’s in the HOLIDAY SPIRIT??? The trees are going up, the Mission is almost entirely underwater, and the city’s youth are booking their plane tickets back to Michigan.

One local institution that knows what I’m talking about is Anchor Brewing, who has released their 37^th? annual Christmas ale. Each year the recipe is different, but from the taste I had, the 2012 is a rich, nutmeggy brown ale that represents the season well. The thing that makes it irresistible, however, is the beautiful 1.5 liter bottle, pictured here with a bottle of gin just to make sure you realize how big it is.

Available wherever fine magnums of Christmas beer are sold.

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.

Eater SF reports:

Starting today, the Mission’s Tacolicious is featuring a hot pastrami taco to get in the Hanukkah spirit. Chef Telmo Faria gets his pastrami from Peter Temkin at Machine Meats, and serves it with mustard mazano aioli and cabbage slaw. The Hanukkah taco will be on the menu through Wednesday. [link]

Also, don’t forget that the fine folks at Old World Food Truck are hosting a pair of full-on Hanukkah dinners this weekend.

Our buddy Broke-Ass Stuart, who bartends at Evelyn Lee on Thursdays, brings us news regarding the disgustingly beautiful creation known as Frito pie:

What’s a Mission Frito Pie? I’m glad you asked. A Frito Pie is a Texas thing where a serving of Fritos is topped with chili and nacho cheese. While those are great, I’ve decided to put a Mission style twist on it. We’re adding chicharrones, as well as hot sauce like Tapatio or Cholula, to the mix. Honestly, I just tried some and it was amazing. Possibly the best drunk food ever. And we’re giving them out totally FREE.

So, I’m assuming I’ll start seeing all you lovely people on Thursday nights now? I mean, not only are you getting FREE Mission Frito Pies, you can get a shot and a beer for $6. See you soon.

I hope they serve it straight out of snack-sized Frito bags.

Grapefruit instead of lime. Pret-ty good. But messy.