Mission Mission

ORFN can haz sidekick? Click photo to enlarge. What’s the 13 mean?

Previously on Mission Mission:

ORFN’s Sad Jose in the Bathroom at Taqueria La Cumbre

I got on the 12-Folsom today en route from work to Dolores Park. Was gonna be a relaxing ride, but no sooner did I settle into my seat and open up my book than this lunatic (pictured) started barking:

GOD BLESS YOU ALL! Ban the Koran! Ban the Buddha! BAN THAT ABORTION! The government needs to protect the Holy Bible — THE ONLY TRUE WORD OF GOD!

The bus driver had already issued a warning, but by this point had pulled over and powered down the whole rig. Dude took the hint (apparently he gets kicked off buses on the regular) and started making his way down the rear steps, stopping midway to encore thusly:

BAN THAT GAY MARRIAGE… if you want to honor your mother and father! SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!

Another commuter, clearly over it, could be heard muttering, “C’mon, one more step.” Finally, he took it, and we all got to move on. Anybody else seen Thumpy do his thing?

Photo by David Gallagher.

And it benefits Rwandan coffee farmers! Metblogs has the details here.

(via Eater SF)

Photo by ozone567.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the new restaurant that occupies the space formerly occupied by the Last Supper Club. The first I really heard about it was back in May, when SFGate wrote about a robbery that occurred:

An Italian restaurant in the Mission District was robbed early Wednesday morning while about 10 patrons were eating their dinners, said police Sgt. Neville Gittens.

Police got a call at 1:21 a.m. Wednesday that a man had walked into Beretta on Valencia Street between 22nd and 23rd streets, waved a gun, and shouted, “This is a robbery! Everybody get down!” He didn’t fire his gun, and no one was hurt.

I don’t know about you, but if I eat at 1:21am, I don’t really consider it “dinner”. I consider any food I consume at 1:21am to be for medicinal purpose only.

In any case, SFGate just posted their official review of the place. And as much as I don’t really like the new outside paint job, and I miss the comfort food of the Last Supper Club circa 2004, Beretta sounds pretty tasty. I am generally indifferent to fancy pizza, because the only fancy pizza worth eating is at Tommaso’s, but on these warm nights, a margherita and a cocktail sounds divine. Also, if people were truly eating dinner at 1:21am, I’m thinking they might have been chefs/cooks eating after their shifts, and I’m always fascinated with where they choose to go. Was that the case? Should I check it out?

Link to Beretta.

Reader Jeff points us to this just-published SFGate piece about the fine line between edginess and bigotry at what may or may not be a popular Mission bar:

“ID and open your bag,” one of the two guys at the door muttered testily to Ryan. Ryan says he produced his ID, as usual, but was surprised by the bag check — he’d never been asked before. He swung his bag off his shoulder around for an inspection, and inquired whether this was a new policy.

[...]

“Just open your f—— bag, okay?”

“I am. I was just wondering.”

“Just open your f—— bag and don’t give us a hard time.”

“I am opening my bag. I was just asking a question.”

It’s at this point, Ryan says, that the two young men looked at each other, then looked Ryan up and down and proceeded to laugh derisively.

“Dude, look at your pants. Look at your bag,” one of them said. “Obviously this is not your kind of place.”

Link. Jeff says, “A couple of people in the comments section seem to be pointing the finger at Zeitgeist, but it’s hard to tell if that’s right.” Are they right?

More Mission Mission “Bars of the Mission” Coverage:

Zeitgeist Makes Esquire’s Best Bars in America

Dope New Furnishings at Beauty Bar

The Phonebooth Actually Very Pleasant Before Dark

The Attic: Refuge For Displaced Toronado Regulars

The Chronicle Discovers Bender’s

Doc’s Clock Smells Like Bathroom

Even on vacation, we’re always on a Mission mission. Here’s a picture of Allan at the Santa Barbara Mission on Monday afternoon (click to enlarge). In any case, we’ll be in Dolores Park by dusk on the 4th. Think it’ll be different in light of last year?

From the official press release:

OUR NEW VIDEO HAS BEEN HELLA CONTOVERSIAL!!! SOME PEOpLE ARE LIKE, WHY DOES THAT GIRL HAVE A HITLER-stach, other people are like GOD THIS IS TOO PORNY and other people are just GOD THOSE ROOMS LOOK SO DIRTY. Judge for yourself.

Judge for yourself.

Link to the Passionistas on Wikipedia.

Due to poor drainage, leaded paint, and other public safety issues raised by concerned parents, the Dolores Park Playground is set to be renovated. Meetings have been held and there are more to come. They’re talking about fences and barriers and all kinds of safe stuff. Reports The Snitch:

It’s up to the community to decide how harmonious or isolating the new monkey bars will shape up to be. The third and final meeting is set for the end of August, with construction slated for spring 2009.

Link. So take pictures of the crusty old relic while you still can, and maybe try to get War Mongers Diner to work up a version of Don’t Fence Me In for the end of August.

Photo of Dolores Park Pool by Amy Hammond.

Elizabeth‘s latest post got us thinking. An acquaintance hipped her to a bygone era along everybody’s favorite Mission corridor:

[S]o haunting was the number of women-run, women-only businesses and projects she referred to, up and down Valencia Street. They are all gone now. Old Wives’ Tales bookstore, a woman-only bar where the Elbo Room is now [...] A women-only restaurant where Radio Valencia used to be. A women’s newspaper.

Link. How exactly does a women-only restaurant (or bar) work? Maybe this era is bygone because it’s not legal. Anybody remember any of this stuff?

Elbo Room photo by kewlio.

A couple weeks ago, there was some dispute as to whether Muni’s 67 (serving Bernal Heights from 24th and Mission) could be as entertaining as some of the other buses that run on Mission Street. On Friday, TK had an experience that just might further the controversy:

So there’s a 67 bus stopped there at the stop. Just as I get there, a cop car pulls up and the 2 cops get out and get on the bus. Then a Muni supervisor-type arrives and gets on too. Obvs. everyone standing around is staring at the bus trying to figure out what’s going on.

The cops come out with a little guy who’s wasted. I mean, he was fucked up. I love this – he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. WOO-HOO! LET’S PARTY!!

See how it all ends here.

Photo by Octoferret.