Conquering Setbacks, Petite Lil’s Lights Up Legendary ‘Washbag’ Space Like all things, neighborhoods are subject to cycles. They wax and wane; businesses come and go, and within a matter of a few years, yesterday’s sleepiest corner can morph into today’s hottest new destination. As one of San Francisco’s original … Read the rest
Tony Gemignani Dishes On His Flagship, Franchising—and Opening In LA The last few years have brought a lot of changes to the city, to say the least. While many neighborhoods have been hollowed out by the harsh economics of post-Covid SF, North Beach has been remarkably resilient. Thanks in part … Read the rest
Former Nature Stop Owner Brings Elena Mediterranean To North Beach As North Beach cruises through the end of another Indian Summer, it’s hard not to feel grateful to be here. We’ve experienced a return to form in recent days, with a flurry of new restaurant and bar openings that shows … Read the rest
A True One-Man Kitchen: Chef Eddy Bonilla’s La Fusion Through all of its ups and downs, San Francisco continues to be a food city, and there’s no sign that’s about to change. There are an awful lot of good chefs out there, and it’s been my pleasure to know … Read the rest
Burrito Justice: El Farolito Finally Opens In North Beach San Francisco has been a food town since its early years, and to this day it remains one of the most gastronomically obsessed cities in America. The numbers tell the story: according to the most recent estimates, San Francisco has … Read the rest
Popular SF Taqueria To Open First Mexican Wine Bar In The US Everyone has an opinion about Yelp, it seems. I understand the criticism: the platform is overloaded with inane reviews, and negotiating the mudslingers definitely requires a critical eye. But there’s also a very good reason the website has remained … Read the rest
What’s New At Tony’s Pizza Napoletana? So Glad You Asked After a decade and a half as a North Beach resident, you can imagine I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. And in a neighborhood like ours, that of course goes for bars and restaurants as well; after … Read the rest
One-Man Kitchen: La Fusión Shines In San Francisco’s FiDi When Eduardo Bonilla opened La Fusión in San Francisco ten years ago, he was coming off a fifteen year stint at Zuni Café, Judy Rodgers’ venerated Market Street eatery. It would be his first restaurant, and here the chef … Read the rest
More To Love: Four New Pizzas At Tony’s Pizza Napoletana There are a lot of good things about North Beach, and as regular readers know, I spend a fair amount of time enumerating the neighborhood’s virtues here on the blog. I’ve been here for a decade and a half now, … Read the rest
People’s Choice: Sotto Mare Number One On Yelp In San Francisco In 2007, roughly one year after I moved to North Beach from Lower Manhattan, Sotto Mare opened its doors on Green Street. They chose a busy location, directly between the street’s two most storied watering holes, Gino & Carlo and … Read the rest