Food & Drink
The newsletter of good living
‘Gourmet’ magazine, the arbiter and embodiment of the good life until it folded in 2009, is back as a scrappy worker-owned media venture
Toxic mushroom ‘super bloom’ brings death count to 3
California health officials have ramped up their messaging amid the deadliest mushroom season in decades
Hazie’s bartender fired after viral incident
Miguel Marchese was terminated from his position over email on Saturday
Five favorite food moments of 2025
A short list of what I ate up in the world of food this year
Server farm to table
AI-generated images are rising in popularity on delivery apps and menus across SF. How far will we take this race to the bottom in food photography?
The fight for Julie’s Kitchen
Facing eviction, the owners of the popular Crocker Galleria lunch spot want to take their landlord to trial
La Cigale is Fire
The multicourse dinner at Glen Park’s newest hot spot is cooked over a wood-burning grill
The Hazie’s bartender attacked by a customer is just happy it was caught on video
Inside the hectic, viral incident at a Hayes Valley restaurant this past weekend
Drinking Companion: A small bar with a big heart
Horsies Market & Saloon may be as snug as a sloop, by my, is it yar
‘If you’re not educated enough, there’s real danger’
As the Department of Health advises against foraging, professional mushroom-hunters share tips on picking safely
A very Gazetteer gift guide
For all you last minute shoppers, here’s a list of the best gifts to give the people you love. And Elon Musk
Smoky meat treats
Bar Tanuki’s yakitori is grilled perfection that rivals Japan’s best
Deep cut
Tariffs be damned, Bernal Cutlery and Flour + Water take an artisan spin on the pizza wheel
Tierra Vegetables wants to buy the farm
Even as they plan for retirement, the beloved sibling farmers are racing to secure the land they’ve cultivated for two decades
Jollibee Watch, November 21, 2025: A very unofficial look inside
Someone got inside the downtown SF Jollibee’s and gave us a first look, but there’s still no word on an official opening date
My sad lunch at the San Francisco Centre
A final meal where brick and mortar went to die
Tempest in a red cup
As the CEO of Starbucks takes home 6,666 times the salary of his average worker, baristas in the Bay Area and beyond are going on strike
The searchers
Off the beaten path with Bryan Jessop, the forager supplying San Francisco’s Michelin-star restaurants
Waiting for Danko
Tastes have changed a lot since 1999, but Gary Danko and his Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant have not. That’s a good thing. A very good thing
City, Crankstart to fund SNAP benefits through month of November
A $9 million reserve fund allocation from the city is being matched by billionaire’s foundation
Leticia Landa still gets goosebumps
After winning a prestigious award, La Cocina’s executive director reflects on her career at the culinary incubator
San Francisco’s Leticia Landa wins ‘Nobel of Gastronomy’
Executive director of La Cocina has been recognized for her work at the Bay Area culinary incubator
Tacolicious closes Noe Valley location
The Bay Area Mexican mini-chain has shuttered its 24th Street restaurant after two years
If these walls could talk
With an Instagram account you can practically smell, Brooke Janser documents the noble rot of San Francisco dive bar bathrooms
Pay to play
'Relationships company' 222 wants to solve the loneliness problem with an algorithm
Have Porto’s, will travel
Meet the guy selling LA’s favorite Cuban pastries out of his trunk in the Bay Area
Bake off
Ganache guerillas are cutting into the Legion of Honor’s cake conclave. Attracting hundreds of fellow fondant fans is just the icing on top
Hamburgers are the new handrolls
After a rocky start to the year, smash burger joint Hamburger Project is doubling down
It’s Broke-Ass Stuart’s city, we just live in it
The scrappy nightlife mascot on his new book, falling in and out of love with San Francisco, and why he can’t quit MS Word
Jollibee Watch, October 10, 2025: We have windows!
Finally, something to press our faces into as we await Market Street’s highly-anticipated fast food spot
Trick or treat?
A hundred-deep line on 4th St. for limited-edition Trader Joe’s Halloween tote
Ryan Shelton’s world of pure imagination
A visit to Merchant Roots for a glimpse into the creative process of the city’s wildest dining artisan
Verve Coffee workers vote to unionize
Employees at three NorCal locations don’t think health benefits is a tall order
The prime of Mr. Joe Betz
Steak chefs across the city share their tenderest feelings for House of Prime Rib and its beloved owner
Dig this shin
Made with a meaty master stock, the braised beef shin at Happy Crane in Hayes Valley is rich yet somehow light and refreshing
Tacos Oscar teases SF location
Incredible fact: the beloved Oakland eatery is eyeing a Western expansion
Paved with good intentions
After the removal of a controversial center bike lane, hopes and sales are up on Valencia
Ahmad Alhawwash considers Foreign Cinema an educational institution
The iconic Mission restaurant’s chef-de-cuisine works long days but still finds time for endurance rides and dinner with mom
Testing the waters
Is an upcoming ‘water tasting’ an extremely dry practical joke, or is something cooler bubbling up?
Flour & Branch sued by landlord
The buzzy brunch spot near Oracle Park is behind on rent
Holy ‘mole
In a Bernal backyard, a not-so-secret society worshipped at the altar of the sublime shareable
Jollibee Watch, September 12, 2025: We have a door
The soon-to-open Filipino fast food place on Market Street now has something for hungry fans to beat down
Counter intuition
To create truly haimish deli cocktails, a mixologist combined old world flavors with modern technology
Fiber optics
Feeling logy after months of proteinmaxxing? You may wanna sit down: now it’s all about fibermaxxing
The theory of everything bagels
As local critics subject the world’s most perfect grab-and-go breakfast to blind taste tests, we’re losing the whole point
Jenny Sharaf is constantly painting in her head
The San Francisco artist’s work can be found at The Progress, Californios, noma, and everywhere else you long to dine
We like them tomatoes
As another Tomato Week comes to an end, growers, chefs, and diners can’t get enough
Performative males didn’t do much for matcha sales
The city’s most aesthetic matcha shop had no idea its bright green drinks were signifiers for a new brand of maleness
Late night with Early Girls
The hottest way to enjoy a fresh tomato is in a cold drink
Some pig
San Francisco companies are creating cell-cultivated meats. Is this the future of nutrition for a hungry planet, or another Impossible dream?
A lasagna that contains multitudes
Tasting a dish that layers in culture, history, and flavor at Menlo Park’s Yeobo, Darling
Neither fish nor fowl
A fishtech company and an omakase spot want to cultivate diners with vat-to-table salmon
Reports of Domo’s death have been greatly exaggerated
Contrary to internet chatter, an influencer-shamed chef’s other restaurant remains open
Cleaning up after Yelp brigades
How the recommendations platform corrects the record for businesses targeted by negative reviewers
From ‘one cup at a time’ to $145 million in 22 years
Is a mega sale the bitter end of the Philz story, or is it a shot at a new beginning?
The low key Pakistani restaurant beloved by an MMA champion
From the remote, mountainous region in Russia where he trains, Khabib Nurmagomedov dreams of Tenderloin’s Chutney
Welcome to savor country
Get your hands on the pillowy, flavorful chole bhature at Jalebi Street
Nothing burger
In-N-Out’s billionaire owner serves up another steaming patty of culture-war red meat
Midnight at Oasis
At a tribute show for the late Heklina, friends and fans also mourn the end of a drag haven
Where the wild plums are
Nothing compares to the plum boom that unfolds in Bay Area yards, garden paths, hiking trails and hillsides
Christopher Renfro wants more time
How the shop owner and winemaker behind Two-Eighty Project blends wine, nature, music, and loved ones
A pizza place where the Dead lives
The Grateful Dead is baked deep into Dogpatch’s Long Bridge Pizza
The recession-core burger
Super Duper’s $10 ‘recession burger’ is an accidental smash hit
Starring roll
The humble English muffin is getting its due at Leadbetter’s in the Castro
The snappiest sausage in the Bay
It takes three days for pitmaster Russell Savage to make Pico’s BBQ’s perfect sausages. It’ll take you seconds to devour them
Chat and Chew: Come hungry and enjoy delicious dishes at Chat Room: Food
My Friend Fernando, Good Luck Bakery, and Plus One will be hawking their wares
Megan Walker wants you to try an anchovy sundae
State Bird Provisions’ general manager loves her team, a good burger, and her sassy dog Lucy
Chef’s Roundtable: Surviving hype cycles and cooking in the spotlight
Four of San Francisco’s most influential chefs to talk about longevity, evolution, and staying creative
Harrison Cheney wants to dine with Michael Caine
The Sons & Daughters executive chef on Michelin stars, fish & chips, and a dirty rotten scoundrel
Let’s get this cheese bread
Should you order Osso’s decadent, sizzling housemade loaf served with tons of cheese that bubbles like a cauldron? Yes, you definitely should
Eric Ehler, Alexis Rorabaugh, and Craig Stoll to join pizza panel at Chat Room: Food
The world’s most perfect food gets the panel it deserves
Meet Miguel Castro, the man who literally built La Cocina
The maintenance man at iconic community kitchen dishes on the day-to-day of his job and where to get the best pupusas in SF
Turtle Tower’s stir fried pho is the unsung menu hero that can cure any hangover
The pro move at this resurrected Northern Vietnamese pioneer involves adding wok hei to your broth
A hyped Cake Picnic sold out in one minute. Excluded bakers are throwing their own parties.
‘It was easier to get tickets to see Taylor Swift than the Picnic’
Hedge Coffee is brewing up a cafe and roastery over on Shotwell Street
The coffee company got its start at a mobile coffee cart 10 years ago
An SF food reviewer asks: Is a place ‘worth the hype or do just white people like it?’
Amber Richele is going TikTok viral for her honest takes on San Francisco’s hottest spots
Do Park Rangers really need to be fingerprinting hot dog vendors?
Amid a terrifying national deportation crisis, San Francisco is still trying to crack down on immigrant vendors, to little avail
Saying goodbye (temporarily?) to Sam Wo, a Chinatown institution
The beloved little restaurant, which first opened around 1912, is losing its chef-owner after four decades
A humble church cookbook from Stockton defined Cantonese home cooking for a generation
The St. Mark’s cookbook, first published in 1966 to raise funds for a Methodist church in the Central Valley, remains a cult classic across California
Activist group exposes lax enforcement of animal cruelty laws at San Francisco’s live animal markets
A San Francisco Animal Care and Control representative told Gazetteer SF they don’t have the resources or authority for proactive policing
I can’t stop thinking about this local news anchor’s pizza meatloaf
KGO-TV anchor Dion Lim knows the dish she posted to Facebook doesn’t look appetizing, but says it tasted damn good
Acclaimed Hamburger Project chef steps down after haranguing influencer over TikTok review
Geoffrey Lee, the celebrated head chef of Hamburger Project, is at the center of an online firestorm after his response to a TikTok influencer’s review of the place
SF’s only Cheesecake Factory proves one thing: Union Square isn’t (quite) dead
The masses are lining up at Macy’s to eat at a corporate franchise — and it’s almost worth the wait
SF’s best-kept dining secret is at a SoMa strip club
Gold Club is famous for their chicken — but absolutely do not sleep on the $15.99 prime rib
Want the city’s best noodles? Head for the Tenderloin
The much-maligned neighborhood remains a hotbed of brilliant Asian cuisine — especially at Zen Yai, where boat noodles reign supreme
A brief goodbye to a killer Japanese happy hour
The Fillmore izakaya Nono is closing after Dec. 1, with plans to reopen a block away in February
The Mission’s Little Spot Cafe to close in about a week
Owner Ken Kurita blames his landlord for the closure, among other stresses on the small business
An ode to Tommy’s Joynt, the city’s paragon of gloriously okay food
San Francisco’s oldest hofbrau has made its humble home on Geary Boulevard since 1947. Here’s hoping it never changes
Beloved abroad, coffee omakase is poised to sweep Bay Area cafes
This summer, at least three local shops have launched intimate, multi-course coffee tastings, paired with snacks
One of SF’s most beloved food critics is a 75-year-old Facebook poster
Albert Cheng may not have a big publication behind him, but he’s been quietly influencing the city’s food scene for decades
The City’s most ‘Bomb-Azz’ tacos are sold from a Mission District garage
Luis Gutierrez is the latest in a dynasty of Mexican restaurant proprietors to discover the joy of feeding people
Meet the venture capitalist giving away artisanal coffee from his Bernal Heights garage
Yummy Coffee is a monthly pop-up slinging free drinks made on machines that cost as much as a Vespa
Can Hulu Wa break the Castro’s retail curse?
Family-owned Chinese bistro struggling despite great food, in storefront that’s seen high turnover