This weekend is the 10th Outside Lands, and as of now, single-day tickets are still available (they’re anticipating a sellout later this week, so snag tickets while you can).
There are an impressive 81 restaurants, 41 wineries, 30 breweries, and 6 cocktail bars in all this year! Here are some new restaurant partners on my to-visit list: Tartine Manufactory with morning buns and toasted mortadella hoagies (!!), Dabba (so tasty, check out their “ethnic confusion” burritos), spicy fried chicken sandwiches from Sorrel, Shanghai lumpia from FOB Kitchen, slices of deep-dish pizza from Little Star, Marlowe’s bacon burgers (thanks to this year’s food curator Anna Weinberg), and Black Cat’s lamb burgers. You can warm up with jambalaya (or gumbo!) from Alba Ray’s when Karl the Fog is hanging around too much, and I’m sure Fearless Coffee’s olive oil-fried egg sandwiches will come in handy one hungover morning. Ditto doughnuts from Johnny Doughnuts (coming to Hayes Valley over Labor Day!) and coffee from the Lady Falcon Coffee Club (mmmm, mochas with Mexican vanilla whipped cream). And Humphry Slocombe is serving Secret Breakfast Sundaes and Bourbon Coke Floats.
Of course there are some OSL classics like fried chicken and waffles from Little Skillet, chicken curry nachos and lamb sloppy joes (so good) from Azalina’s, porcini doughnuts from Rich Table (bring on the raclette!), momos from Bini’s Kitchen, and then Stones Throw is making monkey-bread chicken Parm melts and Italian-style tater tots that sound wicked (last year’s meatball sandwich was a winner, so I am all over that Parm). Ramen from Itani Ramen will warm you up (and I plan to check out their fried chicken gyoza at Wine Lands), while crab rolls from Fine & Rare and pastrami cheese fries from Wise Sons Deli will fill you up and give you energy to walk and dance all over the park. Don’t forget Outside Clams! I love the OSL puns. LOL.
Check out the GastroMagic lineup here, known for Big Freedia and her troupe bouncin’ and twerkin’ for beignets, plus Action Bronson, Jarobi White of A Tribe Called Quest, and Roy Choi all taking the stage with local chefs and restaurants and musicians.
There are a couple of “outside” Outside Lands events going on as well. On Friday August 11th, Off the Grid: Fort Mason Center is doing an Inside-Out Lands event, with their house band playing some of the festival’s greatest hits, starting at 8pm.
There’s also a Mimosa Lands preparty on Saturday August 12th at THE DORIAN from 12pm-6pm, with brunch, $20 endless mimosas (12:30pm-3pm), music by Foreign Language, and $10 bus rides via Chariot to the festival grounds (must prepurchase ticket; the last remaining pickups at The Dorian are at 4:30pm). 2001 Chestnut St. at Fillmore, 415-814-2671.
Whoa, was there something in my beer? Nope, Outside Lands always delivers on the trippy lights! Photo: Tom Tomkinson.