The Chatterbox

There are quite a few switcheroos we’re going to report here, I hope you’ve had your coffee. First up, Pete Mrabe will be moving PISTO’S TACOS in North Beach to the former Mas Sake space (2030 Lombard Street at Webster) in three to six months, and in…

Over in the Marina, we noticed last month some ABC activity for the closed THE REPUBLIC sports bar space, which listed former Fog City chef Erik Lowe and pastry chef Aaron Toensing (who are also both Bix veterans). We reached out for more details, but they spoke with the Scoop…

Back in October, we broke the news that Melissa Perello (Frances) was taking over the former Baker & Banker space, and now we have learned the name of this new project: OCTAVIA. Additional details (for now): the style of food will be similar to Frances, Perello is having Paul Einbund…

After running the kitchen at ~SLOW CLUB~ since 2008, chef Matt Paul has stepped down. The parting is amicable, according to a note from the restaurant. In his place, two chefs from Slow Club’s kitchen have been promoted, Max Bauer and Marco Pool. Bauer has been the sous chef…

On our gloriously sunny Sunday this past weekend, I was happy to hop in my car and scoot over to ALL GOOD PIZZA in Bayview, where you can now find another player in our locally made bagel scene: Earl’s Bread (you can read about other locally made bagels in…

On Sunday February 22nd, enjoy (another hopefully) sunny afternoon in Dogpatch at ~PICCINO~’s annual oyster party. Beginning at 11am, they’ll be serving oysters both raw and barbecued, all from Two X Sea. There will also be lots of rosé available by the glass. Oysters will be available from…

The ramen takeover continues, with the news from Scoop that Kyle Itani of Hopscotch is opening a ramen offshoot called ITANI RAMEN later this year. Itani only just signed the lease, though it won’t be opening until fall at the earliest. Once they do, you can expect a small…

There’s a massive new project on Market Street from Japanese company Ramla, called GINTO IZAKAYA JAPONAISE. Eater reports that the restaurant corporation currently has more than 100 eateries around the world. This it their first outpost of the Ginto concept in the United States, though their Oto-Oto and Gyoro-Gyoro…

After six months of being closed for remodeling, I’m happy to report ~FIVE HAPPINESS~ has reopened. (Every time I’d drive by, I was looking to see if they were open yet.) The Shanghainese/Taiwanese restaurant has been open since 1975, and genial owner Bill Yang says they’re…

Tablehopper intern Rebecca Kinney caught the news that there is a new banh mi shop in the Tenderloin, called L&G VIETNAMESE SANDWICH. It just opened on January 29th, and she reports that the service is friendly, the vegetables fresh and crisp, and the interior space is clean. A…