The Chatterbox

The Rulli team is going to be expanding their presence at Union Square with BANCARELLA, a “little brother” to their Marina restaurant, Ristobar. Bancarella is opening (hopefully on Monday December 17th) in the Powell Street Pavilion on top of Union Square at Geary and Powell, directly across from St. Francis…

Dear God, after lamenting for years that all Rainbow Grocery needed was for someone to open a butcher shop next door, finally someone has done it. Well, four blocks away anyway. And not just anyone, but Ryan Farr of 4505 MEATS. The butcher shop will feature a variety of raw…

Some details have been released on chef-owner Jon Hearnsberger’s project opening in the former Luna space in the Castro. After some delays (you know, the usual: the ABC, construction issues with a 100-year-old building), it looks like construction is wrapping up! The new project is going to be called…

As previously reported on tablehopper, Shane LaValley and James Moisey of Broken Record have struck out on their own and are opening a new spot in the Lower Haight. It’s called RICKYBOBBY, and they’ll be opening their doors Wednesday December 12th (yeah, that’s 12-12-12) at 5:30pm.…

Looks like 2298 Fillmore Street (most recently Long Bar) is going to reopen, according to some liquor license activity. Owners Albert and Klaus Rainer (of Leopold’s in Russian Hill and the former Cafe Metropol downtown) are going to be opening a tavern, according to Inside Scoop—and how handy,…

Some interesting news at the former Roosevelt Tamale Parlor (now known as THE ROOSEVELT): Grub Street followed up on some license activity and has an informative post about the new owners, Aaron Presbrey and chef Barry Moore (previously head chef at Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack). The duo took over November…

There are three new Japanese restaurants opening around the city, and in a funny twist, they all have the same architect-designer: Alan Tse. First, Eater reports on a new Japanese hot pot spot coming to the Inner Sunset called NABE (as in nabemono). Sounds like there will be some quality…

The Bernal Heights pop-up HILLSIDE SUPPER CLUB is about to go full scale. Owners Tony Ferrari and Jonathan Sutton have been popping up at Caffe Cozzolino for almost a year now, and after  a successful Kickstarter campaign, they wrote in to let us know they’ve signed a lease on…

Central American fried chicken chain POLLO CAMPERO is now open in the Mission. They opened Monday December 10th, and will be open daily from 10am-10pm serving Latin-style fried and grilled chicken, plus a bunch of sides like yuca fries, plantains, rice and beans, and empanadas. For a look at the…

A tasty Chinatown tidbit: Chowhound reports the flagship store of LITTLE PARIS (well known locally for its banh mi) has reopened in its new location after being displaced by the future Central Subway Chinatown Station (it was the first Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown and was in its original location for…