San Francisco and what to do in it

Independent is 6 blocks from my house. You guys win.

yes, Independent lacking personality.

for big venues/good sound i tend to enjoy the dna lounge

Bimbo's is SWEET. great sound, wooden ballroom dancefloor, fabulous decor, old school mobster history, classy bartenders.

however I am creeped out that they still pay old black guys to hand out towels in the bathrooms.

when are you in town/what are you thinking of seeing...?

used to be totally awesome when it was Brother-in-Laws, but it changed hands (and names) recently and I haven't tried it yet.

It's called Lilly's now and as I understand it's still (roughly) in the same family. Still good, too.

man I don't think I've been in the DNA Lounge in like almost 10 years (I met Shock G there once so CLASSIC)

I think I'd go there more if I hadn't completely given up on live hip-hop.

There's a bartender at the bar on the terraces behind the main floor at Bimbo's (his name escapes me right now) who does the most amazing caricatures of the performers on the stage.

Brother-In-Laws was one health code after another. I like Memphis Minnies, but I guess there are crazy people who don't.

health code VIOLATION, ahem

I'm used to my favorite restaurants having health code violations. doesn't bother me since I have STOMACH OF STEEL

Memphis Minnies is too vinegary/sweet for me, though they DO have some good stuff there.

Tu Lan, Shakey?

Well Brother-In-Laws for a while had the lowest health rating in the city so it was a bit adventurous eating there (seriously it was LOW LOW LOW.) Admittedly I never got sick, but I also never ate there again after I found that out.

shakey, dna lounge has great metal shows too! i saw SKELETON WITCH there.

My favorite memory of Brother-in-Laws was getting a big spread for about seven people and then we all watched 'Shaun of the Dead'. It makes for an excellent accompaniment to zombie flicks.

wow i thought dna lounge was just a danceclub these days. only time i saw a show there was like 7 years ago long before i moved here.

the misfits (sic) recently played dna... lol.

Yeah they still seem to book the odd live show at DNA. I saw Gwar there in recent memory, and am horribly tempted by the Information Society reunion in the next week or so.

I always had the impression that the Independent was pretty much 100% booked by Another Planet these days, which kinda explains for their all-over-the-mappedness.

Re Memphis Minnies: I very much miss their brunch.

I tried Memphis Minnie's a few months ago (that stupid sign put me off of it for years) - it was allright.

other restuarants with horrible records I have enjoyed: yes Tu Lan, Pakwan, any number of Taquerias (El Tonayense taco truck!), Zante's doesn't look too clean...

what I really miss in this town is some good southern/creole/cajun cooking - RIP Crescent City

is it retarted that i was just in SF like 3 months ago and already want to go back ASAP for fun and ridiculousness?

Have you been to Brenda's, Shakey?

Nope. It's totally normal.

Has anybody eaten at Elite Cafe recently?

what is this Brenda's... the last new cajun/creole place I tried was that overpriced tourist atrocity on Broadway (Andrew Jaeger's I think...?) The food was okay but everything else about it sucked ass.

Brenda's website:

http://www.frenchsoulfood.com/home.htm

I should probably refrain from getting my hopes up about restaurants, seeing as how I'm not going to be eating in one for god knows how many months

I've never eaten at the Elite Cafe.

I have but ages ago and as I recall, they got a new chef/makeover not long ago. Classy joint for a drink early; later the Pac Heighters and Fillmore scum make it nigh unbearable.

yeah, I never go to the Fillmore

I do when I'm going to the Clay. Btw, I went to 1300 a couple of weeks ago. Good food.

Btw The Kabuki Theatre has been ROBERTREDFORD-ized and has become the Sundance Theatre. Theres TWO bars in there now and you can drink in the movies! My friend is a bartender there and got me faded. Its totally cool. Good menu too. I had the Coca Cola ribs.

Yeah, I want to check it out.

yeah new Kabuki gets the thumbs up from me - so much better than how it used to be! Altho I haven't got to try the bars yet, lookin forward to it.

if yosh is your bartender tell her chaki sent ya! she'll hook you up!

I saw There Will Be Blood there. It looked nice.

we saw I'm Not There there, bars/restaurant weren't open yet.

Bar Crudo was really good and had a great Belgium beer selection (lol)

The s'mores fondue-esque dessert at LunaPark is a beautiful thing...

Ha! I've arm-wrestled a machine that arm-wrestled Chaki!

Kabuki looks nice but 3$ fee on weekends = MAJOR DUD.

you're paying for the privilege of mixing it up with PH crowd.

pls explain $3 fee?

this is how it's explained on the website:

"Every seat for every show is sold on a reserved seating basis. Tickets are available for purchase either on the web with print at home capability, at the ticketing kiosks or at the box office. We feel that offering this service relieves some of the stress of planning a trip to the movies, plus you get to choose your very favorite seat every time!
You have a choice as to when and if you need to pay for your reserved seat. There is no amenities fee Monday through Thursday for the first show time. After that, as the day progresses towards the evening 'prime shows', the amenities fee is anywhere from $1.00 up to $3.00. We're presenting a first class experience, with a state of the art theatre, no annoying television commercials, free internet wi-fi and real butter on our popcorn."

when we went to the counter last weekend and asked about it, we were told it was to offset the costs of 'running a completely green theater'. my gf was like 'oh, so you guys are off the grid and have solar panels on the roof?' and the agent was like 'erm, no...the floor you're standing on is made of recycled materials...' and we thought - 'wait a minute, we used to come here all the time and there was a perfectly good floor here - is he telling us that they removed the floor (and presumably junked it) and replaced it with a new one so they could charge us more for movies?'

they also explain it away by saying

- you can reserve your seats in advance
- they spent a lot of money on refurbishing the theater
- no commercials before the movie
- umm that's it

MAJOR DUD imo. so lame.

its a fancy theater, they charge more - what's the mystery

that is very, very strange!

but i like the reserved seating option, that's how they do it in other countries.

I think it's stupid. Nothing is dumber than trying to find your exact seat in a dark theater.

Plus it makes it harder to sneak into theaters at multiplexes.

this thread seems busier than the one in ILM. what should I do on the night of Saturday January 26? where do I get SF listings?

Flavorpill is pretty good. Also pick a copy of the Guardian.

going on a whirlwind jaunt to bay area for president's day wknd! dinner at chez panisse (the cafe upstairs, not the OG restaurant, which despite its place in the canon is a little steep for our budgets). amoeba! what else?

me and some other cool bands are playin a show Sun Feb 17th at the Hemlock if yr so inclined