If your bartender is your hero, drink in his/her honor at our tasting event.

​Do you love your bartender so much that sometimes you wish you could crawl over the bar and just fix him (or her) a drink? SF Weekly feels your love. On March 10, the Weekly is hosting our second annual DRINK event at the Metreon, and a portion of the proceeds from the event will go to the United States Bartenders' Guild. More >>

Seared diver scallop with foie gras torchon and grilled strawberries

​SFoodie is willing to put ourselves on the line for you. So when we heard Twenty-Five Lusk is offering a 6-course Champagne and strawberry themed menu for $90 -- $60 food, $30 wine pairings -- through Blackboard Eats, we ran over to throw ourselves on that grenade.

​Wine pairing is easy with sparkling wine, which goes with almost anything. That's good for this menu, because fresh strawberries -- and most fresh fruits -- are a challenge for wine. You generally need the wine to be sweeter than whatever you're drinking it with. A dish of fresh strawberries would make the world's best Cabernets taste sour. Try it.

Fortunately, because of the way they're made, almost all bubblies have a little residual sugar, sometimes below the level of perception, but enough to keep their flavor from being ruined by slightly sweet foods.

Thus while sparkling wine isn't usually our first choice with oysters, when Twenty-Five Lusk starts the meal with three oysters with a strawberry verbena Champagne mignonette, we're happy to have a glass of bubbly.

More >>

Yelp/Kenny Y.

​Where: Rainbow Grocery

When: Wednesday, June 8, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Cost: 20 percent off the ENTIRE STORE

The rundown: You know, we can make fun of Rainbow all we want but at the end of the day, places like it are the reason we live in San Francisco. I mean, if we don't stand for a worker-owned co-op with an entirely organic produce section and more Biodynamic wines than you could drown the entire French army in, what do we stand for? So bring us your vegan nacho cheese and your organic herbal Viagra! Bring us your 50 brands of agave and your vegetarian dog food! And give it all to us for 20 percent off, because bitches, we believe in your mission and all, but we're flat broke. Or, we're at least as flat broke as someone who can afford to shop at Rainbow is. Gotta love this city.

Jesse Hirsch

Fifth Floor's Mighty Burger.

​Maybe you've always wanted to try Fifth Floor but thought the price tag was a little prohibitive. Perhaps you're curious about its dreamboat chef, but find menu elements like carrot foam and pastis emulsion a little effete (you're a 'Merican, goshdernit!) Or maybe you just want a damn fine burger, paired with some beer and whiskey.

This weekend SFoodie checked out Fifth Floor's burger, bourbon, and beer deal, served in the bar/lounge area outside the restaurant proper. For a fairly priced $25 (everything is relative), you get a thick patty of ground short rib, chuck, and skirt steak served on a chewy, almost-sweet brioche bun. It's topped with a tangle of cooked onions, bearing light hints of bourbon; crisp, housemade pickles; shredded lettuce; Comté cheese; and smoky pimentón aoli.

More >>

Lou Bustamante

The Cherry Bounce ($10) alone makes it worth a visit.

​We reported last week that Comstock Saloon's offering a meal on the house with the purchase of two full-price drinks Monday through Friday (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.). SFoodie has a hard time resisting the allure of a free lunch, especially one that provides an adequate excuse to enjoy a few cocktails at lunch on a Friday.

First off, we were surprised by the enormous plate. Our large-and-in-charge lunch came with a chopped lettuce salad, roasted potatoes, and a nicely sized hamburger. There was only one condiment -- a hot tomato-soup-like sauce -- and we drenched our whole meal in it. The whole thing was filling, tasty, and of the same high quality chef Carlo Espinas always serves. It wasn't a dumbed-down version of something from the menu -- it was something from the menu. Yesterday's lunch was a pork belly sandwich and today's special is the Hamburg steak, for those who missed it on Friday.

More >>

The Bold Italic/Flickr

​Comstock Saloon fits its odd little corner at Columbus and Kearny so well you might think it's been there since 1907, the year the building was constructed. (A cynic might credit any confusion to the potency of Comstock's drinks, which SFoodie can attest to.) The décor, the food and cocktail menus ― everything fits together so well it's hard to believe Comstock has been around just shy of a year.


Tomorrow ― Friday ― the saloon officially marks its first year with a day of music, $4 shots, $3 Anchor Steam beers, and the revival of a tradition from the Barbary Coast era: free lunch. It was common practice in San Francisco saloons during the 19th century, a patron buying drinks was fed a hot meal as a means to encourage regular visits. As the temperance movement picked up steam, these amenities were blasted as window dressing to disguise saloons' real purpose ― facilitating hard drinking. From most accounts, though, patrons were genuinely interested in the food.

More >>

mycodetrip.com

Nobody can touch Groupon, but smaller companies are being swallowed up.

​Three Knocks, who's there? Nobody, according to the company's website. After barely seven months, this Emeryville-based Groupon-type business has bowed out.

Groupon-style promotions have been controversial for many restaurants who see them as little more than an exercise in giving away free meals, resulting in a decline of dining offers. By contrast, owners of service-based businesses rave about coupons' benefits, though on the customer side, a handful of horror stories has tarnished the industry.

That's no longer a concern for Three Knocks, Inc. CEO and founder Taylor Wang, who gets to cash out from GroopSwoop, which he founded in 2009 (New York-based BuyWithMe acquired the GroopSwoop domain last month). Online daily-deal promotion companies are going through a period of consolidation, as big players with deep pockets are acquiring smaller regional competitors. Chicago-based Groupon leads the pack by far, followed by Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial.

More >>

​

J. Birdsall

The superburger at Super Duper. Consider the lettuce a cape.

​
According to Eater SF, Super Duper Burger in the Castro is celebrating its first anniversary with a burger giveaway. From 2 to 3 this afternoon, the burger shop will be giving out burgers and slices of cake: totally worth skipping lunch for.

On second thought, eat a banana before you go to stave off a low-blood-sugar psychotic break. The giveaway may attract the kinds of crowds that were supposed to amass for Britney.

Super Duper 2304 Market (at 16th St.), 558-8213.

John Birdsall

Sandwich cookies from Sweet Constructions are half-off this week via Yelp.

​Let's hope you didn't give up sugar for Lent. This week Yelp has partnered up with sweets pushers all over the city to brighten your smile (while destroying your teeth). Participating shops, many of them SFoodie favorites, are offering deep discounts on some of their most treasured treats between Mar. 21 and 27. Highlights include half off the irresistible sandwich cookies from Sweet Constructions, half-price shortbread minis at Batter Bakery, and discount pies and pop tarts from Black Jet Baking Company. You can also grab some half-off rugelach for your Purim basket from Noe Valley Bakery (though sadly, the fig bread is full price). Even old-school Cinderella Bakery is part of the action, even if you tend not to think of beef piroshkis as sweets. Check out the full menu at Yelp and you'll be mainlining Mission Minis by the end of the week.