Mission Mission

After a long absence from San Francisco, Pal’s is back!!! Every Friday at this place Birba, which is an acclaimed but modest little neighborhood wine bar full of nice people and plenty of places to sit and scarf a big ol’ Pal’s sandwich.

And despite the long absence, the sandwiches are just as we remember them — big and richchateau gonflable and full of character and freshness and fun flavors and textures. (And when we went a couple Fridays back, the menu was very familiar — 4 or 5 sandwiches to choose from, including that legendary Lao sausage.)

It’s 11:30am to 3ish, every Friday now. Birba is in Hayes Valley, yes, but think of it more like a 5-minute bike ride from Zeitgeist:

Here are a couple more closeups, courtesy of the Pal’s Take Away Instagram, to help warm up your tastebuds:

[Map by Google]

First attempt:

And another one, after the hint that the trick to it has something to with the circles:

And then after giving up and looking at a picture of him for a sec:

Now please enjoy these other posts about Garfield…

Walked into Zeitgeist: guy to my left asks for a Ketel + soda, guy to my right asks me for the wifi password. San Francisco in 2016.

— Luke Spray (@lukespray) July 14, 2016

That being said, follow us on Facebook if you like

And please enjoy all these old posts involving Facebook, especially the one about Zeitgeist closing…

Our own Ariel Dovas has made a startling discovery.

Here’s a drawing he did in 2006:

Read on for the 2015 version.

Normally DT&D tries to take the guess work out of going to theatre in the Bay Area by providing brutally honest reviews of the shows we see. But we also don’t want you to miss out on what might be a very cool show, just because we haven’t had the chance to review it yet!

With only a two day run of Moments From The Bubble, Or: How The [Google] Bus Stops Here, a playwright-driven community action project created in collaboration with Z Space and the 1 Minute Play Festival, there’s no way we’d be able to review show before the run is over. Given what is currently happening in San Francisco (and even more rapidly the Mission), we thought you might want to see it anyway without our official endorsement.  To help inform your decision here are more details from the event description:

The drastic changes happening to the neighborhoods and communities in the Bay Area is quite staggering. I don’t think the national zeitgeist quite understands what’s happening here. San Francisco is becoming the most expensive city in the world, and it’s at the expense of everyone and everything that makes is special”, says 1MPF Producing Artistic Director, Dominic D’Andrea. Stressing that the work is designed a social “barometer” project to unearth connections in the zeitgeist via themes, ideas, and trends, D’Andrea says, “When we did our annual festival in partnership with playwrights foundation over the past two years, the topic of gentrification was so charged, so present, so immense, that we decided to come back to make an entire other project dedicated to digging into these topics, and what it means for the community. This is our artistic response to what’s happening. It’s part play festival, and part community action.

If that sounds as interesting to you as it did to us, you can check out Moments From The Bubble, Or: How The [Google] Bus Stops Here, this Saturday June 27^th at 8PM and Sunday June 28^th at 3PM and 7:30PM at Z Below (470 Florida Ave).  Tickets are $20 and available for purchase at http://zspace.org/new-work

We’re going Saturday night, so if you see us, say “hi!” Or if that’s too weird, just let us know what you thought of the show in the comments. Hope to see you at the theatre!

We were surprised and bummed to hear that our pals over at the Bold Italic suddenly closed up shop, but it was heartening to see that even the bartenders at Zeitgeist, typically known for their gruff demeanor, felt the urge to usher them off on their unplanned vacation with this nice little treat.

[Photo by Lauryn]

We asked our buddy Eric, who’s been spending a lot of time at the new spot, to tell us all about  it:

First off, the City of San Francisco started dialogue about this park, going back as far as 2008. It was a project to help “brighten up” the dismal setting that is the Mission/Duboce underpass. However, the economy tanked, and fun projects like this were left in limbo.

Fast forward to July 2014. The park is open, skateboarding fever is in the air, and everyone is looking good in their new Benny Gold hat.

The park was designed to be a “skate plaza” of sorts. Instead of an eyesore of brown ramps, steel quarter pipes, and oversized handrails, the designers of this park used old San Francisco spots as their muse. Any SF OG will notice the throwbacks, and maybe some of the new kids will notice the 3 up/3 down that famously lives right down the street (and is still skateable).

The park does have a bit of something for everyone, but honestly, if you don’t know how to skate, don’t go there at peak hours. Here are a few tips:

-New to skating? Go in the morning. The park opens up at 9, but you’ll find people hopping the fence as early as 7. It’s not that tall, and is worth getting a ticket.

-Veteran skater looking to get back into it? Go in the morning during the week, or the evenings on Saturday. Pretty much all of the evenings have been chill.

-Blind spots. At peak hours there are tons of blind spots. Prepare to run into someone. Just make sure and be hella polite.

-Cheer! When someone does something super sick, make sure you’re supporting.

-Need to piss? There aren’t any public port-0-johns in the area, but people are asking the City for them. Try Cash N’ Carry on Van Ness, Zeitgeist, or Rice Paper Scissors at Brick and Mortar Music Hall (make sure to order a banh mi!).

-How to get there? In the evenings there is ample parking all over the neighborhood. Just make sure that your shit isn’t visible in the car after you park. Also, the whole area is flat, just skate there!

-The local kids will fuck with you. Don’t be dumb, just skate. This is a skatepark, there will be fights, cops, etc. Just be prepared to run, no matter who you are, or how old.

-Lastly, if there are any people reading this who ride an electric skateboard and think it would be “neat” to ride around… Please stay far away from the skatepark. You will get harassed and your shit will get stolen. No lie.

I encourage anyone who has ever loved skateboarding to try this park out. It is beautiful, well designed, and conveniently located. My favorite thing in the world is to grab some brunch/lunch at Rice Paper Scissors (inside Brick and Mortar), skate over to the park, shred for a bit, then roll over to Zeitgeist. It’s like a match made in heaven. See you out there.

10/10 A+ Gold Star Yay!

Yay! Oh and here’s Eric’s bio:

*eric ehler is a has-been skater. after dedicating his ankles to pushing for 10 years, he decided to go to culinary school and become a chef. after a 6 year hiatus from skating, he’s been back at it for the past few years. when he’s not cooking, he’s skating 3rd and army, eating chinese food, or creeping around the new park.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Turns out it’s a big bummer when you hop the fence during off hours.

[Photo by Dale Thorn]

5+ years ago was the first time we heard about this project. Today it opened!

[via SF Department of Public Works on Twitter]

Just chillin’ in fronta Zeitgeist.

[Photo by Kevin Woodruff]