Mission Mission

Here’s the official Mission Mission opening-night review, by Helen Tseng, from way back in November of 2014:

After doing the farmer’s market pop-up thing for years, Richie Nakano is finally opening his long-awaited ramen shop tomorrow. The Hapa Ramen restaurant is located at 2293 Mission Street, in the former 99¢ Depot. As a long-time noodle advocate, I headed over to report from the front lines, armed with a fellow noodle-loving lady.

The opening menu features snacky small plates (ribs, a raw fish tartare, a Korean seafood pancake), steamed buns a la David Chang, and with three types of ramen. The restaurant’s namesake bowl, pictured above, is generously topped with pork slabs, nugs of fried chicken, a poached egg, and seasonal vegetables.

There’s also a full bar and cocktail menu, which includes a gin drink involving Hi-Chew tincture and Hawaiian Punch syrup (above, right) that tastes exactly like a Pixy Stix. The bourbon drink on the left contained banana, black sea salt, and cacao.

Above, two of my favorite things I ate: a savory pile of roasted baby carrots and radishes, and an adorable fried chicken-and-pickle steamed bun that, in the most flattering way possible, reminded me of the classic sandwich from my childhood favorite now-shunned fast food establishment.

Oh, and those in-progress booths we reported on awhile back cleaned up real nice:

[Booth photo by Erin Conger]

P.S. Visit Girls Love Noodles!

Funny to think about how much has changed in the Mission since the heyday of Hapa Ramen, right? Sometimes I miss the old days.

Inside Scoop has the inside scoop on the fall of Hapa here and here and here.

[via Lord Corntard]

Oakland gadfly Ryan Christopher Parks has the scoop:

Thanks to rent woes and new demands from their landlord, they’ve been forced to launch a GoFundMe campaign.

Capp Street Crap reports:

Txutxo Perez, one of the owners of the gallery and performance space between 17th and 18th Streets, said the landlord has agreed to a new 5-year lease with the condition that they first make the necessary upgrades themselves. Perez said he hoped to have started construction this month but now he doesn’t know when it will happen.

As of April 15, Sub-Mission’s rent will also go up by $3,000. The goal of the fundraising campaign is to raise enough money to help Sub-Mission get through at least until the end of April. But Perez said the situation will be dire if the project is at a standstill when May rolls around.

Read on for more story and photos.

The Karaoke Underground is coming to San Francisco for the first time on April 12th. Their karaoke songbook is like nothing you’ve ever seen. Here are 20 songs you can sing at karaoke on April 12th at Rickshaw Stop if you want to:

1. “My Heart Is A Drummer” by Allo Darlin’
2. “Emily Kane” by Art Brut
3. “Bad Kids” by the Black Lips
4. “Drivin’ on 9″ by the Breeders
5. “Lloyd I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken” by Camera Obscura
6. “Girl Anachronism” by the Dresden Dolls
7. “San Francisco” by Foxygen
8. “Arming Eritrea” by Future of the Left
9. “Love Comes in Spurts” by Richard Hell and the Voidoids
10. “The House that Heaven Built” by Japandroids
11. “Boxcar” by Jawbreaker
12. “Mr Your on Fire Mr” by Liars
13. “Strange Powers” by Magnetic Fields
14. “Sackcloth and Ashes” by the Mr. T Experience
15. “Liza & Louise” by NOFX
16. “Hey Suburbia” by Screeching Weasel
17. “Teenage Riot” by Sonic Youth
18. “Dr. Worm” by They Might Be Giants
19. “After Hours” by the Velvet Underground
20. “Art Star” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

And that’s just a taste. Browse the whole songbook.

RSVP and invite your friends!

As of 45 minutes ago, in J. Rusten‘s “free scrap” box on 23rd Street.

[via J. Rusten on Instagram]

I know we’re all pretty over a million photos of the sky in our feeds every time there’s a cool sunset, and maybe we should all cut back. All of us except Gareth. This photo is fucking TIGHT.

[via Gareth]

Sounds like it was pretty alright:

cheese to everything else ratio was on point, rice was the undercooked (was sticking to our fillings) but all was forgiven bc cheese product

[via RPS on Instagram]

Mission Local reports:

Protesters have blocked traffic with street theater and chained themselves to Mission Police Station as part of an action against officer-involved shootings in the city and in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The roughly 100 activists began arriving at about 7 a.m. to mark the one year anniversary of the police shooting of Alex Nieto. They were joined by Nieto’s parents and the youth rhythm and dance ensemble Loco Bloco.

10 of the protesters joined hands through tubing and chained themselves to the Valencia street exit of the Mission Station parking lot. Public Information Officer Albie Esparza said the action is not interfering with their ability to respond to calls for service with the vehicles they already have out and about. Esparza said the police do not currently have plans to take action against protesters and are simply monitoring their “First Amendment rights activity.”

Read on for more story and pics, and some video.

The Karaoke Underground is coming to San Francisco next month and I am very excited. I gushed about it at length last week, but I also really like this video of punk and indie superstar Ted Leo performing a Beat Happening song at a KU event a few years back:

That’s a pretty good Calvin, right?

Sing some Beat Happening, or some Ted Leo, or any number of your lifelong favorite punk and indie hits this coming April 12th at Rickshaw Stop, when Karaoke Underground comes to SF for the very first time. Advance tickets are available here.

RSVP and invite your friends!