Mission Mission

Readers Nick and Sarah wrote in with an interesting question:

On Valencia, most of the new sidewalk (roughly 15th to 20th st) has an excellent sparkly nature to it.  Something has been mixed into the concrete to give it a sparkly (most lovely under streetlights at night).   We want to replicate this…. but what is it?  Quartz? Gold?  No one seems to know….. do you guys have an answer?

Although we’ve noticed this on Mission Street as well, we do not have the answer (although I highly doubt it’s gold).  Do you?

[Photo by Marco Valtas]

UPDATE!!!  CUCO’S is now open on Saturdays!  Get thee there now!

There’s always a ton of bluster on the internet over the quest to crown the best burrito in the city, but somehow lost in the discussion among the heavyweights such as El Farolito, Papalote, and Cancun stands the family-owned and operated CUCO’S in the Lower Haight.  Here, you can find the greatest veggie burrito ever imagined, a fried plantain masterpiece that’s so good it’s even been known to force renowned carnivores to rethink their status.  Despite being one of the aforementioned meat-eaters myself (although my Okcupid profile might read “mostly vegetarian”), I have no qualms with stating that this burrito rivals a super al pastor from Farolito or mole-what-have-you from Papalote solely based on its own merit.  But don’t just take my word for it; check out what the experts at Burritophile have to say:

In no uncertain terms, Cuco’s plantain burrito is the best vegetarian burrito in the city. Maybe the world . . . If you’re really lucky, Mrs. Cuco will cook the fruit long enough for the edges to get carmelized — chewy, sweet goodness . . . The fruit lends an element of flavor and texture to the mix that you just don’t find in most grilled veggie burritos. The sweet, earthy taste of the plantains is a perfect match for the rest of the ingredients.

He’s also not kidding about the Mrs. Cuco part.  This is a real family-owned venture, with the Mrs. Cuco handling the plantains while her daughters help with the other stuff.  I believe I’ve even caught a glimpse of Mr. Cuco back there too.  The orders are always taken with a smile, and they take the time to make sure you get all the options right.  Mrs. Cuco will usually even offer a playful verbal jab if elect to go with the non-spicy salsa!  She’ll usually remember you as well, and will often inquire about the well-being of your friends or family if you come in alone when she’s used to seeing you with a specific group.  This might sound rather banal, but it really goes a long way to contribute to the family atmosphere of the place.

The price is also splendidly cheap, which brings us to the one drawback: the limited hours of operation.  Owing to the family-run nature of the place, you can only get a CUCO’S burrito from 12pm-9pm Monday through Friday, as the taquerestaurant is closed late night and on weekends.  Nonetheless, you’d be doing yourself a severe disservice to live in this city without trying the plantain burrito at least once.  I know what you’re thinking: “The best burrito in the city is a veggie burrito from Lower Haight?”

Well, yes, it is.  Now do it to it.

[Burrito photo by dapperdanj]

[Exterior Photo]

“We only sell them.”  But seriously, why is it so difficult to find a place to live in this city that allows you to have loveable, furry pets? Is the chance that Rover might drop a deuce on the carpet so great that landlords just don’t want to deal with them? Isn’t that what security deposits are for?

I’ve got an empty room in my place, a glorious 28×14 uber room, but all of my friends who have expressed interest are saddled with felines and sadly that’s a no-no according to my landlord. Attempts to negotiate a “pet deposit” have also gotten nowhere.

For that matter, I want a cat myself to love and cuddle! I’m missing out on a lot of mutual affection here! I suppose you could always go rogue and just get one anyway, but that seems like quite the risk.

What is the deal with landlords and pets?

Get some rest and relaxation in while you can.

When traveling to exotic locales (like Orange County), it’s always amusing to see what passes for adequate representation of your home. Thus it was with cautious enthusiasm that we ambled in to the Alcatraz Brewing Company to sample the fare.

Sadly, our misgivings turned out to be correct, as the menu featured the same basic sandwiches, salads, and sides that can be found at any surburban eatery, although I must admit that the sweet potato fries were quite on point (especially with the accompanying melted marshmallow cinnamon dip). But I’m not going to sit here and sneer like an entitled local; they did the best they could for how much they care.

What I can bitch about, however, is their very un-SF happy hour policy. We arrived just after 6 in the midst of a 4-7 happy hour but were told by the hostess that the happy hour section was full but that we could sit in the regular section. The only catch was that this was the “sad hour” area, as all of our drinks would be regular price.

“So lemme get this straight,” I said, “those folks in the table FIVE FEET away from us get their beers for $3 while ours cost $6?”  The hostess animatedly replied, “Of course, that’s how happy hour works everywhere! That’s how it works at El Torito!”

El Torito. That’s how it works at El Torito. Well then!

It’s good to be back.

When trying to take advantage of the Dolores Park 2-for-$5 cold beer special, try to pay with smaller bills, as handing over a twenty will net you a most unsightly pile of gross, bunched up ones and fives from the cavernous pockets of Cold Beer (no water) himself, stuffed unceremoniously into your outstretched hand.

Let’s just say you wouldn’t want to insuffolate any substances through these babies…

You’ve got to admire the moxie of a fellow who says, “Fuck that, I’m parking DIRECTLY ON TOP OF this sinkhole.

Capp @ 23rd

Those of you who made it out to sample the delicacies of Hanoi at last night’s edition of Rice, Paper, Scissors were greeted with a pleasant surprise, as traveling omnivore and No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain made a special appearance to try the pop-up Vietnamese fare first-hand!  We were too busy scarfing down the delicious honey-glazed pork jerky, papaya salad, crab and shrimp noodle soup, and banh mi to get too close, but our pal Stuart managed to get some face time.  I wonder if he ever made it to Zeitgeist?

Concerned reader and resident Eric recently noticed that the Wells Fargo at 22^nd and Mission quietly changed the hours of their ATMs to a new ridiculously inconvenient 8pm closing time.  Since we happen to live in a predominantly cash-only neighborhood when it comes to bars and restaurants, this makes it quite difficult for any Wells Fargo customers enjoying an evening out to avoid the $5+ penalty for using non-Wells ATMs (not to mention folks who work late and need to deposit checks).  After his repeated requests for an explanation from their @Ask_WellsFargo twitter program (which is for feedback on their ATMs) failed to shed any light on the issue, he finally found time to visit the branch to see what the deal was:

Turns out, they are turning off the Wells Fargo mission ATMs (22nd and Mission St / 16th Street and Mission St) at 8pm every night because of vandalism.  Their words “that neighborhood is a high crime area.”  But they are not actually closing the gates to protect their machines; they just have the screens say “out of service” as to make it appear that nothing unusual is going on.  They are also not publicly saying what the ATM hours are nor, not even to the 1800 numbers you call to Wells Fargo services.  In the main system, these ATM’s are listed as 24hr ATMs.  Amazing.

Took a while to get these actual answers when calling 1-800-869-3557 since everyone that I talked to had no notification that in the Mission, all ATMs have been closing at 8pm for the past 50days.  I am assuming Wells Fargo does not want this info getting out for even the twitter responses are “please follow us so we can send you a private message explaining the situation” which I obviously am not going to follow a bank’s twitter feed.  And what I found out from the branch, they say they have no control of the ATM hours.

Does Wells Fargo hate the Mission?  We followed this up yesterday by visiting the branch ourselves and were told by the manager that the individual branches have no control over the new hours and that the new times came down directly from corporate.  Add up all these facts and something definitely smells fishy.  It’s not merely the inconvenience of being unable to get cash after 8pm; it’s the inconsistency of the explanations that truly inveigles us.  If you’re trying to prevent vandalism, why aren’t you closing the metal gate to actually protect the ATMs?  Have they just given up on our neighborhood?

Also, given Wells Fargo’s recent history of scamming customers with “unfair and deceptive” overdraft charges and allegations that it illegally took advantage of mortgage customers during the subprime bubble, the idea that this is another calculated attempt by the bank to exploit its users out of some extra cash doesn’t sound so far-fetched.

So Wells Fargo, what’s going on here?

Our favorite Vietnamese Pop-up restaurant is back, and this time our pals Valerie and Katie are serving up the flavors of Hanoi:

RPS wanted to pay tribute to a few of their favorite (and perhaps lesser-known) Hanoi dishes such as Crab and Shrimp Rice Noodle Soup (Bun Rieu) and Butter Braised Sweet Corn and Dried Shrimp (Bap Xao), a popular street food dish in the area.

We’ll also be serving up Pan-Seared Tumeric Fish with Dill (Cha Ca), which travellers seek out at Cha Ca La Vong, a famous restaurant that only serves this dish. RPS is only serving up a limited number of this dish, so diners should pre-order ahead.

The fun starts tonight at 6:30pm and lasts till 10pm, but you should really get there early to avoid long lines (and catastrophic shoulder injuries).  Oh, and where is this happening you ask?  Well, you’ll have to follow @ricepapersf if you want to find out the super secret location, which will be announced later today!

See you there!

Previously:

Local blogger injured in food cart brawl