Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

In after Baud. Damn.

You cannot shame the shameless.

The National Guard is not Batman.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans do not trust women.

This blog will pay for itself.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

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San Francisco blogging

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Thanks for the tips on Blue Bottle and Rickhouse. They were both great.

One of my favorite things here, as goofy as it is, are those quotes in the sidewalk when you walk on the West side of Embarcadero. I always like this one from Oscar Wilde

It’s an odd thing, but anyone who disappears is said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city and possess all the attractions of the next world.

If anyone is up for a mini-Balloon Juice get together tonight, let me know in the comments. Based on people’s suggestions, Harry Denton’s sounds like it might be the best choice.

Reader Interactions

49Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Mary

    Wah! I’m on the other side of the continent.

    If you guys do get together, we can haz pictures?

  3. 3.

    Colette

    I would love to – what time were you thinking? I can make it anytime after 6.

    Yeah, I love those quotes too, especially the Oscar Wilde one. Why is that goofy? (What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?) Down in Dogpatch on Sunday morning someone had written poems all over the sidewalks in big white chalk letters, and people were wandering around reading them with their coffee cups in their hands. There are worse things to characterize a city than poetry you can walk on.

  6. 6.

    Chat Noir

    A Balloon Juice meet up in San Francisco sounds way cool. Do post pix for those of us who can’t be there in person.

    Enjoy!

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    Love to have a meet up here in glorious S Illinois, we can meet here at my place, call first so I can disarm the traps and leash the dogs.

    BYOB

  15. 15.

    LT

    did someone recommend Vesuvio in North Beach? Right across the alley from City Lights? (Probably.) And Specs, right across the street? Fantastic places, and plenty of restaurants close by.

  16. 16.

    Existenz

    Hey Doug, if you have time you should try La Mediterranee, a really great restaurant on 2210 Fillmore. Very good, very affordable Mediterranean food. Plus my sister is the manager!

    Definitely worth trying if you are in the area.

  20. 20.

    Xenos

    Jealous, jealous, jealous here in frozen New England. Please enjoy yourself fully and extravagantly.

  21. 21.

    Yossarian

    I wonder if the Wilde quote was a cheeky reference to San Francisco being a gay destination even that far back. Given the circles he ran in, it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of his friends and acquaintances suddenly discovered the “virtues” of the Bay Area and never came back. More power to ’em, sez I.

    I’ll be hitting up San Francisco with my girlfriend as part of a longer two-week West Coast jaunt later this summer. I cannot wait.

  27. 27.

    Vince CA

    Sadly, the baby’s(non) sleep schedule will detain me. I’ll raise a glass of something beery at 8pm tonight. Eat drink and be merry!

  28. 28.

    William

    Harry Denton’s is certainly interesting, but I don’t remember it having much room for conversation. Depends on what you want though, and I’ve never been on a Thursday, so maybe I’ve got the wrong idea.

    I personally love Zeitgeist, but it’s not to everybody’s tastes, and since the only good seating is outdoors, a winter nighttime visit is… challenging. The staff there are actually not assholes, but they aren’t particularly warm to strangers, and they are definitely not interested in putting up with even a hint of anybody’s bullshit, so it’s an easy mistake to make.

    The mentioned Vesuvio’s and Specs are both fantastic for get-togethers; they have plenty of character, the house audio is not too loud, and the staff is amiable. I also like the Orbit Room for similar reasons; it’s more remote from the action, but has better drinks. And if you’re willing to stand, the high-end speakeasy Bourbon and Branch has the lovely library room. (Password: “books”.)

  29. 29.

    cyntax

    @The Main Gauche of Mild Reason:

    Zeitgeist is definitely not the most welcoming place for out-of-towners and who wants to sit out at their picnic tables this time of year anyway?

    If you go to Harry’s, don’t wear jeans–I think they still have a dress code.

  30. 30.

    terry chay

    @William: Didn’t think the library needed a password. In any case, if there are out of towners, I think it’d be better to avoid the heart of the Tenderloin. SF really screws with your sense of safety if you’re not from around here.

    So far, I vote for the (south) North Beach and Union Square suggestions, even though Bloodhound and Zeitgeist are closer to me. Just the thought of finding strangers in the beer garden is… intimidating.

    Some place in SoMa might be better because the vicinity to the convention center. Not sure if we can find each other in 21st A, but there is Kate O Briens, John Collins, Dada, House of Shields…

    Another going for HoS is that I heard they’re shutting doors soon. :-( The top area is a good place for a meet up.

  31. 31.

    MobiusKlein

    Why wait for dinner, DougJ. Ditch the conference, throw your tie in the gutter and eat a sandwich in Union Square.

  32. 32.

    Nate

    I’d love to go but had surgery today so laid up and dopey.

    DougJ,

    The comments got so long in the other thread, but I hope someone impressed upon you just HOW FUCKING AMAZING Tartine is.

    The best bread this side of the Atlantic, and their jambon and gruyere croissant is the best G-rated thing I have ever put in my mouth.

  33. 33.

    Randy P

    A San Francisco mystery, based on a week of observation a couple of years ago.

    The coffee in diners is horrible. Undrinkable. Universally.

    The coffee in cappucino-type places is amazing. Universally.

    What’s up with that?

  34. 34.

    LT

    @William: “Amiable” at Vesuvio and specs?!? Woo Hoo! I had a friend who worked at Vesuvio for years in the ninties and I’d go spend a bunch of time with her there. They seemed to love being assholes to whoever they pleased, including the one I won’t name, who was, frankly, a cranky junky. Specs was about the same. They just seemed to know they were the shit and expected people to know it too.

    But yeah, great places anyway.

  35. 35.

    Jager

    Last time Mrs J and I were in San Francisco we ducked into a little local breakfast/lunch dump a few blocks from the Fairmont…we sat down, she looked around and said, “My God, this place is filled with Jerry Garcia look-a-likes.” She was right, right down to the mailman shoes.

  37. 37.

    kindness

    Toranado’s has way better beer…..Good food near by & a great Medical Cannabis place a block away….

  38. 38.

    Ivan

    The library room needs a password if you come in via the dining room entrance on Jones, but it’s always the same so it’s not much of one, and you can always come in on O’Farrell.

    Be forewarned it’s not always open; tried to go there this Monday and was met with massive FAIL.

    I’d up for the get-together, but would also warn against Harry Denton because of the no-jeans dress code. It may be short notice for people to go home and change.

  39. 39.

    benjoya

    El farolito taqueria (mission & 24th) is open late. cheap, perfect burritos.

    but first, zeitgeist.

  40. 40.

    goblue72

    @el_gallo: Zeitgeist is great…if you are on your bike. Otherwise, its not as much fun. Plus, ya kinda be dressed in your hipster grungies at Zeitgeist.

  41. 41.

    goblue72

    @LT: 15 Romolo (www dot 15romolo dot com) is near there and is really the best cocktail bar in North Beach. However, I was only there once a few weeks after they re-opened as a “mixology” type place akin to Bourbon & Branch or Alembic. As such, it had not been fully discovered yet, so its possibly overrun w/ the crowds now?

    Isn’t Heaven’s Dog is in SoMA not too far from Moscone and the drinks are great.

    However, from that photo yesterday, our host is staying near Union Square in the hotel that rhymes with Schmark Schmifty-Schmive, so a place like Harry Denton’s is prolly more convenient.

  42. 42.

    Mike P

    @William:
    Specs is so, so great. It’s a bar, in the most classic sense…a bunch of old drunks getting after it. It’s the best when someone randomly starts in on the piano. I love that place and don’t go there nearly enough.

  44. 44.

    strohdog

    Tadich Grill, 240 California Street. Best cioppino. Stiff cocktails. Oldest restaurant in CA.

  45. 45.

    Colette

    @goblue72: Hmmm. I’m not wearing jeans, but I’m wearing the polar opposite of hipster grungies (had a client meeting earlier today), and in any case I’m a couple of decades beyond giving a damn about hipsterism. Either 15 Romolo or Specs sounds a little better than Harry Denton’s to me, but this is DougJ’s show. I’ll just go along with his choice.

  46. 46.

    Colette

    @Randy P:

    A San Francisco mystery, based on a week of observation a couple of years ago. The coffee in diners is horrible. Undrinkable. Universally. The coffee in cappucino-type places is amazing. Universally.

    Based on my 20+ years of observation, that’s about right (unless the cappucino-type place is Starbucks, which is just as crap here as it is everywhere). I have no idea why.

  47. 47.

    Tiparillo

    If in North Beach, I can’t help but eat at Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store….mmmmm…focaccia sandwiches….mmmmm

    Toranado’s is an old favorite for a pint or twenty….Noc Noc just down the street used to be fun, but I may be showing how long I have been away…..

    Ella’s (California and Presidio) is my all time favorite for brunch……miss the chicken hash…..

    damn now I am hungry and feeling all nostalgic and stuff

  48. 48.

    D. Aristophanes

    Yo, DougJ – post your cell number or something so we know who you are at the Starlight Room … it’ll be better than walking around to strangers and asking if they are your blog-friend, which is always embarrassing …

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