SNEAKY'S BBQ IS (MOSTLY) GOOD FOR YOU

**SO THIS PLACE IS MORE OF A POP-UP NOW. CLICK TO SEE WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO BE. NICE TO SEE THEY ARE STILL HANGING IN THERE**

I think it was Saturday and I had the day to myself so I thought I would trudge over to Hayes Valley and try out Sneaky's BBQ, one of those pop-up restaurants inside Rebel Bar on Market Street in San Francisco.  Being from the South I'm all about pork barbecue and trying to find a decent equivalent of the kind I remember from home.  And when one of the places here purports to specialize in Carolina pulled-porkness I have to try it.

The place itself was very bar basic--bar on the left--big room with scattered tables--a place for the dj--walls painted black--some flies banging their heads against the front window.  But to be honest, I'm not about ambiance in places, if it's there that's fine, if not, it won't stop me from eating there, especially if the food is good, which is why I like diners so much.  Anyway, turns out it was 2 for 1 happy hour so I bellied up to the window bar, got a nice amber ale and decided to hone in on the pulled pork platter and the two sides I chose were coleslaw and collard greens.  The cornbread was considered a side so I decided to splurge and just order it additional.

Now before I get to the food I will tell you that sometimes I get stuck in comparing what I get to what I've had back home and let's face it, places the offer sort of the same types of food are no match for your food and memories of home.  Thus I think in this instance I needed to step back and judge the food on its own merits and not how it compares to what I know and remember.

The pulled pork was good but it's not Carolina style, I'd say it's more Memphis mixed with a little Texas style and I say that because there is sauce on the pork--slightly spicy tomato based sauce.  Carolina style is just vinegar and spices, this one had the red tomato tint you see in the picture, but it was still good.  The pork was tender and not dry and had a distinct smoke flavor to it (which is also different from Carolina style) but it doesn't detract from the meat.  Though I do wish they would have gone a little lighter on the sauce---chef's choice.

For the sides--the collard greens were well-cooked and tender but they weren't seasoned at all--probably could have used a little fatback or possibly bacon to enliven the greens.  I added some vinegar, salt and pepper and that helped a lot.  The slaw was good but different than I'm used to and was a good mix of cabbage, green peppers and purple onions with a light vinegar coating and probably just a whiff of mayo and it paired relatively well with the pork.  The cornbread was okay--I'm going to say it was too cake-like for me.  As you can see the slice I got was huge (portions of all food are quite generous--a good thing) but wasn't warm and the butter couldn't melt and possibly add some saltiness to the sweet tasting cornbread.  Me personally I like my cornbread denser and skillet baked---which helps soak up juices and sauces.

As for dessert, they do have a selection of pies and stuff from Hot Mess Baking but between all the beer and the large portions I was just too full.

I'd be willing to give this place a try again and go for some of their other meat plates and some of their other sides like the shells and cheese or baked beans, though would probably skip the cornbread and try dessert instead.  And considering the amount of food you get the prices as you can see on the menu are quite comparable.  All in all, while it's not like home, it was still worth a trip across town.  

CRIOLLA KITCHEN...CAJUN COOKIN' COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO..SORT OF

UPDATE:  SADLY THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED DOWN--JUST WHEN IT WAS FINDING ITS WAY

At the corner of 16th and Market in the space formally occupied by Bagdad Cafe (which was a great place for a burger at 2am) sits the latest edition to the Castro food scene Criolla Kitchen (they need to set up their website for sure).  You can check out the menu here.  I was passing by one Saturday around lunch time and decided to give it a try.  Fortunately they have kept the layout pretty much the same which means they still have the counter to eat, which when you are dining solo is a really good thing no waiting for a table just sidle up to the bar like I did and dig in.  The place was hopping for lunch and since they have been open for at least a month now is a good sign that people in the area like the place which is good as we all know San Francisco eaters can be notoriously picky, I mean just look at the reviewers on Yelp--vicious bitches!!

I like a good iced tea and that they had with a sprig of mint which is meant to give it that Southern vibe.  And yes they served both unsweet and sweetened, which has simple syrup (sugar dissolved in hot water) also very Southern.  So those touches are there at least.

First I just had to try the appetizer of yam tater tots with cilantro lime crema and this I must say I really enjoyed.  It was a large basket portion of tots fresh out of the fryer and appropriately crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and salty sweet all over.  The cilantro lime crema dipping sauce I liked, but it tasted to me a little on the sweet side and combined with the sweetness of the yam tots was a bit too much sweetness for an appetizer.  I felt it would have benefited better from a slightly spice dipping sauce, like a remoulade or something, and yes I did add hot sauce to the crema and it worked for me.  But still they are worth trying.

I figured since this was a Louisiana-ish based menu with some California nuances I'd go the full bore and try the bowl of gumbo and half a shrimp po'boy sandwich.  The gumbo was a good consistency of not too soupy not too goopy.  There were plenty of shrimp, sausage, okra, rice and all the goodness that gumbo encompasses.  I liked but here again, since this was Cajun cooking I guess I expected more spiciness or some kind of kick but it was not quite there and yes I added some hot sauce to this too which did the trick and made the gumbo a worthwhile bowl.  As for the half a shrimp po'boy, well, hmmm, I guess this was my least favorite of what I had.  I think most of this had to do with the shrimp itself.  While I like the breading on it, the shrimp had a fishy taste and let's face it when seafood gets that fishy taste it's can throw your tastebuds off the whole thing.  (I guess it's because I've always been told seafood should not smell or taste fishy, if it does it means it's on the verge of being bad/old).  The remoulade sauce that was used again was not as spicy as expected.  Leads me to believe the chef is "dumbing" down some for California tongues that are not used to the hotness but I would just get over it and do what you do, when the food is good people come around to your way of flavoring.  Now the bread was good.  A French roll that was crunchy flaky on the outside and soft on the inside, just perfect.

Overall, I liked this place.  After an app and an entree I was a bit too full to try dessert even though I really wanted to, especially the bread pudding.  Thus I will be going back to try some of the other items they have to offer.  The gentleman next to me at the counter was having the burger and it looked really good though they seem to stack to french fries it comes with on the burger and well I'm still dubious about that but willing to give it a try--like the rest of Criolla Kitchen's menu.  

THREE BABES HAD A PIE SHOP

Three Babes Bakeshop is what they call a pop-up.  It's not a full fledged restaurant bakery but more like a small stand that sets up shop inside of another business, in this case they are in the courtyard of Stable Cafe near the corner of 17th and Folsom.  Pop-ups are a relatively new trend that allows new chefs/bakers/cooks who can't afford to open a whole restaurant, a place to try out their recipes and build business while also bringing in new business to an established place that maybe can benefit from a new clientele.  Whatever the case, it like the new new thing in San Francisco now, much like what food trucks were a few years ago.  Anyway,  I got on a bus then another bus and schlepped my way over there having heard a multitude of raves about their pies, which now seem to be the new cupcake.