HOPS & HOMINY: MORE SOUTHERN FOOD JUST LIKE..UMM..WELL NOT EXACTLY GRANDMAS

Tucked in an alley just off Grant Street sits Hops & Hominy, another in a line of "Southern food" restaurants that opened up a while back when it was the hot new trend in San Francisco.

SOURCE...EATING VEGETARIAN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

***UPDATE: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST CITING SF LABOR LAWS, MINIMUM WAGE AND WHAT NOT, SOURCE HAS CEASED IT VEGETARIAN OPERATION***

Me and the SO are driving around SOMA towards Portero Hill area heading to a food event that I realize isn't till the following weekend--"oh well," I say, "I'm hungry so let's try that restaurant we passed back there." Turns out the place is called Source and it's a vegetarian (will make vegan on request) place, but we decide to try it anyway.

SLIDER BAR IN THE CASTRO...MORE THAN A MOUTHFUL

**WELL, THEY AREN'T EXACTLY CLOSING, BUT AFTER SOME HEALTH DEPT. ISSUES, THEY ARE RE-CONCEPTING AS IT WERE, INTO A SALAD SANDWICH PLACE. TOO BAD, I LIKED THE SLIDER CONCEPT***

Another Saturday night and, well, I got somebody and we be hungry. Me and the SO are meeting friends later for someone's birthday get together but we decided to grab a bite first. Since the meet up is in the Castro I think, hey why not hit up the new Slider Bar. Located in the old Bagdad Cafe space (and old Criolla Kitchen space) at 16th and Market, this is a second location from the owners of the original in Palo Alto.

4505 MEATS...A QUICK BREAKFAST BITE

Saturday morning at San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is one of the few places where both locals and tourists make a point of getting to. Living relatively near the place me and the SO try to get down there whenever we have folks visit or if we can drag ourselves out of bed early enough on a Saturday morning to get down there before the crowds get annoying. One of the places that has a regular spot at the building is 4505 Meats.

GILBERTH'S ROTISSERIE & GRILL...I SO WANTED TO LIKE THIS PLACE

Dogpatch, an out lying neighborhood in San Francisco that seems to have been on the cusp of being the new up and coming hood for what seems like 10 years now. With the addition of the the 3rd Street light rail it was expected to really take off, but things have seemed slow to open down this particular corridor. There is a small patch at 22nd and 3rd that has a handful of places that have garnered followings, but make no mistake they've become destination places and in order to survive here you have to wow and stand out from the few others so that folks will make that special trip to this part of town. So it was that I made my way out there to try a new place called Gilberth's Rotisserie & Grill. (the link is to their menu page as they seem to not have a website just yet) Do I have to tell you they have an industrial feel? But there is a big chicken painted on copper at the back of the space so that is different.

CRAFTSMAN AND WOLVES..IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NAME

I would say I was just wandering around the Mission, but seriously, I live here and the Mission is one of those neighborhoods that you go to for a reason, not just to wander around, trust me. I was there for LitQuake and they have this thing called a LitCrawl--a series of literary related events at off beat places. One such stop was at Craftsman and Wolves, a bakery/patisserie on Valencia that I'd heard about, so I decided to go a little early so I could try the food before the event. (By now I don't have to tell you how the place is decorated)