Trip to LA, SF & SR

Go to FW Barrelworks.

 

Taco trucks... find the good ones. They're great. You'll hear people talk about La Super Rica in Santa Barbara. IF you're passing through there, it's worth a stop. But I wouldn't go way out of my way since there's plenty of good Mex here.

 

I agree 100% . Hit up Beachwood for the great tap list, guest beers and good Carolina style BBQ.

Cheers,

 

if you're interested in Trois Mec you'll want to get on their email list, in case you didn't already know. reservation slots come up sporadically

Providence is great but you could easily spend $800 for two people if you go all out. just as a heads up

 

ticket sales come out on fridays for trois mec. I think every 2 weeks, i forget exactly.

I guess if you do the Chef's full tasting at providence with wine pairings it'll be about $800 for two after tax/tip. But their wine pairings are very generous with hefty pours but not really worth the $110 extra a person. You can do the 4 course with bites for $110 /pp without pairings. Personally I'm not a fan of their chef's full tasting, their land mammal courses leave something to be desired. Do the 4-7 course and focus on seafood

 

Also in Downtown LA non-beer related: Zinc cafe does a nice brunch with a decent beer selection. Poppy + Rose makes really good biscuits and gravy. Orleans and York Deli makes really good Po Boys

 

If you're near the downtown area I just had a great meal at Otium this past weekend. Cocktails are on point, you can go to the Broad next door, the head chef is the ex head sous at French Laundry so he has a strong cooking background. Very casual.

 

When in Sonoma County, where RRBC is, stop at Cooperage Brewing Co. too. And, as for wine tasting, the Russian River and Dry Creek Valleys are absolutely beautiful, a lot quieter than their Napa County counterparts, and are within 20 minutes drive from Santa Rosa. I recommend Everett Ridge, Longboard, Armida, Kokomo, Christopher Creek, and Dutcher Crossing wineries. There's also Sunce and Hook & Ladder right on the outskirts of Northwest Santa Rosa, close to Cooperage.

 

Re: SF ...

I don't like Toronado that much. Partly cuz it's true how @$$#@!3ish the bartenders are, but mainly because their selection is kinda boring - except for the fact that you can get Pliny the Elder regularly there. But they do have a happy hour, so that's a huge plus.

If you're interested in bars with big craft tap lists, I'd recommend Beer Revolution in Oakland. It's just as divey as Toronado, but it has a much larger number of taps, and their selection is pretty good. I've gotten stuff like Deschutes Mirror Mirror, Allagash Odyssey, Stone W00tstout, along with what you'd expect (IPAs, lagers, gose, blondes, etc).

Keeping to strictly SF, other beer bars with large selections of 20+ rotating tap handles you may want to consider are Beer Hall, Liquid Gold, The Crafty Fox, Hopwater Distribution, and Richmond Republic. Most of these actually keep their taplists updated online, so you could always take a peek before committing.

 

I've never had an issue with any bartender there. Maybe I put out good vibrations for them or something.

Beer selection is a good point, though. A lot of times I see what they have on and thing "solid, but I don't really *want* any of these".

 

In SF, Toronado was the go-to for my wife and me. Never had a bad experience there and the always flowing PtE and Blind Pig kept us coming back no matter the rest of their list. They regularly had other things I didn't mind drinking though and their prices are comparatively very good imo, especially before 7pm. Just make sure you have cash and get ready to order only once you've decided what you want and the servers will treat you like gold.

 

like 10:30? check the show schedule, you want to catch two of them.

 

Let me know if you need more LA, Long Beach, OC, and SF ideas.

Sidenote can you bring me a fergburger or some Big J's Takeaways? Its been far to long.

 

Ill message you the rest.

yeah we do, but you always miss what you cannot have.