San Francisco's Best Happy Hours

I apologize for not posting in a while but getting laid off/unemployment and other items have been more than distracting for sure. Can't say I am not enjoying the lifestyle a bit though, or am at least trying to in between the stress periods and umm major moolah concerns. Way scary times for sure. Anyhow, in light of that and of being on a major budget, thought I would pass along some of SF's best happy hour deals, especially those that include vino. Hope you enjoy and to perhaps see you at one of the venues soon. Can't lay low and look for jobs and network all the time right? Life is way too short. Cheerio.

Hog Island - oysters

$1 oysters, $3.50 beer and discounted wine

Monday and Thursday 5 to 7p

El Rio - oysters

Free oysters

Fridays at 5:30p, also free bbq on Sundays at 3p

Waterbar - oysters

$1 oysters Monday to Friday 3 to 6p

Hyde Street Seafood House - oysters

$1 oysters

Everyday 5 to 7p

Yabbie's - oysters

$1 oysters

Sunday to Wednesday 6 to 7p

District - oysters

$1 oysters

Monday to Friday 4 to 6p and Saturday 5 to 7p

Cafe Meuse

Half off all vino for ladies

Thursdays

Chevy's (Embarcadero and Van Ness locations)

$3.99 house wines, Bud Light, margaritas and appetizers

Monday to Friday 3 to 7p

Palomino

$4 vino, special cocktails, draft beer, $5 pizzas and half off appetizers

Everyday 4 to 6p and 10p to close (except Sundays)

Market Bar

$6 vino, $5.50 martinis and discounted appetizers

Everyday 4 to 7:30p

Momo's

$4 vino, $ well drinks, $3 appetizers

Monday to Friday 4 to 7p

Nick's Crispy Tacos

$2 tacos and beer on Tuesdays

$3 vino on Wednesdays

South Food and Wine Bar

$6.50 vino and $5 appetizers

Monday to Friday 4 to 6p

Epic Roasthouse

$5 cocktails

Monday to Friday 4 to 7p

Rex Cafe

$3.75 vino

Monday to Friday 5 to 7p

Encore Karaoke Lounge

$3.50 vino

Everyday 3 to 7p

Ti Piacera

$3 vino, draft beer and well drinks and $2 off appetizers

Everyday 3 to 7p

McTeague's

$3 well drinks and drafts and beer specials

Everyday noon to 7p

Boardroom

$14 unlimited mimosas

Sundays

Blur

Free pizza

Monday to Friday 5 to 10p

Danny Coyle's

Numerous beer specials

Monday to Friday 2 to 7p

Harry's on Fillmore

Half off wine by the bottle

Tuesdays

Puerto Alegre

Discounted margaritas by the glass and pitcher on weekdays until 7p

$3.50 mimosas on weekends

Weird Fish

$3 mimosas

Saturdays and Sundays 11a to 3p

Maverick

40 percent off wine by the bottle

Mondays

Iluna Basque

2 for 1 drinks

Monday to Friday 5:30 to 7p

La Boulange de Polk

$5 vino

Monday to Friday 4 to 6p

Palio

Free pizza with purchase of two drinks

Monday to Friday 4 to 7p

Columbus Cafe

$4.50 vino

Everyday

Ducca

Half off wine by the bottle

Wednesdays

Ramblas

Free drink with food purchase

Monday to Friday 5 to 7p

Rogue

Drink and appetizer specials

3 to 6p and 10p to close weekdays

Jade

Half-off vino, beer specials $3 to $5 appetizers

Weekdays 4 to 7p and Sundays 8p to close

Restaurant B on top of Yerba Buena Center - oysters

$1 oysters

Tuesday to Friday 4 to 7p

Gold Dust Lounge

$2.95 margaritas and champagne

Everyday until 7p

Cosmopolitan Cafe

Half-price drinks and $5 appetizers

Monday to Friday 4 to 7p

$4 glasses of bubbly and sliders

Wednesday and Saturday on the patio 4 to 8p

Ozumo

Discounted house wines and sushi rolls

Monday to Friday 4 to 6p

Mexico DF

Free snacks

Monday to Friday 4:30 to 6p

Fly Bar

Discounted sangria and pizzas

Weekdays 4 to 6:30p

Nook

$2.95 vino

Everyday 5 to 7p

Horizon

$5 well drinks and martinis

Tuesday to Friday 5 to 8p

Doc's Clock

$2 PBR, $3 draft beer and well drinks, $5 Chimay

Everyday 6 to 9p

La Parilla Grill (on Polk)

$6 margarita pitchers, $5 tapas

Monday to Friday 5 to 9p

Ponzu

$3 to $5 Sake drinks

Monday to Friday 5:30 to 7p

Wichcraft

$2 draft beer and $4 vino

Monday to Friday 5 to 7p

800 Larkin

2 for 1 beer Monday to Friday 5 to 7p

$3 bloody marys on weekends

Bocadillos

$2 tapas and $12 wine flights

Monday to Friday 5 to 7p

Amelie

$10 wine flights and a free appetizer

Monday to Friday 5:30 to 7p

Vertigo

$2 drafts and $3 well drinks

Everyday 5p to 9p

Olive

$5 cocktails and $7 pizzas

Monday to Wednesday 5:30 to 7:30p

D'elluva Wine Bar

$14 unlimited mimosas

Weekends 11a to 3p

(they also always have a nice selection of wine for $6 a glass and pizzas for around $7)

Sushi Rock

Half off drinks and 25 percent off appetizers

Everyday 3:30 to 6:30p

Solstice

Half price bottles of wine

Mondays

Pumpkin Pancakes

In advance of Halloween, though I would pass along a tasty and fun recipe for pumpkin pancakes. Hope you enjoy.

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups milk

1 cup canned pumpkin

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg yolks and butter in another bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer or a wooden spoon, beat the mixture until well-blended. Add the milk-pumpkin mixture to the flour-sugar mixture and, using a wooden spoon, mix just enough to moisten all ingredients. (Overmixing at this point will create pancakes with a rubbery texture.) Using clean beaters and bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, then fold them into the batter. Spoon the batter onto a buttered or oiled hot griddle. Fry the pancakes until the tops look dry and small bubbles appear on the surface. Turn the pancakes and fry until second side is golden-brown. Serve with hot maple syrup. Yields approx. 30 four-inch pancakes.

Interesting Article on McCain and Obama and Food Policy

Thought I would post a link to this interesting article regarding McCain and Obama and their views on food policy and how each could shape the industry in the coming years. Enjoy.

http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2008/10/03/

Snacks at Bocadillos

I had dinner at Bocadillos earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so on one of the gorgeous sunny days last week I popped by during the afternoon just for a snack and a glass of wine. The menu is naturally a bit more limited than at dinner and I was slightly disappointed their amazing $2 deviled eggs with shrimp were not on the menu, but nonetheless had a couple of other nice bites. You can choose any two bocadillos for $9 which is a nice deal. Options include Serrano ham with tomato rub, fried chicken with spicy cole slaw, a hot ahi tuna melt, a lam burger, BBQ pulled pork and a BLT with Eden Farms bacon. I wasn't super hungry so opted for a really tasty salad with charred corn, jicama, piquillos and fried poblanos. The combination works really well together and was accented by a light ranch-like dressing which was really tasty. There are also daily tapas and soup specials as well as vegetable sides and cheese and cold cuts on the menu. It's a really cute place to pop into and the charming ambiance and friendly service add to the experience. Enjoy.

Bocadillos

710 Montgomery Street in San Francisco

Lorena's Mom's Flan

My friend Lorena who is doing an amazing job keeping my DC blog, DC Gastronome, posted this recently and the recipe is fantastic. Hope you give it a go. Cheers.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Farenheit.

5 whole eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can of condensed milk (nestle la lechera, if available)

1 can evaporated milk (carnation, if available)

For caramel:Half a cup of sugar

Combine all ingredients for flan using a blender or a whisk (I always use the blender). In a cast-iron skillet, caramelize sugar, stirring with a wooden spoon (shortcut: break some brittle into pieces (pecan works great) and stick it in the mold) pour caramel into the bottom of the flan mold (if using a single one) or ramekins. Put the mold or ramekins in a metal mold or Pirex half-filled with water and bake for aprox. 1 hour.

SNOB Continues Its Wednesday Wine Tastings

Last night SNOB Wine Bar continued its Wednesday wine tasting series with a flight of German whites. Right up my alley as I prefer whites to reds, generally speaking, and enjoy a bit of sweetness, but not too much, in some whites. On offer were three wines. The first was Schloss Saarstein Riesling 2006. The wine featured rich flavors and a bit of minerality and a smooth, slightly sweet finish. Very tasty. The second selection was a P.J. Valckenberg Kabinett 2006 which exuded rich fruit flavors such as apricot as well as a tropical aroma all finished with a bit of crisp acidity. Definitely my favorite of the evening. The last selection was a Leth Steinagrund 2007. The wine was more dry than the other two and had a citrus finish on the palate. A nice way to end the tasting. The tasting is $10 and includes a flight of the selected wines and cheese, crackers and grapes. Hope you stop by to enjoy.

SNOB Wine Bar
1327 Polk Street
www.sfsnob.com

Wine Tastings at SNOB Wine Bar on Polk

SNOB (Sonoma Napa Or Beyond) Wine Bar on Polk Street is a really cozy wine bar which has a nice and well-priced wine list, as well as a dim and romantic vibe and very friendly servers. They have started a series of wine tastings, usually held on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9pm, and they are a lot of fun. For $10 you get three fairly generous pours out of a list of five or six options, all along the same theme, as well as crackers, cheese and grapes. The last tasting featured French wines, including a Fleur Haut Gaussens Bourdeaux Suprieur, a Marc Kreydenweiss Andlau Riesling, a Bouvet Signature Brut, a Montlouis Sur Loire, a Vin D'Alsace Pinot Blanc. I had the Riesling which was light and fruity and only slightly sweet, quite delicious, and two pours of the Pinot Blanc which was dry and floral and quite pleasant. It's a good deal, a fun spot and the crowd is usually good, so I hope you pop by to enjoy. The next tasting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 20.

SNOB Wine Bar

1327 Polk Street in San Francisco

http://www.sfsnob.com/