karl l.'s Profile

This little box is a hidden gem. It has the kind exterior that you might walk past every day and never be tempted to walk inside, but once inside you will wonder why you have never been here before. The quality of the fish here is extraordinary and the preparation and presentation meticulous. One of the benchmarks of any sushi restaurant for me is always the Saba (Mackerel), and we ended up ordering two rounds of it here. The standout pieces for me were Hamachi, Striped Bass, and White Tuna.

We ordered a couple of rounds of Sushi and there was no prolonged delay getting the second round even though the restaurant was getting busy at that point. Suffice to say that Red Box is now vying for position as my favorite Sushi joint. It's also worth mentioning that two of us ate a lot of sushi and a couple of beers for $78 which was great value IMHO.

A fascinating service, that despite it's notoriously unreliable web interface is an important social network/tool. Some things to consider before you dismiss it as a rickety web application. Twitter gets 20 times more traffic over it's API's than it's web interface, and 60% of it's traffic is outside of the US, with a very large concentration in India. It's truly a phenomenon that, whether you get value out of it or not is an important communication tool for millions of people. follow me at http://twitter.com/kar...

This is my very favorite Taco Truck in the city. The tacos are soft, fresh and delicious and the spicy pork is divine and at $1.50 a pop great value. I have got 3 for $4 when I was running low on cash and asked them how many I could get fot $4 and they said 3 :-) This truck is off the beaten path and right by a playground so it's not particularly well known. This is not a Toyonase truck and IMHO is far superior. My only complaint about this truck is they take Sundays off which is almost always when i'm in the mood for a brunch taco. Oh well, any other day of the week they are usually their until 6ish, check them out they are delicious.

You ever fancied taking your motorcycle to the racetrack and learning how to race a bike? Well if you do the guys at Zoom Zoom are real pros, and will show you the ropes. They are not strictly based at Infineon raceway (the address above) but that was where I experienced my first track day with them and it's super convenient for SF, just 30 minutes out of the city.

Basically you book online for a particular date (and they do sell out), take your bike to the track, either on a trailer or you can ride it up there if you're brave. Take off your wing mirrors, duct tape your balance weights on your wheels, tape up your brake light and indicators and that's it. You get your bike inspected, get put in your group (C for people starting out, B for experience track riders, and A for insane racers). C group gets classroom time to learn about flag signals, track etiquette, safety, and on to technique. And then you go out on the track for 20 to 25 minute sessions around the track. No cars, no pedestrians, just raceway and turns :-)

Infinion is a great track to learn on, it's got lots of turns, and I only just got it into 4th gear for a few seconds at a time. Seriously, if you have thought about doing this, just do it, it is a life changing experience if you like riding a bike. As for risks, I felt safer on the track than I usually do riding route 35 or up to tomales bay. Zoom Zoom have a great metric and try to keep the crashes to around 6%, which is very low. I've been to a track day at willow springs where I think about 20% of people wrecked over two days.

What you will need:
A serviceable motorcycle with good tires
Replace your coolant with Water wetter
Full leathers, gloves and bike boots(synthetic works as well as long as it's proper bike protection)
Full face helmet (no flip up helmets)
Back protector

They provide breakfast and free bottled water all day, and there is a cafe to buy lunch (cheese burgers aren't bad)

Wow, this place is great, food, atmosphere, service, food, did I mention $1 cans of olympia beer (or Oly as it's referred to on the menu). The only reason it loses a bit of a star was because it was a bit too warm and noisy, but that's not entirely their fault.

We started with coriander encrusted lamb which was a wonderful assault on the taste buds, beautiful little medallions of lamb cooked rare, pared well with the coriander.

For the main course we couldn't resist the bourbon brined pork chop which came with polenta and was topped with a sort of red cabbage pickle/sauerkraut. The pork chop was impressively thick, probably about 3" at least (I added a photo, it was that big), and I should add that the polenta was delicious, and I usually hate that stuff. We also had a side of asparagus which came with a grilled half a lemon, which was a nice touch because the juice came out of it so easily (sort of reminded me of that led zeppelin number "squeeze my lemon").

Anyway, suffice to say a good time was had by all. Oh, and you have to check out the back garden, it's probably some of the most best outdoor dining you will find in SF, especially as it's off the street away from the crazy people (I prolly would have given 5 stars if we had got out there).

Full review (and real rating) coming when they open on June 1st, in the meantime this is what I know they aspire to create.

"Theme is a Bavarian train station cafe - the place you stop on your way. Traveling through Europe we've all had those experiences that stick with us - the amazing little cafe in some outskirt of Munich, the beer you never heard of, but loved, the food that was served on a paper plate, but tasted like a million dollars, and the wine that was only $5/glass and so good you thought it was a mistake - lost in translation. We've had that stick with us over the years, and Zweibar is our own taste of the experience in San Francisco. Beer, wine and food that inspires, and will hopefully make you nostalgic."

1550 hyde is a pretty cozy and popular restaurant, read if your going on the weekend you should make a reservation, they're on open table.  We went on a saturday night and it was very busy.

I actually give these guys 3 stars for the food which was average for the price but none of it blew us away, but 5 stars for the wine which was not only extraordinary but very reasonably priced. Our waitress made some excellent wine recommendations and the somelier was a personable chap, happy to discuss the selections, and his wine philosophy. I think they aim to have at least half their wine menu under $40.

Best $4 carne asada burrito in town, srsly, I couldn't even finish it. Forget the super burrito, just get the regular with chips and salsa for $4.35 and you are all set.

Wow, nice bar, hardly notice it from the street, but nice design and layout, although strange seats at the bar, a dance floor, and even a nice little garden for all you folks still addicted to your smoky treats. The night I went there they had a few DJ's and a grand time was had by all. It seemed to close a little early, but that was probably for the best.

Drinks, they have a good selection of beers on tap, and a full bar, but they don't make Mojitos (which if I was a bar tender I would probably refuse to make as well as their a pain in the  ass)

Dos Pinas is delicious, fresh and fast mexican food and is a great place for lunch. Lots of seating options from a bar that extends around the entire wall, to long tables with bar stools, to a couple of booths in the back. They also have a prodigious hot sauce collection that extends round most of the restaurant which is worth purusing. I recomend the scotch bonnet sauce and the hurtin' habenero sauce, both of which are not too hot but very tasty.

One of my favorite dishes here is the chicken chile verde quesadia (super it to get some guac and sour cream), if your with a friend just split it and ask for an extra plate when you pick it up at the window. Other recommendations, California taco plate, and the Santa Fe salad is awesome.