Booze

The KQED & Noise Pop Festival Looks Awesome
When two wonderful SF institutions get together to throw a block party it’s a great reason to get excited. KQED has teamed up with Noise Pop and is blocking off the streets in front of its storied SF headquarters and opening up its doors for an all-day, live music-infused, street

400-year-old Brewery to Throw Oktoberfest in Berkeley
There’s only one place in the Bay Area to get 400 years of Austrian brewing tradition for Oktoberfest, and it’s right in Berkeley, California at a new, award-winning taproom, (voted Best New Bar in the East Bay 2024 by East Bay Express.) The Trumer Brewery & Taproom knows a thing

The Mission District’s Beauty Bar Closes After 25 Years.
Here’s news that’s barely news anymore: a business in San Francisco has closed. I know it’s shocking because things stay open forever in San Francisco. The only thing more plentiful in the city than its many hills are the erections of successful entrepreneurs going over their balance sheets. Sarcasm aside,

Nine Gay Bar No-Nos
1. Messy queens. You know who you are. Ten bucks says you’re reading this hungover. Messy queens are not specific to any gender. It’s anyone who doesn’t know when to stop drinking, smoking, sniffing, twirling. Avoid acting wild and winding up on a stranger’s Instagram story. Look after your friends

Microdosing Mushrooms at the ‘Frida’ Ballet in SF
On a rainy Thursday night in San Francisco, I slapped on a sportscoat, drank 2 pints of Maui Waui IPA, and swallowed 1 g of dried, psychedelic mushrooms.

Getting Sober in the Bay Area Has Never Been Easier
As is paramount, let’s start by saying your writer here is not a substance abuse counselor nor a medical professional. This is just my experience and my opinion about something I’ve found critical in my own life over the last decade: Finding a life outside of alcohol and most drugs.

Amazing Art Structures Being Built at Burning Man 2023
While most people arrive on the Playa after everything is already built, most of the artists have been hauling, digging, hammering, strapping, sawing, and polishing in the dust (and rain) for weeks now, moving thousands of pounds of steel, glass, timber, (and elbow grease) onto a prehistoric lake bed in

What Does Anchor Brewing’s Closing Debacle Say About Us?
PHOTOS AND WORDS BY ANDY SAMWICK San Francisco does have the capability to embrace its history. Case in point, locals are up in arms over Anchor Brewing’s closing announcement on July 10th. They came out and lined up when they heard the brewery was liquidating. Anchor had made a decision