Craig, your insanely knowledgeable and a really cool host will turn your beer world upside down and inside out. His shelves are lined with the finest hopped, fermented and bubbled goodies in the world and he has the 411 on each of them. He has a respectable selection of six beers on draft as well, all available for tasting. He makes great use of his smallish space on Folsom Street, creating a comfortable, cool environment for chilling out and "tasting" some beer.

Here's how it works: You can taste draft beers for a nominal fee, or you can purchase one or three of the many, many, many wonderful bottles (from 12 and 22 ouncers all the way up to 750's and liter bottles), pay a small "corkage" fee, procure a couple of glasses and make yourself at home, right there in the shop. He also offers a nice little cheese tasting menu and will happily tell you what beers will go best with that aged cheddar.

The place is also a refuge for beer geeks and brewers and anyone who just likes to hand out and talk beer. At any given time at City Beer you'll find people who know their beer---from home brewers to commercial brewers and beer connoisseurs of all kinds. If you don't know much about beer but want to learn, or you're just plain curious, this is a great place to start.

The City Beer & Tasting Bar
1168 Folsom Street @ 7th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 503-1033

A lot of misguided overly nostalgic San Franciscans will tell you that Puerto Alegre is still the queso grande among the numerous Mexican eateries in the city. They are wrong. Do not be taken in by them. It used to be good, but now it's not.

Like so many things (myself included) age has not improved Puerto Alegre. The seedy and wonderful taqueria with the hyper-crazy-killer margaritas has been replaced with a ghetto-tastic version of Chevy's. But at Chevy's the chips are better.

We were there most recently with a large-ish group for a birthday party. Our single waitress deftly handled us and kept the margaritas rolling in. She was great. The guac was nice and chunky and good. The salsa was bland, as if they've had too many gringos bitching about the spiciness so now they're serving glorified ketchup instead of salsa. The BF and I shared a whopper super burrito, a chicken tamale and a cheese enchilada. The tamale and the enchilada were barely warm, the burrito consisted of 90% dry, tasteless rice, with a splash of meat and a soupy dollop of sour cream. The beans that came on the side of the combination plate were watery and bland, and, hooray! yet more dry, tasteless rice!

The margaritas, once limey, tequila-y goodness were overly sweet and chalky with sweet and sour mix that contributed, I'm sure, to the crazy indigestion that ensued later in the evening (that was also not helped by the meal itself.)

Every time I go to Puerto Alegre, I stay up half the night, my stomach burning and gurgling, wondering if I'm going to have to make a dash for the bathroom, and every time I vow never to return. But somehow I do.

And somehow, it's always a good time... It's truly a mystery to me... I guess the trick is to make sure you choose your company for the outting wisely.

The solution to this dichotomous quandary is simple: get on a bike and head to the Mission, where you’ll find a high concentration of open-early, bloody-mary-serving, microbrew-pouring bars.

This past Sunday, the boyfriend and I spent the day doing exactly that. I dusted off my rusty Scwhinn, packed a messenger bag with a deck of cards, a cribbage board, a couple of extra layers of clothing, a bike lock and a bottle of water and we hit the sunny streets, bound first for the Zeitgeist for bloody marys.

Zeitgeist • 199 Valencia Street @ Duboce, San Francisco (415) 255-7505
Zeitgeist isn’t for everyone. It is easy for some people to be put off by the old, dusty interior, the scarred bar, the broken tile floor, the musty windows, the dozens of motorcycles parked on the sidewalk out front, and the heavily tattooed but fabulous and sweet bartenders. The jukebox is loud, the beers are cold and the bloody marys are just perfect for a Sunday morning. We procured libations and repaired to the beer garden, which at the Zeitgeist, is more of a beer parking lot as it is a huge yard filled with long communal picnic tables, whimsical and slightly psychedelic murals, an old tow truck transformed into a exhibit of pretty succulents. The billowing, fragrant smoke of the outdoor barbecue makes your mouth and your eyes water and I’ll tell you, the burgers that come off this grill are among the best you’ll find in the city and they’re cheap.

Kilowatt • 3160 16th Street btw. Guerrero & Valencia San Francisco (415) 861-2595
A quick ride down Valencia landed us at the Kilowatt, a bar that is virtually unchanged over the course of its long life. Dark and pleasant, good music on the jukebox a super friendly bartender and an excellent selection of beer made our short time here quite worthy. But we were eager to try someplace we’d never been. So after one delicious Hop Rod Rye (Bear Republic), we were back on the bikes. A trip down to Folsom landed us at a magical little bar that was new to us.

Homestead • 2301 Folsom @ 19th Street San Francisco (415) 282-4663
Which brings us to stop number three. Homestead is a little bit like your grandma's house in that pleasant, cozy, non-smelly way. It has pretty fuzzy red wallpaper, lovely wooden details and a sparse yet classy ambiance. The bartender was ever-so sweet and the crowd in the bar was clearly local, neighborhood types and my only complaint about them is that they seemed to fear the jukebox. The BF and I were the only ones stepping up to the musical plate. Which I guess isn't all bad. Their beer selection doesn't suck, but it isn’t great either. But they have a variety of yummy liquid snacks in the pretty bottles behind the bar, and I'll be planning an outing to this little place soon, sans bicycle, and tie one on proper with a couple of 209 martinis. Here we ran into some friends who were on their way to yet another bar we’d never been to, so we were back on the bikes to race them there.

Sadie’s Flying Elephant • 491 Potrero Ave @ Mariposa, San Francisco (415) 551-7988
Sadie’s was one of those places I’d always heard about, had always wanted to go, but had never been. I hate to say it, but it was somewhat disappointing, especially after the cozy loveliness of Homestead. I’d always been led to expect this sort of funky bohemian punk rock dive. But it was just a dive. Nothing particularly original about it. However, I did hear they recently changed ownership, which can alter the soul of a bar. I may return if I was in the neighborhood. The free popcorn was definitely a plus.

Dirty Thieves • 3050 24th St btw Lucky St & Treat Ave San Francisco (415) 824-5954
Formerly Treat Street Cocktails, Dirty Thieves is one of the great Thieves empire that consists also of Thieves Tavern and Whiskey Thieves, both fine drinking establishments. While I wasn’t immediately aswoon with Dirty Thieves, it’s got potential. It didn’t help that they were out of beer gas thereby limiting our sudsy options. Also, Young Frankenstein was on the TV at full volume. Now, I loves me some Young Frankenstein, but I wasn’t really in the mood to watch TV you know? I kind of wanted to, I don’t know, hang out in a bar and drink beer and listen to music. All of these desires were thwarted, so it wasn’t the most successful stop of our afternoon. But it is surely a pleasant place and I have high hopes for visit number two.

Gestalt Haus • 3159 16th St btw Guerrero & Valencia, San Francisco (415) 560-0137
This, was our final and most fabulous destination for our day-long bike bar hop. We had begun at one in the afternoon and found ourselves in this comfortable, dark German-beer-hall-meets-SF-bike-shop bar, happily considering not only a good selection of beer, but also a choice list of sausages. They offered their beers not only by the everyday pint, but also the .5 liter and the liter. Had this been the beginning of our day, we may have indulged in a couple of the huge liter mugs, filled to the brim with fine German beer or one of the craft brews they had on tap. As it was, we were pretty toasted and it was to be pints only for us. The sausages were delicious and served on organic rolls with optional sauerkraut. The bartender was friendly and attentive and the locals were friendly. Perhaps a mite too friendly…

Thus we concluded our bar-crawl on bikes. We rode home, uphill, gasping and drunk and swearing to do it all again very soon. The best part was, not only did we save on cab fare, but we got some exercise to counteract all of the beer.

After this was decided I proceed to do a little online research, cruising some entertainment blogs and review sites for John Colins and was confronted with information both alarming and encouraging. Crowded (alarming), good happy hour (encouraging), frat boys (alarming), cool space (encouraging), lots of bad cologne (alarming). Anyway, the decision was made and I really do need to try to go out to new and different places every now and then.

I sent Cletus one last email reminding him to splash on the the Drakkar Renoir and headed down to Natoma.

I was greeted by a wall of people and loud sounds and unless those sounds are some seriously rockin' rock and roll, this combination makes me grumpy. But I soldiered my way to the bar with thin hopes for decent gin.

Oh! Lucky day! They have Hendricks AND No. 209. Furthermore, the bartender who prepared my yummy martini for me was friendly, efficient and made a killer cocktail. The entire bar staff were not only clearly good at their jobs, but they also seemed to enjoy working there, which, take it from me, is the key ingredient in a good bartender. Everyone behind the bar had great energy and a little flare, but nothing flashy. Once I had staked my claim at the stooless bar, I had a chance to examine the room.

A wide skylight filled the room with evening light, comfy-looking setups of cocktail tables, banquettes and footstools comprised the seating in the narrow bar. The brick walls were hung with decent art, predominantly featuring American Bulldogs (I think) in a variety of poses and sizes. The crowd was hit and miss. I heard a lot about shoes and purses and guys from the ladies bumping into me on the right and a basketball game was on, so the masculinity was at an expected high. The crowd was a little young, but everyone was definitely out of college and solidly in the workforce, which is encouraging.

Cletus and his lady, "Myrtle," met me shortly. The excellent bar service persevered despite the hefty number of people jammed into the bar (the sign on the wall said maximum capacity 49. Whatever.) and when Myrtle traded in an experimental cocktail that was too bitter, the bartender was void of attitude and graciously replaced the offending libation.

I will certainly go back to John Colins. Hell, I had a good enough time to bust open the iron-clad martini rule and have three instead of two. But when I do go back, it'll be on a Tuesday night. It would be a fabulous place to meet a couple of friends for a weekday nightcap--but I think I'll skip the happy hour.
John Colins
90 Natoma Street @ Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 543-2277

But I had to do it. Without my winter jacket or blankets, I splurged and got some really great seats last night to watch the A's take on their second game against the Red Sox on a night so cold and so windy I thought I was going to turn blue. I did it all because Boston played so well on Sunday night against the Yanks, I just had to see them in person. Even if it meant freezing in a section filled entirely with wasted Red Sox fans.

Since I splurged on tickets, I was forced to get a couple cans of Pepsi and a disgusting golden bottle of rum from the corner store near the BART. I haven't drank booze that cheap since I was in high school and didn't have a choice, but surprisingly enough something good came out of it all. No, I didn't even get tipsy, but I did get two $4 tickets to A's games this June. I guess Pepsi's doing some great East Bay promotion (probably with the Giants in SF as well, but I never drink soda and don't care about the Giants, so I really wouldn't know) where every soda can gets you a $4 ticket. Not $4 off your tickets, but literally, a $4 ticket.

Also, Wingstop, a greasy "family restaurant" located about 3-4 blocks from the stadium, will give you 4 free tickets when you buy a $35 Family Pack. The Family Pack looks pretty nasty, but I you don't eat for 3 days prior, I'm sure it'll look great. And 4 free tickets, you can't go wrong.

So fill up on junk food, get yourself a good seat, and watch the A's beat yet another division's top team (so far, we've won every series we've played against the Angels, Indians, and Red Socks - just saying).

Also, it’s important to note that Tuesdays are Tostido days at the stadium. Get 2 for a dollar! That’s a full meal for $3!!

Fortunately, unlike bagels which will never be up to par in San Francisco, there are two restaurants in the Bay Area where you can go to eat a really good deep dish pizza. Both are different in decor and recipe, so it's a little difficult to say which the best is. It is easy, though to enjoy yourself at either place to the very fullest.

Both Zachary's Pizza and Little Star Pizza offer vegetarian and vegan options as well as more meat than any living human being could ever want to consume in one sitting. Both places also take about 20 minutes to make your pizza from scratch, so if you're not planning on filling up on beer, I suggest you order a light salad while you’re waiting - or call ahead. Zachary's Pizza locations are all in the East Bay, which Little Star's are in SF, so no matter what side of the bridge you're on you'll be able to find a good pizza fairly easily.

I've been going to Zachary's Pizza for the past year at its location in North Oakland partially because my friend works there and partially because the pizza is to die for. The walls of Zachary's are littered with tacky pizza painting and the millions of awards they've won over the past 10 years or so throughout the bay. I've never had anything there except the vegetarian deep dish - which comes with corn and broccoli. Zachary's is a family restaurant, so expect the floor to be caked with little bits of food and a baby at every table. Also expect lots of Raiders and A's fans at every table.

Little Star's deep dish pizza may not have had as many veggies in their pizza, but the crust was by far better. It was a rich, buttery corn meal crust - the most perfectly unhealthy crust in the world. The Little Star location that I went to was in the Mission, and therefore very hip. No sweaty old baseball caps and babies here. Black trousers grey v-necks, and chic black hair - I'm not talking about the waitstaff. The waitstaff, like many pizza joints consisted of daydreamy college freshman who really didn't care good service. Lots of bracelets and stony eyelids.

My all time favorite place to eat pizza in the whole world is Golden Boy Pizza in Northbeach even though the place is tiny, crowded, and filled with stinky death metal heads. They serve thin crust pizza only, and my favorite is the garlic clam. The boys that work at Golden Boy are beautiful Italian gods in their own rite. But if you're looking for a nearby pizza joint with a reputation for excellence and Chi-town style deep dishes, check out Little Star or Zackary's.

In the transportive space you feel like you could be in Tokyo (or Paris for that matter) as easily as you could be in San Francisco. It's a hidden little joint tucked underneath Books Inc. and a vitamin store. Once inside, you'll find a narrow, dim room with about six tables for two and a low sushi bar that seats about eight. Despite its size and popularity, it's never too crowded to get a seat and even when it's full, it's never too loud.

The two servers who are invariably there are both very friendly and efficient. Often, when sitting at the bar, one of the two sushi chefs will take your order directly, while the servers keep you up to your ears in sake and Asahi and tea. If you're one who likes super elaborate, crazy maki rolls with jalapenos and grapes stuck in them, you'll be disappointed with the selections at Sushi Time. It's a back-to-basics kind of place and all of the maki is made with very little more than fish, rice, nori and green onion, occasionally with a spicy sauce for the "spicy" rolls. They do have a rarely changing specials list that includes the Speed Racer roll which is your basic tuna roll with some mango and spicy sauce—super yummy, but not over-the-top creative. The tai carpaccio, also on the specials list is difficult to eat, but once it's in your mouth, it's heavenly.

Basically, this place is about the fish, and if you're not into actually tasting the fish in your sushi, you'll be better off with the maki menu at Blowfish or Tsunami (one of these places is not overrated. I'll give you two guesses as to which one. Hint: it's not Blowfish). I can never get enough of the sake nigiri at Sushi Time. I think they get their salmon straight from heaven.

And when the bill comes, prepare to put your eyes back in your head when you see that your two Asahis, two large sakes and a gut-splitting amount of fine fish cost...$45.

Dude, that's practically free in this town.
Sushi Time
2275 Market Street @ 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 552-2280

You may know about hikes in Marin and East Bay, but one small mountain is only 10 minutes away from San Francisco: San Bruno Mountain.

The California State Park maintains this location that can get an amazing view of San Francisco and the entire Bay Area on a clear day. This area is home to several species of endangered plans and butterflies.

The facilities includes parking, bathrooms, picnic tables and of course, plenty of trails.
Location/Directions (per state park website):

From Highway 101, take the Bayshore Boulavard/Brisbane exit. Continue on Bayshore Boulavard to Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. Turn west on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway toward the Mountain and go to the park entrance.

From Highway 280, take the Mission Street exit. Go north on Mission Street to Market Street. Turn right on Market street and proceed northeast. At Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, turn right and go eastbound to the park entrance.

SF does not have the best taxi service, but one rule of thumb to get taxi is to go to or near hotels. Some of the major ones that cabs circle are Hilton by Embarcader, Westin St. Francis in Union Square, Marriott on Fouth by Mission. Even if you are not at the taxi stand, there will be cabs driving by.
Generally, calling a cab in SF is not too reliable. You are better off with a shuttle service to the airport if you need one. Cabs are great for getting you around the downtown area if you are in a hurry.