San Francisco

1152 Valencia St, btwn 22nd and 23rd; The Mission; 415.821.2310

Garishly painted (banana-yellow outside, bright green inside), this 85-seat "Mexico-to-Argentina" bistro serves up a host of hot/cold apps (pasilla pepper ceviche, spiced chorizo skewers, breaded chicken milanesa, etc) and bean/rice-accompanied mains like jumbo chili crab cakes, hot "camarones diablo", and salmon cooked in banana leaves -- preferred by sea monkeys 2-to-1 over "Growth Food".

These slim cardholders and billfolds are cut from vintage racket covers (AMF/Spalding/etc) and sewn up with black nylon. Some come with multiple cc/bill/receipt pockets, some with snaps, but all sport the bold color/design of a bygone era, when flare was all in the accessories, and not even a Spaniard would dare rock Capris.

1582 Folsom, at 12th; SOMA; 415.551.1582

SF's slickest Asian fusion operation's reopened in SOMA, with gentleman's-club style (mirrored walls/cushy booths/dim lighting), 12 draughts at the bar, high-end finger food (fried orange chicken wings, Viet prawn summer rolls), and meaty mains like tamarind-glazed pork riblets and lemongrass-marinated NY strip (but no tuna dishes -- they've already got mercury covered).

1570 Stockton St, at Union; North Beach; 415.989.0399

The Lou's Pier 47 lady has opened up a live music joint in the old Avenue G, decked out with oldtimey light fixures, an antique wood bar, and somewhat jarring pastel walls, plus a rear stage that'll play host to an "eclectic" array of jazz and blues acts -- a risky divergence from North Beach's eclectic array of funk and funk acts.

Glory over portraits of especially chimp-like celebs, from cute ones (the Olsen twins), to melodic ones (the guy from Supergrass), to wealthy ones (Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer), to shockingly old ones ("Chong Li" from Bloodsport is nearly 70?).