San Francisco

Do you like eating, drinking, doing things, or going places? Really? You do? Then you'll love Thrillist...sign up now.

Get on the list

Thrillist San Francisco
Emailed on: Monday April 28, 2008

Pampas

529 Alma St, at Hamilton; Palo Alto; 650.327.1323

Pour all your energy into one thing, and other areas'll suffer, a la Golden State's shoddy defense, and the weirdly buff Carrot Top's shoddy comedy. For a Brazilian steakhouse that excels in more than meat, hit Pampas, open tomorrow.

Classed up with a porcelain- tiled zinc bar, metal beehive chandeliers, and patent- mohair couches, this 3-tiered resto delivers the expected awesomeness (all-you-can- eat sword-skewered sirloin/Brazilian sausage/ drumstick/pork butt/etc), but surpasses typically limited churrascaria booze thanks to its secret weapon: Bourbon & Branch's Dominic Vinegas. The goodness starts with cocktails made from the West Coast's fattest stockpile of cachaças (Brazil's national swizzle), e.g.: the Rochina Sazerac (5-yr-aged 'ças w/ absinthe, orange, and bitters), and the pepper-infused, Ypioca Cachaça-powered "Sgt. Pepper's Strawberry Fields", garnished with hearts that are lonely, forever. Dom's also pouring tweaked classics like the BulleitBourbon/TiaMaria/ bitters "Revolver," or the "Ross d'Ecosse" (12yr Dalmore/cava/Mandarine Napolean), the French cousin of Dwayne Wayne.

If wine's your thing, select from a list from Napa, Patagonia, Argentina, Morocco, Bordeaux and, surprisingly, India -- a country that's neglected pretty much everything to concentrate all its efforts on nukes and tech support.

Further Awesome

Further Good for Groups-ness

  • 75190.75191_Main.jpg

    Sneaky's BBQ

    Started by two SFers who toured the...

  • 38383.38388_Main.png

    Cochon 555

    The finale of this traveling tour de...

  • 71932.Placeholder_main.jpg

    Wexler's

    Moving into Les Amis' old FiDi digs...

People Who Dug This Article Were Also Into...