Sunday, April 26, 2015

Happy Hour Adventures Part 3

Hooray! My favorite part of blogging is doing bits like these where I get to write about getting drunk and eating delicious unhealthy food. What woman wouldn't like doing this? This week I ventured over to Southside Spirit House in the Soma district of beautiful Downtown Spirit House. I have heard great things about their specialty cocktails so I had to try it for myself.

To start off with, this place is busy. Very busy.

It was hard finding a spot at the bar and when I got up there, I was crowded around with suits and women in high heels they could barely walk in. You get the vibe that it is a big FiDi hang out. (For those of you that don't know, FiDi means Financial District.) When I was waited on, the bartender was very sweet and charming. A dark haired girl with a cool haircut and covered in tattoos. She made me a drink called a Resurrection which consisted of jalapeƱo vodka, sweet and sour and green chartreuse. I could have done without the chartreuse but I will say that I had two more after the first ones. They were delicious.

I was surprised to see the menu. It was not huge but the food they had listed was different. Carnitas tacos, deviled eggs and a killer cheese plate were brought out and placed in front of my friend and me. The deviled eggs are a forced to be reckoned with. The cheese plate was big for and hearty for only being $18. (Thats cheap for SF.) The tacos were killer. The meat was soaked in a Deshutes beer and cooked to perfection.

The music was great and the vibe was killer once the d-bags from FiDi left. My friend and I ended up stayed past happy hour and cabbing it home. I highly recommend this place to anyone but come after Happy Hour because there is a good chance you won't get in. Check it out!!

SouthSide Spirit House SF


How Weird is too weird.

This past weekend was the How Weird Street Festival on Howard Street in Downtown San Francisco in the Soma district. Ravers, Goths, Plushies, BDSM, Burners and God knows what else come out and hit the streets where a huge dance party takes place across multiple outdoor stages. Sounds like a blast right?! Well truth be told, it is a good time. I went one year and ended up in a hot tub full of cross dressers at around 1 am. It doesn't get much better than that. I will spare you the details. However if you are a bartender in the Soma district, I'm sure you are happy this weekend is over. Picture this. A bunch of sweaty ecstasy driven weirdos crowding your bar and asking for water while NOT tipping. It happens every year. Any bartender that I know hates How Weird and for good reason.

Secondly, the trash is awful. I remember walking through the neighborhood last year and seeing leftovers from How Weird's shenanigans and thinking about how I felt bad for the people who have to clean it up. Wigs, wings and beer cups flooded the curbs of the streets while the Financial District suits made their way to work.

So if you go to How Weird next year, prepare yourself. Bring lots of water with you. Don't stumble in to a bar and bother the already overwhelmed bartenders with your dehydrated ass. It's not their problem you didn't prepare. And if you do go in, make sure you tip! Getting a glass of water may not cost anything but it still counts as getting a drink.  AND POLICE YOUR TRASH!

This is a picture my friend took of the bar she works at during How Weird. Do you think you could handle working this?









Cheers!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

We Say Goodbye to A San Francisco landmark.

Its a very sad week for Tip Me Over and Over because we are saying goodbye to Capp's Corner which has been a landmark in San Francisco as for the restaurant  side of things since 1963.  If you don't know Capp's Corner is a very well known restaurant in the heart of North Beach off of Green Street which is in between Powell and Columbus.  It's been there since 1963 and it closes THIS SUNDAY and their having an everything must go so anyone who goes there is going to be there to send this place off with a bang.  The owner Tom Ginella has maintained it beautifully. He's kept it going since he bought it. They are most well known for the landmark itself but the food which is amazing. The meatloaf is amazing. The red sauce on any of their pasta will dominate any Italian  red sauce you have had in this city. Linguini with clam and mussels is absolutely to die for! I have had it one time and I have also worked at the Old Clam House in San Francisco which is the oldest restaurant in San Francisco and maybe I shouldn't say this...but it throws Old Clam House  out of the park whenever it comes to linguine with clams. Basically it's a sad day because anyone that goes there on a regular, its likes Cheers! Everyone knows your name when you walk in. Its a landmark! Famous people from San Francisco from way back when like Joe Dimaggio have been to this place. In the back on the wall they have a clock that stays on 5:04 pm set for Oct 17, 1989 which marks the big earth quake that happened here in Northern California. And not only that, but were saying goodbye to very famous bartenders such as George McCarthy and Randy Harris.  It's really sad because the reason they are going out of business because the rent is so out of control. We're seeing places left and right closing. I know that on Union Street, Betelnut restaurant  is going out of business. If you have ever been to Betenut, great food, great service and  they are closing and this is happening all over the city. The rent just being completely out of control. You would think these place are doing very well in business but if you think what they're paying in rent it's probably ridiculous and not only that but the person who owns the building is going to make a profit off of selling the building and unfortunately it is legal to do that in San Francisco. And so its happening and it'
s happening to our landmarks and our most famous restaurants here in the city. Unfortunately Capp's Corner is closing for sure this week. If you can make it out there, make sure you do it. Get a bottle of red wine! Get the meatloaf or the clams with mussels and linguini! So if you're in the area,  make sure that you stop out at Capp's Corner. Its their last week that they are open. Make sure you get some good food and some good wine. Support your local businesses and this is Tip m over and Over. I am your host Summer Moore. Go to Capps's Corner and support.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Your word against Theirs.

Recently a friend and I went to a very well known restaurant here in beautiful San Francisco. Our food was good and the waiter was cool but he got a little too relaxed with us. The guest I was with is also a bartender so when he found out that we both were in the service industry, he loosened up...but got a little too loose. He started telling us about how he hated this table two down from us and how he doesn't like anyone and blah blah blah. I get it. I get into moods where I hate everyone too but I certainly don't tell my customers about it. Save that for your fellow waitstaff and let them know about how table 23 can fuck off. Moving on. When it came time to pay the bill, I had a card and my guest had cash. She pulled out two $20's, a $5 and four $1's totally $49.00. She handed the cash to the server and I handed him back my card. The bill was about $100 so when the server came back and handed me my bill, I was shocked to see that he had only taken off $9. WTF?! We quickly flagged him down and he stated that No, she had only given him $9. He is saying this while he is holding two $20's in his hand. When she politely asked him why he had two $20's, he shook it off and said this is from something else.

This is the thing, the guy had told us that we were his first table of the day prior to this. When we glanced over at his money pouch, there were more $20's in it. Strange right? My friend was now also missing her money. A big scene breaks out in the restaurant between my friend and the server. He then tells her "You're making a scene." WOW. So I ended up paying $89.00 for our meal after he clearly had misplaced or pocketed our money. He asked to get the manager but there was nothing we could do. It was our word versus his. In my professional career of being in this industry I have never seen anything so unprofessional in my life. Its pretty sad actually because up until this point I had never had a problem with this place. It was actually one of my favorites but I will definitely never be going back. Wanna know where to go get ripped off? Sorry. #notsorry






Water Conservation. Terrifyingly real...

California is in a terrible drought.

That being said, the shortage of water has turned into an eye opening and terrifying reality. I am honestly scared of the future and were talking about a very NEAR future. It is being predicted that California only has one year left of their reservoir water supply. It is now against the law for servers to bring water to the table unless upon request.
Here is my issue with this. DO NOT ASK FOR WATER IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DRINK IT! I have no problem bringing water to you and your guests if you are dehydrated and have been out walking all day. The weather is getting warmer so more water is going to be consumed. Unfortunately we have those who think they are above water conservation or they just plain don't care. So many times this past week I have had tables come in and before I can even greet them at their table they request water for everyone. Then they order other drinks and don't even touch it. Its such a  selfish thing to do.  I don't understand how people cannot take this issue seriously! We are going to run out of water in a very short period of time. My guess is that you are now going to have to pay for water when you order it at a restaurant or bar. I would definitely help and although it's going to suck, it would help put money into a study to figure out a way to bring the water down from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Just a personal theory.


But let me sum up my rant. If you are going order water at least have the decency to drink it.