We met up with a friend tonight for dinner. He used to live in SF so picked the places we went tonight.

First stop, Victor’s Pizza. Apparently our friend Arjun says that almost everything they had was delicious. We had eyed their calzones as we were waiting for our table so we got Calzone “B” with pepperoni, salami, and mushrooms. The breading is nice and chewy and the ingredients seemed very fresh. This was a mini size and is plenty for 2 people. Ron and I had leftovers because I also wanted to try their pasta.

I chose the carbonara. The bacon was good and there was a lot of it! It was a bit oily though and very filling. We ate about 2/3 of the dish so we have enough for one more meal.

After dinner we tried to go to a wine bar down the street but it was packed full. There was a 30 minute wait to get inside. Instead we drove over to the Haight to Alembic Bar. One of Arjun’s friends recommended it. Apparently it had been written up recently in the New York Times.

It was really crowded there too and we had to wait about 15 minutes to get inside. They have a rule “one person out, one person in”. We were lucky to get a table to sit and chat. We had a few drinks, including one not on the menu. A mint julep. The poor bartender had to make three of these for our table and to make the ice, she pound a block of ice in a canvas bag with a mallet. She was beating the bag with a vengeance. The drink was worth it though, ICE cold!

Very refreshing and a good way to end the night.

Victor’s Pizza
1411 Polk Street (between California & Pine)

Alembic Bar
1725 Haight Street (between Cole & Shrader)