THE EMBARCADERO—Oddly, the Pancho Villa location next door to the Ferry Building is suddenly defunct. In its place is something called Pier 1 Grill. A tipster says they were still serving, ahem, something similar to Mexican food earlier today, but further investigation reveals that they will soon change their menu to feature things like burgers ... maybe not the best idea directly next to Taylor's. (Also? Someone tell them the name is taken). Even more curious: the Mission branch says that even though it is still operating per normal, they are no longer called Pancho Villa. [EaterWire]
SOMA—As the various daily newsletters all mentioned throughout the week, Bloodhound will make its debut tonight after a few soft opening nights. The former Cassidy's was overhauled by the folks from Double Dutch, who turned it into a faux hunting lodge of sorts. 1145 Folsom Street, between Seventh and Eighth; website [EaterWire]
HAYES VALLEY—Tomorrow night, Jamie Lauren is putting together a pair of very special dishes at Absinthe with a rare La Quercia pig. Getting a hold of a La Quercia pig is difficult—Bar Bambino and A16 have both had them in the past—and here are the JL specials: one is a Trio $15 (pork liver pate, braised pig's head pate, pork rillettes) and Duo $15 (coca-cola braised pork ribs, sous vide pork tenderloin). [EaterWire]
THE MISSION—Angry Missionites will be holding a protest after a controversial landlord shuttered and evicted Tansitaro Michoacan restaurant on 24th Street, because they didn't pay the rent, which, ahem, kind of makes sense. The protesters—who don't have much else to do on a Friday night?—say the rent was excessive for the area. [SFW]
WORLD WIDE WEB—From the BizTimes: "Restaurant reservation business OpenTable Inc. filed for an initial public offering worth up to $40 million. ... The company said it made a profit of $9.2 million on sales of $41.1 million in 2007, but it recorded a $9.1 million income tax benefit that year. For the first nine months of 2008, OpenTable lost $149,000 on sales of $41.3 million." [BT]
TOP CHEFFAGE—Poor, eliminated Jeff thinks those lecherous Top Chef producers just saw him as a sex object ... no, really, he said that: "Every single show that I've ever seen, they have me with my shirt off in the beginning — which is kind of strange ... It seems like a camera was always following me around trying to find me whenever I'm taking my clothes off to change in the morning or at night." [EW]