Pal's Takeaway Leaving La Movida, Returning to Tony's

It looked like Jeff Mason had settled down when his acclaimed sandwich pop-up, Pal's Takeaway, made the move from a counter at Mission corner store Tony's Market to a full-kitchen set-up at wine bar La Movida last year. A year in, however, Mason's decided to go back to Tony's. Inside Scoop originally reported the move, and Mason filled us in on the details. While he enjoyed having the space at La Movida, he feels that his core customer base, the hospital workers at SF General, haven't been making the trek farther to 24th and Folsom to have lunch at Pal's. He'd remained friends with Tony's owner Kasa Meherle, and when Meherle expressed a desire to have Mason back, he decided to return Pal's to its hospital-adjacent original home, at 24th and Hampshire.

To accommodate Mason's return, Meherle has made a few improvements to the sandwich counter, sprucing it up and adding some sidewalk tables so diners aren't forced to grab and go. The only major change will be the demise (for now) of his bimonthly Pal's Burger Time offering, which he can't pull off without a full kitchen. To appease the burger-loving masses, Mason says he's thinking of doing a pop-up at Wise Sons sometime later on this summer. Pal's doesn't plan to be at Tony's forever, either: Mason has hopes of opening a brick-and-mortar location next year, and is in the process of scouting options in the South Park area, or maybe even the East Bay.

Pal's last day at La Movida will be Friday, August 8th, and he'll return to Tony's the following Monday, August 11th. As for lunch service at La Movida, it'll be dark for the time being, but owner Michael Meadows says he's still open to having someone do a pop-up in Mason's stead, and encourages any professionals who might be interested in taking over the weekday lunch shift to get in touch. If he can't find a good fit, he's working on a menu of his own that he says "will fit the concept and the neighborhood."

· Pal's Takeaway moving back to original home at Tony's [Inside Scoop]
· Pal's Launches Biweekly "Burger Time" [~ ESF ~]
· La Movida & Pal's Takeaway Open in the Mission [~ ESF ~]