Bocadillos Has Closed After 13 Years and More A.M. Intel

Bocadillo’s last service was Saturday, July 22

Bocadillos, the tapas restaurant at the base of the Transamerica building, has closed. Owners Gerald and Cameron Hirigoyen, who are also behind nearby Piperade, sold the restaurant and shut down operations this past weekend. Besides being a reliably dining experience through the years, the price was also a boon, with most plates averaging $10. “At the end of the day, the price point wasn't high enough, unless you really dumb it down, which I didn't know how to do,” Gerald Hirigoyen told Inside Scoop. “And I didn't want to change the concept, because that's what it was.” It’s sad to see a good restaurant close, but fans can head to Piperade, where Hirigoyen will now be focusing all his energies.

Trick Dog

Trick Dog wins “World’s Best Cocktail Menu” at big-deal industry event

Trick Dog’s creative menus have long garnered the bar and restaurant lots of attention locally, but it’s achieved global recognition at Tales of the Cocktail, a yearly cocktail industry event in New Orleans. This year co-founders Josh Harris and Morgan Schick have accepted the honor of best cocktail menu, an award based on “a bar’s ability to communicate its offerings to their guests in a physical manner–via hard copy bar menu or board." Given the extremely detailed and offbeat menus from this crew, including an entire children’s book as their most recent menu, it must’ve been a shoo-in. SF’s other honoree was Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki, the book by Martin and Rebecca Cate.

Black Sands chef shuffle: Eric Ehler moves on, Marc Pool moves in

Founding chef Eric Ehler has moved on from his post at Black Sands Brewery in the Lower Haight. His replacement as head chef is Marco Pool, who has spent time at Outerlands, Serpentine, and Slow Club. According to co-owner Andy Gilliland, Pool is an ideal pick because “he understands the important maintaining a corner spot and doing what is right for the neighbors around.” Pool is already debuting three new dishes on the lunch menu, starting this week.

Birba wins use of backyard garden patio in Hayes Valley

Cute and tiny wine bar Birba has finally won the right to use its backyard patio garden, a cause owner Angie Valgiusti has been fighting for since the bar opened two years ago. Though neighbors were concerned about noise (and all the usual NIMBY stuff), Valgiusti received a unanimous vote of 5-0 in an SF Planning Department hearing on July 20. Crowds of neighbors and industry friends including Dominique Crenn, Telmo Faria (Uma Casa) and Jen Pelka (The Riddler) showed up in yellow and blue shirts to show support. There are a few more hoops to jump through, but Valgiusti already has Hannah Collins (Media Noche, Barzotto, A Mano) on board to design the space.