A New Creole Contender Is Bringing Gumbo and Jambalaya to Cole Valley

A Creole specialist comes to the big city

CreoLa, a 23-year-old San Carlos restaurant known for Creole dishes like jambalaya and shrimp etouffee, is opening a new location in San Francisco, the Chronicle reports. The restaurant will take over a former Thai restaurant at 900 Stanyan Street in Cole Valley. A number of the city’s long-established Creole and Cajun restaurants have closed in recent years — but with both CreoLa and Tenderloin mainstay Brenda’s now in expansion mode, maybe there’s a revival on the way.

A Castro restaurant gets into the weed business

The owners of Flore, a popular brunch spot in the Castro, have opened a weed dispensary called Flore Store across the street, Hoodline reports. The dispensary will take over a former nail salon — an alternative to the owners’ original plan to turn their restaurant into a cannabis cafe. At a City Hall hearing last month, Flore owner Terrence Alan had told city supervisors his restaurant was in desperate need of some kind of boost. Perhaps the new cannabis operation will be just what the doctor ordered.

No more noodles from a North Oakland staple

The North Oakland location of Noodle Theory Provisions closed for business as of this past Sunday, Berkeleyside reports. The restaurant was known for its pan-Asian takes on ramen and other noodle soups. Noodle Theory’s two other East Bay locations, in Rockridge and Moraga, remain open.

Let Ali Wong school you on Asian food

Finally, SF native and perennial Eater SF favorite Ali Wong shared an excerpt from her new book, Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life, with Vulture. The topic? Wong’s personal guide to dining at Asian restaurants, which includes her essential tips for what distinguishes, say, a good Vietnamese restaurant (“waiters have long fingernails that may touch your food and that’s okay”) from a bad one (“they serve chicken breast”).