Don’t Get Tested Then Have Everyone Over for Thanksgiving. Just Don’t.

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your bite-sized roundup of Bay Area food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• Health experts, both local and national, are warning against Thanksgiving day gatherings...but will people listen? The CDC adjusted its guidance Thursday to caution U.S. residents against dining on the holiday with folks outside their households, a message echoed by Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “Don’t expose your loved ones around a holiday dinner table” he said as he urged against multi-household Thanksgiving feasts, but KPIX reports that the Bay Area’s COVID-19 testing sites have been overrun with folks who are seeking tests to allow Thanksgiving travel or dinners. Colfax tells ABC 7 that testing for that purpose is the wrong move, as “we have seen the repeated failure of this testing strategy across the country,” and “a negative test cannot be an excuse to put yourself or others at risk.”
• Intu-on, the Isaan pop-up from former Kin Khao sous chef Intu-on Kornnawong, garnered raves from food critic Soleil Ho, with its shrimp toast singled out for praise. [SF Chronicle]
• A new SF-based startup is making protein bars with influencer-lauded ingredients like cordyceps, lion’s mane and reishi mushrooms. [Food Business News]
• The owners of Ole’s Waffle Shop, a restaurant that’s served Alameda diners for 93 years, are so strapped for cash that they sold their retirement property to keep the business afloat. [East Bay Times]
• Neighborhood opposition to a Whole Foods at the corner of Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue will likely delay its opening for years. [SF Chronicle]