Workers at Alamo Drafthouse Are Joining in the Growing Labor Movement in the Mission

Workers at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission in San Francisco have announced plans to form a union, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Employees say they want the Austin, Texas-based company to address a number of concerns including those around sexual harassment and workplace safety. The Chronicle reports at least two incidents of alleged sexual harassment at the Mission location, spurring workers to demand managers at the theater participate in sexual harassment training in the next two weeks. Interestingly, the organizers say they aren’t asking the company to voluntarily recognize the union, called Alamo New Mission United, but are hoping instead that public pressure as a result of their efforts will be enough to get the company to play ball.

The movie theater staff, including bartenders and servers (Alamo Drafthouse theaters feature bars and allow moviegoers to order food and drink to be delivered to their seats), join a blossoming labor movement sweeping through some of the Mission District’s most high-profile food and beverage businesses. In spring 2021, workers at well-known confection company Dandelion Chocolate made moves to unionize — but a number of current and former Dandelion Chocolate workers say the company engaged in unfair labor practices that effectively crushed the union before it could get off the ground. Staff at sourdough bread destination Tartine Bakery successfully formed a union in May 2022 but as of August said negotiations with the company had stalled out.

Cattlemens is out, Chick-fil-A is in (maybe)

In an interesting battle of the chain restaurants, a decades-old location of Northern California-based steakhouse chain Cattlemens in Petaluma could be demolished to make way for a new location of Chick-fil-A. The Press-Democrat first reported the news, noting that a development proposal filed with the city by Dynamic Real Estate Partners would see the demolition of the current Cattlemens building and the construction of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Halo Halo Holidays is almost here

Sorry to all the hardcore Thanksgiving fans out there, but, yes, our eyes are already on December. For anyone else in the same boat, mark your calendars for December 10 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. when Kapwa Gardens will host a Filipino food, art, and culture crawl called Halo Halo Holidays. The SoMa event starts at Kapwa Gardens for a Filipinx artisan market and food festival with additional stops at San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center for a book pop-up and other cultural exhibits, ending at Executive Order for a toy drive and DJ party.

Claws of Mondays launch at Viridian

East Bay diners can now kick off the week at Claws of Monday at Viridian — that means a four-course tasting menu from chef Kevin Tang for $75, gratuity included. The menu will change week to week based on what’s available seasonally, per an Instagram post, and tickets will be released online on Sundays for the following week. Seatings will be at 6 and 8 p.m.