It's Friday the 13th, and you're in luck. We've got some Lower Haight leftovers to get you through your weekend and beyond.
First, this weekend, House of Thai II is celebrating one year since it opened at 494 Haight Street. Tonight and tomorrow, the restaurant is offering a free drink -- wine, Singha beer, or other beverage — to dine-in customers. The restaurant is also promising a traditional Thai music show. House of Thai II is open for dinner starting at 4pm.
Tonight, DSF (520 Haight) will be the site of a launch party for Pizza Brigade, a new clothing brand "inspired by and focusing on" pizza, amazingly. Expect free drinks, music, and a special in-store release of a Friday the 13th-inspired t-shirt. The party runs from 8pm to 11pm.
Tomorrow (Saturday), the Friends of Duboce Park are hosting their monthly park clean-up volunteer day. The focus of tomorrow's efforts will be the playground. As such, parents are invited to bring their children to help out, as there will be kid-friendly gardening activities. All supplies, tools, and gloves will be provided, plus water and fruit for refreshment. The clean-up is slated from 10am to noon; meet at the entrance to the playground.
A few days ago, Choux (248 Fillmore) unveiled a couple of new flavors of cream puffs -- s'mores, made with milk chocolate custard, marshmallow fluff, and topped with a cinnamon graham cracker and a piece of chocolate, and an Irish Coffee flavor made with Philz Coffee and Baileys Irish cream. Swing by to stock up for St. Patrick's Day, although the latter flavor at least will be available throughout March.
Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, let's look a little bit ahead, to Tuesday night. That's when Wing Wings (422 Haight) will be the site of another Batter By The Bay pop-up. This edition will feature the usual beer-battered cod and chips, plus the bonus of spice burgers courtesy of Wes Burger. The pop-up runs from 5pm to 9pm.
Silky Touch (544 Haight) has reopened following last Friday's incident in which a car backed up into the salon. According to employee Nancy Pham, there was no structural damage to the salon — just a lot of broken glass and other debris that required a fair amount of clean-up. "It was a little scary, luckily no one was hurt," Pham tells us. Things aren't 100 percent back to normal, however — it will still be a week or two before new glass arrives for the storefront's windows, Pham says.
Photo: Mike Gaworecki / Hoodline
The Examiner reports this week that the First Friendship Institutional Baptist Church at Oak and Steiner is changing its policy about how its emergency shelter beds get reserved. With the old policy, the shelter would begin taking reservations daily at 3pm, and would require all members of any given family to be present at the time of reservation. This often led to parents pulling their kids out of school early or having them skip after-school programs, the Examiner reports. As of this coming Monday, the shelter will be switching to a call-in reservation system, with the entire family needing to report to the shelter by 8pm.
Switching gears, here's a tip we received from a reader today:
"I live on the 600 block of Haight Street. This morning I came home from dropping my son off at preschool around 8:30AM and noticed a nervous looking African American male (age 20-30, about 5' 9", wearing a black San Francisco t-shirt, and jeans) standing across the street from my home. I stood in my garage and decided to watch him for a while. He proceeded to nervously check the front doors and gates of every home/business up to Pierce St, then disappeared around the corner towards Waller. I called 911 while this was happening and provided a description and of the guy. About 10-15 minutes later the guy appeared back on the 600 block of Haight, and 2 police units pulled up right as he was checking the door on the condo building at 645 Haight. They questioned and searched him for a while, but ultimately let him go. The police said there's not much they can do until he actually enters a structure, unless it's a vehicle and they can book him for tampering."
And lest we end on a down note, today happens to be the 2nd anniversary of Bi-Rite's opening on Divisadero. So now you have a great excuse to stroll on over and treat yourself to some salted caramel.
That's all for today, neighbors.
