VinDivine - Living it Up John & Janine Style

Buffalo Wing Smackdown!

 WTF do I have to do, jet to New York every time I get the hankerin' for a  decent wing?! It's 2009 for chrissakes!! Anyhoo, if you picked up on my subtle frustration above, I have a passion for buffalo wings. No, not just any chicken wing that's been breaded, deep-fried then dredged through some bottled hot sauce. No siree. We're talkin' Buffalo wings, made in the old school east coast tradition. Know what that means, punk? Read on.

I hear the first Buffalo wings were made at a place called the Anchor Bar in...you guessed it you genius...Buffalo, NY. Well, enough history for today. And who the hell wants to go to Buffalo, anyway?

Anyhoo, we have devoted much of our New Year's weekend to just that, my kittens. Clogging our arteries for the good of all, to discover the best Buffalo wings in the city. And we narrowed it down to two for...drum roll please...the Buffalo Wing Smackdown 2009!

So our friend Nikki told us about this place in the Marina called Original Buffalo Wings.  Dunno about you, but it seemed pretty promising to my optimistic little self. I mean, that's just about as specialized-sounding as In-n-Out Burger. And they deliver a damn tasty burger.

So I was kinda worried when I walked in and they offer every type of buffalo-fried food you can imagine! Buffalo shrooms, anyone? But hey, whatdya expect from a place in the Marina, anyway? This is a kinda shabby, shack-type diner that looked like it might deliver. And once again, you have to respect anyone that names their restaurant after a dish. So we ordered up a plate of wings, as well as a plate of fingers just cuz. The wings go for about a buck a pop. The fingers go for about a buck and a half each. Small order is 6, or you can super-size it and get 50 wings for $50 (nope, no volume discount). They also offer 'California white wine' for $2.95 a glass! We opted for Corona to wash the wings down.

They served 'em up pretty fast, and first impression is of course a visual. And that impression? How the hell did they find chicken wings smaller than what our friend Spencer serves?! P-u-n-y. They should serve tweezers with these things. Maybe they should call this place 'Ethiopian Buffalo Wings'.

OK, I think you get the gist. Or am I too subtle? So let's move on to the taste test. J&J look for a crisp skin, enough tender meat to get a good mouthful, and a peppery spice. Not too sloppy on the sauce, either!

Hey the wings deliver pretty well on the taste test. Puny? Yes. The meat was a little dry ('cuz they're so small! Arrgghh. OK I will stop ranting). A tad dry, but good sauce, a little gooey but tasty. But they are true Buffalo wings, not some f'd up Cali version of a classic. I give 'em a 7/10. Prolly an 8 if it's after a long night of hittin' the bottle.

OK, now for the next and final contender: another friend Kate Facebooked us (yes that is a legitimate verb in my book) about Giordano's on Columbus. This place is straight outta Pittsburgh. Steelers pennants everywhere, Pittsburgh memorabilia, etc. Cute little spot, with lots of TVs. And the people working it are really cool, lotsa fun. And a good beer and decent wine list. We'll definitely check it out for the upcoming Steelers playoff game. Now, Giordano's is best known for their 'All-in-One Sandwiches'. Nope I didn't know WTF that meant either. The All-in-one is a sando with your choice of meat & provolone cheese, put on the grill, then on thick white bread. But wait! Before they close it up, they put a pile of fries and oil & vinegar slaw on it! Woo Hoo!! We love you Giordano's! They looked so good we ordered a couple and took them to our friend Spencer at Paragon and Paul, Thomas and Tony at Pete's Tavern.

But back to the topic at hand. What was it? Oh yeah, Buffalo Wings. So we order up 10 wings for $7.50, spicy. Holy crap! These wings ROCK! First they are f'ing ginormous. I mean, at least 4-5 bites each. Second, they served up 5 'guy' wings and 5 'chick' wings (guy wings are the drumsticks). Third, the skin was crisp, and the meat was uber-tender. I just drooled. And last and most important, the sauce is out of this world kick-ass. Yes, it was a bit gooey, we're used to Buffalo wings that are less so. But the sauce was so damn good when we were done with the wings we grabbed spoons and slurped up the rest of it.

I am tempted to rate these wings a perfect 10. Hmmmm. The pressure. What a VinDivine rating can do for a business!;). Nope, sorry Giordano's, as awesome as these wings are, and as much as we love your place I can only go up to a 9/10. Why? I dunno why. It just is. Maybe it's a little early in '09 to bestow a 10 on anything.

Bottom line: Girodano's kicks OBW's scrawny ass. But if you're in the Marina and want a decent order, give 'em a go.

Giordano's
303 Columbus (@ B'way)
San Francisco, CA
415-397-BROS

Mamacita - Marina

Our good friend Elliot (and friend of the owners!) scored us a table at "Little Mama" one night and thank god, cuz there were more marina-ites jammed in there than there are people jammed around the sample tables on a Sunday at Costco. People, it's not for your entire MEAL, it's a "sample"! Move along.

Back to Mamacita, what a madhouse! Pick-up city, too. I mean how can it not be when you're basically dry-humping, or being dry-humped, just trying to snake your way through the crowds to the bar.  Seems like the crowd is a slightly older (note - we didn't say more mature) and richer Taco Tuesday crowd if ya know what I mean.

The drinks? FAB. Great ritas, great tequilas...packed a punch. We had our favorite, basic Hornitos version (no salt for me, salt for Johnnie), but the Pomegranate ones are supposed to be killer too.

The food? You know what we love people...good chips & salsa and small plates!! Super-fresh tortilla chips and perfectly-spicy salsa, Hell even the guac was good and neither of us are fans of the avocado. Next - the Niman Ranch meatballs. They come on a bed of cumin-scented whipped potatoes and a super-tasty charred tomatillo chipotle sauce. The tacos come 3 at a time. We had the carnitas and the carne asada. Cow whores that we are, the pork was actually better - more tender and paired with some type of parmesan-like cheese and a zingy chili sauce. 

We'll go back soon and have more different plates, too bad we made such pigs of ourselves with the chips. Then we'll report back atcha, loyal VinDiviners.

Bottom line: We're damn glad we had an 'in' or we may have starved to death waiting for a table. And we've heard that even if you call ahead for a resie, count on waiting an additional hour or so before you actually get your table. Don't hate the player, hate the game - 'cuz people just don't wanna leave! Secondly, unless you are in the mood for a scene (it is the Marina) you may want to go elsewhere - but if you have your game on, you'll have a blast! Oh yeah, pack your earplugs;)

Mamacita
2317 Chestnut St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 376-1629

Capannina - Cow Hollow

Here is the general takeaway if you are not in the mood to wade through all my yammerig below: if Tony Soprano (before getting capped by Uncle Junior) would have had the experience here we recently had, somebody would be sleeping with the fishes, know what I mean?!

It's fun being negative! We don't do it often enough. Why am I being this way, you ask? Well, my friends, here's why:

1. This place has scads of positive ratings on other, lesser;) review sites
   
2. We L-O-V-E Capri Italy as I believe we've mentioned about a gazillion times, and that's where the owner is from
   
3. Mikele, the owner (a very nice guy) is the uncle of a semi-friend of ours in Capri and last but not least...
4. In our book, anything Italian has a decent chance of being kick-ass good. So what the hell happened between Capri and Cow Hollow?!

WOW. Want the run-down, the evidence, the goods? DO YA? Ok, here ya go:

1. Place was dead...a place smack-dab in the middle of Union Street, dead? First warning sign.
2. Our waiter, nice as pie of course, reminded us all of Count Dracula. Is Transylvania near Italy? We all covered our necks
3. They were...wait, I still can't believe it...out of...oh god, I can barely say it...CHICKEN! Are you kidding me? CHICKEN?  Out of fresh, moist, tender Bufala Mozzarella or kid goat, maybe but...Chicken?
4. Once we got over our shock and ordered other stuff, they brought us the wrong dishes. Fixed it, no problem, smiles the whole time
   
5. The dude poured the new (second) bottle of wine in my existing 1/2 full glass from the first - different - bottle. When he had just placed a new glass down. Maybe he was so busy staring at my neck he lost his concentration
6. Papardelle with Boar. Boar-ing.

That said, let's leave on a positive note, whattaya say? Throw 'em a bone.

1. The Bufala Raviolis were tasty. Nothing to write home about, but definitely tasty.
2. Being with our comedian friends like Shari & Dave, how bad could it be?
3. Everyone really was nice, especially Mikele.
4. So maybe we hit an off night, Monday and all. Hey VinDiviners out there - Go check it out yerselves and holla back!

PS. Sorry for the list overload. Capannina Ristorante

1809 Union Street
San Francisco, CA
415.409.8001

Perry's - Cow Hollow

This is the Perry's to go to. Accept no substitutes! A real checkered-table cloth, old-school, cool joint with just a little sports bar vibe. There is another Perry's downtown and one in the SF Airport (?) but this is the original, and the one that Perry, the owner, cares about. They have a few tables outside, pretty hard to score one on the weekends, but the bar area seats plenty and the service is great. Good, solid grub. Get the wings buffalo style if you're into messing up your fingers, and they make a mean bowl of french onion soup believe us we've tried MANY. They have a good burger too. Figure pretty much anything you get here is gonna be good.

Oh, and if you're nursing a hangover, get the brunch, a pile o' food that'll mop up the last remnants of last night's bender. Or if you prefer to just Start It Up again, they make a mean Bloody Mary pretty much from scratch.

Great place to go to watch the game, younger Mike behind the bar knows pretty much everything there is to know about college football (and golf), try to stump him. He's very cool. Older Mike is his bar mate, very cool, fun guys.

Perry's
1944 Union St.
San Francisco, 94123
(415) 922-9022

Left at Albuquerque - Cow Hollow

Wow, are there some messed-up people here. Drunk little twits fresh outta their no-name private colleges and over-the-hill wanna-be's looking to snag some ass. That said, it's damn good people watching! These places (there are a few in the bay area) have seemed to lose their steam in the past few years. Dunno if it is the management, more competition, 'shifting demographics' or what. But one thing - it's not 'cuz the salsa and chips. Them's gooood. Also get the chicken salad, and the steak and potato burrito, VERY yummy.

This is not a destination place, my furry friends. This is a "I'm walking down Union Street and have the munchies" place. That's it. Nothing wrong with that. It's like looking through your closet and deciding to wear the beat up pair of Pumas just because it's not worth lacing up the Y3s. They have a few outdoor tables, not worth fighting for IMO. Know why? You'll be sitting right next to some tool who thinks his/her poop doesn't stink because they scored a table.

Left at Albuquerque
2140 Union St.
San Francisco, 94123
(415) 749-6700