Lan's #12: Royal Oak

Royal Oak
2201 Polk Street
(between Bonita St & Vallejo St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 928-2303

After dinner (where our alcohol tab surpassed what we actually ate) at Luella (don't miss the oxtail gnocchi, skip the mac n cheese), we stopped in at Royal Oak for a post-dinner drink. I had a 10-mile run scheduled for Saturday morning so opted for a glass of wine. Beer would have been a better idea. This is a cozy lounge, none of the modern, minimal furnishings of the swanky downtown lounges. These were more like tables and couches you'd find at grandma's house.

We got a big round table...Drew showed up, and then a bunch of characters from Austin Powers showed up. It was Austin Powers' bachelor party. I'm assuming his fiance must have put the kabosh on something truly fun. Goldmember was a little scary.

Not a bad spot for being right in the middle of Russian Hill. The 10 miles was postponed to Sunday. I have until the end of April to do 40 pushups. Yikes.

Lan's #2 in 2008: Beauty Bar

Beauty Bar
2299 Mission Street
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 285-0323

The rain was relentless yesterday, but we had dinner reservations at Farina...so we stood in the rain waiting for a cab (skirt & boots = no wet pants!) to take us to the Mission. After a lackluster dinner (mine resembled an airplane salisbury steak, minus the smushy carrots) and copious amounts of sparkling wine, red wine, and a finishing shot of fernet (gross), Say dropped us off at Beauty Bar a few blocks away.

Who chose this place? I think HH made a panicked decision. Nevertheless, it was a new bar for me so we went in. It was a lot smaller than I expected and more divey than I'd imagined the many times I've walked by. A shot of jager and an ice cold can of PBR (a request that surprised MinhCao) and we were ready to hit the very very tiny dance floor over by the bathrooms. A good mix of 80s/hip hop...stuff like Bel Biv Devoe, Technotronic, Boys II Men, and Madonna...can't go wrong with that!

I discovered a photobooth right next to the kind of really gross bathrooms, but didn't have $3 to get the machine going. So...we took some pics with my camera:

My bangs do a weird curl thing in the rain. After a few hours here, MinhCao, Jamie, and HH headed over to Club Six. Angelina & I picked up Josh from BART and called it a night. A good time was had by all.

When I got home, J & Alden were sitting in the dark trying to conquer Guitar Hero.

Strangely, I woke up in the middle of the night on the couch by myself...how'd that happen? Spoke to Alden this morning and when he left, I was in bed.