A pulled-pork sandwich and an appletini might seem like an unlikely pair. But when new gay bar, Rebel, located in Upper Market near Octavia, teamed up with the smoking crew of Sneaky’s Underground BBQ, it was a match made in happy-hour heaven.
Sneaky’s began, before many of the city’s new barbecue spin-offs like Rib Whip, as a Bay Area barbecue delivery service back in 2008 after Ben Thorne and his friend, Pat Wachter, both got laid off from their antique-dealing jobs. Having never set foot in a professional kitchen, the duo took their weekend hobby of smoking pork shoulder in the back of Pat’s Mission home to the next level by delivering their Carolina-style pork and tasty sides to friends.
Since February, Sneaky’s has been working the Rebel crowd. “It was symbiotic,” says Thorne. “They needed food, and we needed a kitchen.” During the bar’s happy hour, the bandana-clad staff serves two-for-one drink specials along with plates of spicy hot wings and jalapeño mac and cheese to a mixed crowd. “If it weren’t for San Francisco’s fervent support of underground food, we wouldn’t be where we are right now,” says Thorne. For those who want to eat in at home, do not despair. Sneaky’s still delivers to nearby neighborhoods.
