It's a new year and a new decade, but the Eater Wrap is back in full force to bring you the week's most notable restaurant stories from Eater SF. This week's buzz centered around the rash of closures that descended upon the city, but as always, there's plenty of other whimsy, wonderful and juicy news too. Buckle up.
1) The bad news first: the end of the calendar year saw a flurry of restaurant closures, both planned and unplanned. The figure is now up to double-digits, and the biggest names to drop dead in the new year are Shanghai 1930, Zazil, Left at Albuquerque, and Vivande Porta Via.
2) But with every cloud comes a silver-lined chance of meatball (or something like that), right? Perbacco's highly-anticipated casual spinoff Barbacco is due next week, and for all you curious folk who simply cannot wait until then, take a sneak peek at the slick interior hotness right here.
3) 'Twas a banner week for fast food freakouts. First a lady punched a worker at McDonald's when they wouldn't give her Chicken McNuggets, and then a lady went bonkers in a McDonald's because she didn't like her burger at McDonald's. When the restaurant refused to refund her money, the woman caused thousands of dollars worth of damage after throwing a bucket of water over the counter and toppling over a glass display case and three cash registers. Fortunately for everyone involved, there's video.
4) With the new year comes an updated version of The Eater 38, your answer and ours to any question that begins, “Can you recommend a restaurant…”
5) Haven't been to tiki mecca Smuggler's Cove yet? No worries; let a photo tour suffice for now. Kindly note the pufferfish.
6)Life-altering changes are in store for the food program at Bender's, where Weird Fish's Satellite has officially vacated the Mission premises. No more fried pickles. Sadface.
7) Before bidding 2009 farewell, Eater asked a respected panel of food writers and restaurant figures a series of questions that comprised a little thing we like to call the Year in Eater. On the list of discussion points this year: Single Best Meals, Top Newcomers, Top Standbys, The Year in One Word, Best Dining Neighborhood, Biggest Dining Surprises and 2010 Headline Predictions.
