Today, Miketastic gets into the springtime spirit and pays his first revisit to the ballpark's Acme Chophouse. He had previously awarded it 2.5 stars upon opening in '02. This time around, things didn't work out so well for anyone involved, and if you think that The Big Bad Bauer is going to be a pushover during the recession, well, you're sorely mistaken:
I'm not sure what's going on at Acme, but it's not good; I can't remember the last time I've had such sloppy food. Maybe the staff wasn't prepared for the crowds, but since the restaurant is in the ballpark, they should be at the top of their game
The energy of the place is undeniable during game days and the flavor of the rib eye is still spot-on, but the shortcomings—from the lofty prices to the poorly-prepped apps—are too much to overcome. Thus, the result for Acme is the very rare grade of one star. [Chron]
Meredith Brody takes her turn at Sean O'Brien's Zinnia, and though the Myth comparisons remain inevitable, Brody favors the new incarnation: "Here [O'Brien is] operating behind the scenes. Zinnia feels much calmer, much less of a 'hot restaurant,' at least at a midweek dinner ... Myth was the very model of a hot S.F. restaurant, including its ear-splitting noisiness, but shhh: We prefer the quieter Zinnia." [SFW]
Paul Reidinger finds the intersection of jazz and pizza at Bruno's, where the pizza is—ahem—creditable and reminiscent of Little Italy: "There is no connection I know of. Nonetheless, our drastically refurbished jazz district, along Fillmore south of Geary, now has a creditable pizzeria to go along with the fancier places across the street, Yoshi's and 1300 Fillmore ... The cultural flavor is very much that of Little Italy, and part of its beguiling spell is to intensify the experience of the food." [SFBG]
THE ELSEWHERE: Bar Bites goes PlumpJackin' at Mill Valley's new Balboa Cafe, The EBX finds familiarity at Oakland's Sidebar, the CoCo Times is at Bella Ristorante in Concord, the MIJ waxes poetic at San Rafael's Rumi, Metroactive reports on the new chef at Marche in Palo Alto, Bargain Bites goes to Little Chihuahua on Divis, SFist is one of the first to file on Midi, KQED hearts Cafe Claude, The Corkboard shares an early look at Neela's up in Napa, and the Sunday Chron review had a deuce for Marinitas.
