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November 13, 2004
Toronado
Went to Toronado last night. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not sure why not.
A grubby, dive-y kinda place located on the Haight. You enter through the front door, which is split so only the bottom is closed. There's a long bar to the right and a bunch of tables to the left. There's a small seating area in the back.
Immediately you notice all the freaking taps. Holy hell, they have a lot of beer. But they also have tons of taps adorning the walls. To say this place has character would be an understatement: The bartenders are all colorful and very informed. I was quite happy to let them pick the beers for me. All I asked was that they be somewhat local. Of course, that means I missed some great beers, but they have so many it would be hard not to.
First up was the Speakeasy IPA, a nicely hopped strong IPA which really hit the spot. Then I had the Russian River ESB, and that was smooth and really nice. Vinnie, the owner of Russian River, is at RFD for a couple of days, so I'm sad to have missed his beers there. Lastly I got a pint of the El Toro Duce, a very hoppy, flowery double IPA. Quite strong, too.
They don't serve food at Toronado, but there's a sausage place next door that will let you order and take food in there. Zagat says of the Sausage Grill: "They do one thing and they do it perfectly." Who am I to disagree? Their Hungarian smoked was very tasty and wonderfully smoked -- next time, I will try it alongside the Alaskan Smoked Porter which they had on tap. The Italian hot was fantastic. Hot enough to feel it, but not hot enough to overwhelm every other taste.
Posted by Samer at November 13, 2004 04:43 AM
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