Before it suffered irreparable damage in a tragic 2007 fire, Original Joe's spent over 70 years working its way into the heart of San Francisco with humble, honestly prepared hamburger steaks, Italian-American staples, and the kind of customer service you only encounter in a family-run business. It took the owners, the Duggan family, four years to find an appropriate space to stage Original Joe’s rebirth. Now, just seven weeks in, the buzz has been good, and the Chowhound chorus has chimed in to say the new Original Joe's achieves what it set out to: infuse a new space with the richness of history and unmistakable branding they’ve nurtured over a lifetime.

Pizza whiz Jeff Krupman is a no frills, humble guy, but his Neapolitan-style pies are total showpieces. Blistered chewy crust, willowy fresh mozzarella, and a burst of hand-picked herbs—you'll be shocked to know he's making these beauts out of a cafe countertop oven.

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Illustrations By Brent Couchman

This year's SF Beer Week saw 2600 people and almost 70 locally crafted beer companies pack SoMa's Concourse Exhibition Center. New beer gardens are popping up from Hayes Valley (Biergarten) to the Mission (Southern Pacific Brewing Company), and there are fancy beer restaurants like Monk's Kettle spinoff Abbot's Cellar en route. Artisan beer is the new cupcake. But it's worth noting a handful of San Francisco restaurants have been giving beer its due dilligence for quite some time.