Lefty O'Doul

To the Rescue!: When Good Samaritanism Goes Awry

Bouncer Navigates Fans and Families at Lefty O'Doul's

Charlie, Veteran Police Horse, Dies 10 Days Before Retirement

Charlie, Union Square's most lovable yet intimidating law enforcer, has died, just 10 days before he was to officially retire from the San Francisco Police Department where he worked for the last decade.Despite his untimely death, the Police Department and community are still throwing a retirement b ... More >>

Summer Guide: Classic Cocktails Are Alive and Well in S.F.

The Melt's Grilled Cheese Expansion, Little Bird Flutters Shut, and Moya Ethiopian to Return

The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene. The Melt's budding empire, building towards 500 grilled cheese shops, is readying to open three locations next month. City-dwelling-grilled-cheese-fans will find the sandwiches at One Embarcadero Center a ... More >>

Lefty O'Doul's: Another Thief Busted?

A great place to be if you are hungry, bad place to be if you just committed a crime​Lefty O'Doul's has garnered quite a reputation, if not for its world-famous working man's grub, then definitely for hiring the potty-mouthed Santa who was canned from Macy's for telling a dirty joke. But more rece ... More >>

Mark Lugo, Picasso Thief, Is Guilty of Ripping Off Tête de Femme Sketch from Local Museum

This would have made for a great Picasso sketch ​Considering he was caught on tape parading around with a rare Picasso sketch under his arm, it's not that surprising that Mark Lugo pled guilty today to charges of stealing a $275,000 Picasso sketch from a local gallery. SF Weekly readers might rec ... More >>

Irish Wake for Santa Claus to be held at Lefty O'Doul's

John Toomey​We hate to break it you almost as much as you will probably hate to break it to your kids: Santa Claus is dead.Now let's get wasted.

John Toomey, Santa Fired for Dirty Joke, Found Dead in Hotel

John Toomey​Readers of this blog might recall the saga of John Toomey, the plucked-straight-from-a-Norman-Rockwell-painting Santa lookalike who played the role of Old St. Nick for 20 years at the Macy's in Union Square.Last December, Toomey was fired after grownups complained about a dirty joke he ... More >>

Mark Lugo, Picasso Theft Suspect, Says Incident Is "Blown Out of Proportion"

SFPDtete de shame? ​SF Examiner scored a jailhouse interview with the suspected Picasso thief, Mark Lugo, who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of ripping an original drawing from the wall of a Union Square art gallery. Not to our surprise, Lugo doesn't talk about the case or his defense, but he ... More >>

Fired Santa John Toomey Does Jay Leno -- Parade Today Past Macy's

Did John Toomey hand-deliver a lump of coal from a Mr. O'Brien?​John Toomey, the fired 20-year Macy's Santa, would never have gone on The Tonight Show if he hadn't told a bad joke. Same with Jay Leno, right? Toomey, dressed in full St. Nick regalia, appeared during the show's monologue last night. ... More >>

Fired Santa John Toomey Takes Lefty O'Doul's Gig -- Doubles Salary

John Toomey has a new address. And it's not the North Pole.​"Santa John" Toomey, the 20-year Macy's Kris Kringle who found himself unemployed over the weekend due to an off-color jest, is now the world's most famous bar Santa. No joke. Toomey, 68, has accepted the job he yesterday told SF Weekly h ... More >>

Fired Santa John Toomey Says Lefty O'Doul's Bar Will Double His Salary

Santa John has, apparently, landed on his feet​"Santa John" Toomey, the red-suited local fixture on his way to making national headlines for being canned by Macy's due to a naughty joke, may end up having a very merry Christmas after all. He tells SF Weekly that local bar and eatery Lefty O'Doul's ... More >>

Bouncer: Hanging with drunk folks on the 38 Geary

Giants Fans Line Up at Stadium to Buy World Series Swag

Tom WalshHotcackes never sold so well​Hundreds of Giants fans lined up past Juan Marichal, over the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, and snaked close to "Weed Rock" to be the first to pick up a World Series Championship T-Shirt. When it comes to Giants paraphernalia, this city's fans have demonstrated that, i ... More >>

Lefty O'Doul's Schedules Giants Celebration For Tomorrow. Jinx? Don't Bet On It.

Fuck it -- we're going deep​One thing we like about Giants fans -- in addition to their prime physical condition -- is their reckless abandon when it comes to superstition. No worrying about curses here in San Francisco, especially not if you're Lefty O'Doul's.The Union Square piano bar/hofbrau br ... More >>

Abductor of Lefty O'Doul's Arm to Return to Scene of Crime Tonight

The real Lefty was not harmed during this stunt​This just in: Apparently the Midwestern roustabout who ripped the arm off renowned San Francisco bar mascot Lefty O'Doul some three years ago is returning to the scene of his original act of mutilation tonight -- for a party.Don't worry, folks. This ... More >>

Lefty O'Doul's Arm To Be Reattached Today

The real Lefty, with his lefty intact...​The combination of sports, drunkenness, a piano bar, and a mannequin was apparently too much for several bar patrons at Lefty O'Doul's three years back. They wrenched off Lefty's lefty, and scampered off into the San Francisco night. The Chronicle's Scott O ... More >>

Negotiator Recalls Talking Jumper Down From Lefty O'Doul Bridge

Alexia TsotsisThis ended about as well as it could for the San Francisco Police Department on Tuesday​In Sergeant Carl T's world, there are three kinds of jumpers: The ones who are going to do it no matter what, the ones who are despondent and you just need to start talking to them, and ... the ot ... More >>

Jumper Talked Down From Lefty O'Doul Bridge

Alexia Tsotsis​An apparently suicidal man has ascended the Lefty O'Doul Bridge next to AT&T Park and is purportedly threatening to take his own life. While the bridge is only a few yards over Mission Creek, the man is "not threatening to jump into the water," according to San Francisco Police ... More >>

The Bachelorette and the Big City

Doggy Bag: The Bloody Mary from Beyond

Miss Bristol County/FlickrFrom the hand of the master.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Bloody pointless?: NBC Bay Area's Joe Rosato Jr. does a Geraldo-in-Capone's-vault tour behind the walls of Lefty O'Doul's. Rosato: Around another corner, a staggering sight materialized: A ceiling of gl ... More >>

Tom Cable's Alleged Rodeo Clown Treatment of Assistant Just the Latest in Bay Area Coaching Violence

At least the bull doesn't tell the clown 'I'm going to kill you'​ By now, even Bay Area readers who can't tell a football from a futbol have heard all about how Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable is accused of channeling Ike Turner and hospitalizing assistant coach Randy Hanson by bouncing him o ... More >>

Paint Ball -- Time For Annual S.F. Baseball Art Show (And Not a Portrait of a Syringe In Sight)

Arthur MillerNow there's a guy who never imbibed female fertility drugs. Say Hey!Yesterday's revelation that Manny Ramirez -- arguably the greatest right-handed hitter in a generation -- tested positive for artificial testosterone from a female fertility drug was a worldview-altering event. I did no ... More >>

AT&T Park Bustling Early on Opening Day

Peter JamisonParking Lot of DreamsThe above photo was snapped at 8:18 a.m. this morning -- the San Francisco Giants' opening day. As you can see, the parking lots behind AT&T Park were filling up early. While the workaday world was still reading the newspaper (!) over its cereal or crowding int ... More >>

The Price of Failure

Empty seats abound at Giants home games – and it's not just the team that's losing.

Nonconformity Still Reigns!

The top eccentrics of San Francisco, and that's saying something.

The Giving Trees

Mayor holds shovel

Theatrics

The Gold Dust's bartenders don't just mix drinks, they put on a show

On the Homeless Front

Providing comprehensive services for street people is morally uplifting -- and, as shown in New York, good policy

Natural Beauty

SFMOMA makes art out the Bay Area's streets, parking lots, freeways and hills

Here's the Pitch

Twenty Four

Best Free Film Acting Class

The Tenderloin Y Group

Best Way- Back Machine

Musée Mecanique

Dog Bites

Can't Find My Way Home, Nancy Drew in The Case of the Screaming Stadium!, Last Week for Golden Handshake Reader Poll!

Home for the Holidays

Schroeder's

Cothran

Side Dish

Cothran

Cothran

Slap Shots

The Grid