The Hillside Supper Club on the western end of Precita Park began life as a pop-up restaurant, but now it is hosting one of its own. Which is sweet.

Thistle is a weekday cold-pressed juice pop-up operating out of Hillside Supper Club on Monday through Friday from  7 am to 4 pm. Neighbor Ashwin is one of the partners in Thistle, and he tells us:

My partners and I are launching a new health and organic brand called Thistle with our first product being a high quality 100% raw cold-pressed juice. We craft our juice in Berkeley and maintain a commitment to using local, organic and sustainable ingredients. Through farmer’s markets and sourcing with intention, we seek out and develop relationships with only local purveyors who share our commitment to promoting individual health and a healthy environment. We are currently working on developing our branding material but we have a basic website up .

I met Tony and Jonathan [from HSC] through another project on which I am working called WeGoFair, and we wrote a piece about Hillside Supper Club and their commitment to sustainability.

When we started working on Thistle, these guys were on the top of our list to reach out to to discuss partnering. If that wasn’t enough, my wife and I moved to Bernal last month (Folsom + Ripley) and now HSC is a short walk down the hill. (The walk back feels less short.)

It sounds rather awesome.

Still, if you happen to see Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein sipping juice at Thistle, just smile and try not to seem surprised.

PHOTOS: Courtesy of Thistle

Neighbor David has been spending a lot of time lately at the the new Cafe St. Jorge on Mission Street near Cortland. Cafe St. Jorge has been open for just a month, but Neighbor David writes to tell us why he thinks it’s a new neighborhood treasure:

SF has a pretty unique coffee culture: there are at least four major artisanal coffee-roasters in the city, and several more in the bay area overall. Except for Bernal Heights, many SF ‘hoods have almost as many coffee shops as they do traditional restaurants. Happily, Bernal can now bump up the count by one, with the addition of Cafe St. Jorge at Mission & Kingston Streets (in the space previously occupied by “The Nervous Dog”).

I’m an indie software developer, and like many indies, coffee shops are my de-facto office(s). I’ve been coming to Cafe St. Jorge since just after its opening on July 8th, and it has quickly become my go-to hangout.

Cafe St. Jorge is kind of  non-traditional for an SF coffee bar. Unlike the industrial loft space of SightGlass in SOMA or the tightly packed, hipster-occupied Ritual on Valencia, Cafe St. Jorge is open, light, and airy, with a nice mix of music that isn’t blaring or jarring. Owner Andrea de Francisco has decked Cafe St. Jorge out in white and blues that evoke the seaside esthetic of the Azores.

The coffee is from Stumptown roasters, so it’s got a different profile that most SF roasts (lighter and sweeter) but the real kicker here is the food: Andrea has put together a unique menu of pastries, salads, charcuterie, and sandwiches, all with a Portuguese inflection geared toward bringing you a little slice of the Azores here in SF.

The pastries range from various Portuguese inspired cookies and other sweets, to coffee-cakes/muffins/cookies (many of which are vegan and/or gluten-free). They’re all great and a little too easy to eat a lot of.  The cheese/charcuterie board is really delicious, and it’s more than enough for 2 people.

My favorite however is a sandwich she calls the “Tosta Mista,” which is a panini-pressed grilled cheese with ham that is irresistibly good.  There’s even more on the menu, including a wide range of smoothies, fruit juices, and other goodies.  They’ve put in for the beer/wine license too, so soon it’ll be a great evening hang-out spot as well.

In its short life, Cafe St. Jorge has already caught on with indie devs like me, as well as moms with kids, and more. The bottom line: it’s nice space, really friendly staff/vibe, awesome food, and best of all it’s right here in Bernal.

PHOTOS: Neighbor David Spector

There’s lots of innnnnteresting news to share about our glamorous Bernal Heights food scene, so let’s just dive right in…

Suite Foods Waffle Shop

Yes, the moment you’ve been waiting your entire life for is finally here. The Suite Foods Waffle Shop will open for business in the 331 Cortland marketplace tomorrow, on Saturday, June 1. As owner Sivan Wilensky told Bernalwood a few weeks ago:

We will be offering both sweet and savory waffles. Flavors that we will offer on a rotating basis will include espresso, brownie, mapbe bacon, and matcha. We will offer sweet and savory options as well, which will include poached eggs with smoked sea salt, frozen custard (from our friends at Frozen Kuhsterd), and fresh, seasonal fruit.

Kiss that silly paleo diet goodbye!

The Palace

They’re calling it The Palace, but it will always be the Palace Family Steak House to us. The latest iteration of The Palace will also open for business on Saturday, June 1. Unlike the previous culinary horror show, all indications suggest that this second reincarnation of The Palace will actually be quite good, if spiritually quite different from the original Palace Family Steak House of yore.

All eyes are on The Palace, as it’s even attracting coverage from our pals at SFist:

Taking over operations will be Chef Manny Torres Gimenez, who has a thing for pairing a fine dining experience with the vintage restaurant signage and homey cafes along Mission Street. Gimenez previously took up residence inside Mr. Pollo up the street at Mission and 24th without doing much more than ensuring the kitchen was up to code. (Adorably, when the food won accolades, the newspaper clippings would be posted proudly in the window.)

More recently, Manny picked up two-and-a-half stars from Michael Bauer for his food at Roxy’s Cafe, where the interior was “decorated on a shoestring” and “had nothing in common with any of those high-end restaurants” from Manny’s past experience at top spots like SPQR, Coi and Quince. Like the decor, the tasting menus were surprisingly low budget at $20-25 for a three- or four-course Chef’s Choice menu.

The new spot, which they’re just calling The Palace now, will open this Saturday, June 1st as a 48-seat affair with most of the interior retaining the comfy squeak of booth seating, and four at the chef’s counter. True to the steakhouse roots, Gimenez and his GM/Wife Katerina Barkauskas will focus on butchering and curing their own locally sourced meats to create à la carte steakhouse staples with inspiration from his Venezuelan roots.

As you can see above, Bernalwood snagged an *exclusive* photo of the slightly-updated, somewhat toned-down interior of The Palace on Thursday evening as we chatted with Samir, the new restaurant’s friendly sous-chef.

Samir told us that the exterior sign strategy for The Palace remains a work-in-progress, so don’t be deterred if the vestigial sign from the ill-fated”Palace Steak & Pizza” days remains over the front door for a while.

Oh, and speaking of which… Samir also mentioned that the new entrance to The Palace will be on the Serpentine Avenue Capp Street side of the building, not Mission.

Finally, never mind whatever The Michael Bauer might have to say about this new restaurant; the only critic who matters when it comes to The Palace will be Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable.

Angkor Borei

Lest we be accused of neophilia amid all this news of grand opening events, Bernalwood is also very happy to report that the venerable and delicious Angkor Borei Cambodian Restaurant on Mission Street near Cortland recently got some serious love on KQED-TV’s “Check Please” show.

The premise of “Check Please” entails several people you’ve never heard of sitting around a table to discuss the meal they ate at a restaurant you’ve probably never noticed. The show has a low-fi, pre-Food Network feel, which is somehow appropriate for Ankor Borei, which has been in Bernal since the 1980s. Angkor Borei is not hip, it’s not artisanal, and it’s not particularly stylish. But Angkor Borei makes very excellent and very unique food — and it’s good to be reminded of that.

The video is charming, so let’s watch:

PHOTOS: All photos by Telstar Logistics, except for the Ankor Borei facade, which comes from the Ankor Borei website.

Friends and neighbors, we may be at a tipping point. The density of fine drinking establishments along Mission Street between 29th and Precita has reached such critical mass that we may have a full-fledged Cocktail Zone on our hands. Or at least a proper Nightlife District.

Consider: This drinky region of Bernal Heights and La Lengua can already lay proud claim to Rock Bar, Iron and Gold, The Royal Cuckoo, The Knockout, and El Rio. Now comes word that the new owners of the former Naps III space, on Mission at the intersection with Precita, plan to reopen soon with an evocative new name and a dashing new look.

The new bar will  be called Virgil’s Sea Room, and it is expected to open in the next few weeks. Here’s how it was described to us:

THE VISION
We are excited for Virgil’s Sea Room to become a part of the Bernal community and are honored to be taking over such a classic neighborhood space – the former Naps III. Most of us are long-time Mission residents and we are looking forward to opening a fantastic neighborhood bar. There are three partners and all of us belong to different but overlapping communities. We are aiming for a bar that truly reflects that, a space that is comfortable, friendly and welcoming for all walks of life: queer, straight, newly arrived or old school local – this is your spot.

THE TEAM
Lila Thirkield is the owner and operator of The Lexington Club, which she started 16 years ago. She is also a community organizer and long time Mission resident.

Gillian Fitzgerald, originally from Ireland, was most recently found gratifying the masses with her delicious concoctions at Nickies in the Lower Haight, a busy neighborhood staple.

Tom Temprano is a co-founder and DJ of the soul party Hard French, he is also a community activist and President of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.

THE SPACE
Transformed by the keen eye of design and vintage guru David Marks of room4.com, Virgil’s is meant to convey a sense of comfort and warmth that comes from features like the existing ornate wallpaper (found underneath all the beer posters!) and the expertly sourced vintage furniture and fixtures. With a focus on bringing people together, Virgil’s has a number of seating areas and cozy nooks set aside for your next visit.

THE DRINKS
Virgil’s Sea Room will feature delicious drinks that can be enjoyed by a cocktail enthusiast or a vodka soda drinker, and will run the gamut from a reimagined Sazerac to a Mojito. Our goal is to provide quality libations for all tastes at a reasonable price.

Sounds  promising. Also, personal bonus: Virgil’s Sea Room is close enough to my house that I could crawl home. Which I may need to do, at some point. Hopefully.

PHOTOS: Top, Courtesy of Virgil’s Sea Room. Below, new co-owner Gillian Fitzgerald, photographed by Telstar Logistics during a recent visit to El Rio, right next door.