Review: The Brickhouse

This comes a bit late, as baseball season just ended, but I have a new contender for favorite pre-game pub. I'm a big fan of the 21st Amendment, which I've never reviewed but will someday, and you can't beat their homegrown, but the Brickhouse offers a different atmosphere. It's quiet, it's airy, and the slightly punky, slightly granola wait-staff and high wooden rafters give it more the feel of a farmhouse collective than a sports pub. (And no, it's not a brew pub, but with Anchor Steam on tap, it's close enough.)

Like the 21st, the Brickhouse pares down (and prices up?) the menu on game days -- burgers, sandwiches, salads, and the like. (Non-game days feature more variety.) I had the veggie chili (pretty good) and a large spinach salad (very good). Too small a sample size to say anything definitive about the food. Consider it a developing situation.

¡Camarones!

Mi amigo el Elbo picks me up and shows me how he rolls in Oaktown: First stop is Fruitvale's International Blvd. for Taquería San José, then a quick run for tall boys and finally greeting Susan the ticket taker at the parking lot for the Mac -- also known as McAfee Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics, who were hosting las Medias Rojas de Boston.

It sure would have been fun to have Manny and Big Papi over to San José, which is next to the pawn shop that's next to the Puerto Rican restaurant. (Sofrito: That place is a little too starchy and way too salty, and adding a Guinness on top of all that nearly put me over the edge once. A couple of burps later I was fine.) In the nearly 10 minutes I was in the taco place, I learned the following: Burritos are $3.50, supers with the works a buck more. Shrimp burritos are a splurge at $4.50. The staff is friendly and attentive. The salsa verde is the *best in the Bay Area.*

Wanting to see what the griddleman could do, I went with the shrimp tube. Minutes later, with our chips and salsa on the hood of the Honda, I dug in. Unbelievable crunch and spice explosion. The G-man threw a mix of sautéed red and green peppers and onions with seasoned shrimp. Spoonfuls of the salsa verde added (help me out here, Elbo) tomatillo, jalapeño and creamy avocado.

I finished that pup in a heartbeat, while the tortilla was still warm. My Tecate was not as cold as I would have liked, but I have to say, this was almost as good as the pregame eats for my last ball game. If only International Blvd. weren't in the East Bay.

Review: South Park Cafe

A recipe for a perfect night on the town: a bar seat at the South Park Cafe, a martini as the evening light fades through the leaves of the trees outside, doors and transoms open to the breeze, a selection of appetizers, perhaps an entree or two split between me and my dining partners, all followed with a warm night game at Mays Field which the Giants win, led by one of their young aces on the mound.

That's what happened Tuesday. The menu at the South Park doesn't change much, and why should it? I've never had a disappointing item there. In ten-plus years, I've never had a disappointing bite. Exaggeration? Absolutely not. The portions are not large, the prices are not cheap. But every flavor is well-considered, every dish its own world to explore, and the $50 one easily drops there -- an $8-10 app, a $20 entree, and two $8 drinks (OK, three) -- feels a bargain compared to so many of this city's self-important eateries.

The South Park has had the same red wines on offer by the glass for as long as I can remember. For lighter fare, the Mark West pinot noir is unbeatable: silky, warm and slightly tart. I had two glasses with the beef daube; one of the best stews I've ever tasted.