SFist: Blocker: 1200 Polk

rhizome

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:16:23 -0800

So sorry, but this travelogue strikes me as markedly superficial. Do you do minimal research? Do you speak to those in the neighborhood? El Super Burrito was once Foster's; Allen Ginsberg lived across the street because he had a crush on a boy who hung out there and he took pleasure in spying on him. Mayes was a mobster joint. When Axum took over, nothing of the interior was changed, thankfully, so one could experience the bizarre culture clash of eating superb Ethiopian cuisine (with one's bare hands, as the proprietor discouraged the use of silverware) in a dark 1940s leather booth underworld ambiance. The 100-year-old painted Wrigley's ad on the west side of Polk. Just to scratch the surface; the block is dense w/ history. Unfortunately, the guy who runs O'Reilly's, though he seems like a nice guy, has a problem w/ the venerable old name of the district, Polk Gulch, and has tried to rename it by fiat Polk Village. If you want to be welcomed into a neighborhood in which you have no previous history, please do not make a play at renaming the neighborhood.

don bincente

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:59:51 -0800

love POLK st. back in the eighties it was only place you could get bootleg live punk cassettes & all the cool punk gear... only melrose in hollywood could match it on the west coast. never forgot walkin w/ long gone h.s. friend as he bragged that he was the king of polk st. hustlers. polk is next to last stop for all misfits H.C/81

Bushy Hyde

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:07:32 -0800

No love for Modern Thai?

DC1974

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:44:08 -0800

A gray day in suburban Washington, DC. Blocker always makes me homesick. Le sigh. Thanks SFist.

theo

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:37:21 -0800

Skates Off Haight has been on that block at least five years. Also, O’Reilly’s took over from a branch of Axum Cafe, which was open for at least 2-3 years. Mayes Oyster House has been gone for most of a decade.

underachieving

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:21:09 -0800

Note: El Super Burrito's quality has gone WAY down over the last few years. And I think Skates Off Haight has been around for quite a long time. Feels like it's been there since I moved nearby, over five years ago.