After a much-needed (?) $30 million makeover, the Metreon, struggling early aughts mall fortress at Fourth and Mission, will open a new set of "reimagined" restaurants and shops on Saturday. Among the reworked ideas: a simpler, cleaner tone to the place; easier entry; and stores that—get this—one can enter without having first to walk through a human maze. Which is to say, many retail stores will now be accessible from Fourth Street. more ›

Doing anything on Sunday? No? Yes? Well, even if you are, you should fix your janky calendar and instead head over to Rebel (a gay bar) and have former SF Weekly scribe Hiya Swanhuyser and reigning queen of drag queenery Heklina pour you a drink or five. The two local notables will guest bartend in support of Occupy SF. Help end "corporate personhood, attack corruption, and support community organizing" while quelling the pain of everyday life via custom cocktail the Pepper Spray, a cocktail featuring subtle notes of "hot, sassy, and in-your-face." more ›

Penthouse, noted purveyor of labial entertainment, will bring "four-star dining" to San Francisco in early 2012 via the city's very own Penthouse Club & Steakhouse. While the exact space is not yet know, we're going to assume it's somewhere in North Beach (near the Hustler Club) or SOMA (what's up with Temple these days, anyway?). Huge Penthouse fans over at Grub Street have more: "They say the space is 15,000 square feet, and the new, clearly enormous club will feature gourmet dining, deluxe bottle service, state of the art light and sound systems, as well as — yep — topless dancers and appearances by Penthouse Pets. If you're the kind of gentlemen who thinks this sounds intriguing, you can sign up here for updates." more ›

Your days of enjoying a combo plan of getting a disc or two via those red envelopes in the mail and streaming content from California-based Netflix are numbered, kids. Starting September 1, the popular site is implementing separate plans for streaming and physical disc borrowing. more ›

Wanna go on a date with an elected progressive? Well, the city's left-of-left-of-center ilk will pimp out their leaders at tomorrow night's Smokin' Hot Progressives 2nd Annual Auction. San Francisco mayoral candidates Dennis Herrera, Bevan Dufty, Leeland Yee, David Chiu, and Phil Ting will be auctioned off during a live bidding war at Public Works (161 Erie) in the Mission district. Supervisor Jane Kim and Senior Advisor to the Mayor's Office Paul Henderson will also work it for your dollars. more ›

John Waters Live Christmas Show: Those with a hefty holiday budget best be getting their tickets to "John Waters and his sleigh full of smut" now. The event takes place on December 11 and benefits the Roxie, which just turned nonprofit. more ›

Beth Spotswood (Eye On Blogs editor) and Melissa Griffin (local politics columnist at SF Examiner) dipped their toes in the sketch comedy pool recently with a delightful new online show, Necessary Conversation. Think SNL's "Weekend Update," but set in the '70s and tinged with local topics (e.g., Mayor Gavin Newsom, Clipper cards, Lt. Gov. Abel Maldona, dog stabbing). Check it out. more ›

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Your SFist editor is titillated (ahem) because he plans on attending his first-ever female strip club spectacular! (OK, we did once attend a strip joint in Reno via an astounding bachelor's party; however, the dancer, who grinded her bottom in our lap for several minutes, left a fury-inducing streak of body paint/glitter on our new suit, and thus rendered the entire visit null and void.) See, the Gold Club, San Francisco's Premier Gentleman's nudie club, celebrates its six-year anniversary tomorrow, Thursday, July 22. more ›

We just noticed the bus ad for RocketBoat at Pier 39 the other day and went home and looked it up right away. How long has this thing been around, and why hadn't we heard of it until now? more ›

Because 24th Street and Mission exists as a bastion of soft-eject tranquility, living anywhere near the intersection means a peaceful night's sleep, right? Not so. One neighbor near popular dive bar the Attic is suing the venue for being too noisy. more ›

Last night, according to BCN (via SF Appeal) "a trade organization dedicated to serving the interests of nightclubs and other entertainment venues in San Francisco" kicked off their via a launch party. One of the association's goals is to "fill a void in the media and political dialogue surrounding entertainment issues." more ›

Just before the city's arguably useless Entertainment Commission voted to close killer nightclub Suede for 30 days -- if you recall, a 20-year-old Richmond man was killed and four wounded in a February shootout outside the Fisherman' Wharf club -- the mayor said the commission should call it quits. "I think we can simply do without the Entertainment Commission. I don't see it adding real value," Newsom told The Chronicle. "I don't, at the end of the day, feel it's lived up to its purpose." more ›

While it will star neither Mary Martin nor Cathy Rigby, J M Barrie’s Peter Pan, which will be performed at "the world’s first 360-degree CGI theatre," will make its U.S. premiere on April 27 at the Ferry Plaza. SF Citizen describes it as "something like Cirque du Soleil, except it’ll be cheaper and aimed more at kids." more ›

Good news, radio listeners. Karel, the single-named, visibly homosexual radio talk show host, plans on coming back to the San Francisco airwaves next Monday. Rich Lieberman has the scoop, reporting that the "late of KGO and Energy (92.7) is coming back to the SF airwaves, beginning Monday." To start things off, he'll "do the afternoon drive show on Green 960, the Clear Channel outlet that has a loyal, if not humongous following." more ›

Update: Thanks to Sarafina for the update on the hearing's schedule change from next Monday to the following Monday, October 26th at 1 p.m. at City Hall, Room 263. That gives you all more time to spread the word and write those letters! more ›

While SFist likes to bitch about Mayor Gavin Newsom, as any self-consciously and affectedly pissed-off San Francisco voter does, we also love us some Chelsea Handler. (If you don't know who she is, please watch Handler's interview with T.I. right this second.) So, it came as a bit of a surprise when the host of E's superb Chelsea Lately asked her Twitter followers to donate to Newsom's campaign. It seems she's quite the Gav fan. You see, Newsom needs even more money for his gubernatorial campaign, so he's holding an unfortunately-titled online event called a "tweetraiser." While not necessarily the most innovative thing a candidate can do to raise money, as NBC Bay Area's Owen Thomas points out, "looking is the part is where the youthful Newsom, who loves to hobnob with the founders of Google and other young tech entrepreneurs, really shines." (At this point, Newsom needs to start talking in a robotic voice while making herky-jerky movements. "Beep bop boop. I. am. from. the. future. Give. me. your. earth. money." Like that.) Anyway, if you have an extra $25,900.00 lying around, go here. more ›

In non-SF news: Did any of you catch NYC Prep last night? If not, let us explain it to you: NYC Prep follows around a group of Dwight School students who will be shot and killed execution-style in a public setting when the socialist revolution comes. more ›

As always, funcheapSF has an exhaustive list of great stuff to do this weekend. For those who feel like staying in or getting out of town, there are street festivals and such all over the place. We've hand-picked just a few. more ›

by Moses Namkung more ›

by Moses Namkung more ›

by Moses Namkung more ›

(By Travis Jensen -- welcome him, won't you? Jensen will be chiming in at SFist now and then, and we're elated to have him aboard.) more ›

(By Joe Kukura) more ›

Our sources tell us that Halloween in the Castro as we knew it is now dead. Long live a dull and tedious San Francisco. more ›

With nightclubs like Jelly's, Whisper, and 715 Harrison playing host to fatal mischief over the past few months, yesterday Mayor Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong went on the offense against SF nightlife. Four bits of legislation, co-sponsored by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, will be put before the board of supes: more ›

• Gary Danko tops editors eat? Pft. Very disappointing.) [Eater]
• Living at The Palms? Anyone? Anyone? [Curbed]
• Today's headlines are deadly headlines. (Bonus missed headline: The Challenger, sadly, blew to smithereens twenty-two years ago today.) [The Snitch]

Violence at SF nightclubs has been all the rage this year - all nine days, that is - and now a summit is being held this month in order to curb the violent tomfoolery. A few choice incidences to refresh your memory: Marcus Pepper, 26, was killed on New Year's Day outside a Ninth Street warehouse SOMA party; Clarence Corbin 34, was shot outside Jelly's Dance Cafe in Mission Bay; Club Vessel was, well, Club Vessel; and much to no one's surprise, two women were attacked by two male Antiochians outside 715 Harrison this past Sunday. more ›

Q.) What are theees "Queens Of The Stone Age?" A.) That'd be a band that makes hip-shakin' heavy rock 'n roll for adults. more ›

-- Colors of Christmas: Oh yeah. You know you want to hear this KOIT-ish night of soulful holiday tunes live at Davies, right? Well, we sure do. Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams, Ben Vereen, and Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. croon R&B-tinged holiday classics and modern hits starting at 8 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall; $20-$80. more ›

Well, this sounds like the perfect (and perfectly frightening) holiday entertainment for both kiddies and adults. more ›