Controversy erupted during our Pick San Francisco's Best Bar poll. Union Square's Jasper's questionably pulled ahead in the high-end bar category during the last hours. Like, literally, within the poll's last few hours. Which is to say, we smell PR rat. Or some sort of rat. Nevertheless, they are hereby disqualified. (If you can't trust an unscientific poll on a wildly popular blog, what can you trust!?) Jasper's is a fantastic place and we cannot recommend it enough, but it just open. Their fan base simply is not yet that large. Nice try. more ›

What with S.F. Blackout Week S.F. Cocktail Week a few days away, we thought it fitting to ask the city's biggest booze fans (i.e., SFist readers) to reveal their favorite watering hole. Call us pinko commie tools, but we still believe in the bar or restaurant as a whole rather than glorifying the star chef or, as in this case, the bartender/mixologist. Which is why we're asking for you to tell us your favorite bar in San Francisco -- your single favorite gin joint right now. You can't pick just one, you bemoan? Fine. You can pick two. But that's it. more ›

According to a recent poll by Grove Insight of Portland, Ed Lee is ahead in the mayoral race. Far ahead. But City Attorney Dennis Herrera is gaining on him. A recent SFGate post reports that the city's interim mayor is "winning 35 percent of the first-place votes in the first round of the city's ranked-choice voting, followed by 23 percent for Herrera." more ›

If the election were held tomorrow, who would you select as your next San Francisco mayor? We saw D11 Supervisor John Avalos officially toss his hat into the mayoral ring on Monday. He joins fellow former supervisors Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Tony Hall, Senator Leland Yee, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, Joanna Rees, and (in all likelihood) Interim Mayor Ed Lee. Choose wisely: more ›

While President's Day is kaput - welcome back to work, folks! - you can still vote for your favorite U.S. leader in SFist's "Who's The Greatest U.S. President?" Egos and history are on the line! As of Tuesday afternoon, Franklin D. Roosevelt is in the lead, with Abraham Lincoln trailing behind. Ronald Reagan - who won the title of greatest U.S. President of all time, according to a Gallup poll - has a scant 9-percent of the vote. Select your favorite before 5pm today. Thanks. more ›

Beating out Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Bill Clinton, and Millard Fillmore, actor turned politician Ronald Reagan - who, during his second term, might or might not have served the country under the duress of Alzheimer's Disease - was voted the greatest U.S. President of all time, according to a Gallup poll. more ›

Comparing San Francisco to New York City is like comparing chocolate to peanut butter (or something like that), but Lonely Planet has set the challenge. They're asking the two cities to tap into our "friendly little rivalry" by figuring out which metropolis has the best attractions. more ›

Where do you take out-of-towners for a cocktail and some great views? Take the handy poll! more ›

Well, that's that. Gavin Newsom has left the building. His mommy-I-gotta-go-potty urgency to ditch local politics in favor of a more estimable gig took flight today as he (finally!) left his measly mayoral position and was sworn in as California's new Lieutenant Governor. more ›

By a landslide, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ranked highest as your favorite Halloween candy. Created in 1928 by Harry Burnett Reese (H. B. Reese), a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, made of milk chocolate and slightly salty peanut butter, are also the favorite junk food snack of Thomas Keller, The French Laundry's master chef. more ›

Yesterday's Halloween Candy Showdown semifinals proved fatal for some, victorious for others. In the Chocolate/Caramel/Coconut/Peanut Butter/Nougat category, sweet-on-salt tastes proved too irresistible for readers. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups creamed the competition after puling in 26% of the vote. Twix came in second with 16% of voters choosing the cookie, caramel and chocolate snack. (Why was Twix so popular comapred to, say, Snickers? Well, for starters, there are two bars in a package. And chewing off all the caramel on a Twix bar prior to eating the cookie is as satisfying as pulling clear plastic film off a new remote control. Ah.) more ›

On Sunday night, costumed children with makeup on their faces and murder in their eyes will come knocking on your door begging for high fructose sustenance. Unless you want an egg-covered door or toilet paper-covered tree, you need to deliver the goods. But what Halloween candy reigns supreme for the young ones? Take our All Hallow's Eve candy polls to find out! more ›

A new poll says that, just one day before their first debate together, Democrat Jerry Brown has a slight edge over Republican Meg Whitman. According to AP, "A University of Southern California-Los Angeles Times poll released during the weekend shows Brown leading Whitman 46 to 41 percent among likely voters." [CBS 5] more ›

Supported by 41% of voters for the November 2 election, a new poll shows both Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown and Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman are tied. "The survey of 599 likely voters, conducted Sept. 14-21 with a 4-percentage-point margin of error, brings good and bad news for both camps," reports Oakland Tribune. So far, Whitman has spent a record-breaking $119 million on her campaign, while Brown has only doled out a mere $6 million. more ›

According to The Daily Californian, UC Berkeley has been feted as one of the top "military friendly" schools in California due in large part "to its efforts in offering both financial and non-financial support services to veterans on campus." The poll, conducted by G.I. Jobs, who released their annual Military Friendly Schools List this week, is in sharp contrast to the school's (in?)famously anti-war and anti-military sentiment. [Daily Californian] more ›

According to a CBS 5 KPIX-TV poll, "California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has increased her lead over Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer to five percentage points." Boxer, it seems, lost a wee bit of ground among" men, younger voters, and independents," with votes not going toward the disgraced former HP CEO. [CBS 5] more ›

"Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra" ("Gold in Peace, Iron in War") doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it? Accurate, sure; but clunky. After viewing today's Photo du Jour, we asked you to come up with brighter, more timely suggestions. We're torn between "Back door! BACK DOOR!..." and "Not Sumg, Just Better," but we'll let you be the judge. more ›

A ruling in the federal Proposition 8 trial will be announced later today. Prop. 8 backers fear Judge Walker will rule against the same-sex marriage ban. Civil rights supporters fear it could be upheld. What say you? more ›

According to a new Field Poll (pdf), California voter give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "the lowest rating for a sitting governor in more than 50 years," trumping Gray Davis as one of California's worst governors. A scant 22 percent of voters approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance, while 70 percent disapprove. Four out of five voters, it seems, say the state "is on the wrong track." But the onetime movie star turned politician isn't the only one with Death Valley-like low approval ratings. CBS 5 reports, "Just 16 percent of respondents approve of the way the Legislature is doing its job." Ouch. more ›

BART cop Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter today. Do you agree with the jury? more ›

A new Field Poll (PDF) released today claims that gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown are now in "a dead heat." SF Chronicle reports, "Brown leads Whitman 44 to 43 percent in the poll, with 13 percent undecided, according to Field's survey of 1,005 likely voters. The poll, conducted June 22 to July 5, has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points." more ›

So. Your friends decided to buy property in Oakland. Great. And, you promised you'd visit often. In fact, you swore to it well over a year ago. But? You never made the 10 - 20 minute BART ride across the Bay... more ›

Rumors are percolating that Gavin Newsom might, as a SFist commenter Manys pointed out, pull a Sarah Palin. That is to say, he could very well resign. Or not. No one can say for sure, of course. Sure, former Director of Communications Nate Ballard once (allegedly) convinced Newsom not to quit his mayoral gig a few years back; but now that he's gone, is there anyone left to talk Gavin out of resigning? Probably not. more ›

This begs for some sort of poll. Here you go: more ›

On Wednesday, SFist asked you to vote for your favorite foggy neighborhood, pitting the Sunset against the Richmond. Over 1,500 votes came in. The winner, creaming her competition my miles, was the Outer Sunset. The gorgeous and peaceful Outer Richmond, much to our surprise, came in dead last. But that's in due part to there being not nearly as much to do (e..g, bars, restaurants, stores, cafes) compared to the other fog-drenched hoods. more ›

Speaking of the Inner Sunset... more ›

MS-13 sorority sisters Danilo Velasquez,, 28, and Luis Herrera, 18, were arrested yesterday in connection with the shooting death of Moises Frias Jr., a Daly City college student. It seems the two members of the notorious (and notoriously dimwitted) MS-13 gang mistook Frias for a rival gang member. Why? Because he was "wearing the wrong-colored baseball cap and sweater." more ›

In addition to the meth cloud that hangs above Beck's Motorlodge -- we kid! sort of. but not really. -- Supervisor Bevan Dufty would like to create a pink cloud that would float over the intersection of Market and Castro streets. The idea, according to SF Chronicle, "is recycled from 2000, when artist Christian Werthmann's 'pink cloud' was one of two winning proposals for a city art piece to commemorate the late Harvey Milk, a supervisor and gay rights advocate." (Here's what it would look like.) more ›

Last night, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom "officially kicked off his campaign" for governor of California 2010. That is to say, you'll see even less of Newsom over the next year or so. If that's even possible. Which is fine with us. Because "Mayor Nathan Ballard" has a nice ring to it. Oh, come now. Ballard is a funny guy. Period. And a smartypants too. And that's good enough for us. more ›