First things first:

Hurray! John Ashcroft is stepping down.

Second things second:

Big ups to Jackson and Eve for coming up with the new Essefficist mascot over there on stage left. What says "classy" louder than a French sculpture with a photoshopped Giants hat? It's like SpongeBob in a beret.

Third things third:

It's been a week since the election and everyone around here at Club Essefficist is still feeling kinda dirty, and since we think you might be too, we're pleased to offer a hastily conceived answer to longtime SFcst reader Bill's poignant question:

Do you have any recommendations for a good laundromat in SF? I'd like to find a place that has plenty of parking, a healthy number of laundry carts, and a good mix of single-, double-, and triple-load washers & dryers.

Thanks,
Bill

Laundromats! Those were the good old days! The Essefficist has lived in a house in Bernal Heights for almost eight years and about six months ago, after a grueling weeks-long search on Craig's List, we bought a used Energy Star stacking washer and dryer, got the electrician to install some plugs, ran the water and gas lines ourselves, and voila, no more laundromats! We're still not used to not having to haul three gigantic bags of laundry out to the local wash house every couple of months and we still haven't gotten rid of all of the extra socks, boxers, and t-shirts that were necessitated by not being free to do laundry whenever we chose. But we ain't complaining, no way.

Bill, on the other hand, still has to trudge out into the cold cruel world with all his stinkies whenever he's got a date coming up, so we're here for him. The last place we were going right before the Energy Star action here at Club 124 was a newly-opened place called the Fiesta Laundromat at 898 South Van Ness and 20th that used to be a glass shop. Off the top of our head, this seems like the place for you, Bill. As for your specified criteria, it's got its own parking lot, tons of carts, and plenty of machines. As for other criteria, it's clean and well lit, it's got free (or cheap) coffee and cookies (if we remember correctly), it's got vending machines, it's got benches inside and out, it's got dry cleaning, and it's got TVs. It's a couple of blocks away from Atlas Cafe, our favorite coffee joint, and a block away from Cancun (not our favorite taqueria, but maybe yours). It's got a BART ticket style payment system called Easy Card where you put money in a machine and get a plastic card with a magnetic strip
that you use in all the laundry machines, so you don't need to lug around twenty or thirty quarters in your pocket.

In case Fiesta doesn't work for you, Bill, we checked in with our SFist colleagues as to where they do their laundry.

Hey there,