The big news this week (besides the opening of Bandidos) is the arrival of Doc Ricketts (124 Columbus), a new restaurant, and Doc's Lab, a new comedy and music venue that's opening in tandem with it in the storied former Purple Onion space in North Beach. We first learned of the project over a year ago, and as the Chronicle reports, the street-level restaurant (formerly a pasta spot called Macaroni Sciuè Sciuè) opens next week, on September 3. The comedy club will follow a week later, on September 12, with opener The Sam Chase, and the comedy opening the following night. The chef is Justin Deering, who opened Conduit back in 2007 and did a brief stint at 15 Romolo along with a bunch of other gigs, and he's looking forward to proving himself anew with some hearty brasserie and bar-friendly fare of his own creation, including charcuterie, crudos, roast chicken, and a burger. [Chronicle, Inside Scoop]

Another storied space, the former Stars at 555 Golden Gate Avenue, is getting another new tenant following the short-lived tenure of Maestro (and Trader Vic's before that). That would be The Empire Room, and it's going to have an exciting bar pedigree behind it: Jordan Langer and Peter Glikshtern who ran the short-lived but beloved Big in the Tenderloin, and currently operate Jones and Oddjob together. There promises to be a big bar and lounge space up front, as well as a more upscale, bespoke bar program in a smaller room at the back, along the lines of Big and the more recent SRO at Oddjob. They're targeting Halloween for opening night. [Eater, Inside Scoop]

Meanwhile, Michael Bauer gave a glowing, three-star review to the new Michael Mina venture Pabu, noting that it's "relaxed and bustling at the same time" and already packed every night. [Chron]

And over in Bernal Heights, the ever-popular, ever-affordable, ever-delicious Emmy's Spaghetti Shack is planning an expansion the larger El Zocalo space up the street at 3230 Mission Street. Emmy's owner Emily Kaplan tells Eater that the original Emmy's space at 18 Virginia won't be closing "so much as becoming an annex to our new home until we decide on a new concept." So that's interesting. The timeline on all this is still TBA. [Eater]