Grit and Grub in San Francisco's Tenderloin

From down-and-out to up-and-coming— the city’s next Mission District.

The Rise of the Salt Tooth

The craze for salted sweets.

Conversation with a Cocktail Epicure

Alberta Straub, once described as “the Alice Waters of booze,” has been mixing up sublime adult beverages made with herbs, spices, and fresh fruits and vegetables for the past six years at San Francisco's Orbit Room...

Bring Your Own Plastic Container

The greenest takeout packaging.

Advice for Despised Laptop Users

How to avoid dirty looks in coffeehouses.

Dumped Over Dinner

Is it OK to break up in restaurants?

How Green Is Your Takeaway Container?

Which takeaway containers are the most (and least) green?

The CHOW 13

Our first annual awards, presenting a baker’s dozen of provocateurs, trendsetters, and rabble-rousers.

The Extortionate Glass of Wine

Is wine by the glass a total ripoff?

Greens Goddess

Cookbook author Deborah Madison spills the beans with CHOW.

Why Aren't Dogs Allowed in U.S. Restaurants?

Poor bow wow, no chow for you.

Our Favorite Butchers

We go for the real meat, the sustainably farmed, humanely raised and slaughtered, heritage, no-hormone, quality product, and for guys behind the counter knowledgeable enough to tell us where the meat came from and how to cook it.

Ordering Off the Kids' Menu

Can grown-ups get little burgers?

The Raw Deal

As raw food goes commercial, purists cry foul.

A West Sonoma Road Trip

Tasting rooms and dining rooms in our favorite slice of Northern California wine country.