A bar without booze, says Neil Aviles.

Follow Us

Lola M. Chavez

I grew up in the Mission, went to School of the Arts high school for creative writing. Bounced around colleges from SFState, to CCSF, to CCA where I graduated with a degree in photography.

Join the Conversation

8 Comments

Please keep your comments short and civil. Do not leave multiple comments under multiple names on one article. We will zap comments that fail to adhere to these short and very easy-to-follow rules.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Arinell’s Pizza is my favorite greasy slice in town.

    I now understand why Bridge and Tunnel is a negative thing. “Dude, do you know any good bars around here?” When you live in SF you know that’s a strange thing to ask in the Mission, especially at 16th and Valencia.

    Gentrification is a negative thing for the punk rock set. Duh.

  2. seriously?!? i banged this joint back in the mid-90’s only because i was hungry and wasted at 2am. crap za if you ask me. just ’cause it’s thin doesn’t make it NY and it certainly doesn’t make it good. the sauce is rats ass bad but the toons always rocked & the homeless scene outside is worth the crawl just to watch a beatdown… so if your gentrified …. wants to fauxe your NY groove head on over & pay a visit to the newbie-Mission-critic, Neil, an’ get a dose of the “real pizzagentrification” we’ve always called AriHELL.

  3. Funny to hear people complain about gentrification in the Mission. To me, the Mission has always been sort of the funky, dirty part of town where I would never live but love to visit. I do think the Mission has cleaned up somewhat and that’s a good thing. I feel safer there than I do most parts of Oakland. Arinell Pizza is really good and if the punk rock keeps the idiots out, so be it!

  4. So true, Brain P… so true. It’s so classic to see white hipsters who think that if they call other white people “yuppies”, that they are hard core mission locals… Hey skinny jeans, you can’t complain about gentrification because you are gentrification!

  5. Love it when people have been working at a place for 4 years and complain about the gentrification. Most people I know (not looking through rose colored glasses) do not want 16th st. and Valencia to keep the same vibe as 1995. Man was it scuzzy!