An occasional collection of bites. Have you eaten anything good or bad lately, or seen a good scene while you munched? Send in your short bites to missionlocal@gmail.com. Full names only.
I wandered by Clooney’s (1401 Valencia St.) the other day and noticed a pop-up: The Galley. The grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and apple was damn fine. They serve pickled cauliflower on the side to cleanse your palate. It leaves you wanting more. — Judy Lee
I had a bacon bleu burger at Urbun Burger. It was really good. Really big. Really tasty. The burger has grilled onions, applewood-smoked bacon and crumbled bleu cheese that melts on the burger patty as it waits for you to take your first bite. I had it with fries, but all their burgers are served with either fries or house salad. And you can substitute the patty with turkey, beef, chicken, garden burger or portobello. Cooked medium-well, unless otherwise specified. — Andrea Valencia
Fried camembert with lingonberry jam at Schmidt’s. Is there anything in life as magical as fried cheese? Not much, says I. Alas, this specific fried cheese does not offend, but does not delight, either. The camembert’s mildness causes its flavor to disappear entirely underneath the frying. The lingonberry jam is good, but a little on the sweet side. I wanted something more — something tart, something earthy, something a little more something. Perhaps I am not cut out for German cuisine? I do so love the wild boar sausage, though. — Heather Smith
Potato salad at Schmidt’s. Just some old-school, by-the-book German potato salad, but a perfectly good complement to all the sauerkraut, mustard and sausage it accessorizes. Don’t hesitate to take home any leftovers — rigorously conducted scientific studies confirm that it is still delicious and potatoey after two days in the office mini-fridge. — Heather Smith
Enchiladas, pozole and braised kale at Gracias Madre. The sauce on the enchiladas and the filling — cashew paste — wasn’t bad, but the tortillas seemed oddly thick and inflexible. This definitely isn’t your mom’s Mexican food, but you feel virtuous eating it. The pozole is consistently one of my favorite dishes — maybe the only one I return for repeatedly. Generally I like the braised kale, but this time it tasted drenched in way too much oil. I couldn’t finish it and felt no temptation to return to it when I brought it back to the office. — Lydia Chávez
Queso fundido, guacamole, albondigas (angus beef meatballs with tomato and caper sauce, with grilled bread), and gambas (sauteed shrimp with garlic, chili flakes, basil and white wine, with grilled bread) at Asiento. A comfortable place to catch up with friends and share small plates. Beware that Mondays are trivia nights and the place gets crowded around game time. The gambas were especially good, although I wished there were more than four shrimp. Actually, I wish all the dishes we ordered had been a little bigger. Don’t miss the good cocktails; I especially liked the Tannenbaum. — Hélène Goupil