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Brandon Hernández

Brandon Hernández is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

A Tale of Two Toronados

Actually, unless the bartender is a friend of mine, I never engage in conversation with bar staff. They're at work after all, and especially on a Friday, don't have the time or (understandably) the desire to shoot the breeze...especially with a stranger. No, I had the audacity to interrupt the Toronado SF bartendress' pissed off diatribe about how crappy bar patrons are, both in general and especially during SF Beer Week, so I could <gasp> order a beer! When I finally was able to get her attention, I asked for a Stillwater Our Side Saison. She yelled back, "WHAT?!" I yelled back "Our Side!" This went on three more times, each time she got more angry when asking me what I was saying. Then, she smacked the guy she'd been talking to on the arm and said, "What the hell did he say, I can't tell what the hell he's saying?!" To which he yelled, "OUR SIDE!" The name of the beer is right on the beer board, but even so, I don't fault her for not being able to hear me, but she could have leaned forward instead of leaning back and resting her elbow on the back counter while resting her other hand on her hip to so clearly communicate her hard case status. That was bad enough, but when I pulled out my credit card she went ballistic. "WE ONLY TAKE CASH. THAT'S HOW IT'S BEEN FOR 24 YEARS AND WE'RE NOT CHANGING ANYTHING!!!" she hollered as she pointed and pointed...and pointed at a sign in the bottom right hand corner of the beer board. I'd never been there, I made a mistake, but I also don't remember wearing a sandwich board that said, "CASH ONLY SUCKS...PETITION YOUR CONGRESSMAN TO FORCE TORONADO TO TAKE CREDIT CARDS!" Overall, just terribly unprofessional, not worthy spending time or money on, and perfectly in keeping with the stories I'd heard from others who'd been there and been treated as shabbily or worse. I'd hoped those rumors were exaggerated, but they aren't. All the high hopes I'd had were rendered to dust...but they have great beer and they were ahead of their time, so much respect to them for that always.
— March 8, 2012 1:11 p.m.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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