There's something for almost everyone this weekend! As always, what's a weekend without the usual parties galore? The TICT rooftop party is bound to be one of the hottest parties in town. Music fans, delight yourself with the sounds of Afrosonic Orchestra, oh and that English guy, James Blunt, is also in town! If you're a sports enthusiast, you can still catch the Nike Festival of Sport, as well as cricket with the Hong Kong Cricket Club. For foodies, there's an "all you can eat" barbecue, and for the families, there's a fun day at the beach in store. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. more ›

The Golden Holidays are upon us! Hurrah for national holidays! Have you been lucky enough to get a full 7 days off of work? Perhaps you just have an extended weekend? Whatever your slave driver boss has permitted you, make sure you make the most of it! Shanghai is set to be full to the rafters over the next few days with people flocking to the city to pay homage to the homeland; with this in mind, you’d better make full use of this week’s Weekendist in order to make the most of your time off. more ›

When drafting our Weekendist for this week, we ended up taking off an event that sounded awesome, but had run into some trouble with the authorities: Bubba’s Fifth Annual Chili Cook-off. Apparently police, worried about public gatherings during the Expo had warned against the big event and Bubba's said they had agreed to postpone it. But just an hour ago, they emailed us to say they had found a new suitable venue for it just in time - it will now be held at Wings Sports Bar at the corner of Gubei Lu and Hongsong Dong Lu (古北路，红松东路). 25 teams will compete, two bands will rock out, and hundreds will be eating chili. More info here. more ›

My brother read about this deal in a magazine, so I'll credit him with finding me the best, most delicious, most enjoyable way to spend 150RMB on a Wednesday night in Shanghai. Kakadu, Australian grill, has an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink (of Stella draft) buffet. more ›

Shanghaiist and Boxing Cat Brewery present THE DUKES OF HAZZARD DO SHANGHAI! 4th of July, 2010 11 am to 4 pm Boxing Cat Brewery 82 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Yongfu Lu ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK Beer, wine, house pours, burgers, dogs, wings & sides galore! more ›

You know where we’re going to be tomorrow, but if for some in explicable reason you don’t have a hankering for some Kelley Lee BBQ and rapturous Boxingcat brews, here are a few other options in town. We’re not including the AmCham bash because Sheshan isn’t quite “in town,” plus we think it’s just a tad criminal to spend 350 RMB (non-member price) for an American Independence Day bash in this wretched economy. more ›

It's perfect BBQ weather! As we're sure you've all heard, tonight's the night for the Shanghaiist Benefit for Sichuan’s Earthquake Victims at Sasha's. Word travels fast in Shanghai and some people have received the benefit announcement from five different sources! more ›

We've heard about this for a while, but never managed to head down so we weren't sure what to expect when we got to Kommune the other day. An OCN-style networking mingling over dinner? Thank god for the laidback Aussie nature, it's more of a cozy get-together among friends, i.e. booze and all-you-can-eat BBQ minus the pretense. So the price has now been upped to RMB 148 (from RMB 100) with two drinks thrown in instead of one. Still, it's a bargain if you like hamburger patties, sausages, kebabs and salads (4 kinds, well mixed). Too bad there's no warm summer breeze yet and it got a little chilly while we were waiting for the food, otherwise it's all good. Nothing to complain about a hearty meal midweek. Would we be asking for too much if we want a little more variety and how about BBQ vegetable kebabs next time? more ›

Heading south down Hengshan Rd from Dongping Rd, turn trustingly left down a dark lane with a large ad for Yang's Kitchen on the wall. Keep walking till you see an old villa on your right-hand side where there is a faded brass plate with the faint engraved lettering "Le Garcon Chinois." (Actual address is No.3, Lane 9, Hengshan Rd). Go up the stairs and you are there. Le Garcon Chinois restaurant has a cosy and unpretentious bar that serves good quality drinks at very reasonable prices. There is an extensive cocktail list with most drinks priced RMB35-55. House spirits are mostly RMB35-40, including Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray gins, both at RMB35. Vodka sippers can enjoy Grey Goose for RMB55, while Tequila massacists can revel in self-destruction by slamming down shots of Jose Cuervo 1800 at RMB45 a pop. Even though the bottled beers are run-of-the-mill, they are good value priced between RMB20-25 (Qingdao RMB20; others RMB25). For those on the wagon, soft drinks are also priced RMB20-25. Wine drinkers will be pleasantly surprised, with several wines available by the glass priced from RMB45-58, with the pick of the bunch being a fine Bordeaux red at RMB58. Should you wish to indulge in a bottle, a good selection is offered with this scribe noticing Vasse Felix merlot, Petaluma chardonnay and Henri Bourgeois sauvignon blanc. Being located close to many other well known expat bars and restaurants, this place should be on many more drinkers' drinking circuits. Go give it a try. more ›

Shanghaiist are unabashed meat-lovers. We are also big fans of all-you-can-eat places, since blogging is, how shall we say, not a paying gig the most lucrative of professions. So we were delighted to come across a Brazilian churrascaria that doesn't a) rip a new one for drinks and b) actually has a nice, relaxing ambiance to it. Samba Brazilian Steakhouse was one of the places in the New Factories that we peeked into on our... more ›

With Christmas just around the corner, there are plenty of parties to attend, plus more wine tastings and other opportunities to get thoroughly blotto. Here's what Winopete has heard about so far: Nov 29 Oriented Happy Hour at MoCA art gallery in People's Park. Please visit www.oriented.com for details. Nov 29-Dec 1 Italian wine exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre (Tongren and Yan'an Roads) hosted by the Institiute of Fine Italian Wine. No other details... more ›

During our times in the suburbs of New Jersey (don't hate), the American restaurant chain Applebee's was always a friendly place for meals with family and late night gatherings with friends. All of those nostalgic feelings came rushing back as Shanghaiist read some rumors on the internets about the opening of the chain's first outlet in China. With our curiosity peaked, we decided to go check it out. As Shanghaiist and accompanying guest entered the... more ›

The mercury may be falling but there's still lots of sizzle left in the grill. It's time for another great big cook-off, and The Naked Cow is hosting the Shanghai Rib Cook-off in two weeks! And it's all for a good cause! 10% of all proceeds from the day will go to Shanghai Bo Ai Children's Rehabilitation Center which aids local children with cerebral palsy. more ›

The first sign of trouble came when it took half an hour to get a waiter to take drink orders. To leave a party of twenty-one hanging dry for half an hour is a restaurateuring felony on the order of cockroach croutons. In fact, the actual wait was longer for some people who had arrived considerably before Mrs. Imagethief and I did. If nothing else, get the beer flowing. After some badgering we managed to get the waiter round to take orders. Apparently intimidated by the idea of keeping twenty-one drink orders straight (an admittedly tall task, but one I've seen managed elsewhere), he worked hard to encourage us to stay away from individual orders and simply take pitchers of beer. Most of us were willing to be persuaded on this front, despite some early enthusiasm for the heavily promoted craft beers served at the restaurant. more ›

Now, that felt like a 4th of July party (and some Canadians in attendance said it wasn't a bad effort for Canada Day, either). Hot, sweaty weather. No rain! Hamburgers. Beer. Live music. Water balloons. Hamburgers. Beer. Drinking contests. Fireworks (albeit during daylight). Hamburgers. Beer. Ketchup battles. Some guy from Beijing getting pantsed. Hamburgers. Beer. more ›

Click here for info and entry forms! more ›

Like Donna Summer once said, "He works hard for the money, so hard for it honey." All right, Donna was actually referring to a woman. But the message of Donna's 1983 hit could also be applied to an American guy living in Fuzhou named Benjamin Ross. Perhaps you are thinking, "Who cares? There are 57,000+ foreigners working in Shanghai alone." Ben's story is unique because, since the beginning of May, he's been working at a... more ›

Editor's note: Sorry for getting this up so late in the day. But if you still happen to be stuck behind a computer, there is plenty of time left to show your love for Australia! more ›

Out of this world, exquisite, unbelievably good-tasting meat on a stick. This is not your two-a-penny BBQ vendor to be found peddling rat meat outside VIP Room at 3am, the food at Naughty Barbecue (táo qì shāo kǎo - 淘气烧烤) will blow your head off. Better yet, the owner, Hán Lóng, and his girlfriend, Polly (Zhū Mǐn), are so friendly and cool that you’ll be happy to spend as much money here as you can, which still won’t be very much. more ›

Five reasons we won't be rushing back to Yeeha Texas BBQ & Sports Bar more ›

There was a lot of buzz among Shanghaiist's circle of friends about the recent addition to Shanghai's burger scene: ROK-based chain Kraze Burger in Xujiahui. We'd heard good things: cheap food, clean environment, great k-pop music videos and, of course, decent burgers. It wasn't that hopes were necessarily high, it's just that we had hopes. Hopes that Xujiahui would become a burger destination once again--not since the area branch of Rendezvous Cafe closed has the southwestern district laid claim to that title. more ›

Another week, another edition of Shanghaiist Reads. SH and Shanghai Talk are on the clock … more ›

This would probably be a better post if we ranked the top Brazilian BBQ places in town, but we date are married to someone who doesn't eat meat, so we don't frequent such establishments. But we can tell you with some authority one all-you-can-eat Brazilian place you should try to avoid, unless you are wealthy or very well hydrated: Latina in Xintiandi. more ›

Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing) is keeping things cool this summer, nudity and blood optional. Less cool are the comments in this post about a hipster auctioning off crap so she can buy a house. And no summer would be complete without the twin guilty pleasures of crap dining and crap TV: get them both with Torontoist's interview with "Rockstar: Supernova" star Lucas Rossi and a look at the safety ratings of some of Toronto's favorite greasy spoons. more ›

Last week, the always entertaining People's Daily website ran a series of photographs under the headline "Yao Restaurant opens in Shanghai." The first Yao Restaurant opened in Houston, Texas, in 2005 -- Yao Ming's parents are part owners. The People's Daily headline surprised us. We hadn't heard anything about Yao opening up a place in Shanghai. more ›

We just noticed a street food that may not be new, but it is new to us. We spotted it last night just outside our neighborhood (we were walking to dinner at Guyi ... fantastic Hunan cuisine) and made a mental note to check it out today. What caught our eye on Weihai Lu near Yan'an was the vertical spit and the man shaving off juicy slices of pork (gyro style) with a long blade. We had not seen this before in Shanghai, but then again we didn't see our first Tujia pizza stand until last weekend. more ›

According to SH magazine's Jarrett Wrisley, there soon may be no reason for Shanghaiist to move back to the States. Why? BBQ, baby! more ›