Those of you who have been in Shanghai for a while will remember food writer Jarrett Wrisley, who started out at That's Shanghai and later helmed SH Mag's food column (he also wrote for Shanghaiist -- very briefly). In his latest column over at the Atlantic, Wrisley writes about the existential crisis he experienced late last year when he realised that the "best job in the world" (food writing) wasn't a real job anymore because "[f]ood magazines were floundering", "[e]ditors backpedaling" and “I had more outstanding payments from publications than I had money in my bank account”. And with that, he decided to take the plunge and start a bar and restaurant in Bangkok, where he is now based. The bar will serve Thai food, "mostly the sort you'd eat on the street." From all of us at Shanghaiist, good luck, Jarrett! more ›

Guiding Light: Billing itself as Asia's "first truly independent restaurant guide," the folks behind the Miele Guide are ostensibly aiming to be the guide of record when it comes to Asia-only establishments. Evaluating restaurants in 16 Asian countries, the selection process will include four rounds, the second of which is the public voting portion and is currently under way. From their website: more ›

Papa John's thinks bigger: There are about 100 Papa John's locations throughout China, but the restaurant chain wants that number to grow to 500 in the next five years. From Reuters: more ›

Shanghai's recent spate of shitty weather has gotten us hungry for soup. And when we say "soup," we generally mean the kind of soups we grew up eating during cold Pennsylvania winters. Chunky soups. Soups, to borrow a slogan, that eat like a meal. On a recent trip home, we dined a couple times at Panera Bread Company, which serves, among other things, hearty soups in sourdough bread bowls. We remember thinking Panera would be one of the American chain restaurants we'd like to see exported to China, instead of Applebee's or TGI Friday's. more ›

As much as you want of the above for 150 kuai. more ›

Some days, you just want to eat a big-ass burrito. Perhaps this is primarily an American craving (as many, we're sure some readers would point out, big-ass cravings are) but, trust us, sometimes the best cure for a Sunday morning hangover is an oversized soft flour tortilla filled with just about everything. We never thought this was an option here — Shanghai's selection of Mexican restaurants is ... well ... Shanghai really has no Mexican restaurants worth mentioning — until SH mag food guru Jarrett Wrisley told us where to go for our south-of-the-border[1] cravings: that's right, New York City Deli. And how does NYC Deli serve its "super burritos"? Of course, "California style." more ›

A couple scoops on the local dining scene from SH mag's Jarrett Wrisley, one scoop that looks more promising than the other. more ›

Frankly we're amazed that the 8Days website still even exists so long after the magazine was sold and became SH -- especially since the new SH website actually started including magazine content. But not only is the old 8Days website live, it is updated -- and now they are adding new features. Seven members of the SH staff now have personal blogs ... as if they didn't already have enough on their respective plates, what with those darn weekly deadlines and all. The blogs appear to have launched just this week (and thus are a little light on content). Anyway, here they are: more ›

... take his word. Jarrett Wrisley, who wrote for Shanghaiist for about 20 minutes last summer, has highlighted tomorrow's event in his "New & Noted" column in SH: more ›

In Jarrett Wrisley's column in this weeks SH we learned some encouraging news: more ›

Great news out of Jarrett Wrisley's restaurant and bar gossip column this week in SH (especially if you live near Tongren Lu like Shanghaiist does): more ›

We're wondering how long our boycott of the former Cotton's location (more details here and here) was meant to last. One year? Two? Forever? It was pretty easy to boycott when it was Shane Bar -- that place sucked -- but what happens if something good takes over the space? It's just a great spot for a restaurant and bar, which is why we loved it when it was Cotton's. Some guy named Lance feels the same way, according Jarrett Wrisley's latest "new¬ed" column in SH: 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 ›

There are actually a number of decent options out there -- and that is something we never thought we would say when we first arrived here back in 2002. SH magazine dedicated a big chunk of their latest issue -- we're assuming they had this feature in the can and ran it when most of the staff was on vacation -- to the "Burger Battle," which starts with 16 of the city's top contenders and whittles them down to one champion. Rendezvous Cafe edged Luna in the final. Rendezvous is a decent -- and very safe -- choice, especially if you factor price into the equation. A burger at Rendezvous will cost you about half of many of the other contenders in the battle. And it is a no-frills burger, similar to what you could get at just about any roadside diner in the U.S., which usually does the trick just fine. But we bet in a blind taste test, when price is not an issue, Rendezvous may not make it out of the quarterfinals. more ›

A couple days ago we whined a bit about the fact that the website for 8Days/SH magazine had been neglected for several weeks. Now we know why. SH and their two-letter cousins HK (Hong Kong), I-S (Singapore) and BK (Burger King Bangkok) all have a new online home: asia-city.com. more ›