Boyce enjoys a bit of legless fun in the lanes

The Gulou alley that houses cocktail bar Jam and live music venue Temple got a new neighbor on Monday as beer bar Zhou opened upstairs from motorcycle store Beijing Sidecars. Expect a brightly lit space with booths, half a dozen high tables and, most importantly, a wall of fridges loaded with beer.

Also in the area, The Box on Jiugulou will soon be selling t-shirts and will give any customer who wears one in the place a discount. It continues to offer unlimited burgers to anyone who gets a tattoo of The Box's logo. Meanwhile, 4 Corners in Dashibei Hutong has new items, such as homemade cold cuts, patés and Vietnamese sandwiches.

Room Beijing in the Yintai Center has started a super Sunday brunch deal. A typical meal might start with avocado tuna tartar and Waldorf salad, move to braised pork belly and an Australian beef burger, and end with passion fruit pavlova and ice pineapple and mango ravioli. Speaking of brunch, Le Petit Gourmand has a package with two eggs, two sausages and two slices of bacon, potatoes, salad, ratatouille, a croissant, fruit salad and French dessert pain perdu. And if that is not enough, you also get a hot drink and juice. Of note for early birds, this brunch runs from 9 am to 3 pm.

Brussels officially opened in Sanlitun South last weekend and now offers an expanded menu that includes mussels and stews. Vietnamese restaurant Susu near the National Art Museum has added local Slow Boat beer on tap. Blue Frog will officially launch its U-Town branch, near Chaoyangmen, on March 9 at 7 pm. And more Bourbon will be making its way into Beijing bars as alcohol distributor Dxcel has tied up with Jim Beam, which offers "small batch" whiskeys Booker's, Baker's, Knob Creek and Basil Hayden's, as well as Maker's Mark.

Also in wine news, albeit still quite a while away, five Beijing restaurants and 20 visiting Napa Valley winery reps will team up on April 17 for charity wine dinners organized by Chi Fan for Charity. The wines include well-regarded drops such as Cakebread, St. Supery, and Schramsberg, the latter having particular significance to China, as this is the label Richard Nixon brought and used to toast Premier Zhou Enlai in China in 1972.