The San Francisco/Bay Area Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Tourism & Travel > The San Francisco/Bay Area Megathread

Zoccoli: Feb 12, 2004; Everything that stands will be at odds with its neighbor, and everything that falls will perish without grace

I work very close to there. The building is nice enough on the outside, but unless you plan on eating in the fancy restaurant downstairs, everything within a 5-10-block radius dies at around 7-8 PM. North Beach is a short walk (or an even shorter cab ride) away, though, and you can easily get to the Mission on BART (5 blocks away, on Market).

# ? Aug 9, 2007 04:23

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 11, 2024 05:20

AreYouIn: Aug 31, 2001; You've to be shitting me.

What would be the best area to stay in that has an active nightlife and a nice hotel

Zoccoli posted:

I work very close to there. The building is nice enough on the outside, but unless you plan on eating in the fancy restaurant downstairs, everything within a 5-10-block radius dies at around 7-8 PM. North Beach is a short walk (or an even shorter cab ride) away, though, and you can easily get to the Mission on BART (5 blocks away, on Market).

# ? Aug 9, 2007 04:32

Respekt: Aug 8, 2007; la la la

Has anyone been to Yoshi's Jazz/Sushi House ? I'm contemplating taking my gf there for our 2nd anniversary. It's between eating at Yoshi's or Bob's House of Steak and Chops (which we've already been to). Anyone know of a good spot to eat that's also entertaining ? I'm only 20, so no bars/lounges.

# ? Aug 9, 2007 06:45

k0konutz: Dec 27, 2006; Just be yourself, as long as that means you're a successful person.

Respekt posted:

Has anyone been to Yoshi's Jazz/Sushi House ? I'm contemplating taking my gf there for our 2nd anniversary. It's between eating at Yoshi's or Bob's House of Steak and Chops (which we've already been to). Anyone know of a good spot to eat that's also entertaining ? I'm only 20, so no bars/lounges.

Yoshi's can be a romantic night of sushi/delicious Japanese food and an intimate jazz show.
When making your reservation (please make one) let them know it's your anniversary and you might be able to get dessert on the house. If you're going for jazz, get tickets for the 2nd show and your server will take note of it when you tell them and they'll write your name down on a little ticket to give to the doormen so they can reserve seats for you in the club.
Also, a good thing to know if it's your first time at yoshi's: Order "family style."
Meaning, share dishes, you'll get a taste of a bit of everything. It seems to be a new concept to some, but think of just like when you go into a chinese restaurant and you order a bunch of dishes. Food will come out one at a time (if your server times things right) and it kind of gives you more of an appreciation for each dish as an individual gift, that's the idea.

(yoshi's goon)

Edit: feel free to email me if you would like some more help planning your visit, and if I'm working the night you go, I'll see what I can do to make your night a little more special. joshiejosh AT gmail DOT com

k0konutz fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Aug 9, 2007

# ? Aug 9, 2007 08:19

nixar55: Jul 25, 2003; She packed my bags last night. Pre-flight. Zero hour nine a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then.

AreYouIn posted:

What would be the best area to stay in that has an active nightlife and a nice hotel

I'd still recommend Hotel Rex as a hotel, and the location was Union Square and a short walk to BART/Muni. There were some bars and pubs around, but many double-wide tourists in shorts. The Mission had the best nightlife, in my opinion, but I didn't see many nice-looking hotels.

By the way - speaking of Mission nightlife - is everyone at Delirium on coke? Met the cutest guy there, but drat if he didn't need to gain a good fifteen pounds. (I'm really not familiar with hard drugs, so it took me awhile to figure out what was off about him, but then I had a friend tell me what the bar was known for, so now I'm curious.)

nixar55 fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Aug 9, 2007

# ? Aug 9, 2007 15:13

AreYouIn: Aug 31, 2001; You've to be shitting me.

nixar55 posted:

I'd still recommend Hotel Rex as a hotel, and the location was Union Square and a short walk to BART/Muni. There were some bars and pubs around, but many double-wide tourists in shorts. The Mission had the best nightlife, in my opinion, but I didn't see many nice-looking hotels.

By the way - speaking of Mission nightlife - is everyone at Delirium on coke? Met the cutest guy there, but drat if he didn't need to gain a good fifteen pounds. (I'm really not familiar with hard drugs, so it took me awhile to figure out what was off about him, but then I had a friend tell me what the bar was known for, so know I'm curious.)

Rex is definitely on my list I'm just trying to see everything in the area.

Anyone ever tried Le Meridien (used to be the Park Hyatt) http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1957
It seems to be great from reviews and possibly offering free use of the chauffered hotel Mercedes :quagmire:

# ? Aug 9, 2007 16:01

Telex: Feb 11, 2003

AreYouIn posted:

What would be the best area to stay in that has an active nightlife and a nice hotel

San Francisco is not a city where you need to stay "in" an area to enjoy it. We have mostly reliable and affordable public transportation. Almost all of the city is walkable within reason, and if not it's a cheap cab ride from one spot to another if you have to do it.

511.org has all the info you need, and even works mobile fairly well.

If i were you, I'd try to stay here:

http://www.jdvhotels.com/phoenix/

It's not in the best location for being like across the street from some place awesome, but you're a few blocks walk to Market where you can hop a bus/train to wherever you might want to get near or walk to some place interesting or whatever.

Yelp.com will help you find those interesting places. IMO, most of the places worth going to aren't necessarily near each other so be open to the idea of taking the train somewhere. It's cheap, clean and the trains at least are mostly reilable. Busses, not so much but they get you where you need to go. If you're going to hit up Amoeba Records you're going to have to hop a bus or a cab (#7 or #71 bus, leaves from Market Street, 15 min ride).

# ? Aug 9, 2007 20:27

AreYouIn: Aug 31, 2001; You've to be shitting me.

Telex posted:

San Francisco is not a city where you need to stay "in" an area to enjoy it. We have mostly reliable and affordable public transportation. Almost all of the city is walkable within reason, and if not it's a cheap cab ride from one spot to another if you have to do it.

511.org has all the info you need, and even works mobile fairly well.

If i were you, I'd try to stay here:

http://www.jdvhotels.com/phoenix/

It's not in the best location for being like across the street from some place awesome, but you're a few blocks walk to Market where you can hop a bus/train to wherever you might want to get near or walk to some place interesting or whatever.

Yelp.com will help you find those interesting places. IMO, most of the places worth going to aren't necessarily near each other so be open to the idea of taking the train somewhere. It's cheap, clean and the trains at least are mostly reilable. Busses, not so much but they get you where you need to go. If you're going to hit up Amoeba Records you're going to have to hop a bus or a cab (#7 or #71 bus, leaves from Market Street, 15 min ride).

Well I'll definitely be hitting up Amoeba

But yeah the public transportation doesn't bug me at all. I'll just be happy to use something better than Boston's. I'm hoping to expense a lot of the cab rides we'd need at night but if it's nice out I'd prefer to walk and see the city anyways. It basically sounds like we want to stay somewhere with good restaurants or just a central area in general and that is pretty accessible to transportation so we can jet out to mission or north beach at night.

# ? Aug 9, 2007 20:42

Earwicker: Jan 6, 2003

AreYouIn posted:

Well I'll definitely be hitting up Amoeba

Amoeba is ok but you must visit Aquarius.

# ? Aug 9, 2007 20:57

nixar55: Jul 25, 2003; She packed my bags last night. Pre-flight. Zero hour nine a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then.

I almost stayed at The Phoenix because of the party atmosphere, but the reviews of the area (and the motel-like rooms) were kind of off-putting. It was right in the center of that "bad area" map someone posted earlier in the thread, too.

Honestly, I agonized over choosing a hotel, but I barely spent any time in it anyway, so location became more important. I found Union Square to be very good for transportation - more hotels in that area, so I had no problem catching a cab when I didn't feel like getting on the train. In fact, I was worried about catching cabs anywhere in the city, but Union Square and Valencia between 20th-15th or so were great for me. Lots of buses, too. I had no problem visiting all of the places I wanted to visit.

# ? Aug 9, 2007 21:04

JohnnyRed: Aug 19, 2004; by Ozma

Earwicker posted:

Amoeba is ok but you must visit Aquarius.

Uh, please refer to my earlier posting of Haight St record stores!

Rooky's, Recycled, Groove Merchant, etc

# ? Aug 9, 2007 21:20

Tumble: Jun 24, 2003; I'm not thinking of anything!

nixar55 posted:

I'd still recommend Hotel Rex as a hotel, and the location was Union Square and a short walk to BART/Muni. There were some bars and pubs around, but many double-wide tourists in shorts. The Mission had the best nightlife, in my opinion, but I didn't see many nice-looking hotels.

By the way - speaking of Mission nightlife - is everyone at Delirium on coke? Met the cutest guy there, but drat if he didn't need to gain a good fifteen pounds. (I'm really not familiar with hard drugs, so it took me awhile to figure out what was off about him, but then I had a friend tell me what the bar was known for, so now I'm curious.)

Coke is very chic in the hipster areas.

# ? Aug 9, 2007 21:38

Telex: Feb 11, 2003

am I the only one who doesn't really dig browsing around at Aquarius?

it's a cool store if I'm going in for something and I know what i want and it's kinda obscure... but their selection leaves a lot to be desired and it always seems like the only person working the store is staring at me just in case I try and pinch something.

not that they don't have a superawesome selection and all that, but it's a kinda awkward store.

Also, I just remembered that if you're into the UK import stuff hop BART to Mod Lang off in wherever the hell they moved. (el cerrito?) I haven't been to the new store but I blew quite a few paychecks on imported goodies back when they were in berkeley.

# ? Aug 10, 2007 23:22

minya: Sep 7, 2004; SUN RA WAS HERE IN HIS ELEMENT
he invited me back for a ride

Telex posted:

am I the only one who doesn't really dig browsing around at Aquarius?

it's a cool store if I'm going in for something and I know what i want and it's kinda obscure... but their selection leaves a lot to be desired and it always seems like the only person working the store is staring at me just in case I try and pinch something.

not that they don't have a superawesome selection and all that, but it's a kinda awkward store.

Also, I just remembered that if you're into the UK import stuff hop BART to Mod Lang off in wherever the hell they moved. (el cerrito?) I haven't been to the new store but I blew quite a few paychecks on imported goodies back when they were in berkeley.

??? I don't get that vibe at all. I go in there and browse all the time, sometimes for very long periods of time. Everyone who works there is friendly and easy to chat with and happy to discuss music.

also coke does seem to be the hipster drug of choice at the moment. It seems a lot more prevalent than I imagined, actually.

minya fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Aug 10, 2007

# ? Aug 10, 2007 23:30

Captain Cool: Oct 23, 2004; This is a song about messin' with people who've been messin' with you

What are some good distance bike routes within the cities around here? My last goal for the summer is to bike around the bay, and I'd like to avoid stoplights where I can. I'm in Santa Clara and starting east. I think I have the west side - some flat Skyline, some El Camino where I have to, Canada Road, Junipero, Foothill. I think that keeps me out of the mountains. On the east - are 238 and 185 decent? I don't mind high speeds if there's a nice shoulder. Are there any expressways in the east bay that I'm not seeing?

I know I need to take BART from Oakland to Embarcadero. Never been on it before. Any hints, or is it easy to figure out?

# ? Aug 11, 2007 02:49

DEUCE SLUICE: Feb 6, 2004; I dreamt I was an old dog, stuck in a honeypot. It was horrifying.

I'm still probably a year out from moving, but I am bored at work and poking around Craigslist so I figured I'd ask. Craigslist divides Oakland likea so:

Downtown, east, hills / mills, lake merritt / grand, north / temescal, piedmont / montclair, rockridge / claremont, west.

If I were looking to rent (or buy) in Oakland, are any of those areas especially desirable or undesirable? I'd be looking for a 2 bedroom flat, townhouse, or duplex with a small yard that allows dogs.

# ? Aug 14, 2007 17:54

Papercut: Aug 24, 2005

warwick5s posted:

I'm still probably a year out from moving, but I am bored at work and poking around Craigslist so I figured I'd ask. Craigslist divides Oakland likea so:

Downtown, east, hills / mills, lake merritt / grand, north / temescal, piedmont / montclair, rockridge / claremont, west.

If I were looking to rent (or buy) in Oakland, are any of those areas especially desirable or undesirable? I'd be looking for a 2 bedroom flat, townhouse, or duplex with a small yard that allows dogs.

West is the really bad area, and you probably won't find what you want downtown. The rest of those areas should be fine.

# ? Aug 14, 2007 18:27

SousaphoneColossus: Feb 16, 2004; There are a million reasons to ruin things.

Papercut posted:

West is the really bad area, and you probably won't find what you want downtown. The rest of those areas should be fine.

I think you forgot East Oakland in your list of areas he probably won't want to move.

# ? Aug 14, 2007 22:54

Earwicker: Jan 6, 2003

There are parts of both East and West Oakland that are completely fine and parts that aren't, it depends on the specific area. I wouldn't write either one of them off entirely, if there's a place that interest you go check it out and then judge.

# ? Aug 14, 2007 23:18

Lazy_Liberal: Sep 17, 2005; These stones are precious

Earwicker posted:

There are parts of both East and West Oakland that are completely fine and parts that aren't, it depends on the specific area. I wouldn't write either one of them off entirely, if there's a place that interest you go check it out and then judge.

Same goes for the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

# ? Aug 14, 2007 23:52

minya: Sep 7, 2004; SUN RA WAS HERE IN HIS ELEMENT
he invited me back for a ride

anyone going to Underworld at the Warfield on Sep. 7?

i've always always wanted to see Underworld live but i highly suspect that they are very much past their prime, and Paul Oakenfold is opening, and tickets are $60. but it's still Underworld. i don't know.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 00:19

JohnnyRed: Aug 19, 2004; by Ozma

gently caress that, Justice tickets are still on sale for a mere 18! Wave of the future man

# ? Aug 15, 2007 00:33

minya: Sep 7, 2004; SUN RA WAS HERE IN HIS ELEMENT
he invited me back for a ride

Justice annoys the poo poo out of me because i'm too cool to like them and also none of their songs except for Waters of Nazareth are any good :|

# ? Aug 15, 2007 00:38

JohnnyRed: Aug 19, 2004; by Ozma

minya posted:

Justice annoys the poo poo out of me because i'm too cool to like them and also none of their songs except for Waters of Nazareth are any good :|

Yes Waters of Nazareth is their best song, but they are loving amazing live and even their lovely songs are incredible when blasted into your ear at a deafening volume. gently caress, when I saw them they had Marshall stacks like the Berlin wall!

Whatever, go back to 1995 and enjoy your trainspotting soundtrack

# ? Aug 15, 2007 00:55

minya: Sep 7, 2004; SUN RA WAS HERE IN HIS ELEMENT
he invited me back for a ride

JohnnyRed posted:

Whatever, go back to 1995 and enjoy your trainspotting soundtrack

Hackers too :I

# ? Aug 15, 2007 00:56

AreYouIn: Aug 31, 2001; You've to be shitting me.

Goddamnit I wish I could stay till the 7th

# ? Aug 15, 2007 01:17

Massive: Apr 8, 2004

gently caress that, underworld will always rock rock on

my prediction: justice lasts maybe another year or two while underworld keeps chuggin' at it. the whole acid house ed banger sound will burn up quicker than girl talk.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 01:43

Atrus: Dec 5, 2003; "The ending has not yet been written."

Ask me about CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEATH OF VIDEOGAMES

On a completely different subject:

Telltale Games is doing a round of play testing. I won't be in town that day, but don't let that stop you from playing Sam & Max Season Two Episode One for us. The office is in San Rafael, first exit off the Richmond bridge. Look to the thread for more infos.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 03:28

Planet X: Dec 10, 2003; GOOD MORNING

Captain Cool posted:

What are some good distance bike routes within the cities around here? My last goal for the summer is to bike around the bay, and I'd like to avoid stoplights where I can. I'm in Santa Clara and starting east. I think I have the west side - some flat Skyline, some El Camino where I have to, Canada Road, Junipero, Foothill. I think that keeps me out of the mountains. On the east - are 238 and 185 decent? I don't mind high speeds if there's a nice shoulder. Are there any expressways in the east bay that I'm not seeing?

I know I need to take BART from Oakland to Embarcadero. Never been on it before. Any hints, or is it easy to figure out?

I live in Belmont and do a ton of riding around Canada, Woodsite, PA, Alpine, etc. Way too much to type out here. Those areas are great for starters, but sounds like you're on the right track.

From 92, they block off Canada road heading south to Edgewood on Sundays for "Bicycle Sunday" if you're looking for minimal cars.

Edit: oops, you're heading East

# ? Aug 15, 2007 04:13

g-unit: Nov 24, 2004

Anyone know of a good restaurant supply store in the area? I get to redo my entire kitchen now that I've moved out here. I'm temporarily in San Jose but moving to Berkeley next week.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 05:59

Captain Cool: Oct 23, 2004; This is a song about messin' with people who've been messin' with you

Planet X posted:

I live in Belmont and do a ton of riding around Canada, Woodsite, PA, Alpine, etc. Way too much to type out here. Those areas are great for starters, but sounds like you're on the right track.

From 92, they block off Canada road heading south to Edgewood on Sundays for "Bicycle Sunday" if you're looking for minimal cars.

Edit: oops, you're heading East

Actually did the ride on Sunday. The roads between Fremont and Oakland were kind of rough, but I don't know that there are any better options. From San Francisco, I went south on Market, Portola, Skyline, Canada, and Foothill. I did several of those roads during the Giro di Peninsula earlier in the summer. Pretty sure I hit Bicycle Sunday, but hardly noticed it because traffic was so light out there anyway.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 06:17

Planet X: Dec 10, 2003; GOOD MORNING

g-unit posted:

Anyone know of a good restaurant supply store in the area? I get to redo my entire kitchen now that I've moved out here. I'm temporarily in San Jose but moving to Berkeley next week.

Yeah there's one in San Carlos on Old County. I think this is it:

http://www.countysupplyco.com/

There are others around closer to SJ or Berkeley, Im sure.

# ? Aug 15, 2007 07:06

k0konutz: Dec 27, 2006; Just be yourself, as long as that means you're a successful person.

g-unit posted:

Anyone know of a good restaurant supply store in the area? I get to redo my entire kitchen now that I've moved out here. I'm temporarily in San Jose but moving to Berkeley next week.

East bay restaurant supply is great!
http://www.eastbayrestaurantsupply.com/
I've ordered online before and they've had it to me the next day since I was in the area.

EDIT: It's also open to the public

k0konutz fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Aug 15, 2007

# ? Aug 15, 2007 07:19

Celer: Apr 8, 2003; Tastes like old man mouth...

minya posted:

anyone going to Underworld at the Warfield on Sep. 7?

i've always always wanted to see Underworld live but i highly suspect that they are very much past their prime, and Paul Oakenfold is opening, and tickets are $60. but it's still Underworld. i don't know.

I'm debating that one, and also the Chemical Brothers show a couple weeks after that. I am slightly worried they'll both be doing pretty much the same shows I saw 6 years ago (when tickets were $20).

If you've never had the experience though, I'd say it's probably worth it.

# ? Aug 16, 2007 19:54

g-unit: Nov 24, 2004

Thanks for your help guys, I'll be checking out East Bay Restaurant Supply this week once I figure out what I need.

berzerker posted:

General question: Best cable/internet in the Bay area?

I'm looking into Berkeley in particular, but I doubt it varies that much in the area. Comcast has okay starting rates but is pretty expensive down the line. Are there alternatives? Are those any good? How is reliability for different companies, Comcast included?

Seconding this question.

# ? Aug 18, 2007 07:28

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

g-unit posted:

Anyone know of a good restaurant supply store in the area? I get to redo my entire kitchen now that I've moved out here. I'm temporarily in San Jose but moving to Berkeley next week.

East Bay restaurant supply, 4th and fallon in oakland

Edit: drat! Beaten. If you see Jenny there, tell her Finny sent you :3

Edit 2: Buy their sponge mop. It's a bit expensive but it's awesome and lasts forever.

# ? Aug 18, 2007 07:52

SousaphoneColossus: Feb 16, 2004; There are a million reasons to ruin things.

Can anyone living in the city who rents and has a dog tell me how they found a decent apartment? Right now, the girlfriend and I are dying to get a dog but the only thing holding us back is the fact that every single apartment listing that supposedly allows dogs is in a neighborhood we don't want to live in and/or a miniscule studio.

I swear there are more dogs than children in this town, and yet it seems friggin' impossible to find a decent-sized place that allows pets.

# ? Aug 18, 2007 16:39

Lazy_Liberal: Sep 17, 2005; These stones are precious

berzerker posted:

General question: Best cable/internet in the Bay area?

I'm looking into Berkeley in particular, but I doubt it varies that much in the area. Comcast has okay starting rates but is pretty expensive down the line. Are there alternatives? Are those any good? How is reliability for different companies, Comcast included?

I'm so close to just giving up and buying comcast, but people won't stop raving about how horrible it is. I don't know who to believe.

My friend just recommended I try Verizon FiOS, but I don't know if it's available in my area, let alone the city. I'll post again if it's a viable alternative.

# ? Aug 19, 2007 23:36

DoomCenturion: Aug 4, 2007; drat space alien demons killed my rabbit

Lazy_Liberal posted:

I'm so close to just giving up and buying comcast, but people won't stop raving about how horrible it is. I don't know who to believe.

My friend just recommended I try Verizon FiOS, but I don't know if it's available in my area, let alone the city. I'll post again if it's a viable alternative.

I have Comcast in the Bay Area (San Mateo near Foster City). The idiots didn't install it correctly the first time -- something to do with the wiring in my building and a lack of signal strength. After that was fixed, I get 99% uptime and really good speed. Of course, the TV will sometimes show line noise or something, and isn't as solid as cable in the past has been for me.

# ? Aug 19, 2007 23:55

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 11, 2024 05:20

minya: Sep 7, 2004; SUN RA WAS HERE IN HIS ELEMENT
he invited me back for a ride

Stay away from Comcast cable if you use BitTorrent. It looks like Comcast just instituted traffic shaping horseshit, which prevents you from seeding any torrents unless you're behind a VPN. I dealt with that poo poo with Rogers in Canada and it was a serious pain in the rear end.

# ? Aug 19, 2007 23:57

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Tourism & Travel > The San Francisco/Bay Area Megathread

«‹›112 »