Need San Francisco gaming info

[Gizzard]

has the pendelum swung back or is it just that it's only me that thought their selection plummetted a few years back

I think the pendulum has swung back; they have a bunch of stuff and they've bought a set of bins to put the RPG product in rather than scattering it on a couple of shelves. Much more is in stock these days, I found a copy of Magical Medieval Europe there which I couldn't find anywhere else locally. They never have sales and the salespeople are sometimes bizarre, but I can deal with that. ;-)

There's another gaming shop right directly to the north on University called Eudemonia which is worth checking out while you are in the area. A minimal RPG selection, but lots of other stuff.

Endgame rocks also; it's a block south of the Grand Lake theater in Oakland. Again, so-so on the RPG stuff but lots of board games, minis etc.

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Restaurants in Chinatown and Northbeach: My wife's family likes Great Eastern on Jackson in Chinatown; Louie's was the hot place for Dim Sum a couple months ago; but I haven't kept up beyond that. Recommendations vary depending on how authentic vs. americanized you want your Chinese food, of course. ;-)

I've only been in North Beach a couple of times in the last few years; once we went to Rose Pistola and a couple times to the Globe. Actually, the easiest thing to do here is to link the Top 100 from the SF paper's website:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/04/04/CM100MAIN.DTL

Bon appetit.

 

[AdvntrGuy]

Best Chinese food on the planet....

House of Nan King, in Chinatown, Kearny at Columbus. It's an absolute dive, but the food is the best, bar none. On weekends, the line for dinner starts at 4:00pm.

Order:

Hot and Sour Soup
Nan King Chicken
Steamed Rice

You thank me later.

I'll second Snapdragyn on the Pier 39 stuff, TiCouz, Le Mediterrane and Sweet Inspriation. I'm not a sushi guy, but there is always a line at that place. I live in that neighborhood and I have no idea what Thai place Snapdragyn is talking about. :\

AG

 

[MrFilthyIke]

House of Nan King, in Chinatown, Kearny at Columbus. It's an absolute dive, but the food is the best, bar none. On weekends, the line for dinner starts at 4:00pm.
Order:
Hot and Sour Soup
Nan King Chicken
Steamed Rice
You thank me later.

Yes, sir!!

Sounds good, best Chinese we had in Washington DC was a dive called "BIg Wongs"...scary place, GREAT food, FUNNY NAME....

 

[MrFilthyIke]

This is the stuff I want, LOCAL input, avoid the overpriced traps.

SF is EXPENSIVE if caught unprepared!

 

[Gizzard]

SF is EXPENSIVE if caught unprepared!

You dont want to spend $150 a person at French Laundry!?! ;-)

Anyway, House of Nan King is well known, but it's way on the Americanized end of the spectrum. That's fine for a lot of people, including me, but here is a counterpoint from a Chinese friend who is quite the foodie: My friend goes into House of Nan King and instead of looking at the menu he asks the waiter in Chinese, "What is good here?" (This is the best way to get specialties which are not on the menu.) The waiter rolls his eyes and says "Nothing."

 

[MrFilthyIke]

You dont want to spend $150 a person at French Laundry!?! ;-)

Um, how do you phrase that?...NO!!

My friend goes into House of Nan King and instead of looking at the menu he asks the waiter in Chinese, "What is good here?" (This is the best way to get specialties which are not on the menu.) The waiter rolls his eyes and says "Nothing."

I'm of two opinions...I prefer TRADITIONAL food, not Americanized, but do ENJOY a well-cooked, tasty Americanized version if that is what's offered.
If House of Nan King is GOOD food, I'm not stressed if its traditional,...heck, I would not even know what WAS good (or how to speak Chinese/Mandarin/etc).

So, my question to Gizzard: Traditional or not, is it good?

edit: WOO HOO! 500th post here!

 

[grodog]

I passed [the Gamescape] store in San Rafael enroute to go hiking at Point Reyes but I didn't get a chance to stop in -- does anyone know how it matches up to the one in S.F.?

I've been to all three, and the SF store dumped a lot of its used games, so the San Rafael one seems to be the best on that front. If you're looking for brand-new stuff, then the SF store is the best these days.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I've been to all three, and the SF store dumped a lot of its used games, so the San Rafael one seems to be the best on that front. If you're looking for brand-new stuff, then the SF store is the best these days.

Gah, that's too far north, we want to stick to SF...a shame, I'm a used book-aholic!

Ah well, need to plan ANOTHER trip there!

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Mr Filthy Ike, I just gotta add here: You're in town for, like, what, a long weekend or something?

And you still have to hit a gaming store!

I like the cut of your jib, son.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Mr Filthy Ike, I just gotta add here: You're in town for, like, what, a long weekend or something?
And you still have to hit a gaming store!
I like the cut of your jib, son.

Damn straight!

You see, I work for an airline...thus, I fly for free. I once flew from Miami to Orlando to go shop at a game store, and I've known of folks whom have flown to the UK for a day to go shopping, have a meal, and fly home. It's a whole mind-set alien to the rest of society.

We're going to SF to:
a) Get away from HERE
b) See a city we've never been to before
c) so my wife can shop at her FAVE store: Lush
d) because I can

and now

e) because there are gaming stores to be found.

And I'm married to a giel who's a science-nerd and fellow gamer, so it's all good.