Need San Francisco gaming info

[MrFilthyIke]

Bumpage!

 

[Davelozzi]

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."

That's hilarious. We had a vaguely similar situation there the first time we went to S.F. (summer of '98). My brother (who lives there) billed it as the best Chinese in the city. My wife is vegetarian, and he encouraged her to just tell the waiter to have the chef whip up whatever kind of vegetarian meal he though would be good. I can't remember if the resulting meal was any good (and neither can she) but the funny part was that they brought it out to her on a gigantic cast iron plate shaped like a cow.

Can anyone break down interesting places a gamer might like by area? Maps always list things like "Russian Hill", "Union Square", "Chinatown"...address are hard to follow w/o Mapquest.

Well, the problem is that if you have a neighborhood and not an address, it's pretty easy to miss the store or restaurant that you're looking for. That said, Gamescape is on Divasdero, sort of on the fringe of the Western Addition, and as people have mentioned, not too far from the Haight. Check out the touchless carwash across the street (maybe up a block?) -- I bet you've never seen so many people wash a car at once.

As folks have mentioned, parts of the Mission are fun to hang out in, but it's such a large part of the city that if you just go by where it says "Mission District"" on your map you might not be near them. The area around 16th & Valencia is pretty good for bars (I like the Kilowatt on 16th and Casanova on Valencia) and is easily accessible via the 16th St Mission Station on the BART. The area around 24th & Harrison is good for local food vendors and stuff like that. El Farolito taqueria on 24th & Mission is a great buritto joint (I'm partial to the quesadillas there). Of course, this part of the 'hood is best accessed via the 24th Misssion Station.

 

[tetsujin28]

Wow. I just checked this thread after a day, and I'm a bit surprised at the SF bashing. Personally I love San Francisco. I've travelled all over the world, and this is where I've chosen to live for the past 10 years. Yeah, there are better cities. But there's also a lot more worse ones.

I've lived in the area for nearly 20 years, and it isn't nearly as vibrant or nice a place to live as it used to be.

 

[Belegbeth]

As folks have mentioned, parts of the Mission are fun to hang out in, but it's such a large part of the city that if you just go by where it says "Mission District"" on your map you might not be near them. The area around 16th & Valencia is pretty good for bars (I like the Kilowatt on 16th and Casanova on Valencia) and is easily accessible via the 16th St Mission Station on the BART. The area around 24th & Harrison is good for local food vendors and stuff like that. El Farolito taqueria on 24th & Mission is a great buritto joint (I'm partial to the quesadillas there). Of course, this part of the 'hood is best accessed via the 24th Misssion Station.

I live right by 16th & Valencia and it is indeed a very cool and fun area to hang out in. Hardly the "ghetto" some earlier poster claimed. (I don't quite understand why I was slammed from defending my neighbourhood against that absurd and spurious charge.) Again, I'd recommend the restaurants "Ti Couz" and "Luna Park." For bars, "The Liberties" on Guererro and 22nd is a nice place to hang out (you can actually talk there, as the music is not overwhelming), and "The 500 Club" on Guerrero and 17th is a classic divy/hipster hang-out. "The Phoenix" on Valencia and 22nd is a decent irish pub.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I live right by 16th & Valencia and it is indeed a very cool and fun area to hang out in. Hardly the "ghetto" some earlier poster claimed. (I don't quite understand why I was slammed from defending my neighbourhood against that absurd and spurious charge.)

Eh, we all have that...ask another Miami gamer they'll say the city's great, ask me and I'll say I'm waiting for it to fall off into the ocean so we can try building this city again.

"The Phoenix" on Valencia and 22nd is a decent irish pub.

Irish pub is good, the red hair and fair skin hides the fact I'm only 1/4 irish, so I'm usually invited into Irish pubs on principle.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

My wife is vegetarian, but the funny part was that they brought it out to her on a gigantic cast iron plate shaped like a cow.

Just read this part...too funny.

 

[tetsujin28]

What you need to know about San Francisco is that it can get really cold, even when it's warm in the rest of the Bay Area. There's a 10 degree difference between SF and the East Bay, and another 10-20 degrees between the East Bay and the suburbs to the east. It's not unusual to find SF chilly at 60 degrees and the burbs a blast furnace at 95.

Back in '88, my girlfriend at the time lived in Novato, and went to Berkeley. I had business in SF. Novato was 113, Berkeley 85, and SF 52...and foggy

 

[Belegbeth]

Back in '88, my girlfriend at the time lived in Novato, and went to Berkeley. I had business in SF. Novato was 113, Berkeley 85, and SF 52...and foggy

Even WITHIN San Fransicso the weather can vary considerably from region to region. The Mission is the sunniest part of the city, and rarely gets fog, whereas the Sunset district is almost always foggy in the morning, and generally cooler. The northern part of the city gets more wind, etc. In short, the weather can change radically as you walk around this 7x7 town.

 

[tetsujin28]

Yep, it's kooky, alright.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

So, it's looking like we're going to land around 10am, head on the BART to Union Square, check-in, then I'm thinking of heading straight to Gamescape, what's the travel time? 10? 20? 30 minutes? How late is it open?

Yes, Berkley with have to wait till next trip, it seems.