I’m more of a lurker than a regular but I’d be down for meeting some folks for food or drinks or both. I won’t have a car so close to the convention is good. That said, Chevy’s sucks. I’d think we could a wee bit better than that.
I’ll be there for GDC Mobile which has an event Tuesday night but I might fit in some drinking then as well.
Anyway, just make sure you have a clear plan before I leave on Sunday and I’ll try to make it.
edit: n/m, mobile reception is on Monday. At the Thirsty Bear in fact. So I guess I’ll at least know where that is.
It was originally up against Pardo’s talk in the initial schedule draft, so you should be grateful. What I would like to do at some point is have a web app where all registered attendees pick what talks they were interested in, and then we have some operations research grad students write a giant solver to crunch that into a schedule that minimizes conflicts. Right now it’s manually scheduled and it’s a giant pain.
I will now vent any food snob credibility I accumulated earlier in this thread by saying that a) El Machino is actually pretty awesome, and b) the chicken fajitas there, while they could feed a family of 6, are not bad.
Ebisu is okay in my experience, about the same as Uzen in Rockridge. They’re fine, but they’re nothing compared to LA. This is the next place I want to try:
Oh, the other thing we do well is BBQ in Oakland. I much prefer the Oakland molasses style to the Austin vinegar style.
Sushi Ran. Jesus, people. Sushi fucking Ran. And sit at the bar. The sushi one. Yes, you have to cross a bridge. It’s worth it. Just ask for everything from Tsukiji until you tell them to stop. But bring money.
Case: I’m in for Thursday. Wherever is fine, but I’d second Maya over Chevy’s. And not just because it’s closer… the margarita’s there are the real draw.
Cool, it’s going on the to-try list and Jon and I will report back. To this thread. Because it’s about Bay Area Sushi restaurants. We will probably talk about GDC while we eat the sushi, though.
Blowfish is definitely a quality sushi place. LA has better food than SF? I’ve been in LA four years now and the one thing I still miss daily about SF is how superior the restaurant eating was. It’s one of the primary reasons I’m looking forward to a week at GDC, in fact.
It’s not really a group place, but anyone looking for dinner with two to four people should go up Kearny just south of where it hits Columbus and check out House of Nanking. Amazing.
I’d vote for Maya over Osha Thai. It’s a bit further, but only a block or so, and the margaritas are great, and the food is way more actual Mexican-ish (and GOOD) than Chevy’s. Osha Thai is perfectly fine, but a GDC get-together without lots of chips and margaritas (wait until you try Maya’s guacamole!) just doesn’t quite seem the same.
My FANTASTIC wife has given me the all-clear to attend on Thursday evening, so I’ll see you all there!!!
I’ve just had all three of my nights booked with dinners, so unless there’s gonna be some drinkin’ 'till the wee hours, you lot will be free of my sorry face.
You guys should also know that in addition to the semi-fine dining Mexican for dinner, Maya does a quick lunch Taqueria service that is awesome and cheap. So if they aren’t feeding you lunch at the conference and you need a quick bite it is worth the two blocks to get a burrito there.
So if I show up for drinks on Tuesday, how am I going to spot you guys? Shall I just wander around mumbling “shit bonerz” until I see a crowd of nerdy-looking people staring at me?
This would be a good place to cross-link to the Gallery of Wonderful People, but I think it’s pretty old/not up to date.
I should be able to make Tuesday and maybe the other days as well, my meetings are going to be during the day. I plan to look for the geekiest group and saunter up, then listen in for mention of best 2007 thread titles.