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Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#131

Post by mistersquid »

peterhunt wrote: post #58
_w7am wrote: post #29

Good lord, so much snark in this thread, so here's some actual suggestions if you want to enjoy yourself (note: I moved out 3.5 years ago). Get coffee at Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Blue Bottle, Philz Get tacos in the Missions at Taqueria Vallarta, Taqueria Cancun Go to Noisebridge, Sudo Room, Hacker Dojo Hike at Hawk Hill, Skeggs, Muir Woods, Mt. Tam Look up local concerts at funcheapsf.com. There's so many fan…

Hang out in Dolores Park for the authentic SF experience. Also, El Farolito is the superior Mission burrito ducks

To my taste, the best burrito in SF can be found at La Corneta in Glen Park. I lean toward the super carne asada, but the fish (salmon) burrito is also amazing. The Glen Park La Corneta has amazing food in general and if you go there, you will not be disappointed.

Be advised that La Corneta also has a location in SoMa (on Mission) but the taste of the food is entirely different, not bad, but not as much to my liking.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#132

Post by beat »

vforgione wrote: post #61
_w7am wrote: post #29

Good lord, so much snark in this thread, so here's some actual suggestions if you want to enjoy yourself (note: I moved out 3.5 years ago). Get coffee at Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Blue Bottle, Philz Get tacos in the Missions at Taqueria Vallarta, Taqueria Cancun Go to Noisebridge, Sudo Room, Hacker Dojo Hike at Hawk Hill, Skeggs, Muir Woods, Mt. Tam Look up local concerts at funcheapsf.com. There's so many fan…

Thank you for this. As someone interviewing with a handful of companies in SV and considering relocating, this whole thread reenforces a whole host of misgivings I have of the area. Maybe I'm too Midwestern, but most of the comments read as a big "eff you - don't even bother." Does everyone hate it there so much? I know it isn't perfect, but what city/metro area is?

As a Midwesterner myself, the Bay area is my favorite place in America to visit, but I don't really want to live there. I'd consider it, though, for the right circumstance. If I were rich, I might well pay for a timeshare out there, but keep my permanent residence here in Minneapolis.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#133

Post by derfnugget »

Sign up for the Meetup.com event at Google HQ on June 23rd. They've put a cover on the event($10) but I've been to many of these and can confidently say it will be worth it. Plus, they serve food, beer, and wine. I just signed up and I'd be happy to meet you there. (HN lurker and FrontEnd Dev in downtown SF).

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#134

Post by beat »

DaniloDias wrote: post #98
malnourish wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is 100% anecdotal. I'm from Minneapolis as are a number of my friends. Some of them moved out to CA (Irvine) and some later moved to Seattle. They /can't wait/ to move back to MN. For a while, I didn't understand them (usually, when they tell me this in the winter). But the music scene, culture, and comparative lack of traffic make a big difference. I've yet to go to CA outside of layovers, but I still want to e…

Midwestern pride (and Minneapolitan pride in particular) is far stronger than most areas. To me, it presents itself as a kind of Stockholm syndrome. It develops because your brain is aware of the fact that the weather there is capable of killing you 3 months out of the year and it has to find a way to justify the fact that you're not leaving. Obviously there must be something really great about this place when it's n…

As a current Minneapolitan, the thing that wins for me here is the arts scene. Sooner or later, everyone becomes some sort of a hipster, deeply engaged in a local subculture. For me, it's music and theater. For my wife, it's dance. For my daughter, it's the restaurant scene. For my neighbors, it's gardening. But there are scenes here. I go to similar-sized cities, and their arts scenes are like a joke. They have a little four block ghetto of hip somewhere, but nothing like what we have here (as a hardcore Minnesota Fringe Festival nerd, visiting Indianapolis during their Fringe Festival was... ridiculous).

I see stickers saying "Keep Austin weird", and "Keep Portland weird". You never see those for Minneapolis. We don't need 'em.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#135

Post by mistersquid »

indescions_2017 wrote: post #109
_w7am wrote: post #29

Good lord, so much snark in this thread, so here's some actual suggestions if you want to enjoy yourself (note: I moved out 3.5 years ago). Get coffee at Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Blue Bottle, Philz Get tacos in the Missions at Taqueria Vallarta, Taqueria Cancun Go to Noisebridge, Sudo Room, Hacker Dojo Hike at Hawk Hill, Skeggs, Muir Woods, Mt. Tam Look up local concerts at funcheapsf.com. There's so many fan…

While the experts are chiming in: any recommendations for A). Sushi and B). Healthy Vegetarian / Wellness / Vegan / Juice Bar / Poke Bowl type spots? Thanks in advance!

Hinata on Van Ness is omekase (chef's choice) and is among the best sushi I've had outside Japan. It'll set you back at least $90 (prix fixe, more if you drink the delicious sake), abd requires a reservation, but you'll be synced with two other couples if you sit at the chef's counter where you will get a detailed description of exactly what you're eating, why it's interesting, and what to look for.

Schedule your reservation to start before 7 and ask to sit at the Chef's counter with Dave (he's the owner, in his twenties and quite knowledgeable).

If you like Hawaiian/Asian fusion, for about the same price range, there's Liholiho in Lower Nob Hill. Liholiho has blown up for a year, so get there at 4:30 on a weekday to make sure you get a seat in the first wave. Otherwise, reservations are a 4-week wait (last I checked).

You can get good healthy vegetarian at just about any restaurant in SF (minus steakhouses and shabu shabu). For a quick delicious vegetarian lunch, check out Plant in the FiDi.

EDIT: typos, readability.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#138

Post by nicolashahn »

peterhunt wrote: post #58
_w7am wrote: post #29

Good lord, so much snark in this thread, so here's some actual suggestions if you want to enjoy yourself (note: I moved out 3.5 years ago). Get coffee at Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Blue Bottle, Philz Get tacos in the Missions at Taqueria Vallarta, Taqueria Cancun Go to Noisebridge, Sudo Room, Hacker Dojo Hike at Hawk Hill, Skeggs, Muir Woods, Mt. Tam Look up local concerts at funcheapsf.com. There's so many fan…

Hang out in Dolores Park for the authentic SF experience. Also, El Farolito is the superior Mission burrito ducks

Came here to say these two things.

Dolores park is my trump card for showing off SF to (20 something) out of towners. There's usually nothing even remotely like it (when it gets crowded and boozy) wherever they came from.

And I'm in it for the al pastor and so far El Farolito has my favorite. I love Guadalajara too though, because you can get a burrito that's just two different (huge) portions of meat, and they also have some very spicy and delicious salsa. I've strained friendships arguing whether Cancun or El Farolito was better though.

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#139

Post by Danihan »

kzisme wrote: post #137
Danihan wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saw Ben Gibbard in the Davies Symphony Hall last night. ;)

Really jealous - I assume it was wonderful :D

It was, yes. Amazed at how young he is. He's 40 and I remember really enjoying his music almost 20 years ago..

Re: Ask HN: How can I experience SF and Silicon Valley in two weeks?

#140

Post by paulsutter »

hiphipjorge wrote: post #80
paulsutter wrote: post #41

Apply for jobs and attend interviews. Interviews will give you a more realistic sense of companies compared to a walkthrough/visit. Skip meetups

> Skip meetups, they're mostly for people on the outside trying to get in Wow. Unfortunately, I think this is mostly true. A lot of great meetups out there, but unfortunately the people "on the outside trying to get in" have way more of an interest/time to be able to do this. My favorite meetup ever was the VIM meetup. The fact that it didn't seem like a plausible way to get a job meant that only people actually real…

It's true that some meetups are really useful, you're right
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