New to the SF Bay Board? Read this first
Are you new to Chowhound? Or just to the San Francisco board? Perhaps visiting from out of town? We've got some tips to help you get started.
If you're brand new to the site, you should read our Site Etiquette (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/367605) so you don't break any rules or step on any toes.
This board is focused on discussing chow in the greater San Francisco Bay area. This includes San Francisco, San Mateo (inc. Half Moon Bay), Santa Clara (inc. San Jose and "Silicon Valley"), Alameda (inc. Berkeley and Oakland), Contra Costa, Solano, Napa (inc. Wine Country), Sonoma, and Marin (inc. Tiburon, Sausalito, Tomales Bay) counties -- basically all the counties that touch the Bay itself. If you'd like tips on chow in Northern California outside of these counties including Monterey and Carmel, please see our California board: http://www.chowhound.com/blog/boards/3 . For a complete list of boards available, see the Chowhound menu in the navigation bar.
We've divided up this thread into separate posts, just to make things neater. Please read to the end. The sections are:
HAVE A HOT TIP?
HAVE A QUESTION?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THIS BOARD
STILL HAVE A QUESTION?
AFTER YOUR MEAL
SF BAY AREA SPECIFICS
FEEDBACK
The Chowhound Team
Dec 13, 2007 12:02PM
HAVE A HOT TIP?
If you've got a great tip or a recommendation for someone, dive right in and post it. It's great if you can include some details of why you like a place, but even those short tips on where to find a great taco or donut are appreciated. If you need help starting a new thread, check out the FAQ: http://www.chowhound.com/faq#topic
Permalink
HAVE A QUESTION?
The San Francisco board is a pretty active place, and a lot of questions have been covered recently--the Chowhound archives are a great resource.
Start your quest for an answer with a search of all the great info that's already out there. There's a 'SEARCH THIS BOARD' link at the top of each board and thread -- it's next to the name of the board. 'Search this board' is a quick way to search the last year worth of posts on your current board to find recent mentions of your subject. Just add your keywords and go. On the search results page, you can change your search criteria to add more keywords, or change your sort order or the dates you're interested in.
Permalink
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON THE SAN FRANCISCO BOARD:
Here are just a few of the subjects that are common on the San Francisco board, and some suggestions on how to find that information:
Where should I eat near the Airport? Moscone Center? Union Square? Fisherman's Wharf? Other attractions?
Search terms to try: name of attraction (Moscone, airport (remember though that there is more than one)) or any shorter versions or nicknames (SFO, Wharf). Examples:
For Union Square, search: Union Square, Financial District, Chinatown, Tenderloin, Belden Alley
For Moscone Center, search: Moscone Center, SOMA, Westfield Shopping Center
For the Curran Theater, search: Union Square, Tenderloin
Where should we eat in Chinatown? The Mission? San Jose? East Bay? The Peninsula? Other neighborhoods?
Search terms to try: the name of the neighborhood, town or county you want to eat in, add a cuisine for more specific results.
Also, check out the SF Bay Area Hub on Places: http://www.chow.com/places/regions/1 The Bay Area hounds have put a lot of work into Places by neighborhood, include a neighborhood name in your Places search for lots of great info.
Where should we go in wine country?
Search terms to try: Napa, Sonoma, plus towns within the counties. For Napa, also search Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, Silverado Trail. For Sonoma, also search Healdsburg, Russian River Valley.
Napa and Sonoma are the names of both towns and counties, so you will find recommendations for both.
Where's the best brunch/sushi/burrito/dim sum/seafood/etc?
Search terms to try: title:best and the type of food you're looking for
This is another place where the SF Bay Area Places Hub can really help. Choose your cuisine of choice from the list for local Places tagged with that cuisine, then check out the threads to find out more about them.
Where can we eat well and have a view?
Search Terms to try: view, scenic
Where should we go for our special occasion?
Search terms to try: anniversary, "special occasion", proposal, romantic, birthday
These might not all apply to your particular occasion, but they generally turn up the same kind of recommendations.
Where should I plan my group dinner?
Search terms to try: "private room", "buy out", corporate, group, "holiday party", "large group"
How do I get reservations for the French Laundry?
Search terms to try: French Laundry, TFL, reservations, Yountville
For information on more advanced search options, see the Search FAQ:
http://www.chowhound.com/faq#find
Permalink
STILL HAVE A QUESTION?
SF chowhounds (don't call them San Fran or Frisco hounds!) are a great resource, but help them help you by including some important details. Tell them:
- What part of the region you'll be in -- this board covers a very large area.
- Whether you have a car or will be relying on transit.
- How far or how long you're willing to travel. With transit options, some places that are quite distant can take less time to get to than places that are physically closer. Some places, like those in wine country are far enough away that you wouldn't go there for an evening out.
- What your budget is. Descriptions such as 'expensive', 'moderate' and 'cheap' mean different things to different people, so use dollar values.
- What types of cuisines you're interested in.
- Which days of the week you're interested in -- lots of restaurants close Mondays, for example.
- Any other special circumstances (traveling with kids? vegetarians? non-chowhounds?) that will help
If you've done some of your own research, mention what you found so hounds can help fill in the gaps, rather than rehashing what you already know.
Permalink
AFTER YOUR MEAL
Most importantly, after your trip or your meal, thank the San Francisco hounds for their help by reporting back. Tell people which suggestions you used and how the meals turned out, plus add tips about any great places you discovered on your own. This helps make the board more useful for everyone who visits after you.
Permalink
SF BAY AREA SPECIFICS
LOCAL VOCABULARY
Here are some things you might see referred to on the San Francisco board:
TFL: The French Laundry
SFO: San Francisco Airport -- unlike some regional boards, this will generally refer only to the airport itself or the immediate area around it.
XLB: Xia Long Bao or soup dumplings, a particular favorite in this region
FPFM: Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market
SOMA: South of Market Street
DAT: Dine About Town. An annual event in January with fixed price meals at a variety of participating restaurants. See: http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/dineabouttown/
LOCAL CUSTOMS
Dress: California restaurants tend to be more casual than other regions of the country
BYOB: Some restaurants to allow BYOB, but it will almost always be with an added corkage charge.
Smoking: Smoking is prohibited in most enclosed public spaces including restaurants and bars.
LINKS
SF Bay Area Regional Hub: http://www.chowhound.com/places/regions/1
Digest posts about the Bay Area: http://www.chow.com/digest/tag/san+francisco+bay+area
Add a new topic to the SF board: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/new?board_id=1
Transit Trip Planner: http://transit.511.org/tripplanner/index.asp A great resource for figuring out if you can get to the perfect restaurant on any Bay Area transit system.
SF CHOWHOUND MEETUPS
Hounds love to eat, and they love to eat together. Anyone can plan a chowdown and announce it on the board, (see the Etiquette for more: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/367605#2975390 ) but there are a some established regional groups of hounds who dine together, so you might want to get on their mailing lists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/svchowdown/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebchowdown/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sfchowdown/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nbchowd...
Permalink
FEEDBACK
If there's something you think is vitally important for new members of the board to know that we've missed, please comment on this Site Talk thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/458603
Permalink