Just a couple observations; mostly about **Zeitgeist ** and **Crow Bar ** since I’m familiar with both of them (maybe too familiar).
Zeitgeist has more room (outside) than any other bar I know in the city. But if it’s a weekend or holiday night and the weather is nice, it will be so crowded that dopers would have a hard time finding a place to sit together. It also can be a little too loud sometimes. They also serve (cheap) food there until 10:00PM.
Crow Bar is a little quiter, but has less room (all indoors). Still, if it’s early enough, there should be enough room.
Someone mentioned a bar near Kerouac Alley which I assume is** Vesuvius**. Nice place, but not that much room for a group to sit together. it also gets pretty hot in there if the weather is very warm at all.
All in all, a restaurant a little closer to BART would probably be better.
Vesuvius is nice to look at but the drinks are overpriced and vaguely nasty. I’m all about Stinking Rose though (which I think has a full bar anyway. Anyone? I’ve only ever eaten there during the day, so I never noticed any bar activity.)
I could probably do the Friday before Labor Day, maybe Saturday. I think we usually drive to LV on a Sunday so the traffic is all going the other way.
I missed the previous thread about bars. . .I wanted to toss out that my company Christmas party (for about 20 people) was held at the W hotel, and we started off with drinks at XYZ and then had dinner downstairs. Dinner was pricey ($50 a head prix fix), but the bar was cool and the people were fantastic, especially given my crazy boss’s ever changing last minute requests. They roped us off space upstairs so we could have privacy, with lots of comfy seating. It was also convenient/easy to find for people unfamiliar with the city. But it is a little on the swanky side.
(This is also where I got hit on by not one, but two well dressed yet slightly creepy men in their 50’s while waiting for my co-workers)
I actually went through a number of venues trying to find the right place, I still have the list around here somewhere. If Bippy’s ethiopian resteraunt in haight is the same one I’m thinking of, then I second that.
I want to also toss out that I plan parties/dinners/etc for groups of this size for work, and I have a large friend group that often requires logistical wrangling. I’d be happy to help get this thing off the ground. I talked the manager of the W into giving me use of the hospitality suite for free, so I’m pretty good at this.
After some thought, psycat and I decided to spend labor day weekend in the city whether there’s a Dopefest going on or not so we’ll be there from Friday night to Monday afternoon.
If that works out for the 'fest, cool. If not, we’ll try to make it whenever.
Also, Obsidian, I certainly don’t have any qualms if you want to spearhead the planning of this thing. A lot of times these things get mired down in one person wants to do one thing, one person wants to do another and then it never happens. I think it’s good to have one person/party making sure decisions get made one way or another. And since I don’t have any special needs/issues, I’ll be there to enjoy whatever washes out in the end.
How about some place that has pool tables or darts or shuffleboard or something like that? I don’t know where there are any right near BART, but there’s a pool hall out in Pleasanton that has a bar and grill.
I know the Ethiopian place that’s been tossed around, and it’s just a couple of blocks from where I live. But:
It’s nowhere near a BART station and is kind of difficult to get there from a BART station. (You’d have to take a bus. And sorry, but MUNI buses just suck.)
I HATE Ethiopian food.
The Metreon and the Embarcadero are convenient to BART and under-21-friendly.
And Labor Day weekend would be cool with me; Saturday would be best.
Oh, why you gotta be all like that? Hop on a plane and fly out to join in!
I concur with SolGrundy. The Haight is not very BART-friendly(I guess North Beach isn’t either, but it’s just a short cable car or cab ride from Market). Also, while I’m not opposed to Ethiopean food, it’s probably not the most common ground we could pick, although the argument could be made for broadening one’s horizons, I guess.
Conversely, while the Metreon and Embarcadero are very BART accessible, the pickings are kind of slim, especially on the weekends.
Hey, how about Buca di Beppo? It’s only a couple blocks from the Powell st BART station. I’d also still vote for anything in North Beach. Like I said before, though, pretty much anything is fine with me, since psy and I will have driven into the city and will have transportation.
“Hi mom, nice to see you! Thanks for picking me up at the airport and all, but I gotta go to the city to hang with some people from the internet. Bye!”
Well, alright. It looks like things are actually coming together.
Wheee!
So, I’m just going to assume based on the posts thus far that Saturday, September 4th is the day we’re looking at for dinner. Restaurant to be decided (close to BART, reasonably priced, variety of food options, vegetarian-friendly, can hold a crowd, not too loud, and all that jazz.)
And bar afterwards. LIke Troy McClure said, several of us were discussing bars a few weeks ago, he listed what we’d come up with. I’ll throw a vote out for Buzz 9 , we’ve had a small gathering there a few months ago and it was a very nice setting, couches, low light, small tables, pool table, dart board, etc.
And it’s just about half a mile from the Phoenix Hotel, which is a little worn out on the inside, but is definitely the place to hang out until the wee hours of the morning in SF (well, save The End Up.)
Sorry. My obsession with both Indian and Ethiopian food drives my friends to drink. Not that I’m going to suggest indian food. I’ve learned curry+ lotsa beer=laying on the bathroom floor wishing I was dead. Also, maybe I should stay away from the Haight. The last time I was there I ended up standing on the sidewalk flapping a shawl around and anouncing to the world I was batman.
I moved here after college, so I have NO idea what is and is not under-21 friendly.
I’m thinking I agree with psy about nailing down a date. My vote is for saturday, but friday would also be good. Bars on sunday are deader than a doornail, and there also probably people who work in jobs not closed on labor day who wouldn’t be able to come then.
I really should re-preview if I get up to answer the phone mid post.
Buzz-9 looks good. (I’ve never been there myself). Having dinner & bar in one place is something I’m really in favor of, especially if we have any kind of crowd. It’s worked smoothly for the work parties I’ve set up. The last time we did separate locales, we couldn’t all get into the chosen bar, and suddenly we were a wandering herd.
I am most certainly in, and my roommate (PucksRaven) most likely is as well. Well, as long as it’s a full sevice bar. She doesn’t drink wine or beer.
Anyway, it might be moot since I was going to offer to carpool people from a BART station. I have a Jeep so with Ob in the car I can get 3 more people. More if anyone wants to ride on a lap or in the trunk.
Obsidian, I’m willing to put in a bit of effort to plan this, if’n you want.
Buzz-9 is looking like a good option for the bar. There’s a restaurant there too, but the menu is pretty frou frou. I’d think that wherever we’d go should have some veggie options, and some basic pasta/American fare for those of us that aren’t gonna want sautéed frog balls, especially if a trip to the bar is imminent.
Buzz-9 was roomy, comfy, had dart boards and a poll table, there’s no smoking (which is not always the case). It’s easy to get to, and not too terribly far from the Wharf/Lombard (which is generally where people stay).
