Post: #1

I'm going to be spending a few months in San Francisco. I've looked through the past threads on SF, but there wasn't much.

Can any of you guys from the Bay Area give a rough overview of the city? Also, is there a particular neighborhood considered ideal for nightlife/daygame and such, so I can try to get an apartment nearby?

The consensus seems to be that SF = predominantly hipster girls that aren't as hot as girls in LA, but more intelligent. Accurate?

Thanks

Post: #2

Speakeasy needs to chime in on SF, I believe he lives there.


mixx

Post: #3

(01-03-2012 07:36 PM)mangadooza Wrote:  I'm going to be spending a few months in San Francisco. I've looked through the past threads on SF, but there wasn't much.

Can any of you guys from the Bay Area give a rough overview of the city? Also, is there a particular neighborhood considered ideal for nightlife/daygame and such, so I can try to get an apartment nearby?

The consensus seems to be that SF = predominantly hipster girls that aren't as hot as girls in LA, but more intelligent. Accurate?

Thanks

I used to live in San Francisco. I got you.

Lodging

If you're looking to rent a spot, use airbnb.com. Otherwise, Craigslist.com.

These are the neighborhoods I recommend for DHV:

Soma: This is where some of the best bars in the city are. I highly recommend getting a pad here. Lots of gentrifying renovated lofts on the cheap.

Marina: High-end neighborhood, with some nice talent passing through. One of my favorite lounges is here: MatrixSF. Google it. Sunday nights are great.

North Beach: Near mad bars and next to the downtown financial district. Interesting perch of the city.

Embarcadero: Lots of sick condos and high-end apartments, right by the water.

Nightlife

First things first, get on SFStation.com and subscribe to the nightlife e-mail list. It gives you an authoritative daily breakdown on what's going on in the city.

Vessel (great Wednesday and Thursday spot). Vesselsf.net

The Cellar (cool Saturday night spot)

Eve Lounge (Soma-ish; good weeknight spot)

Elbo Room - Mission District. Check their calendar for their monthly Brazilian events. Quite a few Brazilians in the Bay Area. If you used Facebook, find Tuka De Oliveira. He's a big promoter for Brazilian events in the Bay Area (Brazilianevents.com)

Day Game

Union Square: Shopping mecca of the city. Start at the intersection of Powell and Market streets and walk around the area until you hit Union Square. By then you should have approached a few chicks.

Westfield Shopping Centre: This is also in Union Square at the intersection of Mason and Powell. Loads of chicks at this mall almost all the time. Plenty of day game opportunities.

Marina: Upscale, pretentious hood, but there's hot bitches. Check out the coffeeshops here and read Roosh's article about coffeeshop game. Make sure you hit up Matrix Lounge as well.

Portrero Hill: Up-and-coming neighborhood with lots of neighborhood coffee shops and some bars. Check out Horatius. It's a wine bar/art museum/cafe that used to host events. I watched a bunch of World Cup matches here in 2010. Lots of classy chicks stop through. The owner is Venezuelan, but born to Portuguese parents. Cool dude.

AT&T Park area: Lots of young professional chicks in the coffeeshops and bars nearby. Lots of residential housing as well.

Fisherman's Wharf: Hella touristy, but chicks are usually here (mostly out-of-towners).

Restaurants

The Bay Area has the best grub in the country, hands down.

Make sure you hit up these spots:

High-End
Zuni

Espetus (epic Brazilian churrascaria; spent my bday here last year)

Nopa (amazing restaurant that serves only seasonal, local ingredients)

Chez Pannise (top-ten restaurant in the US, but it's in Berkeley)

Breakfast

Stacks - Epic breakfast place in Hayes Valley (closes at 2pm).

There's more where that came from. You could make a whole new thread that would be endless.

If you want cheap but great food (i.e. Mexican, Salvadorean, Burmese), check out the Mission District.

El Farolito - Best cheap Mex food

Yamo - Fantastic Burmese food

El Zocalo - Best papusas in the Bay Area

Bars

Bourbon and Branch (epic speakeasy). One of the best bars in the US.

Smuggler's Cove - Excellent rum bar in Hayes Valley SF. One of the best bars in the US.

If you tell me what kind of scenes and styles you're into, I can give you more specific information, including intel on the Oakland and Berkeley scenes.

Post: #4

Thanks a lot for the info Casanova -- it's much appreciated. I sent you a PM.

Post: #5

Dude there are a few really good, detailed SF threads, I think you need to search a little harder.

Post: #6

/thread-4842.html

Post: #7

(01-03-2012 07:48 PM)MiXX Wrote:  Speakeasy needs to chime in on SF, I believe he lives there.


mixx

Actually I'm in LA.

Quote:The consensus seems to be that SF = predominantly hipster girls that aren't as hot as girls in LA, but more intelligent. Accurate?

Pretty much. There are cute girls in SF(6 and 7s), but few really hot ones. The culture of feminism, political correctness and gay activism is probably the strongest of any city in the world.

On the plus side though, women there aren't so materialistic and people are generally down to earth and there's a strong culture of anti-pretentiousness that can be refreshing if you're visiting from SoCal. Few people there care about what you drive, how much you make and "seeing and being seen." It's a good place to pull if you don't make a lot of money. I also don't notice the type of attention whoring you see in L.A. It's just not that kind of place. It's much more of a lifestyle city for the SWPL crowd. People are more about going to neighborhood dive bars and coffee shops than grinding pelvises to top 40 hip hop. I also get the impression that social network is pretty important there, and if a girl likes you, she is more likely to make it known. I've had girls at parties up there straight up tell me they wanted to make out. That doesn't happen to me ever at home. I'm obviously generalizing a bit, but I think that's the general vibe of the city. Of course you can still find niches for whatever you want. Another thing to keep mind is that the number of Asian girls in SF is huge. So if you don't like Asian chics, that's going to seriously cut down your pool of prospects.

Post: #8

San Francisco has loads of small niches, but the bulk of the population is made up of gays, Asians, and white liberals moved in from other areas.

Asian chicks. If that's your thing, there's a lot of them there that like white guys. You'll find Asian Americans and FOBs, and both are down. This was the biggest cross-racial mix I saw when I was there. If you're a white guy who wants to game only in the city, this is your best bet.

White liberals. Many are East Coast transplants, and I've already written on how ugly I think East Coast girls are. Some midwesterners too. Some are hipsters. Some are SATC high-powered corporate types. Some are hippie, non-profit types. What you won't find much of in San Francisco is the native white California girl. There are some there, but not many.

The girls are not as attractive as SoCal girls, but they're still on average better looking than East Coast girls. A lot of overeducated womyn (ready ugly) here, and there is a big celebration of the Silicon Valley geek culture (ready ugly) as well.

Post: #9

go into any whole foods for about 30 minutes.

you'll thank me later

Post: #10

Folks,

I arrived in San Francisco yesterday night. I am staying at Civic Center neighbourhood, very central area.

The city seemed very nice, architecture and all, nice sights and a more urban vibe that I was missing.

I still don't know how long I'll stay, but I'd like to at least have an idea of a place close to where I am I could go at night, just in case I'm still here next weekend and am inspired.

I didn't post anything on the meetup section because I'm still not certain if I'll be here long enough and if I'll be in the mood to go out (the climate change from Hawaii to here made me catch a cold), but just in case, is there any casual/laidback venue any of you could reccomend in central San Francisco, maybe on the surroundings of Market St. I could go solo (if that's the case)?

I'd be looking for a very casual and laidback vibe I could mingle with some local people (girls...). The outfit I carry in my huge luggage from Hawaii is not that fitting to the scene here apparently, so I want to keep it casual and chill.

I am still reading on the places mentioned here, but so far I didn't seem to find anything I liked much.

If there is any crazy hipster/goth/alternative bar/club I'd go for that, I find those types interesting over here, I have an "anthropological" interest in those types.

If there are any "intelectual" hangouts, it would also be cool... I can sense this place has some of that vibe.

cheers

Post: #11

Well my knowledge of SF is mostly based on the restaurant scene so that's where I provide the best recommendations, but if you're into a more "hipster" scene I'd recommend that Mission neighborhood.

"The Mission" is a neighborhood composed primarily of Mexicans, Central Americans, and hipster artist types. The more Latin vibe is found on Mission St. and to the east, where as one street over on Valencia St. and to the west is mostly a hipster neighborhood. Some really amazing restaurants in that neighborhood, I highly recommend getting a burrito from my favorite place called "Papalote at 24th & Valencia St.

It is very easy to get to the Mission there are two main metro (BART) stops, 16th & Mission, as well as 24th & Mission St, get on the BART at the Civic Cntr. stop and take that to 16th & Mission BART. There are a bunch of hipster bars on 16th ST. a short walk from the BART station between Mission St. & Guerrero St. "Killowatt and Delerium" and the more hipster/goth/rock type.

My favorite bar in that area is called "The Elbo Room", it's on Valencia St. between 17th & 18th, here is the website: http://elbo.com/Calendar.php It's kind of like a chilled out dive bar downstairs, and they have an upstairs where they have live music.

There are a shit ton of other venues and data sheets if you search the forum, the hottest women in the city tend to party in this neighborhood called "the Marina", as well on stretches of Polk St., but this can be kind of a stuck up preppy, yuppie scene, so you might not be into it.

If you're downtown I recommend going to a really nice, funky, unique restaurant with great food and drinks, it's organic American "soul food", it's called Farmer Brown: http://www.farmerbrownsf.com

Other things to do, if it's sunny out visit Delores Park, and Golden Gate Park, take a walk down the Embarcadero St. promenade and check out the bay, visit Alcatraz, check out the SF Museum of Modern Art, or the De Young Museum, check out Ocean Beach and walk along the trails north of there, walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, take the BART to Berkeley, check out UC Berkeley, and Telegraph Ave.

Post: #12

(01-24-2012 11:14 PM)Amour Fou Wrote:  I arrived in San Francisco yesterday night. I am staying at Civic Center neighbourhood, very central area.

Bourbon and Branch, Owl Tree, Rickhouse.

People in SF use Yelp, so get Yelp on your iPhone and do a search for nearby bars.

Gold Dust Inn is sometimes OK.

The Gold Club (strip club) is on Howard, not too far from there.

Ruby Skye is "after hours." No drinking, but it's a good scene and open late.

Post: #13

(01-25-2012 01:23 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  

(01-24-2012 11:14 PM)Amour Fou Wrote:  I arrived in San Francisco yesterday night. I am staying at Civic Center neighbourhood, very central area.

Bourbon and Branch, Owl Tree, Rickhouse.

People in SF use Yelp, so get Yelp on your iPhone and do a search for nearby bars.

Gold Dust Inn is sometimes OK.

The Gold Club (strip club) is on Howard, not too far from there.

Ruby Skye is "after hours." No drinking, but it's a good scene and open late.

Ha. I love Bourbon and Branch. Probably my favorite speakeasy. I actually went there for my birthday after eating at Espetus.

Rickhouse on Geary. I used to hit that up when I worked in the Financial District.

Good memories.

Post: #14

I lived in SF for about ten years about ten years ago, I liked it a lot, beautiful city but I felt like I "aged out" quickly. I am only into girls under 27 and when I hit 40 it was like hitting a wall. Being cool and young is extremely valued and that works both ways.

Once you are not seen as all fun all the time you are a downer on their fantasy world.

Post: #15

(01-25-2012 05:28 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  I lived in SF for about ten years about ten years ago, I liked it a lot, beautiful city but I felt like I "aged out" quickly. I am only into girls under 27 and when I hit 40 it was like hitting a wall. Being cool and young is extremely valued and that works both ways.

Once you are not seen as all fun all the time you are a downer on their fantasy world.

Interesting take.

I always imagined SF would be better than Southern California for the ageing playboy.

What's your take?

Post: #16

I hear San Francisco is amazing for day game with all the festivals and warm year around weather along with people drinking at Dolores Park.

It also seems to be a very liberal city from people say.

I'm very interested in checking the city out in a few years.

Post: #17

(01-25-2012 05:37 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(01-25-2012 05:28 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  I lived in SF for about ten years about ten years ago, I liked it a lot, beautiful city but I felt like I "aged out" quickly. I am only into girls under 27 and when I hit 40 it was like hitting a wall. Being cool and young is extremely valued and that works both ways.

Once you are not seen as all fun all the time you are a downer on their fantasy world.

Interesting take.

I always imagined SF would be better than Southern California for the ageing playboy.

What's your take?

If you want younger girls, SF is really bad for older guys. Exception: Hotel bars (but the girls want "daddys").

There's a huge difference why LA and SF girls differ.

LA girls, "fresh off the boat," i.e., from the Midwest, is a lost soul. She will latch onto an older man who will shower the ropes. Poison's "Fallen Angel" video does a good job of showing this.

In SF, there is dignity in being poor. Girls will live 4-5 in an apartment. Hipsters have made being poor OK.

So you're not going to find many lost souls in SF.

Also, girls in SF tend to have pretty good jobs. So they don't need a man like girls in LA.

Also, in LA, women over 30 still tend to look good. They do yoga, pilates, and have had work done. If you're in your 40's, a girl in her 30's is not a bad catch.

SF is the best place I've been for meeting women, but if you're over 38 (unless you look really young), you're only going to get women in their 30's. Unlike in LA, there is not nearly as much of an emphasis on appearance, and SF girls past 30 don't look so great.

Post: #18

Amour, since you're here and traveling, I encourage you to go out and see a few venues, feel the vibe for yourself. Even if you're in a somber mood after your travels, you'll enjoy spending time in the city - the nightlife is cosmopolitan yet casual, people are friendly and the girls will definitely dig your story ("what do you mean you're traveling? where are you from? I love your hair!") - SF has 'character' in that sense.

What you'll also find is that most folks are quite educated/well-read and down for interesting conversation. So get out there and grease your groove man. Coffee shops in the day, bars at night.

Here's are our helpful SF threads:
/thread-4842.html
/thread-4831.html
/thread-2024.html
/thread-8226.html (Hencredible drops some valuable SF commentary in this one)

There's some great food in SF. MikeCF is right - there's so much information on Yelp.

I recommend heading to the bars around Polk St and Bush St. It's not far from where you're staying . I've gone out there on Fri/Sat nights and enjoyed it. Keep us posted about what you've explored and how long you're going to be here.

Post: #19

(01-25-2012 06:34 PM)stein Wrote:  Amour, since you're here and traveling, I encourage you to go out and see a few venues, feel the vibe for yourself. Even if you're in a somber mood after your travels, you'll enjoy spending time in the city - the nightlife is cosmopolitan yet casual, people are friendly and the girls will definitely dig your story ("what do you mean you're traveling? where are you from? I love your hair!") - SF has 'character' in that sense.

I had to laugh... unless a girl would comment on my "facial hair", I'd never hear that line! (I'm shaved bald with a goatee, something like a recent look The Rock had on a movie)

Thank you for the info and support, Stein. I'll be leaving here on Monday 30th, so I'll have the weekend to explore a bit. The cold still feels intimidating, though... My tropical sensibilities are being put to test. But I like it, nevertheless.

I'll be searching google for that Polk St. and Bush St. area.

Post: #20

(01-25-2012 06:50 PM)Amour Fou Wrote:  I'll be searching google for that Polk St. and Bush St. area.

Lush Lounge and Hemlock are the cool spots. Hemlock has a smoking area. There's a sports bar that sorta converts in a club nearby. McTeague's?

Tonic, way down the street, is a hard scene to roll dolo in.

It's a great town. Hard to go wrong at any bars.

Post: #21

(01-25-2012 05:41 PM)torontokid Wrote:  I hear San Francisco is amazing for day game with all the festivals and warm year around weather along with people drinking at Dolores Park.

It also seems to be a very liberal city from people say.

I'm very interested in checking the city out in a few years.

Yeah SF is great for day game, although I've done very little of it, there are tons of opportunities. In certain neighborhoods everyone walks or takes the metro BART (street game), plus there is a big coffee shop/cafe culture where people hang out drink their tea/coffee, read a book or bring their laptop, tons of cute honeys to approach.

You are right that there are tons of outdoor festivals, mainly in the summer and fall, normally drinking and smoking weed is pretty tolerated and some events have been cracked down on, because they were just "too wild and uncontrolable" like the Bay to Breakers race and Halloween in the Castro.

Unfortunately, you're a bit off about the weather being "warm year round", the city is on a peninsula and gets quite a bit of fog, wind, and rain, sometimes it will be miserable in SF, but sunny and nice in the East Bay, or just north in Marin Co. The best time of year to visit is roughly between July-October.

Man, I really want to move to the city, guys hate on it, because a lack of extremely hot women, on the top end 8+, but there are shit tons of girls in the 6-8 range. I have a few buddies that do pretty well for themselves, and they aren't particularly tall, attractive, rich, etc. Online game is huge there, and it almost seems like you can't not get laid from it.

Fuck man, wish I could move, and also wish SF wasn't so damn expensive.

Post: #22

(01-25-2012 09:09 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

(01-25-2012 05:41 PM)torontokid Wrote:  I hear San Francisco is amazing for day game with all the festivals and warm year around weather along with people drinking at Dolores Park.

It also seems to be a very liberal city from people say.

I'm very interested in checking the city out in a few years.

Yeah SF is great for day game, although I've done very little of it, there are tons of opportunities. In certain neighborhoods everyone walks or takes the metro BART (street game), plus there is a big coffee shop/cafe culture where people hang out drink their tea/coffee, read a book or bring their laptop, tons of cute honeys to approach.

You are right that there are tons of outdoor festivals, mainly in the summer and fall, normally drinking and smoking weed is pretty tolerated and some events have been cracked down on, because they were just "too wild and uncontrolable" like the Bay to Breakers race and Halloween in the Castro.

Unfortunately, you're a bit off about the weather being "warm year round", the city is on a peninsula and gets quite a bit of fog, wind, and rain, sometimes it will be miserable in SF, but sunny and nice in the East Bay, or just north in Marin Co. The best time of year to visit is roughly between July-October.

Man, I really want to move to the city, guys hate on it, because a lack of extremely hot women, on the top end 8+, but there are shit tons of girls in the 6-8 range. I have a few buddies that do pretty well for themselves, and they aren't particularly tall, attractive, rich, etc. Online game is huge there, and it almost seems like you can't not get laid from it.

Fuck man, wish I could move, and also wish SF wasn't so damn expensive.

Haha man, I'm in Toronto and a bit of fog and rain are nothing compared to the freezing temps here!

As for online game Jeffy does a lot of it. Apparently okcupid study him to figure out algorithms for the site because of the massive success he gets from it. It seems like a solid site to get 5s-7s but getting a more attractive girl through online game seems fairly difficult.

I'm gonna start doing online game in TO soon, I hear its a niche that is not exploited in TO yet.

Post: #23

I'm going to be stopping through the city by the Bay on the week of Feb 6th. Looking forward to hitting up my old stomping grounds and reconnecting with my peoples. I'm going to be hella busy because I've got lots of people to see for a visit that's less than a week long.

That said, I'd appreciate any intel on what might be going on. Also, I've got no prob chopping it up with players at a cool venue where there's fly chicks.

Post: #24

I was young when I visited so I can't give much input on what you are looking to find out. I just remember it was a hell of a cool city in terms of archiecture and lay out. Lots of hills and I know rent or buying homes is expensive as shit. I definitely want to go back and check it out. I do remember there being a ton of gays and homeless people as well. I saw more homeless in San Fran than in anywhere even in Brazil or the US. It had the biggest homeless population of anywhere I've been. You'd go into public restrooms in Fishermans Warf and there were hobos brushing their teeth in the bathrooms. At stop lights hobos try and wash your windows and expect money. It can get rather annoying. South Beach has a ton as well. Getting asked for ciggarettes 10 times a day while walking to work and lunch gets pretty annoying as well. Every now and then I'll buy one a tea or something like that at Davids cafe though if they are polite about asking.

Post: #25

what kind of events are there in san francisco at this time of the year? or places to go during the day