San Francisco Niketalkers, is this really how you guys are living?

[sfc415]

Commute from sj to sf is even when there's no traffic that's close to an hour commute. I'm in san mateo and luckily work in san bruno but I avoid driving to either sf or sj during the weekdays.

Yeah that commute is awful unless you're going to an office located near the 4th and King Caltrain. From Santa Clara onwards it's pretty good on the 280.

I like San Mateo; downtown San Mateo is a lot nicer than any part of SF. I just wish there were more younger people out here instead of families, (although there's been a decent influx of good looking Chinese women the past few years)

 

[sfc415]

We were out in the Eastside by Hellyer Park '93-'01 before my parents moved us to Southside San Jose.

Recently did some Google mapping near our old house - area is so nice now

Yeah East San Jose completely changed since 2001. My family had just moved down to Evergreen at that time, and the nearby Silver Creek area was hood. There was literally nothing out there, and I was pissed! Felt like I had just moved to a village. At the time Silver Creek High School was trash too, which is why my parents made me go to a private high school with annoying @#$ rich kids.

If you go to the Evergreen/Silver Creek area now, it's fully developed and 1000x nicer. There's a lot of cool Korean and Japanese restaurants popping up all over the place to cater to younger people too (Q Pot on Capitol Expressway is my go to). All the Viet and Mexican gangsters matured and had kids that go to the good schools there now.

I like going out to Little Saigon too. When I was younger, Tully, King, Story, etc. roads were considered dangerous. Now, after years of cash-only tax evasion practices, the locals have completely renovated the area with their savings

I went to a Vietnamese restaurant the other day that accepted credit cards That's how you know East Side has finally made it big.

 

[yanky]

Yeah that commute is awful unless you're going to an office located near the 4th and King Caltrain. From Santa Clara onwards it's pretty good on the 280.

I like San Mateo; downtown San Mateo is a lot nicer than any part of SF. I just wish there were more younger people out here instead of families, (although there's been a decent influx of good looking Chinese women the past few years)

Yea downtown san mateo has been coming up recently with new developments and restaurants. Parking sucks here though but other that that I agree, the women coming in thanks to all these boba places opening up, I can't complain lol.

 

[sfc415]

Yea downtown san mateo has been coming up recently with new developments and restaurants. Parking sucks here though but other that that I agree, the women coming in thanks to all these boba places opening up, I can't complain lol.

Yeah parking during dinner and lunch is terrible, but it beats parking situations in the city. At worst I end up walking 10 minutes or paying $3-4 for 3 hours of parking.

And yeah, all my friends that visit me for extend periods love hanging out in downtown San Mateo for all the boba and Japanese restaurants everywhere. I usually drop them off there for the entire day while I'm at work. Most of my SoCal friends tell me how they hate SF but like San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara, etc.

 

[yanky]

Yeah parking during dinner and lunch is terrible, but it beats parking situations in the city. At worst I end up walking 10 minutes or paying $3-4 for 3 hours of parking.

And yeah, all my friends that visit me for extend periods love hanging out in downtown San Mateo for all the boba and Japanese restaurants everywhere. I usually drop them off there for the entire day while I'm at work. Most of my SoCal friends tell me how they hate SF but like San Mateo, San Jose, Santa Clara, etc.

Oh yea parking rates here are def better than in the city that goes for any place as long as it's not sf. Haha yea SF is just hype except for a few key places to visit. There's not really much to do there once you hit those few tourist spots and there's better food outside of sf depending. I'm actually surprised at how many boba spots have popped up now between sj and san mateo.

 

[nomnom]

Ramen spots on B Street in San Mateo tho

 

[sfc415]

Ramen spots on B Street in San Mateo tho

That wait tho...I went to Ramen Dojo for a late lunch at 5 PM and there were already 20-30 people in line I heard Ramen Parlor (one of the sister restaurants) is good too. Ive been to the third sister restaurant, Santa Ramen, which is just OK

 

[Nawzlew]

for me nothing beats santouka

 

[northoaklandfc]

SF >>>>>>>>

don't get it twisted

For the past seven years or so I feel like I've fallen more in love with San Francisco by the day. Hardly stepped foot in the city before I was 19/20 but it's amazing, right now I'm lucky it's a 20 min car ride away on most nights after rush hour, from where I live in downtown Oakland.

The older I get the more I feel like the Bay Area and the state of California in general can't be comparatively ranked though. What do you want at a specific moment in time in your life?

Los Angeles is amazing, socially and culturally if you peel past the surface it has everything the Bay has to offer you just have to dig a little deeper.

Some of the most funnest experiences I've lived through anywhere in the world took place in San Diego, CA.

I need to experience San Jose and surrounding areas more, and I look forward to taking in some of the subtitles. Right now I've really only done the club scene, albeit fairly consistently.

I love this state, and I've almost only experienced its urban centers. I wouldn't mind taking advantage of what some fo the mountain regions have to offer either. I'm 28 years old and I've never seen real, picturesque snow. Sonoma region and Nappa Valley are calling, I've never been. Would love to hit a few places on the coast again.

When it's all said and done though, you can't tell me there's a better place to raise a family with a worthy wife, then a few of the different sections Oakland has to offer. Of course this is shaped by my perspective as a black, multicultural man first, who's travelled around the world, who might get bored too easily looking for the next adventure, but appreciates sunshine, good food, and authenticity above everything else.

 

[Thats My Word]

Edit

 

[Nawzlew]

I need to experience San Jose

aint nothin out here man

 

[northoaklandfc]

aint nothin out here man

Come on now, give me one recommendation, any category, outside of a mainstream club or a Vietnamese strip joint. I'm looking away from anything of that sort anyway.

 

[sfc415]

Come on now, give me one recommendation, any category, outside of a mainstream club or a Vietnamese strip joint. I'm looking away from anything of that sort anyway.

I'd say the food in San Jose is much better than San Francisco. Many authentic SF spots have been replaced by overpriced and whitewashed hipster versions. I'm lucky my office pays for my lunches, cause I refuse to pay $10-15 for the nonsense they cater every day.

Tons of good Vietnamese, Japanese, and Mexican restaurants, as well as some good Somalian and Ethiopian joints. Korea Town in Santa Clara is always cool for eating and drinking late night. Santana Row has upscale bars and girls; it's cool once in a while when you want to act bougie. I mean this is pretty much the Bay Area in general, but San Jose has the highest concentration of these things. If I didn't have to commute to the city every day, I'd probably move to the South Bay permanently. I already spend most of my weekends there.

I mean if you want anything unique...I don't know. Like you, I've traveled all over the world, and I don't find anything unique in the US in general after experiencing life abroad. San Jose is just another American city, but with the huge benefit of being incredibly diverse compared to 90% of the country. You can do the exact same things you do in SF without the smell of piss, feces, and hipster body odor.

 

[danikerhino]

aint nothin out here man

San Jo has the clubs man! I used to go to SJSU all the time too, stay at my ex's, then travel all the way back to Richmond. Felt like mini-vacations.

Glad I'm back in the city now. Me and my girl go to events every few weeks and different bars weekly. Totally different than Richmond which is mostly about house parties or partying in Berkeley.

 

[northoaklandfc]

I'd say the food in San Jose is much better than San Francisco. Many authentic SF spots have been replaced by overpriced and whitewashed hipster versions. I'm lucky my office pays for my lunches, cause I refuse to pay $10-15 for the nonsense they cater every day.

Tons of good Vietnamese, Japanese, and Mexican restaurants, as well as some good Somalian and Ethiopian joints. Korea Town in Santa Clara is always cool for eating and drinking late night. Santana Row has upscale bars and girls; it's cool once in a while when you want to act bougie.

I mean if you want anything unique...I don't know. Like you, I've traveled all over the world, and I don't find anything unique in the US in general after experiencing life abroad. San Jose is just another American city, but with the huge benefit of being incredibly diverse compared to 90% of the country. You can do the exact same things you do in SF without the smell of piss, feces, and hipster body odor.

Food over everythang > *

I've never directly reported back on it but I've lived well off your advice a few different times, a few different places over the years.

What's your favorite Mexican spot and what are your top Japanese or Vietnamese recommendations in the SJ area?

 

[Thats My Word]

I went to one of my ex-coworker’s new office the other night for some social event the company throws for their employees every few weeks. It’s basically a party with an open bar, food, and entertainment (pool, the basketball game, karaoke, stuff like that). He went to work for a tech company a few months ago that started maybe back in 2012 or so in SF and their employees look to be around the early to mid twenties age range. I’m a little older at 31, and my ex-coworker is about 41, . We work in IT, so he was kinda telling me how they run their infrastructure, info security, and what not, the stuff he was telling me was ming boggling. As an example, he said their team just keeps their IT related logins/passwords in an excel spread sheet (unpassword protected sheet at that). It gets worse, but I’m not here to post about that.

Anyways, back to the party. I’m enjoying the free drinks, food, games, and just mingling with some of the employees and their friends they invited. I’m talking to this group of 3 chicks, to the least attractive one of the group mostly. She said she moved to the Bay a few years ago from some other city in somewhere that I’ve never heard of. Anyways, that doesn’t really matter. Then she asks me the same questions, which I reply that I was born and raised in Oakland and have been living in SF for the past 10 years or so. The conversation was going great, then it took a turn. She then says that because I’m a native and local that I’ve never challenge myself in life, or something similar to that. . Feels like this is the kind of mentality the bay area new commers have these day, they want the locals gone so their friends can move in or something. I had to put her in her place real quick and said there is a reason so many people empty their life savings to move to SF (much like she did). Before I cut the conversation, I tell her she’ll never be happy if she compares herself to others.

Then I direct my attention and talk to the much more attractive girl in their group, this was my plan all along . Women very much pay attention to how guys treat other women. The attractive girls are used to getting all the attention, but when their less attractive friend gets some attention for a change, that just ****s with their minds a little. She took down my phone number.

 

[cashm0neyand1]

crowded expensive big cities are terrible. so much space out here in this country. Glad I got the hell out of NYC

 

[friscostylez]

Women very much pay attention to how guys treat other women. The attractive girls are used to getting all the attention, but when their less attractive friend gets some attention for a change, that just ****s with their minds a little.

realest ish said in this thread

 

[flaminhotcheeto]

That wait tho...I went to Ramen Dojo for a late lunch at 5 PM and there were already 20-30 people in line I heard Ramen Parlor (one of the sister restaurants) is good too. Ive been to the third sister restaurant, Santa Ramen, which is just OK

Ajisen Ramen > *

And Downtown SJ > Downtown SF I'm from the Bay, and kinda sucks to see what it's becoming.

 

[アミーゴ]

Girls in SF are EASY money

 

[DadNboujee]

Ramen spots on B Street in San Mateo tho

I went to Ramen Parlour over the weekend.

Show up at 5 to have your food ready by the time you walk in. (They open at 530)

 

[lightweight champion]

That wait tho...I went to Ramen Dojo for a late lunch at 5 PM and there were already 20-30 people in line I heard Ramen Parlor (one of the sister restaurants) is good too. Ive been to the third sister restaurant, Santa Ramen, which is just OK

The lobster garlic ramen is

 

[getback]

Or sac. Damb prices shooting up here

Just applied for a Federal job in Sacramento. Would just pick up and move if I got it. Coming from Boston.

 

[sfc415]

Food over everythang > *

I've never directly reported back on it but I've lived well off your advice a few different times, a few different places over the years.

What's your favorite Mexican spot and what are your top Japanese or Vietnamese recommendations in the SJ area?

Yeah I'm definitely a food tourist over anything else.

I'm kind of curious now about where you've been to off my posts Maybe Portugal?

My parents live in a majority Vietnamese area, so there's a ton of options out there. Phu Quy is one of my favorites

https://www.yelp.com/biz/phu-quy-san-jose-2

There's hundreds and hundreds of similar spots all in one area, so you really can't go wrong. Just remember everything in Little Saigon is cash only

For Japanese food, there's also too many to list. Like Nawzlew mentioned, one of the best spots for Ramen is Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, which is inside a Japanese market in West San Jose. It was my go to spot in high school; my friends and I used to sneak off campus and walk there for lunch instead of buying the garbage @#$ $8 pasta they would serve at our campus

https://www.yelp.com/biz/hokkaido-ramen-santouka-san-jose?osq=Japanese+Food

Honestly, you can find similar quality restaurants in Oakland (which is why I like going out there more than the city); it's just that San Jose has a much higher Asian population than the rest of the Bay Area, so the number of options for these types of food is a lot higher. During the weekends, my friends and I always end up finding new spots to visit.

For Mexican food, you already know nothing beats the taco trucks in Oakland. When Warriors tickets were still reasonable, I'd always head out to East Oakland after a game to get my fix. I still hop on BART after work once in a while to hit those up, since the Mexican spots in the city are average at best. Still, if you're out in SJ, Tacos A La Parilla is pretty damn good

https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-a-la-parrilla-san-jose?osq=mexican+food

 

[danikerhino]

And Downtown SJ > Downtown SF I'm from the Bay, and kinda sucks to see what it's becoming.

To each their own, but that's a hell no for me.

There's just way more going on in SF. Yes the city has "sold out" in alot of ways especially when it comes to local spots giving way to trendy businesses, but that still doesn't take away from the sheer amount of things to get into in the city.

Downtown San Jose has like 3 "happening" neighborhoods and SF has more than a dozen. I like the more relaxed pace of San Jose and the museum's and clubs but, it's just too bland too me overall.
Old downtown SF>>>New downtown SF>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>downtown Oakland>=downtown San Jose>>>>>downtown Sac