How to easily find out about what's going on in The City?

San Francisco offers its visitors and residents tons of events to attend, places to visit, festivals to go to, restaurants to indulge awesome food, bars to go dancing and so much more!

With a city that has so much to offer, have you ever wondered... 

• How to easily find out about what's going on in The City?
• How to find the best deals?
• How to make sure a place is popular and appreciated?
• Where's the latest and trendiest place in town?

I asked myself these questions so many times... and that I thought I could share with you all the great and useful "web tools" I found over the time! 

So please, have a look at these sources of information, pick your favorite ones, add them to your bookmarks or even better : follow them on Facebook or Twitter to be informed everyday about what's going on, the latest deals, the new places and much more!

Be aware though: you might find yourself being stressed out thinking you don't have enough time to experience and enjoy everything San Francisco has to offer!! But don't worry too much: this City is the number 1 destionation among all cities in the United States, so anytime you feel like coming back to enjoy more, I can ensure you that most of all these great places will still be there... and more will have been added by the time! ;-)

So here we go!

San Francisco Gate - Events & Entertainment
Want to know what's going on in The City and in the Bay Area: Here you find Events, Fairs & Festivals, Music & Nightlife, Performance, Art, Movies, Books, Things to Do and more
http://events.sfgate.com/

City on the Search
Great website if you are looking for a restaurant, a bar, a place for shopping, spa & beauty destinations
http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/guide/san-francisco-ca

EventBrite
Events! Events! Events! You can even create share and promote your own event on this website!
http://www.eventbrite.com/

Meetup
Helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world
http://www.meetup.com

Bay Area on the Cheap 
Free Events, Discount Tickets, Deals
http://www.bayareaonthecheap.com/

Groupon
Coupons, Discounts and Deals : Save 50% to 90% on restaurants, bars, events, activities and more
www.groupon.com

Pulsd
Dedicated to finding exclusive events and deals near you (San Francisco or New York)
www.pulsd.com

Restaurant
For new ideas and most of all, great discounts and deals
http://www.restaurant.com/

Yelp
Soooo useful: read people's appreciation of all those places in SF you are interested to go to!
http://www.yelp.com/

Dining Guide
Useful to fin a restaurant by location or cuisine - for Metropolitan San Francisco
http://san.francisco.diningguide.com/

Open Table
Find a restaurant in San Francisco or in the Napa Valley & make an online reservation
http://www.opentable.com/start.aspx?m=4

San Francisco Weekly
(print magazine available for free - everywhere in The City)
Is the definitive source of information for news, music, movies, restaurants, reviews, and events
www.sfweekly.com

The Guardian
(print magazine available for free - everywhere in The City)
Includes arts and entertainment, dining, nude beaches, events, and classifieds
http://www.sfbg.com/


You know another website that is very useful in this matter? Please let us know by adding a comment!

And now... Indulge San Francisco! ;-)

Napa Valley

Ahhh Napa Valley! Spending even half a day in this region well known worldwide for its great vineyards... can certainly make one happy for a whole week! ;-)

From the Golden Gate Bridge, it takes a little more than an hour drive to reach Napa. Then driving on I-29, you will be charmed by so many vineyards... that you may want to plan ahead for the places you'd like to go visit and do some wine tasting!

And even if September and early October is the harvest period, the  Napa Valley is a year-long destination for tourists visiting North California: in fact, it's the second most popular destination after Disneyland!

Based on my recent experience, here are 3 suggestions of wineries you can visit:

Robert Mondavi
This vineyard is one of the most famous in the Napa Valley. Mondavi has started his vineyard in 1965 and has highly contributed to promoting the valley and its wine over the years. For $15 per person (21 years old minimum) you can enter a 30-minutes tour and taste a white and a red wine. The tour can be a bit rushed, but it gives you an idea of what is the process for turning the grapes into wine. Enjoy some time in the inside courtyard as from there you have a romantic view on the fields. Mondavi also has a fancy store where you can buy a couple of bottles as well as all sorts of souvenirs related to the wine industry.

http://www.robertmondavi.com/

Alpha Omega
After visiting such a landmark vineyard, we decided to hit the road for a few more miles and go visit a smaller place. Alpha Omega is a place that feels like home: the building is made of wood and has high ceiling and huge windows to let the sunshine in. Wine tasting is $20 per person, but if you buy a bottle (or more!), you automatically get $20 discount... which means you got to taste 4 wines for free! If it's a sunny day, don't hesitate to go sit outside on the confortable chairs to enjoy your wine tasting session - we had brought some nachos and salsa with us for the day... which made us feel just like home!

http://www.aowinery.com/

V.Sattui Winery
My first reaction after getting off the car was to feel like if I just entered a beer garden in Munich! They have such a lovely garden outside with wooden tables: this is a perfect set-up for snacking! You can actually buy great products in their (inside) front store for a quick and yummy lunch: all sorts of cheese wait for you as well as bread, patés, sandwiches, salads and more. After filling up your stomach, if you feel like tasting some wines, indulge in their numerous wines that you can taste for only a couple of dollars. This can actually be a relatively cheap place for wine-tasting, but be ready to share the experience with lots of people as it can be really crowded. Interesting fact: I was told by one of the employees that this winery doesn't sell its wines outside of its home - here in Napa Valley. Hum hum... but you can always order it from Internet and have it delivered to your home! ;-)

http://www.vsatui.com/

***

These suggestions are based on my personal experience... but let's be honest: to give you a perfect opinion, I'd need to go much more often! So if you have other suggestions to share with everyone, please do so by contributing with your comments and suggestions!

Interesting links:

• Interactive Map: http://napavalleyvineyards.org/
• PDF Map: http://napavalley.com/visitorsinfo/Napa_Valley_Winery_Map.pdf
• Presentation of the Napa Valley: http://napavalley.com/
• Wikipedia gives a very interesting information: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napa_Valley
• An other source: http://www.napavalley.org/

And now... Indulge San Francisco! ;-)

Hungry for yummy tacos?

Are you looking for some yummy appetizers to kick your evening in a fun way? What do you think of original and yummy tacos? A good destination is the Chestnut Street (in The Marina neighborhood) where you find a wide variety of bars and restaurants... that are always lively, any day of the week!

Here are two great places that where I stopped by lately and now recommend because I was happily surprised by their yummy tacos: Tacolicious and Pacific Catch!

PACIFIC CATCH

This tiny restaurant must have 8 tables at the maximum and about 12 seats at the bar. You know what it means? That if you want to go on a week day, going early is a good idea... and I suggest you make it between 4pm and 6pm. Why so? First, residents of that neighborhood haven't yet reached their favorite spot for an after-work gathering with friends so you won't have to stand in line forever! Second, you can enjoy great "Happy Hour" deals!!  ;-)

My recommendation is to start with a Baja Chimp Ceviche that is served with crispy nachos: a little spicy, this ceviche is a mix of shrimps, avocado and cilantro among other things. Don't hesitate to ask for more chips, especially if you share it with a friend. This ceviche will have opened your appetite, so you now want to add 2 or 3 Island Tacos of your choice, most of them featuring fish (mahi mahi is good!) but you can also opt for chicken. And since it's happy hour, why don't you ask for a drink... maybe a Saporo? And now... indulge!

Between $10 to $20 per person
Location: 2027 Chestnut Street (very close to Fillmore)
How to get there: from Union Square catch the 30 (to Broderick), from the Mission catch the 22 (to the Marina)
http://pacificcatch.com/

By the way, there's another location for Pacific Catch: 1200 9th Avenue (at Lincoln across from Golden Gate Park)

TACOLICIOUS

The name of the place tells it all - their tacos are simply delicious! So no wonder why this place seems to always to be busy! Surely you could decide to go only for a couple of marguaritas... but come on, you don't want to tell your friends you have been to Tacolicious and not be able to say something about their food? ;-)

On my first visit, I treated myself with a "marina girl salad" plus a plate of 4 of their great tacos! Ok, I have to be honest here: even if I could have eaten it all because it was so yummy, I actually shared all this food... but the Tecate beer was only for me!  ;-)

This restaurant is also busy everyday, but happy hour - especially at the beginning of the week - can be very decent and you can easily talk to your friends without having to yell at them. There are regular tables you can seat at, but I think that the high tables with their stools (at the front), the heated outside terrasse or even the seats at the bar are all three very interesting options!

I encourage you to visit their website: what's original is that their homepage is actually a blog in which you can read the story - among other things - of the travel to Mexico that the owners of the Tacolicious did and especially their encounter with the family of their 23-years-old sous-chef Noe whose homeland is located in the Yucatan region (where most of the Tacolicious employees come from!). Going to Tacolicious knowing that story certainly gives me a whole new perspective of the place!

Between $10 to $20 per person
Location: 2031 Chestnut Street (very close to Fillmore)
How to get there: from Union Square catch the 30 (to Broderick), from the Mission catch the 22 (to the Marina)
http://tacolicioussf.com/

And now... Indulge San Francisco! ;-)

Get high @ Twin Peaks!

Based on the books you've read before coming to San Francisco the first time, what is the best place to have a 360 view of The City? Isn't it the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill? It is certainly a good spot and I have been there twice... but here is an other wonderful option (that believe it or not, some "locals" haven't even experienced yet!) that is calledd Twin Peaks!

Twin Peaks are 2 hills with an elevation of about 922 feet (281 m) situated at the geographic center of San Francisco. They form the second highest point in San Francisco, after Mount Davidson.

When on top of any of these hills, you get a wonderful view of the City : the Golden Gate Bridge, the Alcatraz Island, downtown (you have a terrific view on Market Street), the Bay Bridge, many many neighborhoods... and the Pacific Ocean!

When to go? Choose a day when the sky is clear so that you can see very far, and take memorable photos!

What to wear? Unless you are lucky enough to pick one of the hottest day in San Francisco - how lucky I have been! - you certainly want to wear layers and most probably a warm jacket to protect you from the ongoing chilly wind blowing on top of these hills. Pay attention to the vegetation on top that is really low on the ground: some posters explain you more about the fact that plants growing on Twin Peaks have adapted to the harsh climate one find up there. 

What else should you know?

• Bring a camera to take photo and don't be shy to ask other people to shoot you and your friends in this great decor.
• You could make it a more active activity by putting your running shoes on and walking up and down the hills and around them for 30 minutes.
• If you are in the mood for reflection, why don't you bring your iPod (to isolate you from the chitchatting of all the people visiting) and something confortable to sit on (the grass may be wet, and the rocks are not so confortable...) and then go seat on top of one of these hills and face the Pacific Ocean or any other inspiring view you can get from up there?

How long does this activity take? You probably want to reserve 45 to 60 minutes at Twin Peaks. Add the time for transportation back and forth.

But let's say you have half a day ahead... what else could you do? My experience was to go to Castro Street first to have breakfast and then walk in the neighborhood to hang out and take photos of original places and things (first time of my life I was seeing paper made of elephant poo... and this is no joke!). You can also spend some time in Buena Vista Park before catching the bus #37. And many more options of are waiting for the curious traveler inside of you!

How to get there easily? You can certainly drive, but going by bus is a children's game! On Market Street close to Castro Street, get on the bus #37 (towards Parkridge & Burnett Ave). About 12 minutes and 23 stops later, get off at 74, Crestline Dr. It's a very quiet neighborhood, so the bus won't be packed at this moment and you can easily ask the bus driver to tell you where to get off. From there, you are only a few steps away from any of the top - and I highly recommend you go on top of both!!

You are more a "visual" type of person? Don't hesitate to create a "Google Maps" Direction Plan
- Go to:  http://maps.google.com/maps?ct=reset
- From:  Castro Street and market street, San Francisco, CA
- To:  Twin Peaks, San Francisco, CA

Want to read more about Twin Peaks?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Peaks_(San_Francisco,_California)

And now... indulge San Francisco! ;-)