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Looking for the ideal hangout in South Bay/Long Beach...

Katemonkey — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:34:45 -0800

Looking for a good bar/coffee/food place in the South Bay/Long Beach, CA that works for an unknown number of people with a wide variety of tastes... I want to get a bunch of my old high school friends together when I go visit Long Beach again in October, and I want to find a place that:

A) Won't require reservations for big groups (because I don't know if there will be a big group)
B) Isn't a sit-down type of restaurant, but will serve food
C) Serves a variety of drinks (non-alcoholic, coffee, cocktails, etc.)
D) Is not a sports bar or a meat market or anything like that
E) Veers a bit on the eccentric without trying too hard to be "wacky"
F) Cheerfully caters to a jeans-and-t-shirt clientèle.

Bonus points if it panders shamelessly to nerds.

For an example of what I'm thinking, if the situation was reversed, and I had a bunch of people coming to Nottingham who wanted to go out and have a few drinks, I would take them to the Malt Cross. There, I know I can get an excellent rum and coke or cup of coffee, a good burger, and I'm in an old Victorian vaudeville hall of awesomeness. Or, if I was feeling a bit more kitschy, I'd take them to the Pit & the Pendulum (the website looks like it was hacked, alas), where I know I can get a weird cocktail, some decent food, and it's decked out like a Vincent Price movie.

It doesn't necessarily need to be South Bay/Long Beach - it just seems easier to me, since we all grew up around Long Beach, Carson, Torrance, etc. I'll also caging rides from people rather than driving myself, and I'd much rather talk someone into driving an extra 10 minutes than an extra 45...

(I just don't want to end up hanging out at Del Amo Mall, like I did when I was 17...)

We actually do want to volunteer. Really.

Space Kitty — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:28:15 -0800

I need to organize a group volunteer project for work. The problem is we have a number of restrictions and I need inspiration.

Requirements:
We can only have a one-day event
We only have six people available to volunteer
The project must benefit children

Limiting factors:
We can't have a fundraiser
The project cannot be physically strenuous
We cannot provide tutoring
The activity cannot involve terminally ill children or special olympics (we already have existing programs in place)

Who knew six people could have so many limiting factors?

Thoughts? Anybody? For extra fun, we're located in South Bay and something local would be ideal.

HALP!

Foood

troy — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:44:16 -0800

Restaurants in the South Bay? My car's in the shop this weekend, the weather is awesome, the BBQ FPP has got my taste buds flowing, can somebody point me to an awesome restaurant serving tasty casual food in the South Bay (M.V. to Santa Clara) that I can bike to this weekend?

Difficulty: I've lived here 8 years so know about Marie Elenas, Su's, Clarke's (meh); My go-to place is probably going to be the Kabob and Curry's buffet -- can you beat that?

Where are the hip places to live in the South Bay?

the_bone — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:42:12 -0800

Possibly moving to the Silicon Valley region... any suggestions on a place to live that meets the following criteria? I've interviewed for jobs in San Jose, Saratoga, and San Francisco. I've been to SF several times, and between having friends who live there and the ubiquity of craigslist I think I have a good handle on where I may live if I end up taking that gig. But I'm far less familiar with San Jose.

I live in LA at the moment, in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake region (for those familiar with LA), and I freaking love it. Best neighborhood ever... walking distance to stores/bars/cafes, a cool community, kind of a hipster vibe. I'd like to duplicate that if at all possible, and in my short time visiting SJ I didn't really see anyplace like that. I'm openly queer and definitely have a more alternative lifestyle, and would probably be very happy in SF, but if I take a South Bay job living in San Francisco probably isn't feasible. Additionally, my partner is writing a dissertation and probably won't work full-time, and her preference is to live someplace that is somewhat walkable/public transport friendly as a result. My surroundings are just as important to me as the job I eventually take, if not moreso.

So, are there any South Bay neighborhoods that are hip, queerish and/or pedestrian-friendly? "No, you should consider San Francisco instead" is a totally acceptable answer, and I am already doing so.

Nice park for a white wedding?

agentofselection — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:18:29 -0800

Anyone know a good park in the south bay (California) in which to get married? My partner and I want to get married this fall. We want to do it in a public park within about 20 miles of San Jose. (We want this because we want a nice outdoor area, and a fairly low price tag.) We want about 75 guests, a pretty outdoor area, and preferably an indoor/covered area to retreat for food and music. We're fairly recent arrivals and don't know all the parks in the area that well. The parks website basically says "we won't help you on the web, call us so we can make it special." We're hoping to have an idea of what park we want to reserve before we go to them, and rather than drive to every park we can find on google maps, checking them all out in person, I thought I'd ask if anyone has any suggestions for parks that we might want to look at.

Oh, and on a related note, anyone know a jeweler willing to do a little custom work in the same area?

Where do I find first-generation tech immigrants?

hobbes — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:54:53 -0800

Looking to do a story on first-generation South/Asian immigrants in the South Bay area. Where do I start? I'm a better photographer than a journalist, so I'm clueless as to where to start on this project.

My coworker came to this country working for a tech-company back in '96 with pretty much nothing more than $100 and a month's free rent. I'd like to meet up with people who are in similar situations, but in 2007.

Where would I start? I've asked my coworker if he knew of people, but considering he's been in the country for 11 years, he's pretty well assimilated, so that's probably a dead end.

Another issue is the approach. It'd be nice to have someone introduce me to them vs. me cold-calling them. I ride the BART from Fremont in the mornings, and there's a ton of immigrants there, but they don't seem approachable.

Can you recommend a jewelry store in Santa Clara?

fief — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:34:07 -0800

I am seeking recommendations for a local jewelry store in the Santa Clara area (more specifics inside) I am NOT seeking recommendations for stores in San Francisco/Oakland. It should be within about 20 miles of Santa Clara.

The store would preferably do custom work on site.

I am interested in a store that I will want to and enjoy going back to. Note; I will walk out of a store if they offer me a plan to help finance the purchase of jewelry.

What's the deal with Santa Clara?

jewzilla — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:24:29 -0800

Why is Santa Clara so much less expensive than Mountain View or Sunnyvale? I'm looking to rent a place in the South Bay. The rents in Santa Clara are more attractive than Mountain View or Sunnyvale. The crime rate appears to be comparable if not lower [link]. The weather in Santa Clara appears to be (very) slightly better [Link, Link].

The only reasons I can think of are that 1: it doesn't have a cute downtown like Mountain View, and 2: Mountain View is in a more prestigious location due to its proximity to the peninsula (which doesn't mean squat to me). Am I missing something here? I don't want to move there only to discover that it has some terrible or annoying affliction that's not obvious to me right now.