Why do San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley residents care about dining options? (San Jose: 2015, houses)

[HappyinCali]

I have always thought it is pretty funny, when my friends from these three cities tell each other they should visit, because of great dining options.

That seems to me like a very lame reason to visit SF/Oakland/Berkeley if you live in one of the three. Simply because, there is no way anyone could possibly exhaust all the good options in their own city. So why drive 1 hour to get dinner in your non-residence city, if there is 100% chance there is a place in your own backyard you haven't tried and is just as good?

I have lived in SF for awhile now and I am nowhere close to having tried a fraction of the restaurants people recommend me. Why am I going to drive to Berkeley or Oakland for food, only. Same question for all the people who live in Berkely and Oakland - why would you ever drive to SF for food?

I know it is a silly rant, but I have always thought it is such an odd reason to give to visit a city.

Entertainment is different thing. I think that Berkeley/Oakland have a lot more cooler indie stuff than SF to do.

[Charles22]

You don't understand because you're a guy.

[shooting4life]

I have great dinning options in my kitchen every night.

I never understood the being around a lot restaurants as a reason to live one place or another.

[Ruth4Truth]

That's not true in the case of Berkeley. Berkeley has some good dining options, but it's a smaller town than Oakland or SF, so it doesn't have as many. It wouldn't take much time to figure out which few options one prefers to the others, have one's favorites identified, and then wonder what Oakland or SF have to offer that might be different.

In the case of SF, I agree; it would take an entire lifetime, at least, to eat one's way through town, trying most everything that gets good reviews, if one ate out once/week. No need to go elsewhere, except to try something exceptionally-highly rated.

[CBB_bear]

Some people are more into good food and the experience of being at a restaurant than you are. So what?

There are a lot of things that I'm not into that a bunch of people seem to be into.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by HappyinCali

So why drive 1 hour to get dinner in your non-residence city, if there is 100% chance there is a place in your own backyard you haven't tried and is just as good?

I will drive 1 hour out of San Francisco to get the food I like! For example the Indian food in San Francisco is slop. I just drove to Sunnyvale last Sunday to eat at Saranvanaa Bhavan. The only great authentic Indian food in the Bay area is in Sunnyvale, the Fremont area,Milpitas, Dublin and Berkeley. See this previous post for details.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/20431025-post43.html

I might drive to Berkeley or Albany to try one of several Nepalese restaurants since I like Nepalese food. I hope they will be way better than the awful pretend ones in SF. I might drive to Oakland to get some authentic middle eastern food. It seems like all the good places are in Oakland like these.

Falafel Oakland, CA

I will drive to South San Francisco to eat Jamaican food. One good Jamaican restaurant recently opened there on Linden Ave.

There are a lot of great Chinese restaurants in San Francisco but on the weekends the parking is difficult and they are too cramped and crowded. If I want authentic Chinese food I would greatly prefer to drive to Millbrae where they have even better Chinese food than SF without all the hassles.

If I want BBQ(like once a year) I would drive to Gorilla Barbeque in Pacifica.

If I want authentic Korean food I would drive to Santa Clara. The authentic Korean restaurants there are much much better than the cramped, overpriced places on Geary.

Explore Santa Clara's Koreatown

If I want really good and cheap authentic Mexican food I will drive to Redwood City.

Redwood City's 'Little Michoacán' - SFGate

I might even stop in Fairfield to get good non-authentic Socal style Mexican food. One can get Carne Asada Fries, California Burritos,Machaca and the basic "bean & cheese" burritos at Aldabertos and Baldos in Fairfield. The Mexican places in SF do not even have bean and cheese burritos on the menu!

I would even drive to Sacramento to eat at Samosa Garden. This small humble restaurant has the most flavorful Aloo Methi ever! All there food is personally made by the owner/chef using minimal oil and her homemade roasted spice blends.

I gave up eating out in San Francisco. Too many crowded jammed restaurants with small uncomfortable seating spaces! If I do not feel like driving out of SF to get something I like, I will just cook at home.

[jade408]

For many of us, eating out is a key social activity. I love going out to eat and trying new places. Good food, fun, good conversation and inspiration for stuff to make in my own kitchen!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by capoeira

I will drive 1 hour out of San Francisco to get the food I like! For example the Indian food in San Francisco is slop. I just drove to Sunnyvale last Sunday to eat at Saranvanaa Bhavan. The only great authentic Indian food in the Bay area is in Sunnyvale, the Fremont area,Milpitas, Dublin and Berkeley. See this previous post for details.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/20431025-post43.html

I might drive to Berkeley or Albany to try one of several Nepalese restaurants since I like Nepalese food. I hope they will be way better than the awful pretend ones in SF. I might drive to Oakland to get some authentic middle eastern food. It seems like all the good places are in Oakland like these.

Hey, Cap, does Oakland's Asian Town still have good Vietnamese restaurants? I haven't heard anything about them in a long time. There used to be a "Little Vietnam" in there. Kind of a cool area.

And somebody said on another thread that there are some very good Chinese "dumpling houses" over on the Peninsula. Any clue where those are? They sound mouth-watering.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Hey, Cap, does Oakland's Asian Town still have good Vietnamese restaurants? I haven't heard anything about them in a long time. There used to be a "Little Vietnam" in there. Kind of a cool area.

I don't get to Oakland much but the last time I was there I went to Binh Minh Quan on the 12th St. I thought it was excellent, great food, very nice but non-prententious atmosphere, good service and fairly low prices.

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

And somebody said on another thread that there are some very good Chinese "dumpling houses" over on the Peninsula. Any clue where those are? They sound mouth-watering.

I think the best Chinese dumplings are the Shanghai style ones like the famous soup dumplings,Xiao long bao. There is a "Shanghai Dumpling Shop" in Millbrae on Broadway. San Mateo also has a few authentic Northern style Chinese restaurants. A good one is is "Little Shanghai" on E. 25th St. in San Mateo. There is also one dumpling place called "Xiao long bao" on Grand Ave. in South SF. The famous LA dumpling place, Din Tai Fung will be opening their first bay area location in San Jose in autumn 2015.

[tanglenet]

Ditto Jade408 and yes this is a silly rant.