ex-NY'ers in SF.... what do you miss? (Oakland, Berkeley: school, living in)

[KTSmith]

We are currently living in Manhattan and moving to SF this summer. We feel like we should do something that we can't do in SF, or eat we won't have in SF... What should we do? What was your check-off list? Also, we want to bring our friends in SF some souvenier from NY... what should we get?

Any comments would be really appreciated! Thanks!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

I'm not from NYC but here are some things I find lacking here vs NYC:
- Easy availability of the following cuisines: Cuban, really great Halal "fast food" Pakistani, NY style Pizza, NY style Kosher deli, several African ones ..
- Late night activity / open restos / etc (sidewalks tend to roll up around midnight ...)
- A reasonably good cab system
- The subway (yeah we have a few lines but let us face the fact it's a joke ...)
- Being the hub of a massive and usable intra city rail network (nothing we can do about this, it is the curse of geography and history)

[ttocs99]

When I lived in SF from 1999-2006, the only thing I missed were certain foods. I missed pizza big time. Can't get good pizza in California. Passable to decent, but never great. Bagels are hit an miss too. When I would go back to NYC to visit family, I always got pizza (at least a few times). I also missed news stands. Otherwise, I found great Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc. Now that I'm living in NYC, I'm missing good Mexican food. Can't get good Mexican food in NYC. Or at least California quality.

Overall, I could pretty much find anything I needed while in SF. As far as souvernirs to bring back from NYC for your SF friends, That's a tough one. NY has such an eccentric feel to it, you can bring back anything from a small sculpture or piece of art, to some sports memorabilia, that's a tough call.

[Natural510]

There is also very little West Indian food in the Bay Area. I don't think there's a single restaurant left in SF proper, and several in the East Bay have closed up shop too.

[bentobox34]

Bagels. There is some new place in SF that supposedly makes bagels as good as in NYC, but they are $3 a pop.

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

Bagels. There is some new place in SF that supposedly makes bagels as good as in NYC, but they are $3 a pop.

[mayorhaggar]

I've only ever spent about 3 days in NYC but I did grow up in South Florida where there's a ton of guidos from NYC, Long Island and New Jersey, so there's a fair amount of NYC-style food.

Pizza in the Bay Area can definitely be hit or miss. For good NYC style slices check out Arinell's, I prefer the Berkeley location's slices to the one in the Mission. Gioia's in North Berkeley is pretty great too.

As for bagels, I always liked Katz's a lot, they have a location at Mission and New Montgomery in downtown and one in the Mission.

[silverkris]

I'd say deli sandwiches are to die for in NYC. I went to grad school in NY and whenever I make a return trip to NY I need to get my pastrami sandwich fix.

[mayorhaggar]

It's true, sandwiches in the Bay Area kinda suck...here and there you can find some good ones but they're usually something frou-frou or California style, not a good true Philly- or NYC-style deli sandwich. I just ended up getting my own stuff at the deli and making my own at home. Market Hall in North Oakland is really good for deli meats.

[gandalmonor]

Originally Posted by ttocs99

When I lived in SF from 1999-2006, the only thing I missed were certain foods. I missed pizza big time. Can't get good pizza in California. Passable to decent, but never great. Bagels are hit an miss too. When I would go back to NYC to visit family, I always got pizza (at least a few times). I also missed news stands. Otherwise, I found great Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc. Now that I'm living in NYC, I'm missing good Mexican food. Can't get good Mexican food in NYC. Or at least California quality.

Overall, I could pretty much find anything I needed while in SF. As far as souvernirs to bring back from NYC for your SF friends, That's a tough one. NY has such an eccentric feel to it, you can bring back anything from a small sculpture or piece of art, to some sports memorabilia, that's a tough call.

I AGREE! Pizza in California just can't touch NY pizza!