Are you alone in San Francisco on Thanksgiving? Join Us | Hacker News Reader

Are you alone in San Francisco on Thanksgiving? Join Us

buttr.co

153 pointsMediaSquirrel54 comments

If you're interested, please don't be shy! We'd love to have you.

If you want to come, just email me at matt@buttr.co

That's a pretty cool thing to do. I'm not alone but wouldn't mind joining a group of people that I've never met before. If I didn't have anything to do, I'd probably take up the offer. Have a happy holiday!

This didn't apply to me -- I'm not in the Bay Area and I had a house full of friends -- but I wanted to say how very kind it was for you to do this.

I'm thankful there are people like you in the world.

I missed this! I totally would have gone. I was one of the potential interns at SpeakerText right before you guys got acquired and would have loved to meet you. I'm working in SF now, maybe we might bump into each other. :)

This is really awesome! Fantastic idea. I'm a listener on 7 cups of tea and would have loved to share a meal and a beer with you. I'll be listening on 7 cups for another hour or so if anyone is struggling and needs a bit of extra support.

Could you tell us some more about 7 cups of tea? I've gone through the website, but personal experience is much better heard.

sure. basically, 7 cups is a site you go to when you need someone to talk to or someone to listen to you.

That is an amazing concept! I just shared it with a charity organisation that works with people who are battling depression (@TWLOHA). I wish you the best!

This is really nice of you.

Gonna take this opportunity to ask: anybody know of some good things to do in San Francisco on Christmas day? I'm coming to visit and will be alone for the most part.

Or New Years eve, my Girlfriend and I are coming through SF from 28th till the 2nd Jan, looking for cool parties, gigs, people to hang out with etc.

eat good chinese food. if you're not from LA, SF, NY there's a strong chance you've never actually had chinese food.

in the USA that is. I've heard that Richmond B.C. has some of the best Chinese food in North America.

There are some in the Vancouver proper.

And Gastown, right around the corner from GrowLab/Launch Academy.

Hang on now... Come to Seattle, we can show you some Chinese food that will blow your socks off

seattle and the east side are 'okay' but nowhere near what you'd find in the sunset/richmond, san gabriel valley, or manhattan + queens

for example in a single neighborhood you can find halal chinese, dim sum, szechuan, hot pot, proper roast duck, chinese bakeries, shanghai style dumplings, fresh noodles ...

the bar for comparison should be beijing, shanghai, singapore, hong kong, taipei, etc.

Ironically, I've heard the Chinese food in Chinatown in SF is pretty lousy.

chinatowns are ghettoes. they are vestiges of the 1800s.

Not at all. There are good restaurants and there are bad restaurants. Most of the customers in the SF Chinatown restaurants are Chinese, so you know there are going to be some good restaurants.

if you're not from LA, SF, NY there's a strong chance you've never actually had chinese food.

I imagine there are over a billion people in China and Taiwan who would beg to differ ;-)

Exactly. Chinese friends tell me "Chinese" food one finds in Chinatowns in western cities is heavily adapted to western tastes and nothing like what is eaten in China.

Last time I was in China, no one had ever heard of General Tso. From what I gather, he was a bloodthirsty tyrant, but made an excellent chicken.

I have a hunch that the 'Tso' is actually a corruption of 'sauce', meaning instead of being named for a military general, 'general' is the name of the sauce.

General Tso's chicken, like fortune cookies and Chop Suey, come from America.

LOL

I suspect that the "Chinese" food here is adapted to comply with US law.

What laws are these? I find it strange to hear anyone claim that US laws determine what is made and sold as Chinese food. There are some laws regarding food safety, but they apply to all foods.

This is probably not what either of you meant, but until 2005, it was illegal to import sichuan peppercorns. This resulted in a lot of dishes missing a fairly important taste, even in otherwise authentic Sichuan restaurants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper#US_import_ban

no that's just a ridiculous racist thought that you came up with on your own.

I'm not talking about Chinatowns. those are ghettoes leftover from the 1800s

But if you know how to order right, you can find dishes that are kind of like American dishes only vastly better.

http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/UpLoad/Jiangsu/Suzhou/Food/...

Even if you're from LA, SF, or NY, there's a strong chance you've never actually had Chinese food ;)

What is your favorite sf Chinese food spot?

This is so naive. I'm from Wellington, NZ and live in Auckland. I can buy excellent chinese food without trying very hard in multiple locations.

Chinese migration isn't just limited to the USA...

As an AU/NZ/DE citizen who has been mostly based in China (but also a year in LA, 2 weeks SF) since 2001, I can tell you that Auckland is a best case example.

Compared to SF (which has one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US... unlike LA's, which incidentally was ruthlessly bulldozed to make way for a 'required' freeway by racist local government) much of Auckland's Chinese population is recent, which is perfect. Recent mainland immigration brings real Chinese food as Chinese eat it.

SF is dealing with Americanized interpetations of Chinese food that persist from the modified cuisine of multiple generations of Cantonese immigrants distilled through American popular culture. You know:

(1) Paper box

(2) Disposable chopsticks

(3) Fujian/Guangdong style egg (yellow) noodles

(4) Canto-Americanisms like 'chop suey' (Mandarin 'chao cai') and 'dim sum' (Mandarin 'dian xin') and such.

(5) Total overuse of meats and a relative lack of vegetarian options

(6) Total overuse of heavy sauces (oyster, sweet and sour, etc.)

By contrast, despite an early presence of Chinese in New Zealand, just fifteen years ago you would be hard pressed to find any Asian food at all in central Auckland, and certainly there was no or next to no honest mainland-style Chinese cuisine available at all, anywhere in the city.

(Edit: What's with the downvote? Sheesh.)

FWIW I upvoted you! I'd always wondered if the Chinese in Auckland was any good or not compared to China (I'd suspected yes, but good to know!). It has been crazy watching all the good asian food popup over the last 20 odd years. It all feels so natural and part of NZ culture now (e.g. there are 7 Korean, 3 Japanese, 2 Chinese and 1 French restaurants directly across from the office!).

Christmas Day is the exact best day to go around all of the sightseeing locations in SF without having to worry about parking or crowds. I've done this 3 times now, whenever guests come, and it's great.

You can hit all of the places in SF like the Golden Gate Bridge, Chrissy Field, Coit Tower, Pier 39, etc.

I was there last year and can only say that I had a blast with some great people. Thank you Matt and Stephanie for a really amazing Thanksgiving! Mike

This is really nice. It reminds me about a tradition here in Poland. On Xmas Eve Dinner we prepare additional place at the table for any unexpected guest. As a chid I was looking at it and wondering who could sit there and nobody ever did. I also don't know anyone who had a chance to use it and actually there were several journalists' provocations when celebrities and politicians rejected such "unexpected guests" at their homes. So it's great to hear that the idea works on the other hemisphere :)

Love this idea. Hopefully they post pics. I wish I had a big house, I'd host dinners more often.

We actually live in a small apartment complex. We're be hosting people outside by the pool and in a shared space.

At the dinner now! Big group. Lots of smart people from all over the world. Tasty food.

Last year I just moved to San Francisco and attended. I had a great time meeting a lot of people with various interests. Huge thanks to Matt for doing this again.

A very good thing to do. I've got a place to be, but the gods know I've spent many holidays alone in some city.

Thanks for being so kind.

Does SF have a large homeless population?

It certainly appears that way when one spends any time along Market Street or the TL.

Feel really touched, by the humanity on display on HN. Proud to be part of this community. I am not a US citizen, and don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But still, it fills my heart seeing such thoughtful gestures.

PS: No upvotes please. Lest I feel guilty of posting this message...

I'm not there and it doesn't apply to me but I came here to tell you what an amazing thing you're unto. I wish you all the good in the world and hope you have / had a great Thanksgiving!

upto

Very kind gesture, Matt. I'm sure you will meet some great people this way and have some interesting stories to share down the road!
Happy thanksgiving to everyone.

Matt, you're a class act. Email me if you'd like to share a beer with me sometime (first one is on me).

I was wondering whether I'd see this again this year. Good on you, Matt.

This is just so nice.

Another year, another startup as well it would appear!

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