I am seeking a list of the best places to visit in San Francisco
including but not limited to bars, clubs, restaurants, coffee houses,
breweries, hardware stores, barber shops, tattoo parlors, gear-head
shops (autos, bikes, speed), surf shops, book stores, etc. To qualify,
a business has to be a true community treasure?the kind of place
locals call home. Big brands or corporate chains are not even a
consideration. See our website to get a feel for the kinds of
businesses I'm seeking: http://www.desteenation.com. I'm more
interested in quality than quantity, please provide a list of 25.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 02 Jun 2006 12:58 PDT

Hello desteenation-ga,

You have a terrific website and I think I understand what you're
looking for. I live in the Bay Area and know of a lot of places that
might be of interest to you just off the top of my head. Despite this,
I felt overwhelmed when I started researching your question. There is
an abundance of resources and prospects for you. I've found some
wonderful sites that offer collections of reviews and recommendations
in most of your categories. It's hard to decide how to filter it for
your purposes.

I have a suggestion. Instead of giving you 25 specific establishments,
I could instead give you 5-10 review/recommendation sites. These would
provide you with hundreds of possibilities. Reviewing these sites
would help you get familiar with the scene in San Francisco and
provide you with lots of prospects.

Let me know how you would like me to proceed. Thanks.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by desteenation-ga on 03 Jun 2006 07:41 PDT

I see your predicament. Go ahead and provide the review/recommendation
sites that you believe are worthwhile. Thanks for your research
efforts!

Hello desteenation-ga,

Thank you for accepting my proposal to change the parameters of your
question. San Francisco has so much to offer in the way of ?best
places? that it?s very difficult to choose just 25 without clearly
defined criteria. As I was doing my research for you it became
apparent that providing you with the sites that kept coming up while
looking for ratings and reviews would probably be more valuable to you
than just giving you a short list.

I was familiar with some of the review sites because I live in the Bay
Area but I also discovered additional ones while looking for something
different from the usual travel guides. I think you will find some of
these useful for developing prospect lists in other locations as well.

In addition to the ratings sites, I?ve also included a list of places
/ shops / services that might meet your criteria. Some of them are
personal favorites while others always pop to the top of the list when
looking for San Francisco highlights. The listing is in random order.

I think your destineenation site will be fun and will attract a wide
following. I hope you find these resources helpful. Please don?t
hesitate to ask for clarification if my rationale for what I?ve
provided isn?t clear or you need additional information about anything
I?ve included.

Wishing you well for your website.

~ czh ~


==========================================================
RATINGS AND REVIEWS FOR SAN FRANCISCO / BAY AREA HOT SPOTS
==========================================================

Yelp
----

http://www.yelp.com/
Yelp San Francisco

What is Yelp?
Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's
great - and not so great - in your neighborhood and beyond. You
already know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants,
dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Now, Yelp makes it fast
and easy to make and receive real reviews from real people.

==

(Yelp is a happening place. It?s focus is on reviews of shopping and
services by ?real? people but it?s much more. As a visitor you can
read the reviews, discussions and blog but the site encourages you to
register and join in the fun and help grow the content of the site by
writing reviews, adding to the discussions and the blog. The site is
well set up with about two dozen categories of reviews. You can do a
geographic search and limit it to specific neighborhoods. The results
are displayed on a Google Map. The reviews display photos of the
location, many of them uploaded by reviewers. The site is still in
beta. Membership is free and the goal is to support the site through
advertising. It?s not clear where the listings came from and you can
limit your results to reviewed only.

This site gives you a tremendous variety of ways to develop prospect
lists for shops and services you might want to consider for your
desteenation site. It might be very useful for vetting destinations
you?ve identified through other sources. Using the Neighborhood
Matches filter could be a good way to find restaurants, shops, etc. in
a particular locale.)


Daily Candy
-----------

http://www.dailycandy.com/
http://www.dailycandy.com/about.jsp?city=6
DailyCandy, a free daily e-mail newsletter and website, is the
ultimate insider?s guide to what?s hot, new, and undiscovered ? from
fashion and style to gadgets and travel. As useful as it is
entertaining, it?s like getting an e-mail from your clever,
unpredictable, and totally in-the-know best friend. The one who knows
about secret beauty treatments, must-have jeans, hot new restaurants ?
and always shares the scoop.
DailyCandy publishes eleven daily editions, which are all delivered
through e-mail: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston,
Dallas, London, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Philadelphia are
devoted to those cities; Everywhere is national (style knows no
boundaries).

http://www.dailycandy.com/index.jsp?city=6&switch=1
DailyCandy San Francisco

Categories
 -- Fashion
 -- Food & Drink
 -- Beauty
 -- Arts & Culture
 -- Fun
 -- Services
 -- Travel
 -- DailyCandy Deals

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_09/b3973086.htm?chan=careers_career+center_management+strategies
Who Says Money Can't Buy Hipness? 
Small sites are fetching lofty prices as Big Media chases their young followers 

==

(This site tracks trends in 11 cities and publishes a daily newsletter
reviewing all the topics you?re interested in. Past issues will be
good for developing your prospect list and subscribing to the
newsletter will keep you posted on new developments.)


San Francisco Bay Guardian
--------------------------

http://www.sfbg.com/
San Francisco Bay Guardian

http://www.bestofthebay.com/2005/
http://www.bestofthebay.com/2005/best.php#top
The San Francisco Bay Guardian
Best of the Bay 2005

Best of the Bay Readers' Poll
We continue to be impressed by our readers. Year after year we?ve
asked you to be a part of our annual Best of the Bay issue.We?ve asked
you to share your secrets with us.We?ve asked you to fill out
ever-longer polls, in order to help us find everything from the Best
Box of Vegetables to the Best Place to Play Basketball. Amazingly,
you?ve responded, sharing your knowledge of and passion for all the
things that make this cool, gray city of love such a great place to
live. Each year thousands of you (this year nearly 3,000) make it your
business to tell us where we can get the Best Barbecue
(Brother-in-Laws), pamper ourselves at the Best Day Spa (Kabuki Hot
Springs), ink ourselves at the Best Tattoo Shop (Black and Blue), or
check out the Best Literary Night (Writers with Drinks). A million
thanks for dropping your knowledge on us. Forthwith, what you?ve
wrought.

Categories (dozens of sub-categories for each)
 -- Local Heroes
 -- Neighborhoods
 -- Tasting
 -- Classics
 -- City Living
 -- Food & Drink
 -- Entertainment & Nightlife
 -- Shopping
 -- Sex & Romance
 -- Outdoors & Sports


(This is a San Francisco alternative newspaper. It offers several
special issues during the year. The Reader?s Poll Ratings issue might
be of interest to you. The ratings cover dozens of the topics you?re
interested in. The results are hit and miss. Some of them pick up
unique local gems while others rank national chains at the top. It?s
worth a browse. The website is badly designed and annoying to navigate
through the award listings.)


SF Weekly
---------

http://www.sfweekly.com/about/index.php
SF Weekly

SF Weekly is San Francisco's smartest publication. That's because we
take journalism seriously, but not so seriously that we let ourselves
be guided by an agenda. In fact, we cherish our political
independence: The paper has repeatedly challenged massive public
subsidies for private developments by leading San Francisco business
interests--but it has also blamed liberal political advocates for
fostering inhumane conditions at a city jail. Add to our array of
public-interest stories a comprehensive entertainment guide--led by
incisive, award-winning writing on the cultural scene--and you'll see
why SF Weekly has acquired a loyal audience of active, urban
professionals, an audience as diverse as the city we cover.

http://www.sfweekly.com/bestof/
Best of San Francisco ® 2006: Lose Yourself in the City

CATEGORIES (Dozens of sub-categories for each.)
 -- People & Places
 -- Sports & Recreation
 -- Shopping & Services
 -- Food & Drink
 -- Arts & Entertainment

==

(This is another San Francisco alternative newspaper. The yearly Best
of San Francisco guides could be very useful to you for leads for your
prospect list. The winners are mostly local institutions. The list for
Best of San Francisco lists for prior years beginning with 2000 are
also available. The weekly articles on Arts & Entertainment,
Restaurants, Music and Film should also be useful.)


PubClub
-------

http://www.pubclub.com/about.htm
PubClub

PubClub.com is a content-oriented tourist guide dedicated to
social-minded travelers with articles on worldwide destinations such
as Greece, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Miami and more.

Through clever and informative writing, photos, video and other means
of communication, we are providing an insider's guide to social
activities.

More than providing a listing of bars, clubs and restaurants,
PubClub.com aims to reach out and explain where to go, when to go and
what to do when you get there on the subject of visiting pubs, clubs
and other nightlife-related activities.

http://www.pubclub.com/sanfrancisco/pubclub.htm
http://www.pubclub.com/sanfrancisco/pubs.htm
http://www.pubclub.com/sanfrancisco/clubs.htm
http://www.pubclub.com/sanfrancisco/postparty.htm
http://www.pubclub.com/sanfrancisco/single.htm
What is it that makes San Francisco so magical? So special?
We, of course, have the answer. Read on and so too, will you.

? Get oriented to San Francisco under PreParty.
? Our bar guide under Pub Clubbing.
? Learn of the many sightseeing and other activities in Post Party.
? Dining out is a San Francisco tradition: Here are the City's Best Restaurants.
? Find fun outside "the City" with our guide to The Bay Area.
? San Francisco is so cool, we have these Bonus Pages:
    -- Learn what its like to be living and Single in The City
    -- PubClub covers the crazy Bay to Breakers mobile party


==

(This site gives a good overview of the various neighborhoods in San
Francisco but the guide present?s an outsider?s perspective and quite
a few of the recommendations are dated and/or boring. Nevertheless,
it?s worth a look.)



Gridskipper ? The Urban Travel Guide
------------------------------------

http://www.gridskipper.com/about/
Gridskipper is the decadent guide to the best in worldwide urban
travel. Hotels, restaurants, clubs, flights, and sights all get their
due, but we also pay lascivious attention to sex, entertainment,
events, and insider advice on where to find the hottest local
debauchery. On or off the grid, Gridskipper spotlights the upscale and
the underbelly of global city culture.

http://www.gridskipper.com/travel/san-francisco/index.php
San Francisco 

==


(Follow the links and subscribe to the San Francisco tag in this
opinionated blog to keep up with interesting news and trends in San
Francisco.)



Metroblogging San Francisco
---------------------------

http://sf.metblogs.com/
Written from the perspective of people who live, work, and play here
every day, San Francisco is one of over forty five (and growing) blogs
in the globe-spanning Metroblogging network.

http://sf.metblogs.com/archives/2006/05/best_bars_san_francisco.phtml
Best Bars San Francisco



Tribe
-----

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/local
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/events
San Francisco Bay Area Tribe

Events Categories
 -- arts
 -- live music
 -- nightlife



============================
SAN FRANCISCO ESTABLISHMENTS
============================

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/travel/30choice.html
The Ferry Building Marketplace and Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

-----

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/index.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033100642.html
Anchor Brewing

-----

http://www.beardpapasf.com/
http://www.gridskipper.com/travel/san-francisco/beard-papa-sf-175545.php
Beard Papa

-----

http://www.milksf.com/
http://www.milkshakesf.blogspot.com/
THE MILK BAR

-----

http://www.magnoliapub.com/
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/recommendation/Magnolia-Pub-and-Brewery/haight-ashbury-sf-ca/032839c6-bfe2-4b9c-85ea-dcb2768bffae
Magnolia Pub & Brewery

-----

http://www.bladerunnerstudio.com/
BLADE RUNNERS HAIR STUDIO

-----

http://redvicmoviehouse.com/
Red Vic Movie House

-----

http://ramprestaurant.com/
The Ramp

-----

http://www.medjoolsf.com/
Medjool Café, Restaurant and Bar

-----

http://www.sebastienpresents.com/flash/home.htm
Sebastien Presents

-----

http://blondiesbar.com/
Blondie's Bar & No Grill

-----

http://www.secretsociety.org/rageXX.html
Secret Society Scooter Club - Scooter Rage 20

-----

http://www.doloresparkcafe.org/
Dolores Park Café

-----

http://www.ingbaytobreakers.com/main.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/22/BAGG9IVV8G1.DTL
http://sf.metblogs.com/archives/2006/05/bay_to_breakers_1.phtml
Bay to Breakers

-----

http://www.colehardware.com/
Cole Hardware

-----

http://www.schuberts-bakery.com/
Schubert?s Bakery

-----

http://cloverstornetta.com/
http://cloverstornetta.com/unistore/catalog.fsp
Clover Stornetta Farms, Family Owned Family Operated

-----

http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/
Cowgirl Creamery Cheese Shop

This is a thorough and well researched answer. Thanks for your
efforts. This will certainly help me get started in San Francisco.