Re: Post-meeting places to eat and talk

Quoting Steve Litt ([email protected]):

> Our experiences at GoLUG indicate that "past 9pm" is nowhere good
> enough.

Situation here in the South Bay (Silicon Valley) has been just a little
different.  SVLUG meetings at Symantec started at an official 7pm, often
with the start delayed just a bit for stragglers, and we clear out no
later than 9pm, often earlier.  The post-meeting restaurant Frankie,
Johnnie, and Luigi Too!  (http://frankiejohnnieluigitoo.com/) is
close-by, so quick to get to, so people are usually seated and ordering
by 9pm.  Official restaurant closing time is 10pm, though the affable
staff are tolerant and don't mind parties happily gabbing until 10:15,
although it's polite to pay up and plan to get going.

For the current series at Cavium, Kevin Dankwardt has stated online that
SVLUG's meeting will run from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, so we'll find out how
that works as we go.  That's probably pretty realistic.[1]

In any event, if a gaggle of post-meeting people find themselves
standing in the parking lot at Cavium talking and suddenly realise
it's later than they planned, they can always decide to switch to a
Denny's, or that Wingstop place two miles east off E. Brokaw Road that's
open until midnight -- or drive further, either south to downtown San 
Jose or west to downtown Mountain View -- places that actually have
nightlifes.  (Come to think of it, one of SVLUG's standbys in bygone
times, International House of Pancakes, 4200 Great America Parkway is 
another feasible 24 hour joint, 4-5 miles from Cavium depending on
route.)

North San Jose has some attractions, but nightlife ain't in it.  It's
Workaholic Central.

Kirin Chinese Restaurant, 485 Castro St., downtown Mountain View, would
be my suggestion in that case because it's open to midnight.  Although
convenient to the Symantec meeting location (and right near the Frankie,
Johnnie, and Luigi Too! restaurant), it's 11 miles west of Cavium, a bit
far, around a 15 minute drive.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Cavium,+Inc.,+North+1st+Street,+San+Jose,+CA/485+Castro+St,+Mountain+View,+CA+94041/@37.3872124,-122.071152,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x808fcbe7824a2aa1:0xa900df665f7e9688!2m2!1d-121.9241!2d37.37935!1m5!1m1!1s0x808fb733a9c5883b:0x1e5bc06f0344d919!2m2!1d-122.0807975!2d37.3903087

As all locals around here know, during the 5-7 pm window in the S.F. Bay
Area, road traffic's hellish, so travel time to a 7pm meeting is a
significant factor in deciding if you can make it at all.  By 9pm, the
roads are clear.

(Symantec to downtown Mountain View was/is just a bit over two miles, 
easily dealt with by us bicycling people.)

Anyway, we put into the meeting announcement what the attendees decide
(which means the attendees need to post what they choose here, please).
But where they actually go is, obviously, something they can decide as
they plan to leave Cavium.


Oh, I forgot to mention in my prior post:  The Cavium meeting location
is hilariously close (1 block south) of the Carl's Jr. on North 1st
Street, north San Jose, whose reservable side room SVLUG used as its
meeting location for many, many years in the 1980s and early 1990s.

It's not a Carl's Jr. any more, but rather Dish & Dash, really excellent
takeout Indian food -- recommended if it's anywhere near as good as
their Sunnyvale location.  But it closes at 9pm, because that's standard
in north San Jose, where they roll the sidewalks up at 9.


[1] I'll mention now, attendance may take a while to settle to a new
figure, higher or lower -- which happens any time you move a meeting
after it's been in an established place for a long time.  Some new
people will discover it and find the new location more convenient (e.g.,
close to work) and be more likely to come.  Others, e.g., from further
up the S.F. Peninsula or San Francisco itself, may now find it too far.
(Again, this is more the commute traffic than the distance per se.)