3 ms·

Ask HN: Things to know before Startup School

22 points by kyro 17y ago

I've never been up around the Berkeley area before. So, I'd like to know if you guys had any tips/recommendations/etc about good cheap hotels/restaurants/etc in the area that should be worth checking out. Also, tips transportation wise would be great. I've seen BART mentioned a few times and although I am unaware as to why a cartoon character is relevant, further explanation and suggestions would be really appreciated. Also, anyone planning on having any meetups or events for the weekend? Hope this helps others as well.

Timothee 17y ago
BART will get you from San Francisco to Berkeley. (and other places of course) It might or might not be useful depending on where you're staying. It is recommended though because the parking situation will most likely be pretty bad. More info at http://bart.gov/ http://bart.gov/
mechanical_fish 17y ago
BART is Bay Area Rapid Transit. IMHO only three of those words are guaranteed to be true, but I guess they didn't want to call it BAT. From the south bay, I believe the place to catch the BART is Fremont. I like rapid transit and do not especially like parking in Berkeley even on a good day, so this is my plan.
- donw 17y ago
  Actually, they got rid of the 'T' part too, which is why their logo just says 'ba'.
dasht 17y ago
"Cheap hotels" depends a bit on your standards. There are a number of motels - a little bit, mmm.... well, rudimentary especially along University Ave. that are the least expensive stays in town. I've stayed in them, multiple times, and found them satisfactory for the budget. If you want quality, there's several options easily found via web searching but that will cost you (last I checked) about 3x as much. Restaurants: Well, it's tempting to rant about my favorites but basically there is a huge spectrum here of price and quality and at any point in that spectrum it's hard to go wrong. I suggest, if you have the time, walk around downtown, around Telegraph, perhaps further west. It's basically hard to go too terribly wrong if you use some common sense. If you like fine beer, I'd suggest Triple Rock. If you like fine dining (and dropping some serious money), the cliche recommendation is Chez Panisse but there are tons of other options. Transportation (what airport?) there are shuttles that are the best bang for buck. Again: web search. Cabs will soak you but are also more convenient and sometimes you have interesting conversations. BART will help if you are coming from SFO. If you are coming from OAK you need a bus or taxi to BART but BART can deposit you dead center downtown. ("BART" has nothing to do with the cartoons - it's "Bay Area Rapid Transit" and there's a very long (and ongoing) story behind it.) See bart.gov. Also see http://511.org/ http://511.org/ See you there. -t
- kyro 17y ago
  Thanks for the info. I'm planning to drive up there on Friday actually with a few friends, so we won't be tethered to any airport.
jlm382 17y ago
It'd be smart of a Berkeley-based startup hosted an after-party... tell the world that Berkeley has its share of tech startups too. Or you can crash the frats :)
lyime 17y ago
Great place to eat. "The Asian Ghetto" Its on Durant and Telegraph a small area with tons of different types of food.
- grizzydot 17y ago
  And there's also Top Dog if you're looking for a quick bite to eat. It's right across the street (on Durant) from the Asian Ghetto. They sell really good gourmet sausages for about $2.75 per.
larrykubin 17y ago
As far as cheap places to stay, I stayed at this hostel for a little over a week last year: http://www.sanfranciscohostel.org/ http://www.sanfranciscohostel.org/ Only cost around 200 bucks for 10 nights. Met a lot of cool folks from out of the country and had a blast. Went to Startup School one weekend, and went to the free portion of the Web 2.0 conference the other weekend. If you go this route, bring some earplugs :)
fizx 17y ago
"Ici" (at College and Ashby) is the best ice cream I've ever had.
- thomaspaine 17y ago
  Yogurt Park on Durant and Telegraph is the best frozen yogurt I've ever had. Plus the cafe next door has free donuts and wifi.
aristus 17y ago
I host an Open Hacker House in San Francisco each Friday, 3-7pm at Epicenter Cafe, 764 Harrison. Come on by -- there's usually a few HNers and YC applicants, if not YC-funded folk.
- tlipcon 17y ago
  3-7 on Friday isn't that convenient for those of us who work down south... why not a Sunday afternoon/evening thing instead? I'm often working there on sundays
  - aristus 17y ago
    I'd love to but I can't commit weekends. You can hold your own, though. Just pester your friends and commit to be there every week.
magus_pwnsen 17y ago
If you take a cab from SFO to Palo Alto, get a quoted price before getting in. Cab rates are bad as it is, but there's also a +50% penalty if you go outside of SF. It's ridiculous.
dwynings 17y ago
Palo Alto Hacker House is having a BBQ Friday night... feel free to stop by! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185108368975&ref=mf http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185108368975&ref=m...
lulzcat 17y ago
If you take a cab, get a price quoted for you beforehand, because drivers tend to omit the nasty +50% surcharge for taking you out of SF.
derwiki 17y ago
If you're in town for longer and don't know what to do, try to check out the Computer History museum in Mountain View or the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Both are worth every penny!
- 100k 17y ago
  +1 for the Computer History Museum. That place is amazing! They have one of two working Difference Engines (reconstructed, as Babbage never quite got it built) plus tons of old hardware that's fun to check out.

22 points by kyro 17y ago

Timothee 17y ago

BART will get you from San Francisco to Berkeley. (and other places of course) It might or might not be useful depending on where you're staying. It is recommended though because the parking situation will most likely be pretty bad. More info at http://bart.gov/ http://bart.gov/

mechanical_fish 17y ago

BART is Bay Area Rapid Transit. IMHO only three of those words are guaranteed to be true, but I guess they didn't want to call it BAT. From the south bay, I believe the place to catch the BART is Fremont. I like rapid transit and do not especially like parking in Berkeley even on a good day, so this is my plan.

donw 17y ago
Actually, they got rid of the 'T' part too, which is why their logo just says 'ba'.

dasht 17y ago

"Cheap hotels" depends a bit on your standards. There are a number of motels - a little bit, mmm.... well, rudimentary especially along University Ave. that are the least expensive stays in town. I've stayed in them, multiple times, and found them satisfactory for the budget. If you want quality, there's several options easily found via web searching but that will cost you (last I checked) about 3x as much. Restaurants: Well, it's tempting to rant about my favorites but basically there is a huge spectrum here of price and quality and at any point in that spectrum it's hard to go wrong. I suggest, if you have the time, walk around downtown, around Telegraph, perhaps further west. It's basically hard to go too terribly wrong if you use some common sense. If you like fine beer, I'd suggest Triple Rock. If you like fine dining (and dropping some serious money), the cliche recommendation is Chez Panisse but there are tons of other options. Transportation (what airport?) there are shuttles that are the best bang for buck. Again: web search. Cabs will soak you but are also more convenient and sometimes you have interesting conversations. BART will help if you are coming from SFO. If you are coming from OAK you need a bus or taxi to BART but BART can deposit you dead center downtown. ("BART" has nothing to do with the cartoons - it's "Bay Area Rapid Transit" and there's a very long (and ongoing) story behind it.) See bart.gov. Also see http://511.org/ http://511.org/ See you there. -t

kyro 17y ago
Thanks for the info. I'm planning to drive up there on Friday actually with a few friends, so we won't be tethered to any airport.

jlm382 17y ago

It'd be smart of a Berkeley-based startup hosted an after-party... tell the world that Berkeley has its share of tech startups too. Or you can crash the frats :)

lyime 17y ago

Great place to eat. "The Asian Ghetto" Its on Durant and Telegraph a small area with tons of different types of food.

grizzydot 17y ago
And there's also Top Dog if you're looking for a quick bite to eat. It's right across the street (on Durant) from the Asian Ghetto. They sell really good gourmet sausages for about $2.75 per.

larrykubin 17y ago

As far as cheap places to stay, I stayed at this hostel for a little over a week last year: http://www.sanfranciscohostel.org/ http://www.sanfranciscohostel.org/ Only cost around 200 bucks for 10 nights. Met a lot of cool folks from out of the country and had a blast. Went to Startup School one weekend, and went to the free portion of the Web 2.0 conference the other weekend. If you go this route, bring some earplugs :)

fizx 17y ago

"Ici" (at College and Ashby) is the best ice cream I've ever had.

thomaspaine 17y ago
Yogurt Park on Durant and Telegraph is the best frozen yogurt I've ever had. Plus the cafe next door has free donuts and wifi.

aristus 17y ago

I host an Open Hacker House in San Francisco each Friday, 3-7pm at Epicenter Cafe, 764 Harrison. Come on by -- there's usually a few HNers and YC applicants, if not YC-funded folk.

tlipcon 17y ago
3-7 on Friday isn't that convenient for those of us who work down south... why not a Sunday afternoon/evening thing instead? I'm often working there on sundays
- aristus 17y ago
  I'd love to but I can't commit weekends. You can hold your own, though. Just pester your friends and commit to be there every week.

magus_pwnsen 17y ago

If you take a cab from SFO to Palo Alto, get a quoted price before getting in. Cab rates are bad as it is, but there's also a +50% penalty if you go outside of SF. It's ridiculous.

dwynings 17y ago

Palo Alto Hacker House is having a BBQ Friday night... feel free to stop by! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185108368975&ref=mf http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185108368975&ref=m...

lulzcat 17y ago

If you take a cab, get a price quoted for you beforehand, because drivers tend to omit the nasty +50% surcharge for taking you out of SF.

derwiki 17y ago

If you're in town for longer and don't know what to do, try to check out the Computer History museum in Mountain View or the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Both are worth every penny!

100k 17y ago
+1 for the Computer History Museum. That place is amazing! They have one of two working Difference Engines (reconstructed, as Babbage never quite got it built) plus tons of old hardware that's fun to check out.