A VC - Latest Comments in Yelping My Way Through LA

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

harpos_blues — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:56:05 -0000

Fred,

If you'll post on the blog (sorry I don't Tweet or Facebook) a few days in advance for your next trip to LA, I can work up a list of "good eats" mixing neighborhood joints with fancier restaurants.

Yes, definitely explore other areas of LA. While Santa Monica and Venice and even Malibu used to have a funkier more bohemian vibe back in the day ('50s-'60's / early 70s), since the late '80s Santa Monica and it's environs have been gentrified beyond recognition to native Angelenos (like me). I actually got lost in Santa Monica when I returned to LA in 2003, and I went to high school in the 70s nearby, and used to hang *continuously*.

However, the Wilshire region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... has remained pretty true-to-character since since back in the day, thanks to significant "historic preservation" efforts, and commitment / consistency with the locals.

Has changed occurred? Absolutely, "Little Israel" with it's traditionally Orthodox / Hasidic population is now designated "Little Ethiopia", and I think it's wonderful to see neighborhoods in LA living, working, and eating together :).

As an example of food diversity, one of my favorite "Asian" restaurants in the neighborhood is Genghis Cohen (http://genghiscohen.com/) which is directly across the street from an LA institution "Cantor's Deli" (http://www.cantersdeli.com/), in business since 1924.

So, in your your travels to LA, I must say "Go east, young man" :-D

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:35:21 -0000

This comment made it. Don't know what happened last time. I am most def coming back to LA and going ethnic in the "mid city"

Thanks for the tip and the links

The comments to this post will serve me well for a long time to come!

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

harpos_blues — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:43:46 -0000

I had entered a longer comment a couple of days ago, but it never appeared, so this is a "test" post.

One of my favorite taco joints in LA is "Sky's Gourmet Tacos" at http://skysgourmettacos.com/ .

To find the best authentic ethnic food in LA, you'll need to venture east of your usual hang-outs in the Santa Monica area(s). Try Little Ethiopia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik..., Koreatown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik..., and Pico-Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... . All of these neighborhoods are part of the Mid-City district and well worth the drive from Santa Monica, just roll down Pico or Olympic Blvds. Avoid the I-10 (santa Monica Freeway) altogether, it's far too aggravating to navigate to these local joints from on/off the freeway.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:35:21 -0000

They need to figure this out. Reviwed entities should be able to publicly
repond in the comments/ratings/reviews.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

rickfield — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:09:05 -0000

I was intrigued by Yelp when I attended a Yelp event in San Diego in January of 2008. It's a democratic idea and I like the thought that I could weigh in. My pickle business received several nice reviews and that felt good. But then someone posted a comment saying that my worker at the Greenmarket was stingy with samples. That stung because we routinely sample out 10% of what we sell, which feels like a lot and not a matter of opinion. But it is a matter of record, whether I like it or not. A Yelp marketer called me multiple times on the heels of the nice reviews and offered various marketing programs that I could participate in. The more pricey ones offered an ability to filter the comments about my business... distinctly less democratic. So I am ambivalent about Yelp. The dissemination and filtering of comments has no perfect solution, so I'm not giving up on Yelp yet. That's one reason why I like AVC... the discourse is routinely elevated and appropriate.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

Gregg Smith — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:34:22 -0000

I was going to bring up chowhound. Used to spend hours and hours searching and creating google maps of locations for travels in the US and Europe. Still have a huge note book for Scotland.

You are correct that Chowhound is multiples deeper than Yelp--for many more locations. I really don't think Yelp would even know about Wiley's Tea room on in Harray on Orkney Island. Passionate about unbiased reviews as well...Yelp has a lot of bias in my opinion.

I use yelp in Memphis quite a bit and review everywhere I eat, but I go to Chowhound if I want to find something under the radar.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:52:16 -0000

I'm not hiring anyone to carry an iPhone or eat tacos for me! :)

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

kidmercury — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:26:28 -0000

sounds great. looking forward to hearing more and hope it works out for you.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

markslater — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:04:14 -0000

actually the service got named and URL'd last week i think. the group are very early - but the approach to this service is truly novel and the key people have the background / chops to pull it off.

As i have said here (and to myself ) many times - its so so about execution - and that is really hard to measure upfront. Twitter (IMHO) is a brilliantly executed use of a mundane set of pre-existing technologies. If you go back to the late 90's this approach would often disqualify an institutional investment - from what i see today - this has changed - which is great.

I will let you know more just as soon as is prudent to do so.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

markslater — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:59:20 -0000

now that is a great use of twitter!

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

gzino — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:44:57 -0000

Peter - nice - minimizing risk to seeking opportunity nails it.

Fred - great real world example. As you pointed out, only few years of change. And mobile broadband only in its infancy.

For most tech folks, the Yelps of the world will suffice. Is another layer needed for the general population to have the confidence in the non-sbux? I blogged about such a layer couple months ago, although may have over-thought it as usual? Or perhaps we are to the point where the general population will very soon be at the level of the earlier adopters when it comes to this realm?

Good news either way for the locals - long on their prospects.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:32:42 -0000

My brother in law (and recently converted twitter addict) turned me on to @kobibbq when I arrived. I'm hoping to grab some short rib tacos today

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

lawrence coburn — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:31:19 -0000

Thanks Daniel and Fred. As I dig into this more, it appears that the issue is in bringing the commenter identity back to the aggregating fourth party (ie disqus). I assume that there is no issue (TOS or otherwise) in Disqus pulling the comment content back to Disqus.com - it's just the Facebook identity of the poster that gets thorny, and at this moment, doesn't look portable. What is needed is a way to bridge Facebook Connect identity across multiple sites.

I'll keep an eye out for Disqus announcements on this subject, as it seems like a pretty big deal.

Here's a pretty good post by Justin Smith discussing this same issue:

http://www.insidefacebook.c...

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

kidmercury — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:29:49 -0000

wow, that is fantastic that you guys are working on such a solution. i think your assessment of there being three distinct participants is a very valid one. the part that i find most interesting, and challenging as well, is what you noted about businesses wanting a say in the cloud. to me this is the real game changer. i think a "government" of sorts needs to be created to share the cloud. and i think this introduces very real legal issues (because the internet is global and cloud participants will be located all over the world) as well as financing issues.

personally i'm working on something similar. the approach we are taking is finding a standardized format for building online communities that can operate as independent businesses, which it looks like we have. the next step is to begin using our standardized community format to launch more niche online communities that can function as independent businesses. finally, we want to connect all these standardized businesses in a way where they can have a say in the cloud, where the user gets the data portability they want. we also want the businesses to be able to leave the cloud and be independent anytime they want, so that they are truly free, and that participation in the cloud is voluntary.

lots of details need to be ironed out, of course. but the idea of the "shared cloud" runs parallel with data portability, like you suggested. so i think finding these types of solutions will prove to be a source of immense value.

do you guys have a web site or anything public where you are talking about stuff? i'd love to check it out if you do.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

Nate — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:11:24 -0000

Unlike @KogiBBQ, Taco Zone is not on Twitter. Taco Zone is just always in the same place after about 8pm because it's in the hipster bars/Dodger game night district of Echo Park. I like my tacos low tech. Something feels inauthentic about a truck giving a damn about Twitter :-)

I foresee a hard decision in your future. iPhone apps get more useful and compelling all the time and it doesn't look like BlackBerry will really compete in the app space.

You'll eventually A) learn to survive on a non tactile keyboard B) Carry two phones C) Hire somebody to carry an iPhone for you (I wonder if P. Diddy's umbrella valet guy is available?).

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:13:29 -0000

Missed it

Thanks!

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

Ethan Bauley — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:10:40 -0000

Dammit! I'm out of town, in Palo Alto this week. Would have been fun to hang.

If you don't tune into @kogibbq (roving food truck that uses Twitter to broadcast locations), you'll miss connecting with a really novel use of Twitter.

Plus, they sell tacos...that use Korean BBQ as the ingredients. EXTREMELY "LA" (and delicious)

http://twitter.com/kogibbq

(Brooks just mentioned this in another comment)

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

markslater — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:04:34 -0000

RFID -

a long way off

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

spraycode — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:54:17 -0000

If you end up by downtown just ping me @joefernandez and I can help guide you to either of those places if you need help. Both have outside seating, perfect for an LA day like today.

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:53:24 -0000

Nope

Can't recall the name, but I will post a comment if I do

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

Eric Berlin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:38:25 -0000

Great post, Fred. I live in Pasadena -- curious where you sat in the sun for coffee and yogurt/fruit bowl. Peet's Coffee on California and South Lake?

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:33:43 -0000

I could use that!

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

brooksjordan — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:33:42 -0000

Fred,

Did you see this great piece on NPR about tweets and Tacos in LA?

http://snipurl.com/ejfnx

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:33:37 -0000

Nope

Re: Yelping My Way Through LA

fredwilson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:33:24 -0000

I love greek. Thanks for the suggestion