Google Maps

Natural Selection: What's Happening to Golden Gate Park isn't Natural. But it Never Was

Main Drag in the Middle East

Could Google's New Mobile Game Make the City Safer?

Pica Pica Brings Venezuelan Arepas And Other Staples to the Castro

Hugo Chavez is dead, but Venezuelan food lives on at Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, the second S.F. spot for Carácas cuisine. And it's far less polarizing than inflammatory anti-American rhetoric. In fact, it's delicious. If you can find it, that is. The nondescript Castro location is hidden in plain si ... More >>

We Review the SFJAZZ Center's Opening Night Concert Via Web Stream

By SEAN J. O'CONNELL SFJAZZ Opening Night Concert with McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Bill Frisell, Bill Cosby, and more Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 SFJAZZ Center via NPR web stream Despite not having had regular employment for the last year or so, I have had the opportunity to see Radiohead perform live ... More >>

Our New Hero WordPress Releases Tools For Restaurant Websites

You've heard it all before, we know -- restaurant websites are the worst, with their flash-heavy animation that doesn't work on smartphones, tinny soundtrack that normal humans mute within two seconds, and out-of-date information that's scattered across the site in an "artistic" fashion. (Note: To b ... More >>

Here Are Some Apps to Help You Navigate This Weekend's Transitpocalypse

If you are stressing about the weekend crush of people and cars, well worry no more -- there's an app for that. As you already know, San Francisco is playing host to nine major city events this weekend, which means you should definitely take public transit.It also means you should do some smart pl ... More >>

Apple CEO Tim Cook Says He's Sorry for Creating Such a Crappy Apple Map

This morning Apple issued an apology to the masses for its unfortunate mapping glitches that have frustrated consumers trying to get from Point A to Point B over the last week.As many of you Apple junkies already know, the Bay Area-based company last week released an update to its iPhone and iPad op ... More >>

Sunrise, Sunset: A Realtor Hopes to Rename an S.F. Neighborhood

Salumeria: A First Impression From a Cheese and Deli Lover

Two of Ben Narasin's roles when he isn't writing for us are as a contributor to Cheese Connoisseur Magazine and as the restaurant reviewer for the Peninsula for Gayot.som. We asked him for a first impression of the new Salumeria. When I mentioned I was going to write-up the week-old Salumeria, my ... More >>

Thinner MacBook Pro, iOS6, and a Smarter Siri Revealed at Apple's WWDC

Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference kicked off today at the Moscone Center. Here's a brief rundown on some of the highlights from the first day that are sure to get your iHearts pumping. The next generation of Apple notebooks  New versions of the MacBook Air (starting at $1,199), and the ... More >>

Drifting Away from Twitter, Toward Reality

I've been known to strongly defend Twitter, which some people have found surprising because of my default digital skepticism. But of course, I was skeptical of it at first (if nothing else, because of the name, which is stupid), until I started using it. It really can be used for quite practical pur ... More >>

Giants Spring Training: A San Franciscan's Guide via Google Maps

​The fact that Buster Posey is off the disabled list gives Giants fans even more reason to flock to Arizona for spring training this weekend. Simply put: Everyone is eager to see their favorite Giants catcher back in action after his painful knee injury derailed him last May.Let's face i ... More >>

Name Check: How Does Your Restaurant Fare on Google?

​Newspapers and blogs aren't the only businesses that need to think about search engine optimization. The East Bay Express has taken it upon itself to demand that restaurants pick SEO-friendly names as well. Not long after the paper called out certain bands for being un-Googleable (have you ever t ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Off the Grid Moves Under SF Chronicle on Fridays

Google MapsFood trucks park Wednesday and now Friday right under the Chronicle's collective noses​Off the Grid has been so successful at putting street food once a week on Fifth and Minna Streets, in the alley that bisects the San Francisco Chronicle, that its appearances are doubling. Starti ... More >>

James Hetfield to Marin Hikers: "Don't Tread on Me (Or My Property)!"

Metallica singer James Hetfield​Exit light, enter night, if you will -- but don't go entering into James Hetfield's sprawling Marin County property. The Metallica singer and rhythm guitarist erected a metal fence on his ranch that blocked off a popular trail connecting two nature preserves. S ... More >>

Google Made It Easy for Anyone to Stalk You

There are some things Google should not know​When it comes to privacy, it's usually Facebook's amorphous policies that have people riled up -- you know the ones who are always frantically checking to make sure strangers can't see those damning photos that have no business being online in the first ... More >>

Summer Guide: The Best Obscure Tourist Attractions

Google Maps Now Tracks BART in Real-Time

GoogleBART riders, kneel before Google​No need to rush out the door to catch that next BART train. We all know it will probably be late anyway. But to temper your anger over this often frustrating transit system, Google has rolled out its real-time tracking system for public transportation that's ... More >>

San Francycle: Adventure Cycling from Miami to S.F.

​Oh, sure, your commute to the office might seem far, but how would you like to ride 3,500 miles? Two weeks ago, cyclist Mario Renteria, 23, set off from Miami on a cross-country ride to San Francisco. Google Maps estimates that if you pedal nonstop, 24 hours a day, it'll take about 11 and a half ... More >>

Everywhere and Nowhere

Tacos Surge, Ragazza Opens the Back Door, the Line Up Comes Back

The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco restaurant scene. Luis ChongVincent Schofield's tacos at Taco Libre.​Tacos, tacos, tacos: If you missed it yesterday, SFoodie's Luis Chong checks out Taco Libre, the week-old taqueria launched by Nombe chef Vin ... More >>

S.F. Plastic Surgeon Wants to Shut Down Negative Web Commenters

Google Maps Says It's Not to Blame for Pedestrian Hit by Car

Google the phrase "common sense"​If Google maps led you off a cliff, would you jump?Well, if you did make the plunge and got hurt in the process, the Bay Area media giant claims it wouldn't be at fault. Google is finding itself at the center of a bizarre and never ending lawsuit where a pedestria ... More >>

Sunday: S.F.'s Most Elaborate Beer Run

Google MapsNot exactly Bay to Breakers, but then, B2B doesn't fall in the middle of Beer Week.​Much about beer is subjective, like what style/brewery/IBUs/glassware is best, or if a beer should taste great or be less filling. But there are a few universal truths when it comes to beer, includin ... More >>

Off the Grid: 5M Launching at Minna and Fifth St.

Google MapsThe newest Off the Grid is part of the Intersection 5M project on the ground floor of the Chronicle building. Food trucks will park in the tunnel.​Organizer Matt Cohen got the green light yesterday from the city's street gods, aka the Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and ... More >>

Nevada-Boston College Matchup in San Francisco Bowl Points to Vile State of Pac-10

Nevada fans like the guy on the right will be heading to San Francisco. Pac-10 fans like the dude in the bear suit will not.​In the Pac-10 this year, there was Oregon and Stanford and everybody else. Accordingly, when it comes to stocking football bowl games -- there's nobody else. Case in point: ... More >>

Will Google Hotpot Replace Yelp and Foursquare?

GoogleGoogle Hotpot ratings.​We wish we had a new Mongolian or Chinese hotpot place to tell you about today. Unfortunately we just have Google Hotpot. Are Yelp and Foursquare not sufficiently filling up your Smartphone, time, and tummy? Well, here is yet another way to distract yourself, give ... More >>

Lightning Strikes High School Students in Santa Clara. But Not Santa Clara You're Thinking Of.

​A story coming over the wire about lightning striking a pair of high school students in Santa Clara is accurate. But the town in question isn't the South Bay city of 110,000 but a small Utah burg of not quite 4,700. The Utah town -- which bills itself as "a beautiful place to live" on its website ... More >>

"Catfish": Truth is stranger than fiction

Rachael Smith, Alleged Craigslist Apartment Swindler, Was Never Required to Pay Bail

San Francisco Police DepartmentRachael Smith didn't skip bail -- because she didn't have to pay any​Tonight, victims who fell prey to the same alleged con artist will gather in empathy and anger as they discuss how to move forward after being purportedly scammed out of thousands of dollars by Rach ... More >>

Washington Post Uncovers Six 'Top Secret' Government Contractors in San Francisco

​The Washington Post today rolled out its eagerly awaited investigative project, "Top Secret America." The multimedia production -- including video, databases, an interactive map, and a series of stories by Post aces Dana Priest and William M. Arkin -- attempts to catalog the massive intelligence ... More >>

Coming Saturday: Muni Service Cuts

Well, this ain't happening here...​You don't have to wait long to wait long. Starting tomorrow, May 8, Muni will initiate 10 percent service cuts in a cost-cutting measure. The agency stands to save around $4.8 million for the rest of fiscal 2010 (which ends on July 1) and $28.4 million in fiscal ... More >>

Traverse the Districts

The SFO Cannonball Run

Horrified by a typical taxi trip from SFO? Thank a government program that pays cabbies to speed.

San Franciscans Joyously, Graphically Document Sex on New Web Site

Quick! Run to the computer! ​"Amazinggggg" (yes, that's five G's) is how one man described a recent sexual encounter in San Francisco. "It was freaking great!!!!!!" another man wrote about his Feb. 19 outdoor rendezvous with his male partner. Both used the Web site IJustMadeLove.com to broadcast t ... More >>

A Few Copies of McSweeney's Food-Obsessed Panorama Are Just $5 Tomorrow. Here's Where

Get a taste of high culture at a rock-bottom price.​We've been stewing like a bone-warming pot of chili in anticipation of Panorama's heavyweight food section -- and counting coins we've scooped up from the bottom of our laundry bag. The $16 price tag for the upcoming McSweeney's issue is not ... More >>

Gray Area's new gallery hopes to cast light on an underserved neighborhood

Alice Waters' Favorite Places In the Bay Area, Mapped for Your Pleasure

Meredith BrodyAlice [hearts] waltzing -- and using Google Maps.Alice Waters plopped down at our table last night to catch her breath between waltzes. A four-piece bal musette band was playing at the annual Bastille Day celebration at Chez Panisse (aioli, cassoulet, tri-color ice cream bombe), and Ml ... More >>

Google Maps 'Favorite Places' Unveiled: Local Businesses Welcomed to the Interwebz

Mayor Gavin Newsom: bears striking resemblance to Will ArnettGoogle Maps unveiled their latest project called "Favorite Places" this afternoon at a press conference/meet and greet/smorgasbord inside City Hall. Local business owners, members of the press, and Mayor Gavin Newsom mingled, networked, an ... More >>

Spring Fever? Head North to Fish

More reliable than Google Maps: Directions to FishFish 350 Harbor near Gate Five Rd., Sausalito, 331-3474. It's May, that happy season of blooming honeysuckle and brilliant sunshine, the perfect time to hop a ferryboat to Sausalito and enjoy the year's most intoxicating weather. Just make sure to ke ... More >>

Why? Has a Stalker Pt. 2