Hi everyone
I’ll be travelling to the land of opportunity in less than 10 days time and I’d like to hear from locals about the best places to go/eat/see. Nothing better than local experience.
I’ll be visiting
Also any card shop recommendations would be nice.
In NYC, stop by Joe’s Shanghai for soup dumplings in Chinatown. It’s the one place I took everyone in the city. There’s also a speakeasy around the corner.
New Orleans might have the best food over any city I’ve traveled to. Be prepared to eat and ask where the locals go. All time favorite seafood dish was a stuffed flounder in a chef’s restaurant near the Marriott. Tons of oyster variations around the city too.
You’re going to have a great time.
I’ve always wanted to go here after I saw it on TV, it’s just outside Austin
saltlickbbq.com/
Has anyone here been, is it any good?
If you’ve never been to America before it is bigger than you think. Plan your travel carefully for the size and distance of everything.
In San Francisco, there’s an amazing place for some tangy fried chicken wings. The restaurant is pretty close to Golden Gate Park (although the park is huge, so plan ahead) and is called “San Tung”. Order the “dry-fried chicken wings”. My other personal favorites there are the sauteed string beans and the black bean sauce noodles. It’s always crowded, but a pro tip is to call them and order ahead, then you can enjoy the wings in the park without waiting in the long line to be seated 
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about SF. I hope you enjoy your trip!
@gemmintpokemon , This place looks so awesome, especially with the old web 1.0 website. I definitely wouldn’t have found through google, really keen to try it while in Chinatown. I have heard that New Orleans has great seafood - we will see how many seafood restaurant I’ll be able to try with a gf who is allergic to seafood haha. Should get at least 1 in.
@pierce , Did you see it on Man VS Food too? It looks so good. Would like to hear others opinion on it as well.
@kantosfinest , I’ve been as a young teenager but it will be a different experience now going with friends. We’re getting a car in LA but semi skeptical since i’ve heard it has the worst traffic. But hey it was cheaper than taxi to disneyland and back and this way we can visit huntingtons beach and others along the coast back.
@newcollector , Such a great idea to eat in the park, will be a really nice atmosphere and experience. I’ll be pming for sure when I’m there 
Los Angeles has Hollywood Walk of Fame , Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Disneyland, Giffith Observatory and lot more!
All mostly tourist spots, but each has its own unique culture, vibe etc
Some of my favorite Vegas places are:
Downtown at night is a favorite of especially the younger crowd. Fremont street is covered by a huge electric light canopy with zip lining, Food, live music, people watching, and a dozen casinos front the street so you can always pop into those for more fun. (See pic below. Can anybody recognize who that is in the green shirt walking down Fremont?)
The Mob Museum in the same area is a fun attraction in the daytime.
Of course the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn ship is near there.
There’s tons of great food places including world class buffet’s.
If you’d like to meet for lunch I could meet you at the M Resort. It’s on the opposite side of the valley.
@cosrob , check out the land of opportunity on the right of this picture…Merica!
@ptccards , i read out your list to my girlfriend and she said she has already planned to do all of them.
@garyis2000 , i will definitely hit up that street and the mob musuem (I didn’t even know it existed). The pawn shop is a must for me, i watch it quite often. I did see an item or two on ebay that you’re selling so it could be a good excuse for lunch as well.
For the longest time I couldn’t work it out who it was but it hit me that it’s Smpratte (sorry if it’s not :^) )
@seeingdouble , I’m not sure what to say. At the least the guy is polite not to stare.
You weren’t wrong about the dumplings, they were so good.
I’m so happy you went. They are fantastic. What else have you done in NYC?
We’ve been here for 3 full days now and have done:
Natural history musuem
Met musuem
A few rooftop bars
Time square
Yankees game
Rockafeller
Woodbury outlets
9/11 memorial
Chelsea markets
We have this stuff planned for the next few days
Brooklyn area
Eleven maddison
Broadway show
Anything we’re missing that we should do before we go?
Dominique Ansel Bakery - Order the Frozen Marshmallow (avoid the cookie shot) 189 Spring Street in Soho.
There’s a world renowned pizza place I can’t remember in Brooklyn, but 2 other solid choices are:
John’s of Bleeker for gourmet pizza at 278 Bleeker Street
Or my personal choice bc I used to live close is Gotham pizza & order the buffalo chicken pizza. There’s a few around the city. They used to let us use their oven when we wanted to make cookies. We shared with the staff of course.
A nice late night speakeasy is Employees Only at 510 Hudson St. They had a surprise burlesque show when we were there.
A fun area to go out is the Meat Packing District:
The Standard is a hotel/rooftop bar
Brass Monkey is a fun 3 level bar (not upscale)
There’s a Beirgarten on the ground level that’s a great place to day drink.
All 3 of those are next to each other.
My club of choice was Gilded Lily. Only Fri/Sat usually.
Best Ramen spot is Ippudo Westside at
321 W 51st St
There’s so much more. I truly miss NYC.
I’m from Austin.
Food: Pinthouse Pizza or Homeslice Pizza. Salt Lick BBQ, Terry Blacks BBQ, Franklins (super popular need to get in line at like 6am) and Valentinas are good too. Mexican food! Chuys, Taco Deli! Lick Ice Cream. They even have In and Out here now. Ramen Tatsuya is amazing. There are other higher priced options too. (Uchi, Odd Duck, Dai Due)
Drink: Man local breweries if you are into that. Pinthouse is a brewery and pizzeria, Jester King Brew, Live Oak Brewery. Bangers (German style restaurant with picnic tables galore-good foor and beer. Tons of bars on sixth street (most popular street) too. Eureka is my fav.
Hot summer pool fun: Barton Springs, Deep Eddy Pool. Town Lake for some kayaking/canoeing. 360 Bridge Sightseeing.
Arcades/Theaters: Pinballz, Main Event, Arcade UFO, Alamo Drafthouse
Just to name a few.
Sad to see you are not visiting Iowa. 2018 voted best state to live in.
The best that came out of Iowa
I-80
Is Iowa still open?
Hehe
Please tell me you haven’t already passed through Austin?! I know the best places!!!
It’s not that good. Better wine than bbq. Blacks is much better!!