Before you can try a new restaurant or bar, you have to know it exists.
With restaurants, bars and funky activities popping up like baby rabbits in spring, who, besides your high flying friend Lisa, is hitting the new places first?
As much as I hate to admit what a cyber nerd I have become, I rely mostly on two email newsletters/e-zines to alert me to what’s new and exciting around me, or a town I may be visiting. THIS DOES NOT GUARANTEE A PLACE WILL BE GOOD, but it’s a good start.
My favorite daily e-zines are Urban Daddy and Thrillist. They are technically man-zines, not to be confused with the manzier, but I like the way they deliver the package.
URBAN DADDY
I love Urban Daddy because they give it to me short and sweet. I love the images they feature at the top of the email. They are always a little bit sexy, but in a very sophisticated way. UD also prides themselves on giving you special perks. The other day the zine featured a little foodie event here in SF. I went directly onto the event site to buy tickets and it was asking me for a code. I went back to the UD email and found the code. I was able to buy the last two tickets. They were only $15 each. I love that they cover low brow events, as well as high dollar.
THRILLIST
I migrated to to Thrillist from Daily Candy. It is pretty similar to Urban Daddy, but it has been around longer. I really enjoy the zines that introduce cool activities in your area and sometimes even interesting art or decor. I would say that both UD and Thrillist cater to the metro sexual male, like the ones that aren’t afraid to discuss mid century modern lamps and wear leather bracelets.
GROUPON
Groupon is not an e-zine, but it is a great way to discover and try new things and save money at the same time. Here is how it works: Every morning they release the deal of the day. A certain number of people have to buy into it in order for the deal to be “on”. I have not only saved dough on cool restaurants, but I have a $50 Groupon for a dental exam with x-rays! I admit that when Groupon first launched, I was sort of addicted. I am not alone. I know of others with the same affliction. There are about a dozen “me too” sites out there, but I feel Groupon does it best.
IN SF
If you are going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair and check out Tablehopper.com. It is a weekly e-column written by Marcia Gagliardi. The woman knows who’s opening their doors, closing their doors or simply painting their doors. Whew, that’s a lotta doors!
DAILY CANDY
I have to give credit to Daily Candy. Even though the guy “zines” are my go-to, I was baptized into the world of the daily e-zine by them. Daily Candy is a great female focused daily e-zine that covers everything from new restuarants to cool cosmetics and sample sales.
I would love to know where you get YOUR intel. I love to get recommendations from friends the most, but sometimes it is nice to be the first to try something and spread the word. If you want to get daily emails from any of these sites, just click on their web site and find your city.
LOVE It!
Awesome post
Big fan of Daily Candy & RueLaLa
Used to be a big http://www.metromix.com user in Chicago but it doesn’t do much for SF that’s worth reading.
I keep going to YELP and just starting subscribing to GroupOn
Have heard about Urban Daddy and going to start using it…
GREAT post.
Great list, Claudia! I also like the Rundown, a newsletter out of L.A. that covers shopping, restaurants, and deals….
I subscribe to all these except Thrillist. I also do EaterSF and Secret SF. For foodie blogs, I visit SFoodie SF Weekly on a daily basis.
Just wanted to say I really like your site and will definitely be back!
Just wanted to say I really like your site and will definitely be back!