Elite Event -- All Hail SF! Celebrate The City @ Cioppino’s

Cioppino’s was filled with happy elite’s, their lucky +1’s, toys, and delicious food & drinks. We sipped red wine before fastening ourselves to the bar where I enjoyed a few of the besssst gin martini’s I have ever had. There is something so perfectly sweet about the right mix of gin and juice.
This historic restaurant in Fishermen’s Wharf was the perfect venue for celebrating San Francisco.
Thank you Jon, Shirene, and Jessica!

Another great example of why Unilocal Elite events are so helpful.
I’m sure Cioppino’s has been at the Wharf for year’s but I would never have thought to dine here. Also because dining at the Wharf isn’t ever a top choice (unless its for In n’ Out!).
It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to attend an event so it was nice to wrap up the year with the final event for 2012. The toy drive was a nice touch (the Captain America dolls are from me! :P)
Stuck with the Zaya Rum F.U.C’n Mai Tai, which was refreshing and fruity without the bite.
Kim T. and I situated ourselves strategically near the kitchen and got first dibs on all the tasty samples floating around. There was a crab theme… good thing I’m not allergic to shellfish!
I’d say my favorite thing was the mini chowder bowls. Their chowder is really delicious! My least favorite small bite was the crab salad. It lacked any savory or sweet flavors and had a husky sea-​like taste. (If you understand what that means, you’re awesome)
Met some great fellow Unilocalers and some Unilocal-elite’s to be. The spirit is still alive and well!
Great job, team.

Ho ho ho, Cioppino’s!
For SF’s last YEE of 2012, All Hail SF! Celebrate The City @ Cioppino’s was a helluva way to close out the year. It was also a fantastic Christmas present for us Elites from Cioppino’s.
Cioppino’s did it right. They totally lavished us all with friendly service & tray after tray of their delicious seafood + buckets of strong cocktails. Seriously 1 of the best YEE’s I’ve been to. Thank you Cioppino’s for a great night in the City.
Thanks also to Jon A. & the whole SF Unilocal crew, everything went as smooth as butter. &, finally, thanks to the SF Elites who showed up on a bitingly cold night & made it fun.

Another EPIC night with delicious and plentiful seafood. I really enjoyed the classic vibe of the restaurant. Great food and drinks, friendly staff and bartenders. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the individual clam chowder bread bowls and delicious cioppino! The crab cakes were succulent. The ambiance was romantic, yet casual — we could hear each other talk while having good food and convo. I dressed up as my favorite SF Icon «Margaret Cho», a much taller version! The goodie bags were a nice treat, especially the customized Cioppino’s wine corkscrew. Thank you to Jon, Jess, Jorge, the whole Unilocal crew, Re-​Winery, SFFD, and Cioppino’s for a fantastic holiday party… truly unforgettable!!!

This was my second Unilocal elite event. First on a weekday. Once again, it did not disappoint. Instead of flying solo I brought a +1 and we really enjoyed ourselves. The chowder in a bread bowl was the perfect size, the classy salad in the martini glass was light and refreshing, crab cioppino was a perfect mix, and every appetizer brought a lot to the table.
I will agree with another person in that the drinks were stiff. No complaints there. My +1 drove. I tried the mai thai, manhatten, and one of the beers. Very satisfying. I got to speak with Jon A and the fireman and get to know a few Elites I hadn’t met at the last event, the red tie holiday gala.
Looking forward to another year, 2013, of Unilocaling and partying. Thanks again guys.

The coolest YEE of the year! And literally too.
With near record low temps, Cioppino’s played gracious hosts by blocking off their entire space for us and feeding us not just soul-​warming cioppino, but a constant flow of party foods including crab cocktails, crab pizza, crabcakes, crab bruschetta, crab salad… you get the gist. Gotta love crab season this time of the year.
The party was the right size and it never felt crowded which made it easy for the wonderful servers to make their rounds and feed us with more yumminess. Cocktails and conversations. Lots of both. Thanks to the bar for mixing 209 gin martinis and Zaya rum cocktails plus pouring Speakeasy brews.
What a way to end 2012. Thanks Jon, Jessica, and everyone else at Unilocal for another great party. Happy holidays everyone.

The ambiance of Christmas, glowing lights, donation of toys to children, favorite SF icons and of the whole event surely made it a sweet treat to be dining in!
Let’s talk about the food! Endless rounds of petite foods came out constantly from the kitchen! What stood out the most to me, were those crab cakes, clam chowder and the signature Cioppino’s seafood soup! That Cioppino’s seafood soup had squid, shrimp, clam and shredded crab meat. It was delightfully very abundant from the sea!
What made my highlight for the evening was when the wine server asked me if I was 21! Thank you, I was flustered! The red and white wine was exquisite and complimented well with the food!
There were drinks served at the bar and boy, were the drinks strong! Aside from the Mai Tai, they made the Whiskey and Martini surely non-​diluted with water! Tips to the bartenders!
All in all, another fine event and a grand finale to end with for the year!
Thank you Jon and Jessica for hosting and cheers to 2012 coming to a close!
Happy holidays everyone!

Truly enjoyed my first Elite Event!
The drinks were strong and the food was plenty – and plenty delicious. Warmed me and my plus one up on a very chilly night! My favorite dish had to the be the clam chowder in the mini-​bread bowl; my favorite drink was the mai tai. YUM.
The staff did an amazing job, spreading out the food through the entire event, and, as I mentioned, the drinks, they were strong.

Thanks Unilocal for another festive celebration! I came in from the cold, winter evening and left happy as a clam, with a warm belly full of delicious seafood and wine. I especially enjoyed the Crab Louie in a martini glass and the clam chowder in a mini bread roll. Toys were donated too! Thank you Jessica and Jon for a warm, festive evening.
Parking was a breeze and Fishermans Wharf is kind of neato when it’s desolate in the winter evenings. I’ll definitely be back to Cioppinos!

While it was chilly night out in San Francisco, it was a toasty time inside! I’ve been to Cioppino’s once before, and it was great to go back and revisit the menu.
We sampled one of everything and enjoyed the cocktails and beer. I didn’t quite make it back to the wine table, but I’ve only heard great things about Rewinery, the door-​to-​door wine delivery service.
Everyone at the restaurant was friendly.
PS —

Brrr… it was cold and windy in December throughout the entire Bay Area.
But the only thing that was toasty hot and warm in the city was the final San Francisco elite event for 2012, which was taken place at Ciopinno’s in Fisherman Wharf.
The theme for this recent elite event is Unilocaler dressing up anything that resembles the icon of the Bay Area. This time and surprisingly, I finally got with the program and wore my Santa hat with the logo of my beloved Golden State Warriors on the cap. The holiday hat was a promotional giveaway from last year’s game on Christmas day and the team’s logo has the Bay Bridge. My hat was acceptable and appropriate for this holiday season. At least I think so.
Among the free food was complimentary were the restaurant’s clam chowder in a mini sourdough bread bowl and crab meat pizza, which were really good. I also had a glass of red wine from a local winery (I don’t remember the name, but the wine was crisp and tasty). There are plenty of food and drinks for the attendees.
It was a very hard decision to do, but I feel good doing it every winter holidays. I love donating toys to fire personnel’s. I also donated one of my daughter’s Barbie dolls to one of the fireman, who is also a Unilocaler and I enjoyed chatting. «Yes, me a forty year old man walked along Fisherman Wharf to an elite event with a Barbie Doll in my possession… so don’t laugh and quit calling me Ken!»
«I am also not a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world!»
My Christmas present from this recent elite event is that I met and chatted with many new Unilocalers including finally meeting the newest Community Manager: Jon. Jon and Jessica organized another fun elite event.
What a warming way to end 2012!

Dressed as San Francisco’s iconic fog (yes that was me), I found my way down an ironically clear night in San Francisco to Cioppino’s for the All Hail San Francisco Unilocal Elite event. This was definitely a great way to end the year! It was pretty holiday festive with lots of people bringing in toys to donate and being rewarded with wonderful drinks and food. I don’t think I could eat any more crab there even if I wanted to.
Lovely and plenty of small bites:
Crab cakes — delicious and kept me wanting more. Perfectly crisp and soft at the same time.
Crab Louie — nice touch in the martini glasses. Enjoyed the dressing on the crab with the egg.
Bruchetta — usually I pass on these because the bread is filling, but they were perfectly toasted and had an excellent bite.
Clam chowder in mini sourdough bread bowl — Wow, I forgot how much I love clam chowder, especially when it is soaked into the sourdough. I almost ate the whole bowl… almost!
Shrimp cocktails — Now those were some of the biggest shrimp I’ve ever seen. Nice and perfectly cooked.
And to end the night, a nice hot and generous bowl of cioppino, of course! Man, those were some pretty nice portions and mine had plenty of crab, mussels, clam and fish in it. Very taste and the croûton was a nice touch!
The staff were great and the atmosphere was so fun. Lots of old and new elite faces as well which was great. Cheers to Jon and Jessica for another lovely soirée. And thanks to my buddy «Linda Perry» for hanging out with me and the other iconic peeps, like Emperor Norton, the Heart of San Francisco and I think a golden gate bridge? If I ever have visitors coming to town, now I have a good restaurant on the wharf to send them to.
Thanks Unilocal for a great 2012! Looking forward to another Elite year in 2013!!!