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Traveler’s List: Santa Barbara, California

May 3, 2010 in AlikeList features, Local Businesses, Local Locations, Social Media, Travel by LikeList Community | No comments

AlikeList has several examples of creating and sharing lists - for travel, events, storing important places, and planning a day with friends or family. I like to use AlikeList for making a travel list. Here are a few exceptional, local places in Santa Barbara, California followed by a list you can post and share.

Depending on where you go, Santa Barbara can be a mix of elements from the South of France to bits of Hawaii, blended with the vibe of Malibu. Spending a few relaxing days in Santa Barbara or passing through on your way north or south? I found these wonderful local places to go to on AlikeList.com from friends. I was equally lucky to locate a fantastic spot for brunch on the beach (Shoreline beach cafe), shopping, and dinner at Live Culture Lounge from the concierge at Fess Parkers' resort (five stars for helpful!). Try starting the day at Fess Parker's Doubletree resort by the pool after a quick run to their coffee bar. Follow with a bike ride (or roller blade, surrey) along the beach to the Shoreline Beach Cafe for brunch, stopping at the Wharf for fresh fudge and sea shells.

On State Street, you can discover wine tasting at Kalyra, shopping at boutiques on mid-state street, and dinner at Live Culture - a lounge escape of delicious food, art, live music, and friendly faces. Nearby in Montecito, Stella Mare's, shouldn't be missed for traditional French cuisine or cocktails in the evening. Cava offers a South American tapas lounge and and the merriment of live Spanish guitars. On chilly evenings, you can relax by the fireplace or in the outdoor terraza during summer evenings. The Coral Cafe and Bar at The Four Seasons hotel features jazz nights, chocolate martinis, coffee, dessert, and a full menu/bar. It's nestled among the trees along the coast in the beautiful Montecito village.

Have kids? There's a carousel and playground a few steps from the beach (Shoreline Park on Shoreline Drive and La Marina), close to State Street as well as a fun park and playground in a town square park setting called Alameda Park (1400 Santa Barbara Street, near the Mission). Alameda Park features Kids World, an 8,000-sq-ft (743-sq-m) playground with a castle, swings and slides. [inline][/inline] [inline][/inline]

Tags: Beach Travel, Central California, Santa Barbara, Travel

Wine Tasting, Picnics, and Concerts near Saratoga, California

April 26, 2010 in AlikeList features, Events, Local Businesses, Local Locations, Local events, Uncategorized by LikeList Community

Spring is finally warming up - perfect time to cherish a picnic on a sunny afternoon at one of the nearby wineries/concert areas. Listed here are a few local favorites along with a new iPhone wine app from Approach Guides (agwine.com). You can choose wine on location by style, grape variety, region, or food pairing! [inline][/inline] [inline] [/inline]

Creating a Local Favorites List to Go (The Rose Garden in San Jose)

April 20, 2010 in Child Category I, Child Category II, Events, Grandchild Category I, Local Businesses, Local Locations, Local events, Parent Category I, Promotions, Social Media by LikeList Community | 1 comment

Now that you know how to create a LikeList (simply click the Like button by your favorite business), you can customize a 'favorites' list (call it whatever you want to call it), embed it, and take it with you on the go! Below is an example of our embedded list feature.

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Spending a few hours in San Jose? I recommend a peaceful, warm stroll around the Rose Garden neighborhood and historic gardens.

Starting the day at Bill's cafe, you can have an incredible vintage diner style breakfast in a nice round booth. They even have a mini breakfast option! From there, you can take a stroll up the street or drive a few blocks to the Municipal Historic Rose Garden in San Jose. The Rose garden is a public display and grounds park featuring acres of lawn and gorgeous roses - perfect for a picnic or a stroll on a warm day. My cousin Tracy visited me from Michigan and we did a few cartwheels in this park. Well, I tried to do a cartwheel - have you tried to do one recently?

What is the Rose Garden neighborhood? In 1937, John Crummey, the chairman of FMC, subdivided his 25 acre pear orchard into residential lots, establishing the core of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is lined with older, beautiful historic homes, gardens, and they even have a parade every year on The Alameda.

If you have little ones, The Rose Garden library is a wonderful place to take the kids to story time or the large collection of children's books. There is a play area behind the library and it's kitty-corner from the Rose Garden park.

The Egyptian Museum is on the same block. Stroll down to the museum and for lunch, I highly recommend Zanotto's grocery store. It offers indoor and outdoor seating and an incredible selection of picnic style items. Even better, stop at Zanotto's and have a picnic in the Rose Garden!

Voila, you have a well-planned, enjoyable itinerary from the morning until the afternoon - Enjoy your day!

-Dena Lawless, Social Marketing Director

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The AlikeList Staff on AlikeList.com: It Really Does Work!

February 10, 2010 in Local Businesses, Miscellaneous by LikeList Community | No comments

Way back in August ’09 when AlikeList was in it’s toddler phase, co-founder Jim Delli Santi wrote a blog post explaining AlikeList’s mission when it was founded. He lamented that he and the other co-founders always had a hard time finding good local restaurants, doctors, auto mechanics – you name it – online.

All three of us agreed that today’s local offerings were falling short of making life simpler… It’s easy to get overwhelmed with too much information, too many local choices and too many reviews to read from people we don’t know or trust.

We set out to build AlikeList, a place where like-minded individuals and groups of people can share and find trusted local recommendations through word-of-mouth. Just like they do offline, only better because we make these local recommendations searchable, available 24 x 7, and accessible from anywhere.

Now, six months later, the AlikeList staff is finding trusted local businesses through AlikeList almost every day. Since most staff members are friends with each other on alikelist.com, we each have at least 30 AlikeList friends. That creates an incredibly valuable database of recommendations from

Mission Ranch in Carmel, CA

people we actually trust. No more sifting through reviews or random business listings for us! With the constant chaos of a start-up, and the coming and going of off-site employees, we can all truly see and experience the value of AlikeList. Take Jeff, our Director of Business Operations, for example. He was in need of two new mattresses for his growing daughters. He looked on AlikeList and saw that our Director of Social Marketing was a friend of Jim, the manager at Mancini’s Sleepworld in Saratoga, CA and highly recommended the store. So Jeff put it on his TryList, and on the same day went into the store and got a great deal on two top-notch mattresses – for two happy daughters at home. Last weekend, I was heading down to Carmel, CA and on Friday afternoon, realized I didn’t have a clue what to do there. I sent out an Ask to 15 people, asking them to recommend a good place to get a drink. Within an hour, I had 10 responses. One of the best ones said to get a drink at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch, on the back deck, during sunset if possible. That kind of recommendation would have taken me hours of researching online to find – and even then I wouldn’t have trusted it because it would have come from a complete stranger. For the AlikeList staff, it’s really nice to know that whenever we need anything local – a restaurant, chiropractor, auto mechanic – we know exactly where to look. We don’t even have to bother asking one another, which is good because we’re always so busy! (In fact, I should get back to work...)

Tags: AlikeList, Jim Delli Santi, Mancini's, Mission Ranch, Recommendations

Tips for Tips

January 6, 2010 in Local Businesses, Miscellaneous by LikeList Community | No comments

We’re all consumers. On any given day, we might go out for lunch, get the oil checked or buy a friend a birthday gift. We want to know that what we’re spending our money on is worth it (and that’s what AlikeList is for!) But in addition to AlikeList, there are lots of helpful sites out there that can help you make wise decisions when buying products or services, such as: Better Business Bureau (BBB) http://www.bbb.org/ : Find BBB Accredited Businesses, access reports on specific businesses or (knock on wood) file a complaint. Diamond Certified http://diamondcertified.com : Use this site to find only the highest quality contractors and service providers in the SF Bay Area. Consumer Reports http://www.consumerreports.org : Read reviews of consumer products, find deals and promotions for what you’re looking for and stay up-to-date on the newest products. CNET http://reviews.cnet.com/ : When it comes to quality reviews of electronics and software, this is the place to go. You get the editor’s rating and the average user’s rating, too. UrbanSpoon http://www.urbanspoon.com : Like CNET, UrbanSpoon gives your restaurant reviews from “critics, food bloggers and friends,” so you can decide whom to believe! TripAdvisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/ : Before travelling, make sure the expensive resort you’ll be staying at is worth its price. And find some fun things to do while you’re there, too. Now that we’ve given you some helpful tips, give us some! We’re always trying to improve AlikeList to make it more useful for we consumers, and the best way to do that is to communicate! So don’t be shy – let us know what you think at feedback@alikelist.com

Tags: BBB, Consumer Reports, Feedback, Recommendations, Tips

Local First, AlikeList!

November 24, 2009 in Local Businesses by LikeList Community | No comments

Going Green is so “2008.” The cool trend this year was Local First. Local First campaigns encourage citizens to spend their money at locally-owned businesses in order to support their local community. I guess you could say AlikeList is just jumping on the bandwagon, but we started doing it first! Well, that’s an exaggeration, but AlikeList’s mission since its conception in 2006 has been two-fold: To help solve life’s daily problems (like “Oh no! The roof’s leaking!) and to help our favorite local businesses thrive. We know it’s tempting, and often a habit, to run to Walmart to pick up some household items, but it’s much better for your community to head to a locally-owned market first. Why? Because: - It helps your local economy thrive: For every $100 spent at a chain, only $13 remain in the community while $45 remains when spent with a local business.

- Supporting local businesses is good for the environment because it requires less fuel for transportation and packaging. - Local businesses care much more about their community, since that’s where they live. Local business owners are often on community boards that serve important local causes and charities. Non-profits on an average receive 250% more support from local businesses than from non-locally owned ones.

- Local business owners care a lot more about their customers. They often hire people who have a better understanding of their product or service than non-locally owned businesses. Plus, if a local store doesn't carry something you're looking for, they're so eager for your business that that they’ll often accommodate your unique needs.

- Supporting local businesses preserves your local culture. I’m sure you’ve been to cities that are over-run with corporate-owned chain stores. Well the way to avoid that fate for your town is to prevent your local Black Dog Coffee Shop from getting pushed out of business by Starbucks – by spending your money locally! One last thing: with the gift-giving season around the corner you are probably tempted to shop on Amazon.com and other e-retailers because they have huge inventories and can deliver to your house. But again, resist temptation! Many cities have started “Gift local” campaigns to combat e-commerce, and I challenge you to support them!

I got info from these great sites:

Organizations that have “Gift local” campaigns:

http://www.coloradolocalfirst.com/

http://sonomacounty.golocal.coop/holiday/

http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.com/holiday/index.htm

Other Local First sites

http://www.sustainhawaii.org/left-menu/programs

http://sonomacounty.golocal.coop/holiday/

http://www.keepitlocalparsons.com/

http://www.thinklocalfirstdc.com/why-think-local-first/

Tags: Community, Gift local, local business, Local first

Me, The Girl and the Fig

September 8, 2009 in Local Businesses by Rob | No comments

Last night I stopped by the girl & the fig, one of the most popular Sonoma restaurants according to AlikeList members, for a drink and to say hi to a couple of great bartenders, Fred and Mark.Fred, pictured left, made me the best gin & tonic I think I’ve ever had. I know he used Bombay Sapphire gin but what else he did is a mystery as it had all of the tropical flavor that Bombay is known for but was so much smoother than usual and had just a hint of sweetness. It was hard not to order another!

Bartenders Fred and Mark, mid-martini-shake

While there I bumped into Jerry, a local acquaintance whose wife was traveling so he was sitting at the bar eating a delicious looking Flounder with capers and French country-style butter sauce. He ordered and extra fork and treated me to bites of the best fish I’ve tasted in a restaurant in eons. I know what I’ll be ordering on my next visit. The “Fig” just celebrated their 12th anniversary and generously donated 5% of their sales to a different local charity for each of 12 days ending last week —and raised over $8,000! Between the wonderful characters who work there, the awesome drinks and food they serve and community support the whole organization provides how could you not want to be a regular? I’ve been enjoying their hospitality since 1999. Don’t miss the Girl & the Fig on your next visit to Sonoma –or if you’re looking for something more Italian, try their sister restaurant Estate which is just a few blocks away.

Tags: Girl and the Fig, restaurants, Sonoma