San Francisco, CA
San Francisco buzzing with last minute shopping, dining on Thanksgiving Eve
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Walking around the streets of San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood Wednesday night, the pre-Thanksgiving energy is palpable.
“It’s a fantastic vibe. It’s a nice place to be. It’s just fun. Everywhere we’ve been has been fun and positive and enjoyable,” said Florence Thisquen.
At Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, dozens of people kicked off their long weekend with good food and a few drinks.
“We’ve been to a local bar, a couple of local bars actually, Chinatown and then we ended up here,” said Dina South.
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All around the city, the atmosphere is very much alive. And many local businesses tell us they’re expecting booming turnout this holiday weekend.
At Tony’s, the staff says they’re expecting to serve as many as 1,500 people a night between Friday and Sunday.
“Because everyone is out of school and taking vacation, usually we get a lot of people here in the city to come visit the downtown, see the decorations,” said Tony’s general manager, Rebecca Scaramuzzino.
And it’s not just the food that people are preparing for.
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At the Sports Basement near the Presidio, several people were buying winter gear.
That included Richard Fullerton who says his family might head to the mountains this weekend.
“Usually just before Thanksgiving I would say we sort of round out, see what we need, you know did we lose some gloves last year, one of the kids outgrew his or her boots,” he said.
Before hitting the slopes though, some people were busy buying last minute Thanksgiving essentials at Safeway.
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Steve Carroll tells us he and his wife are getting ready to host a feast for 22 people.
“Mostly family, mostly family. We have friends in town from Chicago, and a cousin from Marin, a brother from the East Bay and a sister from the Peninsula,” Carroll said.
And while not every gathering will be that large, if you still have items to buy, some shoppers recommend doing it sooner rather than later.
“It was definitely crazy in there. You could definitely feel the energy of the holidays in there,” said Victoria Mooradian.
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The offseason has started for the San Francisco Giants, as they are going to be trying to improve and snap their playoff drought.
It has been a tough couple of seasons for the Giants, and they are hoping that new leadership at the top will help result in some positive changes. Landing the superstars in free agency has been a struggle for San Francisco, as they have missed out on players like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in recent years.
With Buster Posey in charge now, the hope is that he will be able to convince some of the elite players to come to the Giants. While San Francisco will be looking to add some talent, preferably in the lineup, they did have one of the free agent signings from last offseason opt out in Blake Snell.
The southpaw signed just before the start of the season, and it really impacted his effectiveness on the mound at the start of the campaign. However, he really turned it around in the second half of the season and decided to opt out and test free agency once again this offseason.
Snell is likely going to receive the big contract that he desired last offseason, as his new deal should be north of $100 million. Even though he had a good second half of the season with the Giants, it doesn’t appear like he is going to be returning to San Francisco.
Recently, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report named the Boston Red Sox as the ideal landing spot for the southpaw.
“The Red Sox need an ace. The Red Sox also have an aversion to doing long-term deals in free agency. The fit with Snell is good just from these perspectives, and it doesn’t hurt that he also has a track record of success in the AL East.”
The Red Sox are certainly going to be a team in the mix for one of the best pitchers on the market, as they have a clear need for an ace. Snell is familiar with the American League East from his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, as he had some very successful seasons there.
With the division being really competitive, Boston knows what they need to spend in order to compete, and Snell makes a lot of sense for them.
For the Giants, while their left-hander did well for them in the second half, the money that it would cost to keep him would likely be better allocated to their lineup.
Three women are taking their love of actor Dev Patel and turning it into a contest.
The friends are organizing a Dev Patel look-alike contest in San Francisco on Nov. 10 at the Miguel Hidalgo Statue in Dolores Park.
They got the idea after a similar event was held in New York City for Timothee Chalamet. That event drew thousands of people, including the star himself.
The organizers of the San Francisco event say they don’t expect Patel to show up, but they are expecting to meet some of his doppelgangers.
“I feel like everyone has met someone, that even remotely looks like Dev Patel or kind of has the same facial features, structure,” organizer Tasnim Khandakar said. “So, I also felt like there is also a lot of diversity here in San Francisco Bay Area. So, it feels like a kind of a good way to celebrate the actor and the people who live here.”
The women say they created the event, expecting a small gathering. But, now more than 140 people have RSVP’d.
“We’re ready for it, we’re prepared for it, we’re excited,” organizer Sitara Bellam said.
The winner of the contest will get $50, presented on a large check and a “Monkey Man” statue.
“I think we’re looking for someone who is really passionate about this too. I don’t think you have to look exactly like Dev Patel,” Khandakar said.
Bellam added: “It’s got to be like a guy that’s written by women, that vibe. You know, the ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Mr. Darcy’ vibe. I feel like that’s the Dev Patel energy.”
The contest starts at 1 p.m.
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