Yelp Community Blog

Yelpers Play Games - Portland Open Party 2008!

Yelp's bringing geeky back - and Tron will never be the same.

On Wednesday night, yelpers from across the country (or yeeps, as the P-town folk like to say) laced up their Pumas, adjusted terrycloth wristbands, assumed their stances, and immersed themselves in two solid hours of old school gaming at Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade.

An array of New Deal Vodka cocktails were expertly mixed and poured by lovely bartenders from Dante's, and they went down easy thanks to a generous supply of Hot Lips Pizza. Most importantly, there were enough pretzels, red vines, M&Ms, and pub-mix to fuel an entire evening of game playing, which yelpers Liz T and Trishawna Q put to good use!

From classics like Tron and Tetris to Paperboy and Street Fighter...from pinball all the way up to Dance Dance Revolution, yelpers like Lauren G and Weston S seriously got their old-skool game on. New and prolific yelper Katie W took home the coveted DDR-Champion Pimp Hat, beating out the mad skills of Elite yelper Gabe C in a true dance dance revolution.

As if the gaming entertainment weren't enough, yelper Don B (known to the adoring public as DJ RNA) mixed mood enhancing beats all night, which Chrissy S professed "rocked her socks hardcore." The event was masterfully captured by yelper Andrew C, who uploaded the proof of all of the geeky gaming, red vine strawing and overall open-party goodness HERE!

Thanks to the 200+ old, new, and future yelpers who made this a truly yelp-worthy affair!

Until next time, SYOY!

Laura N
"the street fighter"

Yelpin' in Bollyhood

Things were hopping at Bollyhood Cafe as yelpers showed up in full force for the first SF Yelp Elite Event of 2008. The intimate turnout of 250 newbie and veteran Yelp Elite gathered to celebrate the soft opening of the newest restaurant from the folks behind Baobab and Little Baobab.

Throughout the evening baby samosas, lamb kabob and other bites were passed around while the Red Stripe girls handed out hordes of Red Stripe to thirsty yelpers like Suzanne A and Veronica D. Non-beer drinkers enjoyed Bollyhood's own special sweet sangria.

As if the food and drinks weren't enough to keep yelpers amused than, there was also the Bhangra-inspired entertainment:  Bollywood movies played in the background while the DJ/co-owner Giamma C spun belly-shaking beats that had yelpers "double-parking on the dance floor." The event was so hot that Seong P's glasses fogged up as soon as she walked into the party.  This can only mean good things to come in '08.

NPR radio station KQED covered the event and interviewed a handful of yelpers including Stephanie W and Don H. As always the night was digitally captured by yelpers cum photographers Mitch A and Jason K.  At the end of the night, everyone left anxiously awaiting the grand opening of Bollyhood.

                                                                              

                                                                         

LA Yelp Sends Stephy S to SF in Style!

The first official LA Elite event of the new year was bittersweet but by gawd it was sexy! The 'Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Yelp on Your Way Out!' party hosted at the new Downtown LA hotspot, the Bordello Bar served two purposes: The first was to bring the new 2008 LA Yelp Elite Squad together to mix and mingle. The second reason was to bid farewell to the one and only Stephy S before she departs the great City of Angels (and her favorite yelpers) for Yelp HQ in San Francisco.

Damrak gin provided the drinks for the two hour Elite Happy Hour which included the Dam Mahoney, Dam Gimlet and the Dam Cosmo AKA the "Stephytini". Everyone enjoyed the scantily clad 'San Fransisco or Bust!' cake provided by Cake & Art in West Hollywood. Thanks to the lovely Ms. Dawson S for the amazing suggestion, the 'Useful', 'Funny' and 'Cool' cupcakes were a big hit!

Because Stephy couldn't bear to leave her beloved Hoff behind we decided to place the all-important decision of who the next LA Yelp mascot would be in the hands of the people. After tallying the ballots from the night of the party, by a landslide vote the new mascot is none other than...da da da da dummmmmmm....

WILLIAM SHATNER!!!!!

Thanks to the 300+ yelpers who made the trek (every pun intended) downtown to wish our girl well, Stephy was overwhelmed with the love and support from all of you. And a special thanks to all of our shutterbugs, Beth T, Corazon R, Dawson S, Tim  C, Beer M, and of course, Joan S for capturing the night on film. For the rest of the blackmail from Friday night's shindig, click here!

Until next time...but in the meantime SYOY,

~Aunny D
Your LA Mayor of Misbehavior                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Washington, D.C. backs YELP '08!

The District’s yelpers headed to Eleventh Street Lounge for YELP ’08, a lively kick-off to the New Year.

Guests at the saavy soiree enjoyed signature yelpy cocktails, provided by ABSOLUT 100 and Level vodka. They also noshed on Eleventh Street favorites like deep fried deviled eggs, duck spring rolls and Carolina BBQ sliders.

The Elite group including Kathleen M, Julie H, Kevin L, Jim B and Chloe F, mixed and mingled as DJ Pat Premier kept the venue supplied with sumptuous sounds.

At the end of the night guests went home with reusable Yelp totes crammed with fun giveaways from Honest Tea, GlobalGiving, Allied Advertising, Paper Source in Georgetown and others.

 

Yelp Elite Paints the Silicon Valley Red!

New year, new restaurant, new Silicon Valley Elite Squad!

Last night, over 200 Elite yelpers and their guests from all over the Silicon Valley painted the town red at 2-month new Red Lantern in Redwood City. Yes, many were like Linda M. who came decked out in red, but everyone was sizzling hot!

A line for the amazing 10-dish Southeast Asian buffet snaked through the beautiful feng-shui space, but guests weren't left empty-handed while waiting. Bubbly Krissy S. had a flute of Mumm Napa champagne and Ron S. enjoyed the Tiger Beer that was being passed out, and glasses of red, white and rose wine were within arms' reach. The wonderful staff came around to our hungry guests (the food smelled so good) with Singaporean lamb puffs, veggie lumpia, crispy tofu and Penang chicken satay as a teaser for what was to come.

Once they made it through the buffet and their glasses were filled with yelpy cocktails with names like Light, Breezy & Yelpy and The Cambodian Yelp (one of Donna P.'s favorites of the evening), guests mingled about on two floors, meeting old friends and making new ones. Hospitable Owner Jeffrey San Diego and General Manager Dan Burns had a great time chatting with everyone. Many thanks to them, the fabulous staff and also to DJ Mon Maramba who spun house beats throughout the night. After some room was made  on the main floor, many guests, including Lily R., got their groove on.

Mr. Winkle was the "life" of the party, and managed to be the most photographed yelper of the entire night! For the Silicon Valley Elite Squad, 2008 is off to a yelptastic start!

SYOY! Connie C.

SD Yelp Gets "Screwy" at 'Canes Bar & Grill!

With 2008 well on it's way, how many of us can actually say we're going to stick to our New Year's Resolutions?  Yeah, that's what we thought!  So on Friday, January 11th, San Diego Yelp celebrated the 1st Annual SD Yelp Holiday Party and "Screwed Our New Year's Resolutions" together at 'Canes Bar & Grill!

The night began innocently enough, with tasty delights in abundance.  Both the carne asada taco bar and Chuao Chocolate Tasting Station were being ravaged by hungry Elites. The Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale was free flowing during the Elite Pre-party and Andrew G sure took advantage of it as he boasted he was able to down over 10 Red Trolley beers in under an hour!

We would also be remiss not to send a HUGE shout out to a bunch of peeps who made this event truly extra special...'Canes for providing us with an awesome venue; Honeyhoney for a truly incredible performance; DJ Demon for helping us all get our groove on; Karl Strauss for the Red Trolley love; Brooke F. and Chuao Chocolatier for tempting our sweet tooth with their sampling and for the super SWEET raffle prize! And can we talk about the rest of the raffle prizes for a moment??? Big props to Salon Savvy for offering up an amazing massage and facial; Disconnected Salon for giving us a Yelp-over; Viejas for the Wallflowers party packs; The W Hotel for a decadent one night stay and of course, House of Blues for stoking us out with all the amazing concert tickets for the Grand Prize! (Michelle M. won tickets to 14 shows in all! Talk about being spoiled!)

As awesome as the raffle prizes, band and DJ may have been, the true stars of the night were all the Yelpers in attendance.  Tony "Dancer" N. was in effect on the dancefloor as well as Richard C. who said he "even danced like a white guy for a bit" and Jae L. who danced so much he "got cramps."

Christy R., Matthew V., Anthony P. and Ethan H. impressed us with their "spoken review" talents. And CrAzY Ryan V. made Meg M. cry when he got up on stage and presented her with the community's "Thank you" gift, a custom-made Guitar Hero game controller!  SCHAWING! Party on Meg!

The buzz on the party was so big, Yelpers from all over were in attendance! LA Yelp was in the house with Stephy S., Aunny D., Tim C., Christine L., Shauna D. and Ericka L. dancing the night away. SF Yelp as represented by Brad P., Margot B. and Roger B. Even Gabi K. came all the way out from Phoenix to share the love! And from what we can tell from the reviews so far, there was a LOT of love in the room that night....

Until next time, SYOY!
xo,
Meg M. 

 

 

Lift-off? Austin, More Like Blast-Off!

If you've ever wondered what exactly happens when you shoehorn 270 Austin yelpers into a cool downtown room, ply them with Dripping Springs Vodka, Steamworks Brew and massages from Milk + Honey, well, do we have an answer for you.  It was Yelp Austin's 2008 Lift-off Party, and this was, in a word...epic!

It was an evening we'll never forget but can scarcely remember, and you don't have to be the Lorenzo Lamas cardboard cutout (as Jessica S. referenced him:  Lorenzo L.) to know no one but no one was one-dimensional this night.  We were grooving double time to the smoove tracks DJ F***'in A was waxing majestic, toasting each other and basking in all the good cheer that 2008 is sure to bring.  We were joined by a special convoy of Houston Yelpers, scads of new hip yelpers, and busy cooking up one of the best scenes Austin has seen in many moons.

And wouldn't you know it, 2008 rawks!

Project Yelpway

Real People, Real Reviews, Real Fashion….

On January 10th the Yelp Elite Squad kicked off 2008 with the Yelp Fashion Show at Newberry Library. While the models were getting their hair and makeup done by Blo Salon and Day Spa, 300 yelpers devoured tasty hors d’oeuvres, compliments of Simply Elegant Catering, and wine from Night Harvest.  In the house we had the lovely Caroline A, the fabulous Jennifer L, and Brandon B making an appearance at his first elite event!

And then it was show time! Who needs real models when you’ve got 10 volunteers from Chicago Yelp Elite Squad? Misse D started the show by strutting her yelpiness down the runway in an adorable blue dress from SHE Boutique and the other Yelp models weren’t far behind, including Stacey A looking pretty sassy in a black dress from Pivot Boutique and the slick Vamsi V in a jacket and jeans from The Denim Lounge. And our very own Yelp Queen, Andy F, brought up the rear in a custom made shirt from Strange Cargo. The audience, including Rocky B and new elite Crister C, yelped with delight as they cheered on their fellow yelpers.

Other highlights include birthday gal, Michelle R, winning free training sessions with personal trainer, Rob L, who was nice to flex his muscles on stage for us. To  view pictures of the event, click here.

There’s more fun in store for 2008 so keep checking the Yelp Elite calendar.

Until then, we’ll SYOY!

Andrea

Your Yelp Community Manag er

Seattle Yelpers at Dish D'lish!

It was a dark and stormy night but that didn't stop Yelpers from traipsing up and down Ballard Avenue to get a little last minute shopping done. How were they able to steel themselves against the cold? With cocktails of course, oh but these weren't just any old cocktails. They were sparkeltinis and made-from-scratch hot buttered rums from Kathy Casey's Dish D'lish!

Kathy herself was on hand to sign cook books and even acted as bar tender! After eating some of her amazing appetizers I have to wonder - is there anything this woman can't do? A simply amazing party that was only enhanced by shopping!

Along the way Yelpers were treated to festive red and green Jello Shots at many of the neighborhoods best shops including Vain Hair Salon where Yelpers also got party hair do make-overs, Olivine, Collective, Damsalfly, Camelion Designs, Raw Threads Boutique, 20 Twenty, and Re-Soul.

After all this merriment you would think everyone would be tired and headed home, but no, in true Yelp Elite form, the strong could be found at after hours parties at many of the neighborhood bars - as seen in Ron M's Photos, but not in Yelp's censored version of the Photos.

Until the next elite event. SYOY! Michelle B