I vote for Ananda Fuara. I'm all for hedonistic intoxication, but we
do already have a monthly social built around drinking (Drinking
Freely), plus periodic Liberty on the Rocks socials and not
infrequently other events with alcohol. Ananda Fuara is not only
closer and has better food that will help Libertarians live longer
with fewer health problems and thus represents a long-term investment
in our local activist community, but is on the way home for me and
others using the Market Street corridor (as opposed to CPK which is in
the opposite direction from the library). Ananda Fuara also offers a
10% discount to SF Vegetarian Society members, so either Michael or I
could get us this discount if we order on one check.
However, I am willing to discreetly smuggle a flask into the library
and help anyone who wants to get drunk prior to the social, and/or
help win the Drug War by working with you to change the "facts on the
ground" (i.e. smoke a bowl of cannabis on the street with you) if
alcohol is not your drug of choice. 
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Is the Libertarian Drinking Freely still alive? I thought I heard that Rachel was too busy with a new job, and had abandoned the effort.
Marcy
You're correct, Marcy. We haven't had a Drinking Freely in nearly a year,
except for the one that Sheila Dean organized a few months ago on behalf of
Phil's campaign, and she and I were the only two people to show up. The
lack of attendance is why we've stopped having them. (The last one I hosted
in 2009, I sat there by myself for over an hour, and then Mike Denny was
kind enough to show up for a while near the end.) Also, I believe all of
the Liberty on the Rocks events have been East Bay or South Bay -- none in
San Francisco this year. So, I'd say we don't currently have anything built
around drinking, even infrequently, in 2010.
But even though alcohol is my "drug of choice" to use Starchild's phrase, I
was using it as a means to an end. If an all-vegetarian menu is a bigger
draw for LP social events than the availability of alcohol, then I'm
certainly a fan of all-vegetarian menus at LP social events. It's just been
my experience from past pizza-parlor meetings that the carnivores and
omnivores are turned off when we insist on vegetarian-only fare, which is
why I'm skeptical that the all-vegetarian menu will be a bigger draw than
the availability of alcohol. Remember the great vegan-pizza debate of
2007?
How about waiting until 5pm Saturday, see who's willing to go to a social
afterward at all, and poll them as to where they want to go? (In fact the
statement on the lpsf.org/meetings.html page for the past year has been that
social attendees should show up a little before 5 at the meeting and help us
decide where to socialize.) I'm married to a flexitarian and have
accidentally become a de-facto pescatarian at home, so I personally like
Ananda Fuara. I just worry that it's similar to my liking dim sum -- my
personal opinion is not easily transferable to the majority of potential
attendees.
My goal was to use the after-meeting social as a Drinking Freely, but if
everyone prefers Ananda Fuara, I'll go where the crowd wants to go. I just
have a bad feeling that people are "voting" and then won't actually show
up. We had the same problem with Drinking Freely / the Meetup group.
People were insistent about time and location (move it to a safer
neighborhood than Post & Polk, make it later so people can drive up from
jobs in the south, etc.), so we accommodated them, and then they still were
no-shows.
Rob
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the update on the Drinking Freely situation. I am wondering if the challenge might be what I encountered when I was on the Board of Friends of Brazil Club. Folks have very short attention spans, and require new input constantly. So, if something is successful once, it stops being successful after a couple more times. So, at FBC, we spent a lot of time brainstorming on what would be *new*. Maybe we all need to do the same.
The all-vegan socials debate is a non-starter, since the majority of us are not vegan, nor wish to be. It would be nice to go places where vegan dishes are offered, along with meat, to accommodate the vegans in the group, but that would be the extent of my suggestion. Same with the wine/beer; it would be nice to accommodate those who like a glass or wine/beer with their dinner. However, the reason I believe I voted for Ananda was because it was nearby; it seemed tacky to me to invite someone to a social, then make them walk four blocks! Those are my two-cents, since I do not attend socials, unless there is some special situation going on.
Marcy
I agree with Rob.
Polling at 5 PM to select the social hour location seems most reasonable.
Warm regards, Michael