Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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So, every year we've had a PaizoCon, it has been a tradition to hold a dinner event that we call the "Meet and Eat" the Thursday night before PaizoCon on Friday.
For the first PaizoCon, we held it at Todai Sushi/Asian Buffet, in the Redmond Town Center (that is gone, but a nearly identical restaurant called Haiku is there now). We had maybe 20 people.
For the 2nd-4th PaizoCon in Bellevue, we have held the Meet and Eat at the Crab Pot in Bellevue. This event went from 50 to 130 people attending in that time.
Now, for this, the 5th PaizoCon, we are in Redmond. Not only that, we are in the Redmond Town Center. Lots of places to eat. But not many can handle a 100+ person event.
Here are my top two suggestions at this time, both very close to the hotel:
Haiku Sushi Buffet. This would be sort of a "homecoming" for me, as this was the same space we held the 1st Meet and Eat. Price is $25+drink cost. All you can eat sushi, seafood, Asian cuisine. Private party space only holds 60 people, though. So any people in excess of that would need to get a table outside of the party room. I am inquiring about the availability of the party room, and whether we could take over the tables in the area of the room as well.
Claimjumper. I just went to dinner here tonight. The menu is VAST. They have a pretty large area that could accommodate 100+ people. They have a happy hour from 3:00pm - 7:00pm in their saloon area, so a great way to hang out and gather before we go get seated at 6:30 or 7 PM.
Again, these are my initial choices. I have no confirmation of availability for July 5th.
I would like to hear from all of you that are coming to PaizoCon 2012, and are planning on attending the Meet and Eat. What sounds good to you? (keep in mind, I can only pick ONE)
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Both sound good, though Haiku may be too small; I don't expect the Meet & Eat to get SMALLER, and we're already double the size of the party room. Then again, we didn't really have a private party room at the Crab Pot either, so maybe it's no big deal to just bogart the whole joint (figuratively speaking, of course).
Either way, count me in, probably +1 with the missus.
Much like you Tim, Haiku would be a homecoming since that's where the first Meet & Eat was held (albeit under a different restaurant name).
I'll be there Thursday and really dig the idea.
No preference here, both sound groovy.
Count this as one more for Claim Jumper. Having been there before, I will attest that it's good food at an okay price.
Claimjumper would suit our tastes far better, but then we never went for the food. I believe in the power of nostalgia though, so I'd understand if it went the other way.
I'd vote Claimjumper for the space aspect.
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Claimjumpers is kind of an institution. Not only is the menu vast, but the portions are vast as well. They are not known for skimping out and the food is pretty decent.
Haiku has the chance to be more interesting, and seafood is something we kind of do well out here, but while haiku hits the nose on about half their menu, the other half(including most of the sushi) is just kind of mediocre. I never knew I could get that full on mostly crab legs and butter though and it's totally worth the price of admission, which is another aspect. You'd know exactly how much it was going to be per person walking into the establishment. That said, Haiku might not accommodate those who don't like seafood or those that just want to have a beer and make friends before the start of everything.
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I should clarify that the two suggestions above are really more for the "eat" than the "meet." Neither is very large. El Toreador can accommodate only a party of maybe 16-20 seated together. But still definitely a place worth checking out for anyone in favor of (or undecided on) Mexican food :)
There is usually a seperate where to eat thread at paizocon thread. Actually, I'd highly suggest starting a new one, since the old one is more bellevue than redmond. =) This particular thread is about the meet and eat event that usually happens thursday before paizocon. Last year, there was a terribly big crowd for it.
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Claim Jumper's got a gluten-free menu, and I'm not uber-keen on seafood (though, oddly, I like sushi), so I'm leaning towards that one. But my vote is contingent on the lady and I showing up early this year, which we didn't do last year.
As long as both of them let me buy liquor, though, I can work with that. :P
Is the Meet-and-Greet on Thursday Night?
Yes!
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Crab Pot or Claim Jumpers are both winners in my book. Claim Jumpers has seriously the LARGEST chocolate cake and portion sizes I have seen at a restaurant.
Crab Pot has some yummy Dungeness Crab! or....
We've got Crablegs!
Sea Galley
We've Got Crablegs!
Sea Galley
We've Got Crablegs!
Sea Galley
We've got KING
KING!
SNOW!
SNOW!
Dungeness Too!
If you are a PacNW you know that jingle....
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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I know it! But, there were THREE crab leg guys, singing 3-part harmony:
"We've got King, KING, KING, Snow, SNOW, SNOW, DUNGENESS TOO!"
Then they repeated the "We've got crab legs... AT SEA GALLEY" twice more, then "get your crab legs... AT SEA GALLEY" and wound up with, "So come geeeeeeeeettttt youuurrrrrrr crab leeeeeeeeegggggs... TONIGHT!"
Oh I loved that ad as a kid. Complete silliness. And thanks to the magic of the internet, you can watch it right here!
P.S. Thanks for the memories!
I know me and several others will be coming in from Spokane Thursday so either one sounds good. Hope we can settle on one soon :)
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Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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So, made a call to Claimjumper this morning.
They do NOT have banquet seating. The most they can manage is ONE table of 25-30 people, and then tables of 8-10 people, scattered throughout the restaurant. And the bar area (the Saloon) holds maybe 40-50.
So, in order to do Claimjumper, we have to accept that we won't be sitting together in one area. We'll have to go in, meet in the Saloon, and then group up with each other to form a table group to be seated.
I haven't made the call to Haiku (it seemed to be the less popular option), but the best we can do there is the banquet room of 60 people, with the rest out in the restaurant, as well.
So, sort of the same result for either restaurant....although Claimjumper has noted that PaizoCon is happening July 6-8, and the manager has marked down July 5th as a potentially heavy evening for us.
Thoughts?
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I suppose that the most important requirements would be total capacity of the restaurant and the ability to mingle from table to table - like at the Crab Pot.
One reason I liked the meet & eat was that "normal" people could meet and hang with Paizo/3PP people. Having separate rooms will encourage cliques. The more open the area between the groups, the better.
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Last Meet and Eat there was some 4-5 long tables that had 16 people per table. This time we might have 1 1/2 to 2 tables for that space and this PaizoCon thing continues to grow? We need more space not less than half.
Perfectly willing to commute to somewhere that can handle a larger capacity.
Just the locales and people with cars would make an offsite location of last year filled.
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Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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It's gotta be within walking distance, really. Lots of folks are flying in and don't have a car. Walking to the restaurant is the best option, here.
Also, we are a month out from the Meet and Eat. Stuff like this needs reservations at least 4-6 months in advance. You can't just call up a place and say, "I've got 150 people for an event in your place in a couple of weeks. That OK?"
For the ClaimJumper, 40 or 50 of us can hang in the Saloon, and as people come in, and get hungry, they can go get a table and eat together. And then come back out to the saloon and hang some more.
It might be necessary, however, to split the party (GASP)!
Some can go to Claimjumper, and some of us go to Haiku.
No easy answers here, unfortunately.....
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I'm fine with ClamHumper even if it won't be perfect seating. What could work instead is finding a good way to identify each other somehow so can minglify on our own.
Yeah, last year's name tags worked fine...or that with something else in addition to help us self-identify might work as well.
We're a community, I don't think we necessarily need to be in the exact same spot to mingle. We just need to be able to recognize each other.
It's too bad that not enough of us can cast Arcane Mark, cuz that would work well.
If they have food, I will be satisfied.
Oh yeah, I'm totally with you on the food part. Definitely a favorite part of mine.
Also, we are a month out from the Meet and Eat. Stuff like this needs reservations at least 4-6 months in advance. You can't just call up a place and say, "I've got 150 people for an event in your place in a couple of weeks. That OK?"
For the ClaimJumper, 40 or 50 of us can hang in the Saloon, and as people come in, and get hungry, they can go get a table and eat together. And then come back out to the saloon and hang some more.
Sounds like we need to "jump" on it as soon as possible then. Maybe they'll be better solutions in years to come, but for now I think we need to grab what we can.
As I will be "meeting" more than "eating," I am fine with either place. Can't wait to see everyone!
Time to sign up on this! Unless the kobold-in-chief decides otherwise...
I'd go for Claimjumper
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I'm liking Claimjumper ... mostly for the menu. Haiku seems great to me, as I love asian food, but, I recognize that not everyone does. That way there's less liklihood of someone having a poor meal.
I'm coming in on Wednesday, so, I will be there a day and a half early, but, as Timitius said, it's an issue of being within walking distance. I'm not bringing a car in from Texas with me. i'm sure the "locals and people with cars" wasn't meant to exclude anyone, but, I would really appreciate it being nearby to the Con.
I like the claimjumper menu myself mostly as I'm not big on sushi.
