I'll send a quick email out to the Somervillista mailing list.

I bow to Frank's South End recs.

I can't do Friday. Sorry, P-C.

Aw! That's too bad.

I'll send a quick email out to the Somervillista mailing list.

Oh, thanks! Aren't Nutty and Victor in the area too?

Victor should see the email sent to the mailing list- he'd been communicating on it the last couple weeks for JenK's farewell thing. He and Lea are in Worcester, which is a hike, but if the stars align, within the realm of possibility.

Nutty sightings have been very rare as of late, I'd say the last year or so. So, I don't know about that.

OK, the big problem with the South End (at least from my perspective), apart from the fact that everywhere will be crowded on a Friday, is that most of the places I've been to there are high-end.

One of the few that isn't, that I've been to is Coda: [link]

The biggest possible issue there is that's it's not terribly large. Also, I'm not sure the menu has enough for everyone that may be in the group, given individuals food necessities and preferences.

A few other not-so-high-end places that I've read positive reviews of, but haven't gotten around to yet are:

Pops (eclectic): [link]

Orinoco (Venezualan): [link]

Pho Republique (Vietnamese): [link]

Also, this place just got reviewed positively in both the Globe and the Phoenix (there official web site is still under construction) Teranga (Sudanese): [link]

ETA: it looks like there's something wrong with the Phoenix web site right now; hopefully the link will work later.

We could also find a place to meet up and then wander around - the resturants in the South End tend to be clustered in little (or not so little) groups.

Here's a map of the general area: [link]

I'll ALWAYS put in a vote for the Ethiopian restaurant in Central Square, Asmara, even better because they're right across the street from Rodneys Bookstore (used nirvana) and Pandemonium (SF books) both of which are open late on Fridays.

Orinoco and Teranga look interesting and good! Especially the latter. I've never been to an African restaurant. There is an Ethiopian place in Oakland that I should go to sometime, but I've never seen a Senegalese place before.

The South End is walking distance from the Back Bay, which is good. I don't really know where I'm going to be in the afternoon, but I ought to be able to get there.

I'll ALWAYS put in a vote for the Ethiopian restaurant in Central Square, Asmara, even better because they're right across the street from Rodneys Bookstore (used nirvana) and Pandemonium (SF books) both of which are open late on Fridays.

Oh, that reminds me, there's also an Ethiopian restaurant in the South End - Addis Red Sea (who also have a location in Porter Square in Cambridge): [link]

Never been there either.

Orinoco and Teranga look interesting and good!

Teranga looked really interesting to me, too. I've been dying to go to Orinoco for a while now, but I've heard the waits can be hellacious (and w/out much of a bar to offset the wait).

ooh, i wouldn't mind going to the place in Central.

we don't need to go to South End, I just always have fun there. Usually when I go to the Beehive (which is pretty large-2 floors- if we get there early enough we should be able to get a table without much drama). They also have an awesome grilled cheese and shortrib sandwich.

So I vote for Asmara, the Beehive, or Terenga.

Ooh, I'd definitely go for the Beehive. But any of the three are OK. Lord knows there's plenty of food in Central Square if we need to reconsider.

What's everybody's timetable? I get out between 4 and 4:30 usually, depending on what time I get in on Friday.