Today during the BerkeleyLUG discussion, we were pondering the possibility of resumed BALUG dinners at (some) Henry's Hunan restaurant. Answer: maybe. It's complicated. And the situation is fluid.
_Probably_ yes, at the Excelsior District Henry's.
Yesterday, CABAL had what might well be the first in-person LUG meeting since Before Times (at least, outside of New Zealand):
http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2021-April/011579.html http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2021-May/011587.html http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/conspire/2021-May/011595.html
(By the way, I just identified the fault in my external speakers that impaired the meeting's "hybrid" nature: I just need to buy a replacement 3.5mm stereo mini M/M patch cable. The existing one has an intermittent wire.)
Getting back to Henry's (a set of independently owned + operated Hunan-style restaurants), the main problem is figuring out which of the four locations, if any, has reopened for indoor dinner dining.
1 of 4: Henry's Hunan Restaurant 110 Natoma nr. 2nd St (inner SoMa district near SF MOMA -- trad. BALUG venue) San Francisco https://www.google.com/maps/place/110+Natoma+St,+San+Francisco,+CA+94105/@37... https://www.yelp.com/biz/henry-s-hunan-restaurant-san-francisco https://www.hhunan.com/ https://www.facebook.com/HenrysHunanNatoma/ (415) 546-4999 Google Maps claims no-contact delivery + delivery + takeout
2 of 4: Henry's Hunan Restaurant 1016 Bryant St nr. 8th St (outer SoMa district west of Mission Bay) San Francisco https://www.google.com/maps/place/Henry%27s+Hunan/@37.7722532,-122.4075852,1... https://www.yelp.com/biz/henrys-hunan-san-francisco-4 (415) 527-6999 Google Maps claims takeout + delivery
3 of 4: Henry's Hunan Restaurant 4753 Mission nr. Ocean Ave. (Excelsior district) San Francisco https://www.yelp.com/biz/henrys-hunan-restaurant-san-francisco-6 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Henry%27s+Hunan+Restaurant/@37.722137,-122... (415) 585-8838 Google Maps claims _DINE-IN_ + takeout + delivery
4 of 4: Henry's Hunan Restaurant 1708 Church nr. 29th St (upper Noe Valley district) San Francisco https://www.yelp.com/biz/henrys-hunan-restaurant-san-francisco-9 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Henry%27s+Hunan/@37.7428546,-122.4266541,1... (415) 826-9189 Google Maps claims takeout + delivery
(The former Henry's Hunan at 1398 Grant Ave., Chinatown district is gone, ditto the original Henry's Hunan at 924 Sansome nr. Vallejo, Chinatown/North Beach districts.)
Problem: Our consensus is that Internet information about the operating status of this and other restaurants is mostly outdated and unreliable, but Google Maps's data seems overall best. BALUG planning should logically include telephoning any candidate venue during business hours and confirming in-person dining. That caveat having been noted, it _looks_ as if BALUG could resume in-person dining at the 4753 Mission (Excelsior district) Henry's Hunan.
That location is about a 3/4 mile walk from BART's Balboa Park station, and served by Muni's 14 Mission and 49 Van Ness / Mission bus lines.
I have never been to that Henry's, so cannot vouch for anything about it.
(I hope this research-ifying proves useful.)