You don't have to live in the Silicon Valley long to overhear someone either talking about the food (Chinese Chicken Salad, Tao Tao Beef and Won Ton Soup) or the drinks (Mai Tai) served up by the folks at Tao Tao Cafe, a Sunnyvale landmark since it first opened ion 1951.   Upon arrival on this brisk fall evening, my Finnish guest and I were able to score one of the dozen on-street parking spots along South Murphy in the one block party district that is downtown Sunnyvale.  I almost past Tao Tao's up since I did not realize they had recently remodeled the place...and what a remodel they did!  What once was a solid wall facing the outside was now a huge wall of windows (note to the folks at Tao Tao: put a more noticeable sign out front).  The Tao Tao I remembered was dimly lit with mahogany paneled walls and intricate screens with the bar in the back and dining area up front.  Now, the bar was in front with light colored hardwood floors, recessed lighting and brushed stainless steel tables.  It was like a whole new restaurant and bar...I began to worry if the food (and drinks!) had changed as well.  I was not disappointed.  While a small group of us from the The Junta met a little early for dinner, the real reason we were there were for the best Mai Tais this side of Hawaii.

Once dinner was finished up, we started ordering Mai Tais by the half dozen.  The sweet rum mixture served with a wedge of pineapple was a great way to start our drinking for the evening.  While the old set up for the bar allowed for a decent sized group of folks, the new set up didn't give us much room.  We made do as we waited the arrival of our special guest, Gretchen.  Gretchen had been our unofficial Token Straight Chick at all of our past GQB events.  A hip, fun loving person that always brought her hunky gay-friendly fiancée in tow.  From when we first serenaded her at a packed Cinebar back in August, I knew she would be a great asset to our merry band of mischief seekers.  Alas, she had taken a job in Podunk...I mean Springfield, OH and would be moving away.  This was her night and we were determined to have some fun.  Once she arrived, another round of Mai Tais were sent everyone's way.

As we packed out the small space that was the bar, the host continually kept asking us if we needed to be seated for dinner.  No way!  We're here for the Mai Tais!  as we gulped down another.  The Sharks game started drawing our attention as they came from being down two goals to beating the Boston Bruins in the final seconds of the game.  GO SHARKS!  Since Ho Tao's Lounge is just a small bar portion of a larger restaurant, they don't stay open late and as we shut the place down, we were forced to go in search of new quarters.  Many of the folks out with us this night didn't even realize Sunnyvale had such a happening, albeit small, nightlife thus fulfilling another of GQB's goals by educating others about the nightlife that really *does* exist in the Silicon Valley.  A quick inspection of bustling South Murphy for potential targets to hit next led us to Murphy's Law.

Murphy's Law is a relatively small irish pub along South Murphy.  As we streamed in, the band that was playing that night was just starting to tune up.  Once they starting jamming, it was too loud to think inside the bar, so we headed for the patio out back.  This wasn't done just to escape the music, but because of the large contingent of smokers we had this time.  It seemed like everyone lit up a cig!  As I coughed my way through conversation, I found out that Erndawg's friend Ritchie was visiting from Vancouver, BC and that they have nothing like Guerrilla Queer Bar up there.  We were so cool, we even got a mention in Erndawg's legendary web log, little.yellow.different.  I say its legendary not only because after we got the mention, traffic to our website went through the roof, but because its also been mentioned in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.  Thanks for the mention Erndawg!

As the evening wound down, Erndawg's Asian entourage wanted to go hit a "real" gay bar so they floundered off to TD's with Gretchen tagging along.  My Finnish friend and I ended up heading back to his place for a warm evening by the fire, the prophecy of my fortune cookie coming true as it said "You will always be surrounded by true friends", of course, "between the sheets".

See ya next time kids!