by Ronny | Jan 11, 2013 | features, San Francisco
It’s a new year, your resolutions are still in effect and impending flu epidemics are looking to invade your body; we recommend you turn to healthy food and your handy dandy GoPago app. In San Francisco, the weather is demanding warm food, and the chicken n’ corn chili at Chili Up keeps you chill (in temperament, not temperature) and clocks in at under 300 calories. GoPago-ing from the Embarcadero location ensures that your chili will be hot, and you’ll be in and out fast, to enjoy more moments of the new year. The iron bowl at Baladie Gourmet Cafe puts up an iron wall defense against any possible flus, viruses or unhealthy food. The bowl fills you up with hearty lentils, rice, spinach, caramelized onions and chicken. For an even healthier option, choose the vegan variety with either falafel or eggplant instead of chicken. Any successful loser will tell you that they key to keeping off excess weight is to make room for some splurges. Eating healthy requires the occasional small reward. Prima Cafe knows this and they are offering a free 8 oz cup of frozen yogurt for the entire month of January with the purchase of any sandwich or salad ordered from GoPago. Try the arugula salad with wine poached pears. For the lowdown on Prima Cafe’s frozen yogurt, check out what one of our most prolific user has to say on her blog. Julie, of Julie’s Dining Club, claims it’s the best fro-yo in the entire city with flavors ranging from sea salt caramel pretzel to raspberry tart. Happy new year, GoPago-ers, may it be delicious, nutritious and include no wasting (or...
by Ronny | Oct 27, 2012 | event, news, San Francisco
Pictured above from left to right: Andrew Jaffe, Account Executive; Josh Bradbury, VP of Sales; Greg Jizmagian, VP of Operations, Leo Rocco, Founder & CEO; Mona Kharazmi, Community Sales Manager; Chris Lavery, Director of Finance and Inside Counsel; Vincenzo Di Nicola, Chief Architect; Carina Ost, Community Manager, Irina Lozhkina, Financial Analyst/Accountant; and Jeanne Hwang, Business Development Manager. Thursday night, we attended the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce‘s Excellence in Business Awards (the Ebbies), where we were presented with the Comcast Innovation through Technology Award. The award recognizes technology-led business that solves a problem to increase efficiency and we were honored to be up against such reputable companies as Pinterest and Desk.com. All of the 1,200 attendees were brought together on this special night by our commitment and enthusiasm for San Francisco, local business, innovation and in rooting for the San Francisco Giants who were simultaneously playing in Game 2 of the World Series. Trust us, there were many score updates in the speeches and smartphone checking. When our CEO and Founder, Leo Rocco, went up to receive the award he reflected on the growth of our own team and our company’s very own special ties to the Giants. We’re sure you remember when we partnered with Tim Lincecum in July, but did you know that our roots with the Giants go even further back? The “Aha Moment” and impetus for GoPago began when Leo was at a very special Giants game in 2007, when Barry Bonds beat Hank Aaron’s home run record. Leo missed this historical event because he was waiting in line for food and drinks. He wondered...
by Ronny | Sep 13, 2012 | photo, San Francisco
We have teamed up with Vernon Davis, one of the NFL’s top tight ends, to thank his Facebook fans and Twitter followers with a $10 credit to be used at participating Bay Area restaurants in our network. “I do almost everything using my phone, so I think this is a great way to thank my fans at the start of a new season.”Vernon said. “Plus, I get a chance to help local store owners get more business. As an entrepreneur myself, I’m a huge supporter of anyone who has the courage to go out on their own and build a business.” Today, Vernon helped his fans score big with their favorite local merchants when he shared the code “Vernon” with his 1 million Twitter followers and 35,000 Facebook fans. New users can download our app on their iOS or Android smartphone, enter the $10 code, and redeem it at one of our hundreds of participating Bay Area restaurants including local favorites A.G. Ferrari Foods, Pearl’s Deluxe Burgers, Green Chile Kitchen, and Osha Thai. Leo Rocco, CEO and founder, said collaborating with Davis was a natural fit. “Vernon is a tech-savvy San Francisco icon who has mastered using social media to connect with his fans,” Rocco said. “GoPago is opening a direct channel to show these fans his appreciation by connecting them to the merchants they love. And we’re doing it on a massive scale. We think that’s a game changer in the relationship between athletes and their fans.” In July, we partnered with San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum to offer his fans on Facebook (and in real life) thousands...
by Ronny | Aug 23, 2012 | event, San Francisco
At GoPago we get our livelihood from local small businesses, good food and the entrepreneurial spirit. Those three things were alive and well this past Saturday between the 20th and 26th blocks of Folsom Street at the 4th Annual San Francisco Street Food Festival. The event was presented by La Cocina, “a non-profit incubator kitchen providing affordable commercial kitchen space and industry-specific technical assistance to low-income and immigrant entrepreneurs who are launching, growing and formalizing food businesses.” We heard amazing stories and tasted some delcious food from across the city. One of our favorites was from Maria of Estrellita’s Snacks. She was an immigrant from El Salvador, who was lucky enough to live right across the street from La Cocina, she wandered in and started a business with $20. She now has packaged yucca and plantain chips, sells tamales and pupusas at the Alemany farmers market and is opening up a restaurant that has already been home to Woody Allen, A-list actors and the rest of the production crew. She told us in Spanish to wait till the movie gets released because her and her restaurant will be making a cameo. The dream was so tangible and actuated that we could taste it! We actually started the food festival a bit early on Friday with the first ever Night Market, it was a bit chilly out but we found comfort in our office neighbor Soup Junkies’ Crab & Tomato Noodle Soup. It’s always surprising how sometimes you wait a while to try great food that is so close by. The next day at the event we had some terrific...
