# San Francisco trip - advice requested



## NukeMeSlowly (Jul 28, 2005)

Greetings,

I am heading to San Francisco this week for 5 days. I have a fair idea of shopping destinations but can anyone recommend restaurants (e.g. good breakfast joints; elegant dining spots without chest-pain-inducing prices; etc) and sightseeing type destinations? I am staying near Union Square, if that helps.

Thanks.


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## kitonbrioni (Sep 30, 2004)

With all due respect, walk several blocks into Chinatown (pass the tourists joints) and get great food at great prices.


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## the etruscan (Mar 9, 2007)

NukeMeSlowly said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I am heading to San Francisco this week for 5 days. I have a fair idea of shopping destinations but can anyone recommend restaurants (e.g. good breakfast joints; elegant dining spots without chest-pain-inducing prices; etc) and sightseeing type destinations? I am staying near Union Square, if that helps.
> 
> Thanks.


Elegant and cheap is hard. Excellent, dingy, and cheap is much easier. Tulane and La Taqueria provide meals for under $10.00 including drink and tip and provide wonderful food. No ambiance to be seen though. 
Chinatown can be great, but you really want a Chinese speaker (preferably also of Chinese descent) for the best food and service.

For good moderately expensive but not crushing food in a nice atmosphere I'd recommend Zuni or Maverick's. Ana Mandara, in Ghirardelli square has wonderful ambiance and food to match, priced fairly high, but again not cripplingly. Zuni consistently has the best oysters I've ever had.

The guys behind Town Hall just opened a place IIRC, I think it's called Salt House. Supposed to be quite nice. Town Hall is wonderful food, but the space is essentially an echo chamber, if Salt House is any quieter it will be wonderful.

For a late breakfast I'd always fall back on Ti Couz on the corner of 16th and Valencia.


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## dragon (Jan 28, 2006)

If you are going to chinatown go to R & G lounge on Kearny street. If you want some comfort food go to Hing Lung on Broadway between Stockton and Grant-Get the jook.


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

the weekend market at Embarcadero is one of the most memorable experiences I have in that wonderful city.


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## wolfhound986 (Jun 30, 2007)

*The Ferry Building*

The Ferry Building out by the Embarcadero has a variety of shops specializing in gourmet food & wine, you could probably work your way from one end to the other and find things to nibble on and ship home.

Acme bread, Ciao Bella gelato, Mijita Mexican food.

Miette bakery (for their cupcakes).

Recchiuti chocolate:

Yank Sing Restaurant (the location is about a block away from the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building) for high-quality, moderately priced Chinese lunching...
https://www.yanksing.com/

Sears Fine Food is located in Union Square, famous for their Swedish pancakes:
https://www.searsfinefood.com/


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

www.citylights.com City Lights Bookstore, founded by beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is of itself a fascinating place to visit and as an independant bookstore has treasures the Border's Books ersatz expresso and coffeetable book crowd dare not dream exist. If you make it over to the park, preferably EARLY the japanese tea garden is a place of quiet and beauty. Please bow and say hello to the buddha for me.


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## comrade (May 26, 2005)

*The Beautiful City*

I am an architecture, "urban scape", buff. Get an architectural tour or visit
by your self Russian Hill, Nob Hill ( they are adjacent), Telegraph Hill,(Coit Tower), Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights (also adjacent). These are
scenically spectacular and extremely elegant exclusive urban
neighborhoods. They are world class. They are not far from 
Union Square and give a good idea why San Franciscans, and 
non-residents who can afford to maintain residences in these
locales.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

Afford is right! The colourfull 'painted ladies' have included one painted and decorated solid red by an activist lawyer couple after being called communists. The Church of Satan by former lion tamer and police photographer Anton Zandar La Vey was all black. My favourites are on Hayes Street built by Matthew Kavanagh for $3,500 in 1894. My great Grandmother was in the San Francisco earthquake and foolishly relocated to Los Angeles County to floods, fires and more earthquakes. San francisco streets are a slueth's guide to all the old ethnic nieghborhoods of SF.


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## PITAronin (Nov 30, 2004)

Certainly affordable, tasty, and more upscale (white tablecloth) than you'd typically encounter at small ethnic restaurants is Helmand on Broadway quite near Union Square/Chinatown, etc. If you're OK with Indian food, this Afghan restaurant is likely to appeal. Lunch buffet is especially great for the budget-conscious. (Make a point of trying the pumpkin with yogurt-garlic sauce; you'll go back for seconds.)


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## RJman (Nov 11, 2003)

PITAronin said:


> Certainly affordable, tasty, and more upscale (white tablecloth) than you'd typically encounter at small ethnic restaurants is Helmand on Broadway quite near Union Square/Chinatown, etc. If you're OK with Indian food, this Afghan restaurant is likely to appeal. Lunch buffet is especially great for the budget-conscious. (Make a point of trying the pumpkin with yogurt-garlic sauce; you'll go back for seconds.)


The Helmand is also owned by Hamid Karzai's brother -- apparently Karzai used to manage them before becoming leader of Afghanistan.


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## the etruscan (Mar 9, 2007)

Just remembered one of my favorite breakfast joints. Quite elegant, reasonably priced. Not too near you, but SF is pretty small, so it's not all that far.

Citizen Cake is a bakery/restaurant near the Symphony and Opera halls if I remember (I am not cultered, I spend my evenings at pubs, concerts, and occasionally plays). Airy space, often but not always a well-dressed crowd, excellent breakfast.


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## iammatt (Sep 17, 2005)

the etruscan said:


> Just remembered one of my favorite breakfast joints. Quite elegant, reasonably priced. Not too near you, but SF is pretty small, so it's not all that far.
> 
> Citizen Cake is a bakery/restaurant near the Symphony and Opera halls if I remember (I am not cultered, I spend my evenings at pubs, concerts, and occasionally plays). Airy space, often but not always a well-dressed crowd, excellent breakfast.


It was closed for renovation as of last week. Great place though.

For Chinese R&G is the way to go. Best Mexican are Mijita and La Taqueria and other places to hit are Delfina (and the pizzeria) and Zuni. Ferry building is a must for food lovers. Avoid the Saturday morning market unless you are into baby strollers and pretense.

Kav, get back on your pills for God's sake. Is your experience with San Francisco only through Wikipedia, or do you conjure your false memories all-by-self?


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## Tonyp (May 8, 2007)

Burma Superstar on Clement & 4th. excellent and very reasonable asian food. great for lunch. Slanted Door in the ferry building for lunch is great. Tadich Grill is the oldest restaurant in CA. Very good. Sit at the Bar and go for the seafood platter for two at about $26. 

Elegant and Pricey is Gary Danko. 30 days in advance for reservation. Ana Mandara is great as well. kokari is a great greek restaurant on Battery. Boulevard is also great. Zuni for the oysters and the chicken.

Sears is a pancake house. cheap and good. 

Jack Falstaff's on second is also very good and not too expensive. No corkage charge when I brought in my own wine.


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## david809 (Jul 1, 2003)

San Francisco is one of more diverse and compact places to explore in terms of restaurants. If you are looking for something in particular, check out Yelp and Chowhound. Here are a few random places that I like.

Cheap eats

Ferry Building: Well, not exactly cheap, but a lot of casual places to grab a quick bite. Favorites include Taylor's (hamburgers), Cowgirl Creamery (cheese), Acme (bread), Slanted Door (newfangled Vietnamese), Hog Island (oysters), and tons of other places.

Tu Lan: Surprised that this has already gotten a post, the food nerd community is definitely polarized about this place. Let's just say it's not the cleanest place in the world, on a block that's not the cleanest, either, but I love it for cheap Vietnamese. I've eaten here for over a decade, and everything is pretty good, with standouts of VN Beef Steak, imperial rolls, shrimp fried rice, cube steak. Just don't get the pho, not good.

Taquerias: SF has a decent Mexican food scene, we're known for burritos. Three safe choices, within a block of each other, are La Taqueria (carnitas), Taqueria San Jose (al pastor), and El Farolito (carne asada). El Farolito is the cheapest and open late, by SF standards, anyway.

Chinese: R&G, just had lunch here today, probably the best place to eat in Chinatown (besides this prix fixe place whose name escapes me), get the salt and pepper crab. A tourist trap that is actually pretty tasty is House of Nanking. Yuet Lee is the late night spot that is good. The best Chinese food is in inner Richmond, and other Bay Area cities.

Breakfast: St. Francis Place (in the Mission), Boogaloos (also in the Mission), Foreign Cinema (fancier, also in the Mission), Chava's (Mexican breakfast in the Mission). I eat breakfast in the neighborhood.

Pizzeria Delfina: Love this place. Good thin crust pizzas. Take these pies to go, because it takes forever to get a table. Grab a couple six packs, a pie, and hang out in nearby Dolores Park and enjoy SF scenery (hipster gangs with ridic. expensive bikes, thanks daddy, dudes in banana hammocks, and regular folk . . . drinking beer and eating pizza).

Bi Rite Ice Creamery: I seriously love this place. The ice cream here is ridiculous. A fun taste test is to hit this place and the classic Mitchell's, which is about ten blocks down.

Spendier

Perbacco: New Italian place that I enjoy. Not too crazy in terms of price, most fresh pasta dishes are about $15, entrees slightly more. Enormous wine list.

Salt House: New place that has great appetizers, okay/boring entrees, and fantastic desserts.

Gary Danko: Probably the best meals I've had in SF. $94 for five courses is not cheap, but I think it's a pretty decent deal. Solid wine list, tons of great choices under $100.

Slanted Door: Mentioned above, a pretty great place to eat moderately priced Vietnamese food. Really loud, but a SF institution.


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## acidicboy (Feb 17, 2006)

SF also has a slew of very good sushi joints, though the names have escaped me.


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## wolfhound986 (Jun 30, 2007)

You could take a cable car up to the corner of Union & Hyde for Swensen's ice cream, the only Swensen's location where they still make their ice cream on premises. Have been for decades. Real old-fashioned kind of ice cream. They have sherbet, not sorbet. Try cookies and cream. They have vanilla, old-fashioned vanilla, _and_ French vanilla. And there is a difference! Good stuff.

That being said, I will second Bi-Rite Creamery for an ice cream experience. For lack of a better phrase, this is new style ice cream, a big flavor there is salted caramel. Very good stuff as well.

Forgot to mention, for old-fashioned chocolate, you should try CA-based See's Candies, located around the city. There's a Union Square location that sells them only in boxes, so for a piece (or three) try the Embcarcadero location or the one at Market & Sansome, they're within walking distance.

Also, while you're walking around the area between Union Square and the financial district, you will find some interesting old buildings nestled amongst the skyscrapers, like the art deco facade at 450 Sutter or the Shell building at Bush & Sansome.


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## NukeMeSlowly (Jul 28, 2005)

Thanks for all the advice so far. 

I came in to SF two days ago. I have eaten at Colibri (mexican, excellent margaritas, food is very good) and the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus (a bit pricy but a tremendous open space with a great view of Union Square). Breakfast at Dottie's for the past two days. VERY good food. It is small but the long line that forms outside after they open really tells the story.

I have reservations for Acquerello (Italian) tonight and I am thinking about booking Delfina for tomorrow evening. I am checking out Paul's Hat Works today.


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## wolfhound986 (Jun 30, 2007)

^
Hope to hear about your experience at Acquerello. I dined there several years ago. Very elegant atmosphere and food. Well dressed crowd. Suits and coat/tie.

Enjoy your visit here!


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## NukeMeSlowly (Jul 28, 2005)

wolfhound986 said:


> ^
> Hope to hear about your experience at Acquerello. I dined there several years ago. Very elegant atmosphere and food. Well dressed crowd. Suits and coat/tie.
> 
> Enjoy your visit here!


It was fantastic. Very elegant and very good food. My wife and I decided on the 5 course meal with a 3 course wine pairing. Insanely good potato gnocchi. Kobe steak. Halibut carpaccio. Wines were fabulous. Amazing caramel semifreddo for desert. But, now we have no money.  Still, worth every penny


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## wolfhound986 (Jun 30, 2007)

^
Glad to hear, sounds like you had a great time, the meal sounds tremendous, and yes, they have a substantial wine list. 

It was a save up and then splurge kind of meal for me when I went, but yes, totally worth it! 

How did the rest of your trip go? Any clothes shopping? Did you get to Delfina? Or Pizzeria Delfina? I haven't been there yet, and I live here!


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