San Francisco Dining
Guide
TUG members share their recommendations
Addresses and phone numbers were gathered from off the net where ever we
could find them. In many cases, conflicting data was found. Please verify
locally before relying on this information.
San Francisco
Restaurants
Scoma's
Pier 47 on Al Scoma Way (800) 644-5852 A good, classic (though expensive)
seafood restaurant down at Fisherman's Wharf (there is another one on the water
in Sausalito. You can take the
ferry over, which I'm sure the kids would love, and Sausalito is a cute little
town). My lunch was $60 with wine and tip, but I ordered the shellfish saute,
which was one of the more expensive items on the menu, as well as a half bottle
of Chardonnay and a cup of clam chowder. The shellfish was too much for one
person, so I probably could have cut my cost by 40 percent if I went with
someone else and we shared.
More creative, and still wonderful, seafood
can be had at Tonno Rosso, 155 Steuart
St. (415) 495-6500 near PacBell Stadium, a few blocks south of Market. Plus you
get a nice peek at the Bay Bridge from the restaurant. Also not cheap (more than
Little Joe's but less than Scoma's), but good. Note: This restaurant used to be called "The Red
Herring," but is now called Tonno Rosso (Italian for "Red Herring"). It
still has the same owner and chef, but just changed the name. Moderately
Expensive.
Careme Room, 625 Polk
St. (415) 771-3536 This is the restaurant run by students of
the California Culinary Academy. The food can be hit or miss, but
some TUGgers have mentioned that when it's good, it can be very, very,
good: "The service and atmosphere is wonderful. Great presentation, and
the building is beautiful -- also reasonably priced for the area." But
when it's bad, well:
- "The service
was friendly and efficient, the food was just so-so."
- "There are a
lot of students that . . . try anything in the name of creativity. One student
in a pastry class actually made Cilantro Buttercream frosting for her cake! It
was the most vile thing we'd put in our mouths."
Mmmm! I can
hardly wait for the inevitable Chocolate Smoked Salmon Cake! Expensive, as
the average entree is about $30. Reservations are required.
The Slanted Door, 1 Ferry
Plaza (415) 861-8032 in the new Ferry Building, is probably the best Vietnamese
restaurant in the country. Moderate.
I have always liked Little
Joes (2550 Van Ness Avenue (415)
433-4343), which has about the best Veal Parmigiana I've ever tasted. And
their homemade ravioli has always been great. Rumor has it that they also have
the best meatballs in town, but I've never been able to get past ordering the
Veal Parmigiana and ravioli as the side dish pasta. This restaurant was a
S.F. institution in North Beach for about 40 years, but just moved about 2 years
ago to Van Ness at Filbert. Note: You will see
internet resources with the old address at 523 Broadway. Don't believe
that address, the restaurant has moved. The food is still as good,
but the atmosphere of the new place leaves something to be desired. Moving the
place out of North Beach took away some of the excitement. I still went and
liked the food, though. The prices have gone up somewhat, but you can still get
out of there for around $20 a person (probably cheaper when two of the persons
are children). Moderate.
On the last few stays, I have been very happy
with the Steps of Rome Restaurant 348
Columbus St., North Beach (415) 397-0435. I had a great filet mignon there
covered with a Marsala-Cream-Porcini sauce that was to die for, as well as
strawberries covered in the best Zabaglione I've tasted to date.
Moderate.
There is a Farmer's Market
at the Civic Center Plaza Bart and Muni stops on Sundays and Wednesdays, where
you can get fresh and dried fruits, veggies and fish for the room. Also there is
a good Farmer's
Market [Note: this link requires free
registration] on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays next to
the New Ferry Building, near the water halfway between the Embarcadero and Pier
39. Just take the Metro to the Embarcadero and catch one of the streetcars
toward the Wharf from there. You'll see the Farmer's Market on your left along
the way. More info is available on San Francisco Farmers' Markets
and festivals at SFgate.com
In
the Union Square area, the restaurants are all pretty standard. You have a Cheesecake Factory
(251 Geary Street, 8th Flr, (415) 391-4444), a Daily Grill (347 Geary
(415) 616-5000), Max's
Deli (398 Geary St. (415) 646-8600), all of which are good in a pinch, but
none of which are great. Moderate.
Additional restaurant
recommendations taken from comments on the BBS:
“I highly recommend the
following Cambodian restaurant called Angkor
Wat located at 4217 Geary St between 6th & 7th avenues. Living in
San Francisco I eat alot of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai food and of course
Mandarin. The restaurant not only serves amazing food. It also has
authentic Cambodian dancers that perform while you dine only on Fridays and
Saturdays between 8pm and 9pm.”
“These are all fairly to very expensive
but all great:
Aqua
Fifth Floor
Fleur de Lys
Jardiniere
One Market
Farallon
Garabaldi's
Hawthorne Lane
La Folie
Masa
Gary Danko
Ritz
Carlton Dining Room
Fringale
These are listed in no particular order.”
“If you want a high
moderate price (Entree Prices around $16) restaurant with live Trio and dancing
and great ambience, I recommend The
Tonga Room located in the prestigious Fairmont Hotel in Nob Hill. The food
is Asian.” “The Tonga Room is worth a visit, even for a drink in the Hurricane
Bar. You'll get a kick out of the tropical storm effects. I thought the food was
a bit overpriced for the quality, but the Mai Tai's and the band/trio were
great. Hope the parking costs less at the Vintage Court...paid $44 a night at
the Fairmont!"
“I just want to mention the Italian restaurant my sister
(from Sacramento) turned us onto the last time we were in San Francisco. It is
called "Trattoria
Contadina" It is very close to the theater where the Beach Blanket
Babylon plays and is in North Beach, I believe. We really enjoyed it when we
were in San Francisco 2 years ago. It is very popular and quite crowded, and
very good food!”
“Near Union Square is Sears, the best breakfasts in
the world. It worked well for us.” 439
Powell St. (415) 986-1160.
“Good places to eat--House of Nanking
919 Kearny. Lines, a dive, great food."
“Entertainment Book saved us some
money. Finnochio's 2 for 1 show [Note:
Finnochio's closed in 1999], Fairmont had 2 restaurants, and a bunch of
restaurants at Pier 39 and the Fisherman’s Wharf.”
“There is a Morton's of
Chicago down the street that is new.”
"If you go to http://www.sanfran.com/, this web site will
bring up mini reviews of 138 restaurants in San Francisco, compliments of the
San Francisco Focus. It brings up their home page. Scroll down and
click “Restaurant Listings”, and that will bring up “Bay Area Dining”. If
you then push “Find”, all 138 Restaurant Reviews will come up on the
screen."
The Pork Store Cafe, 1451 Haight St. (415)
864-6981. This restaurant in the Haight gets some criticism on the long
waits for breakfast and rude servers, but there seems to be universal agreement
that, for breakfast, the food is excellent, portions are huge and the prices are
extremely reasonable. They have a website that is not working, but if you
go into the menu directory and
click on the links, you can pull up the variou breakfast and brunch
menus.
"My wife and I always return to Kate's Kitchen (471 Haight St. (415) 626-3984) . . . . There's
no or less wait the earlier you go. . . . The only drawback is that
they're cash only.:"
Pastries and
Sweets
There is a great French Country Bakery called Boulange, 2310 Polk St. (415) 345-1107, on Polk
St. near Green. If you have ever been to a bakery in a small town in the French
Countryside, you will know what I mean when I say they transplanted it here. You
will get authentic French breads and pastries, including those wonderful,
buttery little macaroons, rustic apricot-hazelnut breads, croissants of every
ilk, wonderful brioche, and even rare pastries like the occasional
Tropezienne. Moderate.
Mara's
Bakery, 503 Columbus Ave., North Beach (415) 397-9435 makes amazing
authentic Italian Pastries that you can take back to the room, as well as a
great, authentic Cappuccino. "Of a week-long vacation in San Fran filled with
memorable moments, our impromptu stop for Tiramisu at Mara’s ranked #1 on the
list!" Inexpensive.
Crepe o
Chocolat, 75 O'Farrell St. (415) 724-3749 is a small Crepe shop just
across the street from Macy's Men's store, on O'Farrell St., just to the east of
Stockton. They open at 11 am, and make wonderful crepes, both sweet and savory.
I've had their Grand Marnier/Chocolate, but they also make them with Raspberry,
Mixed berries, banana, and savory crepes like brandy chicken, smoked salmon, and
about 20-30 others. The proprietress and chef is French, now living in S.F., and
she has brought some authentic French cooking with her. It is also
the only store in the area to sell glazed grapefruit.
Inexpensive.
Stop in at the San
Francisco Shopping Center or Pier 39 to get some Blue Chip Cookies (there's one store
in each place). They invented the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie, before
Mrs. Fields copied it. Their Triple Chocolate cookie and their Almond Toffee
Chip are also very good, and I have an oatmeal cookie lover who swears by their
oatmeal raisin cookies. Moderate.
Citizen Cake, 399 Grove St. (415)
851-2228 down near the Civic Center, has some great desserts and baked
goods. Moderate.
Citizen Cake has just opened an affiliated store
near Union Square. It is called Citizen Cupcake, 2 Stockton St. ((415)
399-1565), on the third floor of the Virgin Megastore at Stockton and
Market. It also serves cupcakes and, supposedly, cocktails.
Max's
Opera Cafe, 601 Van Ness St. (415) 771-7300 On Van Ness at Golden
Gate, this upscale cafe is staffed by wannabe (and future) actors, actresses and
opera stars. Your servers occasionally will pause and take the stage to
perform for you. Mediocre Deli Food, comfort foods and bistro dining
specials, but the desserts and coffee can be quite good. That makes this a
good place to come for coffee in the evening. Try the Seven Layer Cookie,
one of the mousse cakes or one of the cheesecakes if you can't decide.
Sometimes crowded when there are shows at the nearby Modern Art Museum or
theaters in the Civic Center. Moderate.
A Classic
Dive
Note: These places are truly
dives. Lots of character, good food at great prices, but don't expect
linen tablecloths and fine dining. Yet, they are classic San Francisco,
and in the right frame of mind, they can be the perfect spot to
go.
Tommy's Joynt, 1101
Geary Blvd. (415) 775-4216 on Geary at Van Ness, is classic, inexpensive,
Rathskellar-type food for the meat lovers in the family. It's been a San
Francisco institution for many years, and the food is still good. The more
adventurous might try the Buffalo Chili, I hear it's quite good. Personally, I
like their Turkey Sloppy Joes, and they have good sliced meat (Turkey, Prime
Rib, Roast Beef, etc.) platters (with veggies and mashed potatoes or rice and
gravy). They also have more than a hundred varieties of beer from all over the
world, so if you or your spouse are beer lovers, you will particularly like the
place. And there's lots of food to fill up the kids.
Inexpensive.
The
Grubstake, 1525 Pine St. (415) 673-8268 Just off Polk St., this diner
is set in an old railway car, and serves great burgers and late breakfasts, and
Portuguese dinners. Don't be afraid of the setting; the food is
good. Also, they're open until 4 am daily, so this is a good place to go
if you get the midnight munchies. They don't open before 5 pm, except on
Saturdays and Sundays. Inexpensive.
Original
Joe's, 144 Taylor, between Eddy and Turk (415) 775-4877 This is
a true dive in the classic sense of the word. In the middle of the
Tenderloin (a generally bad part of town), still this restaurant has been
here since 1937, run by the same family. The secret is said to be huge
portions of slightly upscale, inexpensive "comfort food," and some say the best
burgers in town. The "Joe's Special," a classic San Francisco breakfast
made of scrambled eggs, spinach, ground beef and cheese with spices, was
allegedly invented here. Their meat is about as fresh as you can
get. They have their own in-house butcher. Inexpensive.
Where to Stop
For A Drink
Head over to Biscuits and Blues, 401
Mason St. (415) 292-2583 for some great blues and jazz. I know nothing
about the food, but most nights you can go for drinks and some of the best live
club music and blues in San Francisco. Moderate.
“One of the best places
to view the lights of the City is The
Carnelian Room, at 555 California Street. We stop here for an
after-dinner drink on a clear night. It has the best view -- other places
have nice views but The Carnelian is one of the few that doesn't have a cover
charge to get into the lounge.” Expensive.
The Cliff House, 1090 Point Lobos Ave
(415) 386-3330. A great place for drinks and hors d'ouevres, as you watch the
sunset through the giant bay windows, and the waves crashing onto the rocks
below. Seasonally, there are sea lions on the rocks.
Expensive.
"If you go to the Tonga Room, stop by the Mark Hopkins hotel
across the street and go to the Top of the Mark for a drink - the
view is fabulous.” Expensive.
The
Buena Vista Cafe, 2765 Hyde St. (415) 474-5044
near the Cable Car turnaround at Fisherman's Wharf. Everyone stops here to
have an Irish Coffee and to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone else who
stops here to have an Irish Coffee. They claim to have perfected the first
Irish Coffee in the United States. Read more about it on their
website. You come here for an Irish Coffee, not for any food, and it is
usually packed so full that it alone is likely the cause of the San Francisco
Fire Chief's ulcers. Friendly place. Given the crowded space, it has to
be. Moderate.
Gay
Bars. Not quite the majority TUG demographic, however I would be
remiss in mentioning San Francisco without at least a pointer to the gay bars in
that town. There are many different types of such bars, and gay/lesbian
bars and nightlife permeate the city as much as (more than) straight bars
do. This link is a
link to a page where you can learn more about the gay bars, the gay scene and
nightlife in S.F.
The information contained in the TUG California
Dining Guides is provided by timeshare owners and is solely the opinion of those
owners. The Timeshare Users Group is not responsible for its content. This
information is for the personal use of our members only. Any commercial use of
this material without the written permission of the Timeshare Users Group is
strictly forbidden.
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Timeshare Users Group
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