1.5 days in San Francisco - where would you eat?
 

2 dinners and 1 lunch. Hotel serves continental breakfast, so we'd eat that unless there was a breakfast place we could not miss. thanks!

One night we ate at Scoma's....I don't care if some S.F. say it's touristy.. it was delicious and would do it again.. We are from the Northeast and appreciate good seafood. If your at the Andrews which has a fabulous continental breakfast you might want to have a late lunch in Chinatown

Hmm, I think we need to know a bit more about what kind of food you like, atmosphere (formal or more casual), budget, location, etc.

I can recommend narrowing your choices by looking up sfgate.com (the SF newspaper's site) and checking their critic's recommendations. They rate a great variety of places and I think their reviews are reliable.

I would head straight to Cinatown and have dim sum either at the Hang Ah Tearoom or Gold Mountain.

There is an Indian restaurant called Shalamar, I believe, that is close to the theater district (union square?), and it is the best Indian food I've even had. It is a charming dump, though, you order at the counter, then sit at the kitchenette tables. It might make for a delicious lunch for you. There are amazing reviews all over the walls, I think its very highly regarded by foodies. I've been there twice, and I'll never forget it. Very spicy.

The Empress of China on Grant Street, with great views over the city

We ate at Boulevarde the last time we were in San Francisco and really loved the place. It is locatd on the Embarcadero and is fairly pricy, but excellent. If you want to go with really upscale dining, Gary Danko's is also excellent. It seems to be a favorite with the locals for fine dining. Another great site that I have found for dining in San Francisco (I'm going in March) is sfsurvey.com. It gives reviews from local patrons.

We've been to SF now for the last few years for vacation. We always eat at the Crab House on Pier 39 in Fishermans Wharf. Love it!

8-)

When we went we ate at a restaurant (seafood) that was near Fishermans Wharf, it was upstairs and had nice big windows overlooking the water. Can't remember the name of it, it was a little pricey, anyhow, we didn't really enjoy it. We thought there was better food just sampling what the vendors had actually down on Fishermans Wharf. So, I would suggest for lunch walk around and see what they are selling. I had delicious chowder in a bread bowl for $3.50. It was fun because we just picked here and there until we were stuffed and we really enjoyed this (it really was just as good if not better food) over the big fancy place upstairs. Have fun, I love SF!!

vegasnative, could you be thinking of A. Sabella's?

Yeah that might be it. I know you get in the elevator right on the sidewalk. Nice atmosphere, white table cloths, good service, just the food really wasn't all that great at least it wasn't anything special.

Yes, that is A. Sabella's. Years and years ago they had good food but like a lot of places over the years things change. It happened when they started having tour bus groups come in. I don't know if they still have them or not but some months ago some friends ate there after many years of not being at Sabella's and they were really dissapointed.

So LoveItaly. has Scoma's suffered the same fate as A Sabella's? I've been looking for someplace in the wharf area with really good seafood. I have read a lot of really good comments about Scoma's (even the locals on sfsurvey.com haven't had any negative comments. Most of the negative comments come from people who really don't like Fisherman's Wharf (it's even had to tell if they have even been to the restaurant).

North Beach area for awesome Italian.

We loved Frascati's - if you like chicken have theirs. Best I ever had. Also the bread pudding is a must.
You can make a reservation on opentable.com

I always like to plan my meals when visiting great dining cities like San Francisco. Right now I think I would go with something like this. Dinner 1, Tadich Grill for the cioppino, sand dabs or petrale sole, could also be for lunch too. Lunch, dim sum at Gold Mountain or New Asia. Dinner 2, caesar salad and the roast chicken at Zuni Cafe. I seriously need to plan a SF visit soon.

What area are you staying in? That would help with suggestions.

I love Belden Place. It's an alleyway in the financial district with a number of great restaurants.