bm

I just returned from a week in SF visiting my son. Here are the restaurants I ate at:

Flour and Water: don't get the tasting menu. Five out of the seven courses were pasta and they all tasted the same. The app and dessert were the best.

Ichi Sushi: One of the best I've eaten at. We let the chef feed us. I will return.

Mission Chinese: Not your typical Chinese restaurant. Everyone in my party liked it. It was just ok to me.

Limon: Peruvian. Chicken was delicious and so were the yucca fries. Stick with the chicken.

Kokkari Estiatorio: Financial district. THE BEST RESTAURANT of the week. I can't wait to return. Lovely interior, freshly made food. Run do not walk!

Nojo: Japanese Yakatori. Overpriced and not worth it.

Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano: North Beach. Pizza was ok but the Caesar salad and side of broccoli were good.

Hog Island Oysters: Pt Reyes area. Excellent. Fun afternoon drive.

Wise Sons Deli: Mission District. Different twist on deli food. Brisket fries are to die for. French toast is excellent. Have to eat the brisket sandwich. They have a pop up at the ferry building on Tuesdays.

Leely, thanks for the heads up on Poesia. And I agree that a trek to Outerlands is not something a typical tourist would make. But Deb is not a typical tourist, hence the recommendation for something a little different.

BTW it is nice to see someone read the other posts on a thread before posting!!!

We were at Poesia last Sat night. Cozy/fun interior with excellent service. The kind of place we used to seek in the 70s & 80s before Pat Kuleto.

The food was better than I expected. I started the evening with a Aperol/Prosecco spritz - something I have in Italy, but don't find it here very often - except at home. My wife had the grilled sardines - which were excellent. She is a sardine fan. I had the grilled squid - which were smoky - as they should be. Lots of lettuce/arugla - which was a bit overkill, however. My wife had the evening special, which was Roc Cod on Paparadelle

We were at Poesia last Sat night. Cozy/fun interior with excellent service. The kind of place we used to seek in the 70s & 80s, before Pat Kuleto arrived.

The food was better than I expected. I started the evening with a Aperol/Prosecco spritz - something I have in Italy, but don't find it here very often - except at home. My wife had the grilled sardines - which were excellent. She is a sardine fan. I had the grilled squid - which were smoky - as they should be. Lots of lettuce/arugula - which was a bit overkill, IMO. My wife had the evening special, which was Roc Cod on Paparadelle. She liked the rock cod, but didn't eat much of the pasta (they serve big portions). I had the roasted Branzino in parchment paper. Cooked perfectly - not overdone at all (overdone fish is one of my "pet peeves"). Some "sides" to my Branzino may have been nice - but they have a side menu that you can order from. Had a Rosato - which was perfect with the courses.

A highlight of the evening was when two guests arrived in their Halloween costumes, dressed as "Black Swans" (lots of feathers). They received a warm welcome from the other diners.

Stu Dudley

SAB - :)

Thanks all for the great restaurant recs. We are concluding five nights in San Francisco with a couple dinner choices from this thread.
Had great meals at Perbacco and Pasion. Funny experience on the NJudah line out to Pasion. Stops were not being announced. It was dark and we couldn't see what stops we were passing. Finally we asked someone, they laughed and said half the time stops aren't announced. They told us when to get off. We got off at 7th and Irving and walked about a block. However we did see the streetcars stopping right in front of the restaurant. Don't know what the name of the stop was, but could have been 9th and Irving.

We can also recommend a couple of places.
We ate at Zero Zero for pizza and salad, both very good and a few blocks from where we stayed.
Ezikaya Roku 1819 Market, a neighborhood place for our friend had great Japanese food. We let the waiter order for us.
Finally The House on 1230 Grant St in North Beach had wonderful Asian fusion food. Tiny place on the noisy side and reservations are needed.

Had an early lunch at Slanted Door and weren't at all impressed. Nice venue and views though.

Is Frascati still recommended?

For breakfast or pastries anytime there is a new place on California st about 3 doors to the west from Divasadero called B Patissere. Their Kouingamans are the best weve ever had. The butter cake is outrageous and the other selections are great. The people are all very nice and friendly.
Whenever we are in this part of town B patissere is a must.

Oh, B Patisserie is scarily close to my house and on the days I work from home I find it difficult to avoid going, especially for the Kouign Amanns.

Had dinner at Piccino in Dogpatch on Thursday night. It's been open for at least six years but I'd never made it over. Mmm, it was good and very pleasant; I'd even take my mom there.

Leely, next time you're at Piccino, try the mushroom pizza. Wowee Zowee!

wekewoody, my dining companion had the mushroom pizza and let me taste some of his. Delicious. I had meatballs, mmm.

Hey there,

Where do you usually keep track of all of these restaurants? Do you have some kind of spreadsheet?

I know of people that track restaurants in spreadsheets (one LA Chinese food expert, David Chan, famously does that for the thousands of eateries he has tried in the last 40 years. He's also famous for being a Chinese-American who cannot master chopsticks!), but most people just use their noggins.

San Francisco is one of the world's great food destinations, and the offerings change constantly, so spreadsheets get outdated really quickly up there.

Leely: I'm sorry your Poesia experience wasn't the best. You are right, they are very charming and sweet there. I would ask you to give them another try-- and to nicely note that your pasta was a bit overcooked the last time you went. I would venture to guess you'd then get properly al dente pasta (but hopefully not "almost chunky" LOL). I just love the place. But then again, every time my husband and I go to San Francisco we fall in love with the City all over again, and everything about it. Why can't we win the Lotto so we can afford a little pied-à-terre to crash in every other weekend?! Boo hoo.

BTW, now I want to hit Dogpatch and have some pizza at Piccino...!