Fisherman's Wharf/North Beach Dining
 

I will be staying in this area while visiting San Francisco. I really haven't heard much good about restaurants in this area. Any recommendations?

Check chowhound.com . Very active SF food board.

Many of the restaurants in this area are very touristy, or basically overpriced for what you get.

For the Wharf area - go down towards the Maritime Museum, the small resturants down there are where the locals eat more often. (Try Pompei's Grotto or on Polk St try Swan's Oyster Depot - both really good seafood) <BR><BR>I am not sure about N. Beach - but in general, ask the local staff at the stores and they could direct you to where they eat. (Lower prices & more local flavor.)

There are tons of good places in the North beach area. If you want a non-touristy, 'local' type Italian restaurant, try the Gold Spike.

For a fancier restaurant, try Ana Mandara. It's Vietnamese/California fusion type stuff. It's next door to Ghiradelli Square. The food is pretty good, although the portions are small. The interior is very nice. It's not super touristy, although it's in a touristy area. Also, for Indian food, you can try Gaylord India. It's in Ghiradelli Square, but on the third floor, so not many people are aware that it's there. The food is pretty good, they've got a great lunch buffet, and a very nice view. <BR><BR>There are a lot of restaurants on Polk Street. Walk towards the Maritime Museum, then take a left onto Polk, which will take you into Russian Hill, it's a 5-7 minute walk. There are restaurants for tapas tapas, thai, chinese, italian, seafood, etc in that neighborhood. The areas near you that will provide restaurant choices are Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, the Marina and North Beach. Look under Zagat's or citysearch.com or digitalcity.com for restaurants in those neighborhoods, and you'll find lots of places to eat within a 15-20 minute walk or quick cab.

North Beach: Rose Pistola and Moose's are good. There's also a little store that sells "to die for" foccacia. It's on the corner of Washington square, a few buildings to the left of the big church.

I was just there last weekend and we had a great meal at Helmand..it's Afghan cuisine.<BR><BR>My favorite source for restaurants is sf gate.com here's the restaurant search: http://www.sfgate.com/eguide/search/food/

Just make sure some homeless drug addict doesn't take a whizz in your soup.

I ate at Ana Mandara on my last trip there and enjoyed it very much. If you're looking for truly authentic Vietnamese be forewarned that it is Viet influenced but is really fusion cuisine. Try the Slanted Door for Vietnamese. That said... IMHO Ana Mandara was good not exceptional and a bit pricey but worth a visit. if the food type doesn't appeal at least go there for a drink and check out the interior decor - unique in my expereince and quite striking.

In North Beach, on the other side of the square from Moose's, try the Cobalt Tavern - I haven't been there yet but reliable foodie-philes have made good reports.<BR>The north end of Polk Street isn't far from where you'll be staying. Try Antica (Italian) or Yabbies (seafood) in this area.