Food in Northern California
 

As many of you know, I have another thread about our upcoming trip in general, but I'd like to focus on just the food for now. This will basically be an anniversary trip (no kids or friends!) even though it was earlier this month. Here are some details.

Arrive in San Fran just before noon and rent a car to drive to Pacific Grove where we will stay for 2 nights. Breakfast will be included with our room both mornings of our stay in the Monterey area. So we will be looking at the following:

- Lunch on the way to PG, one lunch in the Monterey area, and lunch on the way back to SF.
- Two dinners in the Monterey environs, PG, Carmel or Monterey.

Then we'll have 4 nights in San Fran, arriving no later than 6 PM on our return from PG. Breakfast will NOT be included in SF. The following are places I'm pretty determined to include for various reasons that may not make sense to anyone else. Our flight out of SF will be early afternoon, so we plan to have breakfast at Cafe la Presse that morning because it is near our hotel.

- Sears for breakfast
- Tadich Grill (not sure whether to do lunch or dinner)
- In-N-Out Burger

I'd like to have Dim Sum for lunch one day and would prefer to keep entrees (for the higher priced meals) under $30 - $40. We don't usually order dessert, because we prefer to have an appetizer and/or soup or salad. I have a huge list I've compiled from various sources, but I'd like to see what you all throw out.

As always...thx for all you suggestions!

Remind us of two things: 1) where are you staying in SF? and 2) do you want dinner to be in the neighborhood of your hotel, or can it be anywhere in the city?

Since you insist on eating there (!), I'd suggest you hit In 'n Out for lunch on your way to or from PG/SF. If you're driving on 101, there's one at the Mission Street/Great America Parkway exit in Santa Clara, one at the Rengstorff Avenue exit in Mountain View, and one at the Millbrae Avenue exit in Millbrae (that's south to north); if you're on 280, there's one at at the Washington Avenue exit in Daly City. There are others, those are just the ones that I know most intimately :-)

sf...is it really that bad...In-N-Out I mean. We don't HAVE to do that, but there's not one close to where we live. Maybe we should skip it because our area has Five Guys which is really great!

We'll be at Orchard Garden Hotel (Bush St. not far from Union Sq.) in SF and no we don't need to have our dining spots in the neighborhood. We will most likely get a transit pass, and we have no problem exploring.

Dinner in Pacific Groove at Passionfish. Get provisions from The cheese shop in Carmel, and have a picnic - lots of great places for picnic.

Hit In-N-Out for one of your lunches in Monterey or PG as it is a drive through burger place (though you can go in and sit down too). In SF I'd do the Tadich Grill for lunch - there are so many other options for dinners and the TG is a good lunch time place. I tend to think of areas when it comes to food so rather than mention places, go to North Beach, go to Hayes Valley and of course Chinatown or Japantown. Finally, just to be wierd, I recommend a place called Nick's Rockaway in Pacifica - right on the ocean (Rockaway beach - more of a cliffy area though) and serves B-L-D. Go anytime (Lunch again?) but I recommend the crab sandwich - best I have ever had (consistently too).

I hope you love your time out here.

Joe.

We finally have the Five Guys restaurants out here too - but IMO it's not the same. In-N-Out is cheaper and much more addictive (better). Still, taste is personal. Watch out for the restaurants on Fisherman's Warf - pricey and not what I would call high quality. Still, very SF (touristy) if that is what you want. There are also a lot of fine places down near the ferry terminal under the bridge and towards AT&T park.

Joe.

>>Arrive in San Fran just before noon and rent a car to drive to Pacific Grove

- Lunch on the way to PG, <<

By the time you leave the airport complex, it will probably be 1:30 or 2:30 - depending on whether you have checked bags or not. Just stop at the In&Out on Millbrae - it is just off 101. I tried an In&Out a few years ago - and couldn't understand what the "big deal" was - but if you gotta eat - it will be the quickest option & will perhaps satisfy your curiosity. I would get to PG as quickly as possible & not wast any time trying to find some "better" place to eat along the way, and perhaps get caught in some rush hour traffic.

On the way back to SF, what day of the week will this be? If you plan to arrive between 5 & 6 pm - you are going to hit rush hour if you do this on a work day. If it is not a work day, arriving at 5 to 6 means you will leave PG around 2:30 to 3:30 - so you should have lunch in PG/Carmel.

If you take the fastest route possible back to SF & not the coastal route, there isn't any place close to the freeway that I would want to stop for lunch & perhaps reduce my time in either PG or SF by 1 1/2 hrs or so.

Stu Dudley

If you take the coastal route back to SF, Sam's Chowder House for lunch.

All...I am fairly sold on Sam's Chowder House for lunch on the way to PG. We will only have carry-on luggage and hope to be on the road no later than 1:30.

So Stu, I think what you are saying is to have lunch on the Penisula and then drive straight back to SF. Is that correct?

I think it would also be fun to stop in Castroville somewhere along the line. Thoughts?

My DW and I love the Black Bear Diner. We have eaten once in the one on Fremont in Monterey and liked it very much.
http://www.blackbeardiner.com/locati.../monterey.aspx
The franchise started out in Northern California near Mt. Shasta. We often go to the one in Bend, Oregon.

Just goes to show, everyone's taste is different -- my DH and DS both think Five Guys is much better than In n Out. Me, all I can say is In N Out is a very good <i>fast food</i> burger, but it's still fast food.

Dim Sum -- City View 662 Commercial St (between Kearny St & Montgomery St)

Sears - ok, but not worth it if there are lines to get in.

The Black Bear is basically a coffee shop/diner - OK food but not special. I've eaten in several (probably 7 or 8 different ones - and a few more than once) all up and down the central Valley and southern Oregon -- but only in towns where there isn't really anyplace else to eat. Certainly not on a foodie's trip to the Bay area/Monterey Peninsula.

I agree w/ debitNM - Sears is fine but not worth much of a detour or if there is a long wait.

You may be later than 1:30 getting out of SFO, even w/o checked bags. There are often queues for rental cars.

>>All...I am fairly sold on Sam's Chowder House for lunch on the way to PG. We will only have carry-on luggage and hope to be on the road no later than 1:30.>>

Budget on about 45 mins from the Airport to Sams. So that gets you there around 2:15m to 2:30 at the earliest. The sun will be directly in your face by then (we usually get there at 11:30). If you have a 1 1/4 hr lunch, that gets you to PG around 6-6:30PM.

>>So Stu, I think what you are saying is to have lunch on the Penisula and then drive straight back to SF. Is that correct?<<

There are several peninsulas in the Bay Area - Monterey & San Francisco are the ones you will hit. Have lunch in the Monterey peninsula.

Stu Dudley

For a really nice meal, try Perbacco next door to Tadich. LOVED it!!

sf...Five Guys is great so you might have talked me out of the In-N-Out Burger.

Geez stu...you had me all set on the Lobster Roll at Sam's. I guess we'll have to play that one by ear cause I'd hoped for an arrival in PG before 6 PM. I also assumed you meant Monterey Peninsula, so we'll plan to eat prior to our adventure back to SF.

janis and Deb - Is there a day of the week that has less of a wait at sears? I won't wait for a long time anyway, but what is considered long to you?

Deb...I'm glad you mentioned City View for Dim Sum. That is one of the options I'm considering. The others are Great Eastern, Yank Sing and Lichee Garden. Opinions!

We found City View in a rather unusual way - we were walking around Chinatown and we wanted a place that wasn't tourist driven [and there are lots of them]. We walked into a few shops and asked employees where THEY would have Dim Sum. Most just pointed to the closest spot. We weren't buying that so we walked into a really nice tea shop [where they sold the most amazing tea leaves] and asked the same question. This time the young lady working there said "City View" and then proceeded to get on her computer, print out a map so we could find it and then check the hours for us so we would know when to go.

We have eaten there every trip to SF. The food is hot, fresh, plentiful and reasonably priced. Get there before noon during the week to avoid the lines.

If the lines are out the door for Sears or if they said the wait was more than 15 minutes, I personally would skip it. IT's only breakfast and it really isn't anything all that special, just like a good diner.

Sears is not worth the effort. It gets very crowded, and service can be spotty. The food is no better than a Denny's, so I suggest you skip it.

A fabulous happy hour menu is at Farallon, Union Square. They have awesome appetizers that can make a meal, if you'd like. It's called "Six Until Seven" and is offered every single day. We were very pleased with it.

Forgot to paste:

http://www.farallonrestaurant.com/6until7.html

Talking about Black Bear Diner - you know how the menus look like an old local newspaper on the outside and have the menu on the inside? Well...we went to the one in Gridley several years ago and my Grandma's picture was on the front of the menu!!! She and her marjorete team made the front page of the Gridley Herald in 1940 (or so) and that was the paper they chose for the front of their menus. It was so cool. We took my Grandma into the restaurant and the staff made a big deal out of her - it was fun. And then they gave us a bunch of menus as souveniers.

Anyway - I love the Black Bear Diner because of that :)