Good cheap eats in/near San Francisco, including coffee
 

Good morning

I am staying near Union Square in a few weeks and will be on the lookout for good food without spending an arm and a leg. Looking for more than sandwich shops - places to actually have a sit down meal (even at the bar) would be grand. I'll be wandering all over, most likely, possibly Sausalito one day especially if the fog rolls in and I want to get some good GG Bridge shots...

I will also be in Napa or Sonoma for one day (unclear which yet) and might get down to Big Sur. My last visit to Nepenthe was completely fogged in and I would like to give it another go. That would be a day trip and lunch and dinner most likely...

Thank you for any thoughts, or articles, or websites, or anything ya got.

Cheers

Nepenthe on a day trip doesn't sound fun to me, 3+ hours each way with no stops or traffic. I'm guessing it will be hard to miss traffic somewhere, through the Bay Area or the Hwy 1 summer variety. Why not spend a night?

One of the reasons I enjoy San Francisco more when I'm away from Union Square, is that the restaurants & coffee places are more reasonably priced and seem less hectic than those around Union Square. You'll find plenty of cheap eats in the gritty Tenderloin close to your hotel, but I really don't enjoy dining in that area. Go to North Beach along Columbus to find what you are looking for. Also try 24th St in the Noe Valley between Dolores & Diamond, or Union St between Gough & Steiner, or Chestnut between Fillmore & Divisadero, or Fillmore in Pacific Heights between Jackson & Bush.

Stu Dudley

I dined at Nepenthe last Monday. It's a long trip with lots of traffic. Fogged in also - although other areas around it were not foggy.

Stu Dudley

My favorite food is Chinese and you're walking distance from Union Square, as I know you know, to more than you could try in a lifetime. Walk north on Stockton from the east side of Union Sq, or 2 blocks east along Kearney. In other words, skip Grant and along the side streets you'll find all sorts of interesting places to eat. For decades I've liked Brandy Ho's for spicy, corner of Columbus & Pacific with City Lights Bookstore just beyond on Columbus.

For an altogether different experience, I also like the Ferry Building at the bottom of Market St with several restaurants, including Roy Fong's Imperial Tea Court. It used to be in Chinatown just north of Broadway and had a very authentic old China feel. Sadly, he had to move but relocated the the entire interior to the Ferry Bldg space. The feel is different, to be sure, but it tends to be more peaceful inside than the surroundings might indicate and he has a short menu of interesting noodles and nibbles and a long list of teas to try.
http://www.imperialtea.com/category-s/1905.htm

Nepenthe is not a good option at all 1) it is a loooooong drive, and 2) in summer the chances for fog-free views is slim.

If you want to visit Big Sur, come out in the Fall (September/early October is absolutely glorious) or in the Spring. Summer is the foggy season.

Are you flying out of SFO? If so, except for your day trip to Napa you can ditch the car when you get to SF. Not having to pay for the parking -- you can splurge more on the restaurants.

Hi

Good point on Nepenthe, I forgot how long it took me just to get to Monterey the last time (although I stopped frequently for photo opps and lunch). Maybe I'll just try for Half Moon Bay which I didn't actually explore the last time. We will see. Maybe not... Four nights = three days one of which will be Point Reyes /Muir Woods. I might want to stay put in SF after that.

Janis, I might do that with the car. Will play by ear. If the fog rolls in on a given day I do want to head across the bridge and get some good shots...

Thank you for the restaurant advice Stu and Mme!

Roxanne's is on the corner of Bush and Powell. Coffee shop diner place. We have eaten there several times over the years and always enjoyed it.

I have done a day trip as far as Big Sur, and it was a great day, including lunch at Nepenthe!

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...t-part-way.cfm

I would not take time out of my San Francisco trip to visit Half Moon Bay - it's a nice town, but except for the fact that it's on the ocean, it's just a suburban main street.

R&G Lounge at the corner of Clay & Kearney is good Chinese. Excellent cheap food - Limon Rotisserie (a couple of locations). My favorite pizza - Delfina for pie (and their tri-color salad is outstanding) and Arinell for a slice. No good traditional Mexican. Several excellent small plates places - Coqueta, Contigo, Lolinda, Lolo's. Coffee - not much cheap coffee around here, I just read that Blue Bottle now is serving a $16.00 cup.

>>three days one of which will be Point Reyes /Muir Woods<<<

ONE MORE TIME!!! Do this on your third day. You only have 2 days to see all of San Francisco!!!!! And that includes Sausalito. That's about 4 days too few!!! You'll see plenty of redwood trees in Yosemite. Pt Reyes will probably be fogged in. And you may be ready to spend less time in your car. I bet you'll choose to forgo Muir Woods & Pt Reyes after spending 2 days in SF and then realize what you didn't have time to see all you wanted to see in SF. You are trying to cram too much into your very short visit.

Go over this thread again - there is weeks & weeks of stuff to see & do in SF.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

>>I have done a day trip as far as Big Sur, and it was a great day, including lunch at Nepenthe! <<

Now she's down to only 1 day to visit all of San Francisco including Sausalito. And about 8 hours of added driving after "who knows how many" hours of driving from LA (I think) to Yosemite, to Napa, etc.

Spend all of your 3 days in San Francisco!!!!

Stu Dudley

I'm not recommending taking a day away from San Francisco, just commenting that doing the drive as a day trip is possible. I agree, 3 days in San Francisco should be spent in San Francisco!

>>You'll see plenty of redwood trees in Yosemite.<<

Unfortunately not :(

The Mariposa Grove is still off limits/closed . . .

I'm looking at the photos from our trip to Yosemite Valley a couple of years ago, and the trees in the photos look like the redwood trees in our back yard.

Stu Dudley

One more time!! This is probably my 5th-6th trip to San Francisco. I'm not worried about seeing all of it and in fact could not do so in a month.

I'm past the touristy stuff and want to do things a bit farther afield. Thank you for the link.

Sf and Michelle, thank you. I'll keep all of this in mind!

"...want to do things a bit farther afield."

Completely understandable, so with so few days, why stay in SF at all? A lot of trouble getting in & out of town when it seems to make more sense to just bypass it for what you want north & south. From Napa or Sonoma you can cross the City from the GG Bridge without going through the center, on 19th Ave. to 280 and almost immediately cut over to Hwy 1. Drive with an ocean view almost all the way to Monterey & parts south.

That was my idea with Sausalito but having read a little I agree that staying in town is a good idea. More options each day.

I tend to decide on the fly what I want to do - but like to have options.

Hell 20+ trips to Paris and I haven't remotely seen it all...

ps. Cheap wasn't meant as an adjective for coffee, I should have written that better.

I should have said "good coffee". I love independent coffee houses and like to look them up when I travel.

Exit stage left.

>>I'm looking at the photos from our trip to Yosemite Valley a couple of years ago, and the trees in the photos look like the redwood trees in our back yard.<<

There are a tiny handful of scattered redwood trees in Yosemite Valley. The stands are either remote, or the Mariposa Grove -- which isn't accessible at this time.

flygirl: Instead of Muir Woods, maybe consider driving down the Peninsula and visiting Big Basin instead. A larger park w/ MUCH smaller crowds. Then if you have time, head over to the coast and drive up through Half Moon Bay, Montara, Pigeon Point lighthouse.

If you do visit Muir Woods -- do it early on a weekday morning. If you arrive before the official opening time you can still drive in and park and have time to explore a bit. On weekends or after about noon the park gets VERY crowded and the sometimes have to close the parking area.