Great San Francisco Restaurants?
 

Hi: I received fantastic recommendations for restaurants in Carmel and between Carmel and San Simeon on another thread. I'm hoping to compile a list of standout places (not terribly expensive) to enjoy in San Francisco.

We love all food and cuisines. I'll need recommendations for breakfast, lunch and dinners and we're staying in Union Square in April.

We're open to anything! In addition to your suggestions, is there a source I can check other than menupages.com? Thanks. Bowsprit

Tadich Grill is walkable from Union Square..one of the oldest restaurants in SF..love this place!
Boulevard, Slanted Door are excellent and I love the Buena Vista for my Irish Coffees.

Some of my favorites:

Italian - Perbacco (California Street), or for casual lunch, Barbacco, Delfina Pizzeria (Mission branch), Delfina Restaurant, SPQR (Fillmore)
Greek - Kokkari (Jackson Square)
Vietnamese - Slanted Door (Ferry Bldg.)
Peruvian - La Mar Cebicheria (Embarcadero)
Bistro - Plouf (Belden Alley), Nob Hill Grille (Hyde Street?)
Southern - 1300 on Fillmore
Sushi - Yoshi's (Fillmore)
Upscale (very) Contemporary American - Ame (in the St. Regis Hotel), Boulevard (Embarcadero)
Pan Asian - Betelnut (Union St.)
Brunch - Foreign Cinema (Mission St.) (not particularly fond of their dinners)

Great recommendations! Thanks so much.

Any favorite Thai? Tapas?

We'll be arriving after 11:00 p.m. Is there a place we could get a bite to eat around The Chancellor at that hour in S.F.?

We're not interested in chain restaurants but wonder if that's all that will be open on our late arrival night?

Thanks again and please feel free to add more.

There's an all-night diner in Union Square - Lori's Diner (not very good, in my opinion, but it's food and it's open!)

Another vote for Slanted Door - excellent food, more inventive than you would expect.

If you like oysters, Hog Island Oyster Co., located at the Ferry Terminal building. Their own oysters are fantastic, and the others they serve are wonderful too. Good bubbly, beer, etc., and great bay view.

Belden place looks amazing. Lori's diner will probably be avoided. :)

smetz: We Love Oysters! Thanks.

Just had the most amazing meal at SPQR. New chef, new menu as of last fall. Wow. The pastas were amazing. Kitchen timing was a little hinky, but they handled it well. We'll be going back for sure.

Add Bar Tartine to the list.

From a Jan trip report I did:

DebitNM on Jan 31, 10 at 7:58am
Meals

As I mentioned above, it turned out that Dine About Town coincided with our trip; that meant we could and would try new places to eat. It is so easy to want to return to places that you have eaten at before and loved, so this would be an incentive to try new digs.

I used Chowhound.com for restaurant info and there are some really informed SF posters. I also rely on Fodorites input for restaurant ideas, so with all this input I was ready to set up a game plan.

I would try to map out our City Guide tours and then find restaurants in the areas we would be visiting. It worked out pretty well.

Our only repeat was the "Cafe" at Chez Panisse. We absolutely love it there, so it was our first stop for dinner on Monday night. We took BART and walked up Shattuck Avenue, feeling like we were returning home. We got there a bit early and stopped in a great book store to browse. It is on the corner where you exit BART. I'll have to find the name.

Tuesday, we stopped for lunch items at Trader Joe's which is in Fisherman's Wharf area. We had "picnic" in car when we got to Ana Nuevo. On the way back to SF, we stopped in Sam's Chowder House for some chowder and a lobster roll. Chowder was excellent; the lobster roll was tasty but not what we expected. We were thinking New England lobster roll and it was far from it -- no mayo to be seen. Just a lot of butter and lobster meat and it was warm, not cold. Very tasty, just not what we expected.

Dinner that night was Campton Place, which is in the hotel of the same name, just off Union Square. It was our first DAT meal. DAT dinners were prix fix at $34.95 for 3 courses and lunch was $17.95 for 2 courses.

Wednesday's lunch was Spruce and was the best DAT meal we had, and a second only to Chez Panisse. Wednesday night, we had a lovely dinner at Fifth Floor which is in the Palomar Hotel on 4th Street, just off Union Square. What made that dinner so special was that Fodorite, Abranz and her husband joined us! This was a DAT meal.

Thursday we got lunch from Out The Door in the Ferry Building. We did this between tours, it was not a DAT meal. This is the "fast food" part of Slanted Door.

Thursday night we ventured pretty far off the beaten path to Triptych out on Folsom and 7th. This wasn't a DAT meal, but I had bought a restaurant.com $25 certificate for $2, so it seemed like a good idea. We were less than thrilled with dinner.

Friday found us at lunch at One Market and dinner at Thanh Long with some Fodor friends that rallied to join us for a pretty impromtu gathering. this was also not a DAT meal. StuDudley, his wife, Abranz and her husband, thereyet, and rkkwan joined us to share some amazing crab and garlic noodles.

Saturday, we felt a need for a pizza fix, so we had some slices in North Beach after our tour. We had some enjoyable slices at Pizzelle at 314 Columbus.

Saturday night, we had dinner at Fish & Farm in the Mark Twain hotel, just off Union Square. It was a DAT restaurant, but we decided to eat off the regular menu.

Sunday, we had a fabulous Brunch at Foreign Cinema. It is a DAT restaurant, but not for brunch. This was after our tour of The Castro area.

Sunday night we were exhausted and still pretty full from brunch, so we just walked over to Scoma on the Wharf for chowder and crab louis.

More details of meals:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/680728

For Thai food, we really like OSHA on 3rd street.

My latest craving is pizza from Tony's in North Beach; Tony's Pizza Napoletana won awards in Naples for their pizza. My favorite is the SalsicciaI; I also like the Soprano. The Fried String Beans are really great and so are the Meatballs.

Wow. Great stuff here! Thank you.

bookmarking

Thanks very much.

I adore Belden Place!! I'm sure there may be more expensive, foodie, amazing restaurants throughout the city, but this "alley" in the financial district is a very VERY cool place to go.

Bookmarkng for our May trip--thank you.

<<<VERY cool place to go.>>>

Particularly if it's a nice day and you can sit outside.

Michael Bauer's Latest Top 100 Restaurants in the SF Bay Area was published in this Sunday's Examiner Magazine. (April 4, 2010). It should be available online by Tuesday. sfgate.com

Wonderful! Thanks, everyone.

nice suggestions - bookmarking

I'll ditto Boulevard and Slanted Door
http://www.boulevardrestaurant.com/
http://www.slanteddoor.com/
Be sure to browse the shops at the Ferry Building
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/
and take home a dessert from Miette
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/miette.php
and, I have to add a Union Square classic -
http://www.johnsgrill.com/
Be sure to go out to http://www.cliffhouse.com/
have a blast! I hope to get back there in October, and those will be on MY list (again) :-)

Again: Many, many thanks!

This just came out today, Michael Bauer' stop 100 Bay Area Restaurants, in the SF Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...entry_id=60498

thereyet

Thank-you. I tried to get the list but one link brings me to another article with another link to another article to another link, etc.

No list online yet, but it looks like there is from the online articles.

I just perused the list; it's up and running. This is a great thread! My mouth is watering in anticipation of my short trip in July.

iamq - I like your wow! What do you recommend at Bar Tartine?

This list would not be complete without Gary Danko. You will need a reservation

http://www.garydanko.com/

My new favorites Flour+Water and Frances were unfortunately for me, but not them, nominated for James Beard BestNew Restaurant, which means they are going to be swamped. Still worth the effort for a first time visit, however.

cpg, The menu at bar tartine changes everyday, so it is hard to recommend something specific. It's going to sound strange, but my appetizer that night was a combo of porkbelly, grilled octopus and egg salad. It was unusual, but memorable. That's one of things they seem to do well...combine disparate ingredients and somehow it works. Some like it, others don't. Martin had sweetbreads and beef cheeks. They almost always seem to to have some combo of bone marrow served in different ways, which I love. Our less adventurous dining partners were not as impressed as we were.

Sorry, that link was confusing. Here is the A-Z listing of the top 100 Bay Area Restaurants as rated by Michael Bauer from the SF Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/listin...p2010?Submit=1

thereyet

Does anyone have an opinion about Amber India?

iamq - although I love good food, I'm not as adventurous as you. My sons, on the other hand, had lamb's tongue, etc. recently while dining with me!

We eat at Amber India in Mountain View often so we obviously think it is great. The Butter Chicken is consistently delicious and we never miss it. The service is excellent as well. Highly recommended.

I'm pretty sure the menu at Amber India in San Francisco differs quite a bit from the menu at the one in Mountain View. But abranz told me (us) they're both great.

sf - I only looked at the SF menu and I didn't see the butter chicken that iamq likes. The menu looked great. Earlier today I made a reservation for the end of July - they must think I'm nuts! It's my NY conditioning that made me do it.

cpg,

Butter Chicken is listed on the SF Amber menu at the top of section of non-vegetarian fare.

Sounds like you'll be eating well as usual!

iamq - Yes, you are absolutely right and I can't read!

My hubby and I were there in January and ate some AMAZING food.

Dynamo Doughnuts in the Mission district was a fantastic find for a light breakfast. Hand cut doughnuts, fresh ingredients, really yummy!

Incanto in Noe Valley was amazing if you like more untraditional meat options. Good homey italian food w/ great meat variations.

But our favorite night was when we did an Appetizer crawl around the Embarcadero. We hit 5 different restaurants, sat at the bar and had an appetizer or two. Top spots were Mexico DF and Anchor and Hope. If you'd like the whole list of the apps crawl, I'd be more than happy to share. It was a highlight!!!!

We loved Gary Danko! Hands down our favorite dining experience of all time! Another couple of places we liked closer to Pacific Heights - Cafe Maritime (Lombard St- Marina District)& Osteria (Laurel Heights) - great gnocchi & walking distance from Hotel Drisco!

I went to Joe's Cable Car for a out of this world burger. Here is the link below:

http://www.joescablecarrestaurant.com/

There will be very little open at 11 pm around Union Square, unless it's a Friday or Saturday, in which case Scala's is open until midnight, at the Sir Francis Drake.

Susan