So many questions, so few brain cells (for me).

I'll try to answer some - those that I can remember.

1) Airport rentals have an airport fee tacked on. Cities with airports have found one way to tax people is to slap a tax on anything going on at the airport. Our airport has a $3 per airline passenger fee, that's coming and going. Car rentals also have to pay a fee. These airport taxes/fees can get to be prohibitive.

2) Enterprise is a good rental company. It's become the biggest car rental agency in the US and so has gone downhill because of its size. However, their weekend rates are usually 1/2 price and they will also pick up and drop off at your home/office/etc. - within a reasonable distance. If you can find a good rate at an Enterprise location inside SF, then I'd say go for it.

2) The Legion of Honor and the DeYoung Museum have always been grouped together - don't know why, but I've been a member for many years and have always been happy that one membership lets me into two of the better museums in the City.

3) Unless the SF MOMA has an exhibit that you want to see, it's not worth spending the money for the ticket. This is not the NY MOMA. BTW, I'm saying this even tho I'm a member of SFMOMA too.

4) If you go to the De Young, then I'd recommend spending some time also at the California Academy of Sciences just across from the DeYoung. Go especially for the "green" building aspects of this redesigned and rebuilt "aquarium-cum-science" building. Yes, I'm a member here too.

Come to think of it, when will you be here? I could possibly get you into a couple of museums...

5) Buildings and walking tours: I'd definitely recommend any one of the SF Library tours that has to do with the 1906 earthquake, especially one that deals with the three great surviving hotels: Palace, St Francis and Fairmont. Another Fodorite, Shanghainese and I went on the Sutro Forest hike and really enjoyed it. This walking tour is more about outdoors and great Pacific Ocean views. If you do go on the Sutro Forest tour, then I'd suggest dining at Cliff House, the Bistro side.

Another great historical building that survived the 1906 earthquake is the Flood Building on Market Street.

Yet another interesting architectural building is Coit Tower. Go inside and look at the murals, they're wonderful.

6) City Pass is definitely worth it. You really don't need a car in San Francisco for the majority of the days that you're here and the public transportation system is great.

Can't remember any more...

Oh yes, one more - Berkeley. There's also Fourth Street in Berkeley, but again, it's really not worthwhile making a separate trip for this neighborhood street, especially when you have lots of interesting neighborhood streets in San Francisco.

Thanks easy. The last time I rented a car from Enterprise was probably 10 years ago. But anyway, to make it simple this time, I won't rent a car. I don't think that I'll be able to relax if I drive. Maybe it really is easy and it will come back, but I'd rather not take a chance. I'll just join a tour if I want to get out of the city.

Thanks for the thought about the museums. I'll be there the coming week. It's nice to get into musuems for free. I get into most of the ones in NYC for free too.

I've been to Coit Tower. I even sort of have a story to tell about it. But maybe it's best forgotten. I do remember the rickety elevator though. It was a rather interesting experience. If I remember right, there were warning signs in English and Chinese -- but I forgot what they were warning people about.

Burma Superstar is just another good Asian restaurant - of which we have hundreds of. We dined there 2 weeks ago & decided it was above average, but it's not close to where you are probably staying.

Online reviews. This is just my guess, but I think most of the people who post to online food sites are younger than people who don't post. Younger people usually like loud, eclectic, hipster, party - more than older folk do (like me). Range is in the "hipster" Mission district - Boulevard is definately a downtown/business area restaurant. You see a much older & "refined" crowd at Quince than at Range. BTW, I dine at all types of restaurants - hipster & refined.

Stu Dudley

Or if you are looking at restaurant reviews, Yelp is for younger people and Chowhound is for older people.

111op, please email me at my junk email address: bells918@hotmaildotcom and we'll arrange something!

Take Stu's advice, except when it comes to live Dungeness crabs (Just kidding, Stu! Do bring a cooler next time! )

Yelp is interesting. It seems like a Bay Area thing -- I learned about it from a friend there; now I use it for NYC too. But maybe I just don't know hipsters in NYC. I'd never heard of it before until this friend told me about it.

Even more interesting, I found that there were Yelp reviews on a few very questionable venues. I couldn't believe that people actually reviewed them. It's definitely more than just restaurant reviews (so in that sense it's not like Chowhound).

But what about TripAdvisor restaurant reviews? If I remember right, Range is ranked pretty highly there too.

I didn't get the joke about Dungeness crabs. Actually that's on Michael Mina's menu. It looks really good. I'm already thinking about ordering the Maine lobster pot pie.

Anyway, easy, I've e-mailed you from my junk email address. As much of a planner as I usually am, I didn't plan much for this trip and I'll decide what I want to do when I get there. But I'll try to be online now and then. Thanks again (regardless of whether we actually end up meeting)!

Sorry about the dungeness crab reference. It goes back to an older post when Stu found out where to get some live dungeness crabs and he went and bought some - but the transport home smelled up his car!

You're coming this next week, correct?

Monday is definitely out for me, so we'll touch base late Monday/early to see which day will work best for you.

I'll go check my email now.

I'm already thinking about ordering the Maine lobster pot pie.


What a waste of a Maine lobster (IMHO, there is only one way to eat Maine lobster, and that's whole, steamed or broiled)

Hi easy, thanks for your e-mail and again for your kindness. I've replied.

Well the lobster pot pie is supposed to be $20 on the Lounge menu, so there's probably not much lobster to be had.

Re: Burma Superstar.

I cannot claim to be an expert on Burmese food (I have never lived in Burma!) But I definitely know good food & I very much enjoy good Burmese food. I've eaten at Burma Superstar several times, and have always loved it. In addition, the "scene" is part of the positive experience at BStar. It's lively, upbeat, and just plain fun.

The only problem is that you can't make reservations...which actually is not a problem, because there are several good bars very close by where you can hang out while waiting.

111op: You've got mail.

Hi easy, I sent you a reply. By the way, I asked the Westin's front desk agent about Michael Mina and she raved about the pot pie.

111op

I'm sure you realize that Michael Mina is one of our top restaurants. There are only 5 ** & *** Michelin restaurants in the entire Bay Area - and he's one of them.

The Lobster Pot Pie is on the fixed price menu at their main restaurant. The menu price is $105 and the pot pie is a $35 supplement on top of that. It's just a guess on my part, but I bet the bar pot pie is just 1 bite or so. If you live in NYC, you might have had lobster while visiting Maine. For a truly San Francisco experience, pick up a whole Dungenous Crab at Fisherman's Wharf or While Foods (Franklin & Calif St), have them crack it for you, pick up a fork from your hotel, had devour it for lunch at Crissy Field. Take a bottle of nice Alsace wine with you.

Stu Dudley

Actually I must admit I've never been to Maine.

There are 6 ** restaurants and one *** (French Laundry). You can find the list here:

http://www.michelinguide.com/us/09_sf_stars.html

The ones in SF are Michael Mina, Coi and Aqua.

She told me that MM won the best restaurant award for the past two years. Not sure what award taht was exactly.

But you can get the lobster pot pie on the lounge menu for $20 (or part of the pre-theatre prix fixe for $55).

MM has dungeness crab too.

Anyway I'd better get away from the computer and go out of the hotel. I am thinking of having dim sum at Yank Sing.

I'll try not to pay the 14.95 too often so I can save it for the lobster pot pie.

Where's/What's Crissy Field? (I'm almost afraid to ask.)

Aqua

Overrated.

Michael Mina:

"Michael Bauer Four Stars, San Francisco Chronicle"
"Michelin Guide Two Stars, 2006"
"Best San Francisco Restaurant and Chef, 2006", Wine Spectator
"Best Chef: Michael Mina, 2005", Bon Appetit American Food and Entertaining Awards
"Best Chef: Michael Mina, 2005", San Francisco Magazine
"Restaurateur of the Year: Michael Mina, 2005", International Food & Beverage Forum
"Best Chef, California: Michael Mina, 2002", James Beard Foundation
"Top 40 Restaurants in America, 2005", Gayot
"Wine Spectator Grand Award, 2006 and 2005", Wine Spectator
"Best New Restaurant, 2005", San Francisco Magazine
"Best Service, 2005", San Francisco Magazine

By the way, I think MM was the chef at Aqua, wasn't he? Probably now that he's gone, Aqua is overrated.

The friend I'm taking out tonight wanted to go to Aqua, but I think Chez Panisse is cheaper so I'll save money. It's $75 tonight. Actually I guess the menu (now that I've looked) is not that appealing (squid & quail), but ok, what can I do. At least there's no dress code so I'll go in jeans.

Crissy Field is the newly developed "landscape" between the St Francis Yacht Club and Ft Point (which is at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge). DO NOT MISS THIS WALK ALONG THE BAY.

I have a '07 Michelin Guide - which only hd 5 multi-starred restaurants.

Stu Dudley

I'm back from Chez Panisse. I enjoyed it. Fortunately they offered halibut in place of squid at the last minute and the quail was nice also.

I wanted to keep a copy of the menu as a souvenir but I forgot, so I just called the restaurant to ask them to mail it to me.

At one point he asked if we were celebrating a birthday. I said no, and then I decided to joke with him. So I said, yes it was an April Fool's joke and in fact it was my friend's birthday.

Could I get a 50% discount, I asked facetiously?

And he said, well I could give you 50% off and you could give me 25%.

A deal!

We each had a glass of wine. It was around $230 all inclusive. (No 50% off.) I was shocked that tax was 9.75% (it was printed on the paper menu, so that was the thing I noticed right away).

It was a nice experience, but of course, when you think about the actual cost, it's probably not worth it ultimately. But I'm glad I did it!