Our girls-only trip is this weekend! We are Nor. Cal girls so we aren't complete strangers to the city. We are staying at the Coventry Inn and are looking for a restaurant that won't break our budget. The tightest budget is looking for a $15 meal, but most of us can do better than that. We think we should make a reservation in advance because of our size. The idea of walking to or cable carring to the place is appealing, we don't want to blow a lot on cabs or try and park our big SUV. We want a SF experience, with foods the city does well. Thanks!

Swan Oyster Depot on Polk.

Betelnut on Union. Walk to it. Share dishes and divide the price evenly.

A16 on Chestnut - http://www.a16sf.com/

Isa on Steiner b/n Chestnut and Lombard

Bistro Aix - Steiner b/n Chestnut and Lombard

Betelnut is a good suggestion as well.

Pane E Vino is a nice neighborhood italian restaurant on Union...It used to be really really good, but I personally think it's gone down hill a bit, but it's still good, reliable, very reasonable, and casual. It's not as hip as A16...

Swan Oyster Depot is great, but it's 100% counter seating if I remember correctly and doesn't have many seats.

I would also checkout chowhound.com's SF Bay Area message board for good recommendations http://www.chowhound.com/california/...francisco.html

If you are limited to the Marina as your message states what about Greens in Fort Mason. Great Views!

Second GREEN'S!!!! Yummy food, great views. SF experience--many ingredients for the food are from their farm --a Buddhist retreat.( At least, that used to be the case.) How NorCal is THAT?

A16 is wonderful but may be difficult to get into. It's also somewhat expensive. AIX is very good. Swan's is open for lunch, small space and no reservations. Great seafood but one can run up a good sized bill here.

You guys are great! Thanks for all the info.