S. F. restaurant recommendation
 

We'll be celebrating an anniversary in San Francisco next month and would appreciate restaurant recommendations, preferably not too far from Pacific Heights. We love French food (especially Provençal), shellfish, Thai food, pizza, Chinese food, and Indian food. Ideas, please!

Pizza - Pizzeria Delfina (in Pac Heights)
A16 - french (very very popular....do your best to make a reservation)
La Folie - this is pricey and higher end but very well regarded french restaurant
Frances - this is in the Castro so not that close to where you'll be but it's one of the hottest tickets for french restaurants right now...must make reservations well in advance

Boulevard not far from the ferry building is also very popular and wonderful. Betelnut (Asian) is delicious and fun (not special enough imo for an anniversary). Gary Danko is very good (Fisherman's Wharf).

A16 isn't french and is very noisy and tables are very close. Spruce is wonderful - romantic, excellent food.
http://sprucesf.com

vova--shush, don't mention Frances it's almost impossible to get into now with locals flocking there.

Heard great things about Spruce..good call Deb!
We like Boulevard, Gary Danko, Slanted Door for lunch, Scoma's, Zuni, Taylor's Refresher, Blue Bottle, Hog Oyster, fleur de lys, Tadich.

I'm just a tourist so I'm sure others like sf and Stu will chime in!

I'd go for Spruce also
I can also recommend 1550 Hyde, in Russian Hill, nr Pac Hts - Frenchified California cuisine,the chef/owner is there every night, not traditonally romantic (it's small, not fancy, more modern decor) but great food, excellent service and not noisy.

(we do know the owners but we knew them before they opened the resto - I get no kickback, I just love the place)

Cassis s also delightful - again, more casual than romantic but also near Pac Heights and genuinely French.

I like Spruce but it's a way out in the Pesidio.
Quince is a lovely special occasion restaurant, although Italian.

A16 is Italian and although it has a very interesting wine list we have not been impressed by the food on two visits. Gary Danko at Fishermans wharf would probably be good but it was not open when we stayed at the Fairmont at G Sq a few months ago so I have no personal experience with the restaurant. Like Betelnut and I have one daughter that swears by P Delfina.
The other restaurants above are not close to Pacific heights.

oops...i meant to write italian for A16. I love it but it is crowded. if you're looking for romantic every night, don't go to that one, but I think it's fun. Dosa on Fillmore is a good Indian spot. In general, Pac Heights has some good restaurants and many have been mentioned but you would have to hop on a taxi for most of the top spots in the city - which is not a big deal since San Francisco is a small walkable city.

If you want to do Italian that's a little more romantic, then another popular spot is Perbacco. It's in the Financial District so it's not that close to Pac Heights. Acquarello gets lots of good feedback but I've never been.

If you're in SF over a Saturday, then make your way in the morning to the Ferry Building and walk around. It's a culinary treat and on Saturdays they also have a great Farmer's Market that draws crowds from all over the Bay Area.

To my mind, anywhere in SF is pretty easy to get to, so I would never limit my adventures or meals to a specific area.

The public transit system is easy to use and then there is always walking [good to burn off the calories].

We have walked great distances and the city vibe around us when we walk, makes the trips fun and seem so much shorter.

If you don't limit the location as Deb sez, we had a great meal last weekend at barbacco, the little sister resto of Perbacco's which is right next door. Both Italian.

Barbacco is very good, but to me it's a "workaday" lunch place. Pizzeria Delfina is great (my personal favorite pizza -- I could live on a shared tricolor salad and shared margarita pizza). I personally prefer the one in the Mission, but others swear by the one on California Street (closer to Pacific Heights). No reservations -- just show up and put your name on the blackboard. Ristorante Delfina (Italian) is very good, too -- next door to the pizza place, but they don't even share a kitchen.

We loved a dinner we had a Ristobar a couple of weeks ago (on Chestnut). My favorite Embarcadero (near the Ferry Bldg.) restaurant is Ceveccheria La Mar (Peruvian seafood). I'd choose that or Slanted Door for lunch because they're on the water so you get the views.

For French, Rue Lepic on Pine (lower Nob Hill) gets great reviews, but I haven't been.

My husband was born in SF, and we'll have a car; so anywhere in the City is fine with us, although the Pacific Heights area would be convenient.

Just checked out the Cassis site, and it sounds exactly like what I was hoping for. Many thanks!

I really liked A16 and still dream of Burrata with olive oil, sea salt and crostini... to die for. It was crowded but we had a good table so we did not "feel" it - we went a little early and I think that helped as well.

Enjoy!

Something a little different for seafood, La Mar and the Ferry Building. Branch of a Peruvian restaurant by celebrechef Gaston Acurio. Casual atmosphere, patio avaialable.

Recommend the causas and the cebiche (ceviche) sampler.

www.lamarcebicheria.com

I have all of my most recent restaurants here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-francisco.cfm

We ended up, happily, at Cassis--mostly because it features Provençal food, which we love. The meal and service were terrific, and we can't wait to go back.