San Fran dinner and fun
 

Going to spend one Friday night in San Fran on Oct. 28 - where can we get a great dinner, cool atmosphere?

<b>Betelnut, Union Street</b>

Call 415-929-8855 for reservations.

Had a good time at O'Reilly's Holy Grail on Polk a few months ago. =P~

Just don't confuse it with O'Reilly's Irish Pub on Green.

I would look into Alice Water's famous Chez Panisse across the bay in Berkeley.

Go to Betelnut on Upper Haight St.

Asian fusion with great atmsophere.

Cha Cha Cha on Haight; Foreign Cinema on Valencia; Zuni on Market; Plouf on Belden Lane; and numerous other places--just depends on your definition of cool atmospher.

Some of the numerous others--Luna Park, Mecca, Town Hall, A 16, Oola and Chez Papa.

A16...pork loin.......... =P~

Thanks for these amazing suggestions! I was also told City Scape and Shanghai 1930...any feedback on either of these?

Check out Slanted Door, Ozumo, Delfina.

Betelnut is on Union Street, Haight Street (just to clarify one poster's info).

I've had drinks at Shanghai 1930 b/c my hubby works nearby, but I've heard the food isn't so great.

Like someone else said, it kind of depends what your definition of cool atmosphere is. Are you looking for NY cool with a younger (20s-30s)crowd? Or just good food in a lively atmosphere. For example, you'll have a really wonderful meal at Town Hall (one of our faves), the atmosphere is loud, but the crowd is mixed bordering on older (I am in my late 20s, FYI). It's relaxed and not too much of a &quot;scene.&quot; If you give us more info, we may be able to give you better options.

oops, I meant Betelnut is only on Union Street and not on Haight street.

Shaghai 1930 is upscale Chinese and tries too hard IMHO to make people think they are cool by being there, i.e. manufactured cool; Cityscape is restaurant on top of Hilton hotel, more known for lavish brunch--you are paying for view--so I guess you could say it has a cool view, not my idea of a cool atmosphere. What are you looking for? To many SF residents the coolest restaurants are the ones that serve the best and most interesting food, and if it hasn't been discovered by the masses, even better. Just keeping up with new places is a competitive sport!!!

If you are looking for Asian, I'd agree with Slanted Door.

No on Shanghai 1930. Food is on a par with one of those old chop suey houses but at highly inflated prices.

For sky high prices and great food and &quot;cool&quot; atmosphere, try Aqua.

For great fun, good food, and a terrific sangria, try SAB's suggestion of Cha Cha Cha.

SF is generally pretty cool at night, so bring a sweater or a wrap. :S-

I like the restaurants along Belden Place. There're several nice ones. It's an alleyway in the financial district. Google for a website.

Warm evening = Belden Place and its outdoor tables.

Late night and/or rain = Oola

My great dinner/cool atomosphere place is WAY the hell out on Mission (near 30th). It's called The Blue Plate. You can sit up front and watch the cooking, in the middle room with the paintings and low lighting, or if it's a warm night and you've made a reservation, maybe you'll be lucky and snag a table in the tiny but luxurious garden. Seasonal cuisine at its best, good wine list, very clubby and intimate (esp. later in the evening). How cool? Well, they played the soundtrack from &quot;Shaft&quot; the first time I ate there - I was not the only diner boppin' in my seat.

Hi all -- wow -- thanks for the great info!!! Let me be more descriptive on what we are looking for -- that might help too...

There are two couples going, we are all 30. Coming from Chicago and looking for what people who actually live in the city consider a cool atmosphere, so nothing that is touristy.

By &quot;cool&quot; i guess we mean cutting-edge atmosphere, good food, crowded...aka...the place that everyone is talking about right now in the city.

I looked at Betelnut online and it looks really good...kind of the scene I feel that would work...any others like this?

After bars? Swanky place that has music?

Hope that helps, really appreciate all of the suggestions! Getting excited for my trip!

Look at Bix.

The newer, cool places are Myth, A 16, Oola, Town Hall, Quince. Delphina is still hot. The newest Valencia street restaurant is Range. Betelnut is OK, but certainly not a cutting edge, destination restaurant.

A16. The King of Slow Food just ate at A16 and said it was the best food he's eaten outside of Italy.

Their meatballs are simply the best.

I vote for Cha Cha Cha

:))

Thanks!
I did online research into your ideas and have narrowed it down to Myth, Oola (but it said late night is the best, and this will be for dinner?) and A 16 (but this seems more pizza, low-key)...

Since we only have one night there, any votes from these three?

See which one you can get a reservation for first--Myth and A 16 are always difficult at prime dining times. BTW A 16 is not a pizza place--it happens to serve really good neapolitan style pizza along with other dishes from the Campania region of Italy. All three are good--many people will not have heard of any of them unless they are foodies and keep up with new places just in case it is important to you to have dined at a place that is well known to others. I'm not making a judgment here, but some people do like to dine at a place that others recognize.

I've only been to A16 and Oola. A16 has more energy and it's more than just a pizza place. It is definitely a scene. Oola is smaller and more subdued (at least when I was there). The food was pretty good, not the best. If I were you, I'd try Myth (it's on my list too!), although A16 and Oola are both good choices.

Just did a serach on Open Table and Myth is showing no availability, A 16 shows its usual reserved by restaurant after 5, which means you must call directly and Oola shows 6 and 8pm.

wow, again, you guys are great!
thanks, i will call tonight and see if I can get into A 16 or shimmy my way into Myth...will let you know!

well, now I know what they mean when they say San Fran is a foodie town...a lot of the hot places are taken! so, now have a choice between slanted door (9:30 p.m. reserved), mecca, fussion (7 p.m. reserved) and plouf....if you up for it, weigh in on where we should go...i know these are all quite different, but if any have stand out food, fun atmosphere and are near other fun drink stops...that is what we are looking for...thanks...i am sure at this point everyone will be ready for me to just go and stop deciding! I feel the pressure though b/c choosing for 3 others plus myself and they have left it up to me! HA! Thanks!

Based on the food being more &quot;San Francisco&quot; than the others, then I would go with Slanted Door. Yes, I know it is Vitnamese fusion, but it's hard to find these anywhere else (except, maybe, in Paris).

As equally important is that you will be in the Ferry Building, where there is a wine bar and and assorted number of quality and interesting food stores to wow you away.

thanks for your advice, i think it makes a lot of sense...slanted door reso at 9:30 p.m....stuff till happening in the ferry buildig at that time? we will probably go for drinks prior...wine bar name you can send me? thanks!

I didn't realize that your reservation was for 9:30.

Anyway, the wine bar (Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant) is open until 9:00 pm on Fridays. Most of the stores in the Ferry Building closes early. I would have recommended getting some Oysters (Hog Island Oysters) and/or cheeses (from Cowgirl Creamery) to take with you to the Wine Bar.

that would have been a great idea, but we have had no luck getting a reservation before 9 p.m. -- oh well! thanks for the info!

Oola has 8pm slot--just ran it on Open Table. Yes SF is a big foodie town which is why when someone asks for restaurant recommendations it is always contingent on what's available. Of the places that had decent times i.e. between 7 and 8 p.m. the following are interesting places: EOS in Cole Valley, La Suite in South Beach and Lime and Luna Park on Valencia St. Although Slanted Door is very good, it is becoming a big tourist destination.

If you go to the Slanted Door, you can get drinks before hand in the Ferry Building, as someone mentioned, or Ozumo (www.ozumo.com - enter on Steuart Street) which is about two blocks away, or at Americano in the new Hotel Vitale (both are bar/restaurants).

Did you mean that you have reservations at Frisson (as opposed to Fussion)? Frisson is definitely good for drinks and will have the cutting-edge atmosphere you want, but I haven't eaten there so I can't comment. Plus it is walking distance to North Beach which has a lot of bar options.

Range in the Mission is one of the new buzz places. I haven't been there yet, but was just reviewed in San Francisco Magazine (http://www.sanfran.com/home/critics_...b2e5a4139bf6aa). The good thing about the Mission is that it also a good bar hopping area. I also just went to Nihon (14th/Folsom) which opened about 3 weeks ago and it sounds like it would fit the bill, but it's not as close to other things that you may want to do (i.e., the bars of the Mission are a few blocks away).

Good Luck! You really have a lot of good options in front of you from everyone here. Let us know what you decide!

wow -- my team of SF foodies is an amazing group! thanks!

yes, frisson. anyone know if food is good? sounds like bars close to it would be fun...

lastly, is oola close to other fun stuff, one weird write-up i read is that is on a desolate strip...i pictured my friends being made at me, just kidding!

Oola is not close to other nightlife really. That is one of the downsides. There are some bars on Folsom but it's kind of a hike and that area can be fine on some blocks and a bit sketchy on others. I think you'd enjoy the Mission or North Beach for more of a taste of SF night life.
FYI, parts of Mission STREET can be sketch at night but most of the nightlife/restaurants in that neighborhood are on Valencia Street starting at around 16th Streets up through around 24th Street.

You would probably find more to do on Valencia St.

BACK FROM A GREAT SAN FRAN AND NAPA WEEKEND!

Thanks to all my fodors.com friends for great reccos!

We ended up staying at the Orchard Hotel, having cocktails at Americano (bar in Hotel Vital) and eating my favorite meal of the entire weekend at The Slanted Door! The food was unreal! And, the atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for that night!

Thank you for the great advice!

It was perfect!