San Francisco in November
 

Will be staying at Union Square a week in early Nov. - current reviews on seafood dining in the area, even the Wharf area, aren't too encouraging. Anyone have any suggestions? Safe walking areas for nighttime? Cab only?

Don't fear, as long as Farallon and Aqua are open, San Fran will have great seafood.
Union Square is busy day and night, so don't worry about it, despite what some of the posts may read. The area west of Union Square, the Tenderloin, is kinda sketchy tho.

Farallon is fantastic!!! Also look at Slanted Door (they are moving from Brannen St to Ferry Bldg--not sure when). As a rule, you will often get better seafood in Union Square then in Fisherman's Wharf.

You can walk through Union Square, North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf at night perfectly safely. Like Marty says the Tenderloin is not so nice (the area past (East) the Hilton). Cabs are plentiful in all those areas so if you get cold, tired, etc. you shouldn't have a problem hoping in one back to your hotel.

Have a great trip!

Well I've stayed at the Parc 55 in the Union Square area 3 times in the last year and a half, and never felt intimidated, even walking back to the hotel at 2 a.m.

Thanks kikahead and martytravels. We're not easily intimidated but new part of town for us (Moscone Ctr convention bringing us back to SF - yeah!) Stayed at Holiday Inn Chinatown a couple of years ago and walked North Beach, Chinatown, Embarcadero, Financial District, Fisherman's Wharf - conceirge assured us, and rightly so at that time, that it was quite safe wandering around. Am well aware of the number of homeless on the streets - something I had heard of but not seen before. Were in Union Sq. area only during high noon; looking forward to new territory. Loved San Francisco, Sausalito, Muir Woods. Will tour Napa this trip and hopefully nighttime dinner cruise one evening. Even a week is not long enough!!

Bowmangayl,
Early November's a great time to be in S.F. Weather is about 50-50. You might encounter an early start to the rainy season, or it also might stil be a bit warm.

If you are attending a convention at the Moscone Center, make friends with the #30 Stockton bus. It can take you from the Moscone/MOMA area to Union Square or further on to Chinatown, North Beach and the Wharf. I still find it a very interesting route, even after living here over 30 years.

Search this site for "Belden Lane" or "Belden". It's an alleyway on the border of the Financial District which is door-to-door restaurants. November is a bit late for the outdoor tables, but it's a great place to have a choice of places to eat. A place named Plouf is my favorite for seafood - they are famous for their mussel preparations. Belden Lane is easy walking distance from Union Square. If you'd like a seafood paella, check out a place named B-44 a few doors down - it's a Catalan restaurant and has a variety of paellas.

Have a very pleasant trip!

Dovina, thanks for the Belden Lane search suggestion (and the bus suggestion). Plouff seems to receive no negatives - the only dining place I've seen mentioned that didn't get as many criticisms as it did praises. My earlier trip to SF was in February, 2002, rainy off and on and low 60's - so I bought a hooded raincoat and walked in the rain. Will bring the same coat back and enjoy whatever the weather brings.

Yikes right back atcha Chilin.

Yep, J_Correa, every time I see that old post, warning people about the evils of "Union Sqaure", I get all nostalgic. Every time Fodors nukes it, I get a little emotional.... :'(

One more vote for Union "Sqaure" being fine after dark. Yes, I agree you could venture from there into less desirable areas, but use your common sense for crying out loud, and if the good parts of Union Square feel sketchy to YOU, then it's up to YOU to avoid them. People get attacked in broad daylight in nice parts of everywhere for god's sake, get over it. The world's a scary place, people.

love and a vaguely threatening glance,
roxy

Hmmmm.... "Chilin", didn't you post last night that you're a lifelong resident of San José?

And please refrain from calling other posters "psychotic". These heated types of personal attacks might get you banned from the Fodors travel talk boards. Again.

Oh, sorry then. But I must agree with the other posters (many of whom are from OUTSIDE of CA): Union Square is no worse than any other busy urban centerpoint (say, Times Square in Manhattan or the corner of Sunset and Fairfax in West Hollywood). It's a big city, and you'll see homeless-- and the Tenderloin IS rough, there's no question, you want to avoid it--, but it's not unsafe. And I've been in subway stations in Manhattan at 4 AM-- I think I've got a good point of comparison.

There are people around the area at all times (well, maybe not at 4 AM), and the OP (hi, bowmangayl!) should be just fine.

Erh! Where's Union "Sqaure"?

rjw - guess our multiple poster couldn't decide what to call you, "this individual" or "these individuals", so he's invented a new word: "thise" :)


Feeling positively lonely being left out of the listing for the "psychotic" group
Jason

P.S. Welcome to the club, turn_it_on!

Hey, jason888 buddy!! The latest "Chilin" posts are gone! How 'bout that?

As long as you don't mind stining homeless and beggars you should be fine! Otherwise, go to a city like New York that has confronted the "homeless" problem.

I have to agree with everyone that SF Union Square is safe at night as long a you use "common sense". It is no different than Manhattan in NYC.

Another restaurant I like a lot of The Boulevard. Although Slanted Door was good, I was not impressed with the portions. =(

Back to dinner.....will also be in town at the same time and am curious about the need for reservations on a Fri Sat Sun....needed or no? I really want to decide on a whim but i want to be able to get seated at a resonable hour......which is about what time in San Francisco? early? late?....last time I was there I had only 1 Night free and ate on the run. Looking forward to Cioppino.... any ideas where would be great.
Thanks

Okay, I'm confused. Let me start by saying I admit I have no life for having noticed this, but somehow did things that were posted as the "chilin" screenname suddenly get the "jaredson" screenname attached to them?? This in particular I'm almost positive was previously posted before on this thread by "chilin": "Message: Yikes!! I wouldn't advise staying in Union Sqaure. After dark it gets kind ouf rough there. Nob Hill, Marina, Cow Hollow, And Fisherman's Wharf are all much nicer." Click on the jaredson name, does any of that stuff sound familiar?

Can any of my alter egos help me out with this?

Finally, as with ALL travel, just use common sense, something Americans seem to have less and less of lately..."I didn't KNOW chewing on the razor blade would be bad, the package should've said so! Let's sue!" Like I said before, even if a million people tell you it's safe or unsafe, what one person feels threatened by is different than what another feels threatened by, and moreover, no matter what anyone says, you still have to use your own judgment above anything. It would take an idiot to take the advice here that says Union Square is okay only to discover maybe it's not but to stick around anyway.

Come on, people.

Is there even a program to get WITH anymore?

luv
roxy

HI, rjw!

Yes "chilin" is gone

BUT

"jaredson" has suddenly appeared with the same idiotic posts. This time, he's not waiting for a reply, but has gone on the offensive immediately! New trick, same poor spelling mistakes: Union "Sqaure" is baaack! :(

turn_it_on: This is not a new phenomenon. In fact, almost daily a new name appears, with the same posts. Fodors deletes his postings, only to have the same postings pop up under another name. Just click on the poster's name and you will see that the posts date back only a few days at the most before they get deleted by Fodors.

The poster is obviously a miserable spoilsport. He seems to take perverse pleasure in ruining the fun of travel postings. You know, misery loves company. Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around. :(

Any innocent question about San Francisco or the Bay Area gets a slew of misinformation from the "multiple poster" and anyone who tries to correct the misinformation gets lumped into his imaginary "same poster" group and blasted.

Welcome to the group, turn_it_on! You'll find that we're a pretty nice group to belong to! :) If you ever go to Southern California, rjw will give you very honest and reliable information! Meanwhile, happy travels wherever you may be going next! :)