San Francisco Itinerary
 

I've got a couple of holes in my SF itinerary over Memorial Day weekend that I could use some help with.<BR><BR>Thursday - Arriving Hilton Towers downtown about 7:00 PM<BR>Friday - Plan to take ferry to Sausolito for lunch/sightseeing - 10:00PM Beach Blanket Babylon.<BR>Saturday - 10:00 Chinatown Walking Tour &amp; Lunch. Ride Cable Cars.<BR>Sunday - Rent a Car &amp; Visit Sonoma<BR>Monday - Fly home.<BR><BR>I sure could use help/suggestions with the following:<BR>1. Thursday night dinner in the area of hotel?<BR>2. Friday afternoon/early evening/dinner?<BR>3. Saturday afternoon/evening/dinner?<BR>Dinner - nothing fancy. Good seafood. Plouf's sounds nice. <BR>Not interested in touring Alcatraz.<BR> <BR>Thanks.

While I was reading the post I was going to suggest Plouf and then saw you'd thought of it already. It's located on a little alley (Belden Pl) with several other nice, casual places. For dinner before Beach Blanket Babylon I'd suggest Rose Pistola-good Italian-make sure to make a reservation. Swan Oyster Depot is a well loved spot-it's on Polk St.

We loved Plouf. And, there are all sorts of other wonderful possibilities all along Belden Place.<BR><BR>Another memorable dining experience (though on the pricey side, but definitely worth it) was Boulevard (reservations essential).<BR><BR>Note that the cable cars will be really busy on Saturday, day and night. I'd recommend heading for the California line and riding the entire route. It's not quite the thrill of Powell-Mason/Hyde, but almost. You might want to do this Thursday night after dinner. Or, after the Chinatown Walking Tour (which ends not far from California).

While you're in North Beach stop into 15 Romolo for a drink. It's kind of an out of the way &quot;pretty person&quot; bar. Romolo is an alley near the intersection of Broadway &amp; columbus. The bar is unmarked, just a big heavy door, but inside, one of the best cosmos I have ever tasted awaits.

BTW, out of the way doesn't mean far out of the way, just means Hard to find. it's in North beach, close to places you'll go.<BR><BR>

Is Scotts still open in SF, used to be my favorite restaurant.<BR><BR>Thanks.

Thanks for all the great restaurant recommendations.<BR><BR>What should we do/see Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon keeping in mind we will be limited to public transportation?

On a recent trip to San Fracisco, I had a few extra hours and I took a Grayline tour of the city. Even though I had been to San Francisco several times, I had never done this. I enjoyed it very much. They picked me up at my hotel and I believe the tour lasted 3 hours. I saw things that I had not seen before. It was good for an overall view of the city. Also I found La Scala's restaurantlocated next to The Sir Francis Drake Hotel to be a great place for dinner.

Why not explore North Beach on Friday afternoon/evening, since you'll have to be there anyhow for BBB at 10?<BR><BR>I don't see Golden Gate Park anywhere on your itinerary. I feel like that is one of SF's crown jewels. They have a great botanical garden, the Japanese Tea Garden is something I personally feel is a must see, and a walk around Stow Lake is really nice. All three of these areas are very close to each other within the park, near to the 9th Avenue entrance.<BR><BR>I also don't see SF MoMA on your list. I think it's an architecturally stunning building, and while I'm no fan of abstract expressionism, I think that there is always something inside worth seeing. This museum is downtown at 3rd &amp; Mission.<BR><BR>How about a walk along the embarcadero? great views. <BR><BR>The Asian Art museum is reopening tomorrow. It's been closed for over a year while it relocated. this is in the Civic Center area. They redid the old library. <BR><BR>Are you an adventurous eater ? How about trying nouveau vegan food at Millennium? It's not granola 'crunchy' it's nice, and way different from anything I've ever experienced. (No seafood there, tho').

There is a Scott's Seafood over in Oakland's Jack London Square. It has got to be one of the best seafood restaurants in the area.

May I make a suggestion for a slight change in the intinerary? I'd ride the cable cars on Friday and take the Ferry to Sausalito on Sunday unless there was a major reason not to. Weekends, especially holiday weekends, generate huge waiting lines for the cable cars. Unless you enjoy waiting, sometimes for hours, you're less likely to encounter that problem on Friday than you are on Sunday.

Bay Area, Can't you let Budman make up his own mind about he wants to do??<BR><BR>Budman, you will have to excuse Bay Area's advertising, as he/she works for the SF Chamber of Commerce. He/she even likes to try and get people to come to SF when it is not on their travel itinerary. One time a poster was asking about Los Angles and he/she was trying to get them to go to SF instead. Go figure.

Livesincali<BR><BR>WTF ???<BR><BR>Budman specifically asked for suggestions about 5 posts above yours. The title of this thread is &quot;San Francisco Itinerary&quot;.<BR><BR>I'm completely baffled as to how you manage to think my comments are out of line.<BR><BR>Good call on my employment, NOT!

BayArea - I wish you had given this advice before i went to SF. I never thought Golden Gate Park was much to see but now i realize i missed out on it.

Perhaps spend the morning Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. See and taste some of the best food SF has to offer. There are good food vendors there as well. Walk along the Embarcadero then take the ferry to Sausalito. Walk around have a late lunch and walk around some more. I think Moose's is a good place to eat before BBB. Since you will have some time you could check out Osteria Del Forno(no reservations though) also in North Beach. Kokkari is a great greek place more in the embarcadero area and would be good for dinner before the show. You will need to cab it after dinner.Also in the Embarcadero area is Yank Sing which is IMHO the best dim sum in SF. Make reservations. You can also get good dim sum take out and walk across the street and sit by the bay to eat.<BR><BR>If you go to Sausalito on a Friday it will be less crowded than on a weekend and particularly on Memorial Day Weekend. <BR><BR>I also agree with SF MOMA or Golden Gate park although to get to the park using public transportation will be tricky on the weekend as I am not certain how far into the park traffic can go on the weekend. You might also want to check out the Marina..walk along the shorepath up to Fort Point ..check out chrissy field and have fantastic views of the golden gate bridge.<BR><BR><BR>Where in Sonoma are you going and are you going to wine taste? I think I remember from your previous posts you are tasting. It should be beautiful up there then.<BR><BR>I always could go to Plouf!

Budman - be sure to check out the MUNI web site if you haven't already to get a good idea about pubblic transportation sites. If you mail MUNI a couple bucks, they will send you a complete map, it's very helpful - the address and info is on the web site.<BR><BR>I believe the N lightrail train will take you from Market street to Golden Gate park. It runs about a block from the southern boundary of the park. Ther is also a bus that will take you from downtown, through the Haight and to the eastern edge of the park. Both run on weekends.

The muni website is great. It's sfmuni.com<BR>You can put in the origin address(or cross streets) and the destination and it will tell you which busses or trains to take.

B'man,<BR>If I recall correctly, the restaurant at the top of your hotel, Cityscapes, has one of the better restaurant views in SF and the 2 dinners and a Sunday brunch we've had there was quite nice. <BR>Kuleto's is just down and around from your hotel, too.<BR><BR>I just spent Monday and Tuesday in SF (business) and the weather could not have been better!<BR><BR>We will be going back this Sat/Sun/Mon. morning (pleasure) but a storm may be coming thru. Not good for a certain &quot;runner&quot; but good for a &quot;sleeper inner-Irish Coffee-breakfaster&quot;. ;-)<BR><BR>PamSF-My O'Head still hurts.<BR>Never made it to O'Sheas but did walk into Paddy's at 3:00...crawled out around 6:30. By then Harrigan's, Kell's, O'Reilly's et al were all spilling into the streets. Looked like we went into SF and came out in New Orleans!<BR>Kal

Thank you all for your input. So much great info. It is going to be tough to pick and chose. I'll just have to plan another trip back.<BR><BR>PamSF - Yes, that was me. With only Sunday in Sonoma, I've decided on Healdsburg area for wine tasting. Looking for some great Pinot Noir to bring back to NJ.<BR><BR>

North Beach has lots of nifty moderately priced cafes. Just walk around and find one with a menu that makes your taste buds water. Anytime I go down there, it is pot luck and I have never been disappointed. You might want to check out City Lights Bookstore, it is an icon in SF. It sounds like you are downtown. One of my favorite places to grab weekend brunch is Yang Sing--absolutely the best dim sum! A real hole in the wall but absolutely great chinese dinner can be had at House of Nan King. Things to see and do: How about a walking ghost tour or a trip to The Legion of Honor? Agree, SFMOMA is nifty. Grab yourself a guidebook and/or check out local happenings on the internet. Have fun... Oh, by the way, the Mission District is also known to have lots of interesting and quite tasty cheap eats, too. If you are looking for nicer restuarants, there are plenty downtown, too.

I would be kind of careful about about venturing too much into the Mission District. This area is notorious for gang activity. It would be better to stay in North Beach or Fisherman's Wharf areas. Downtown/Union Aquare can also get quite dicey, especially at night.

Make that Union &quot;Square&quot; Sorry for the typo.

If you like seafood, you must go over to Oakland and try Scott's. It is excellent! Much better quality than the tourist traps in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.

Budman..for great pinot look at either Sapphire Hill or Merry Edwards in the Russian River Valley Area of Healdsburg..I think Sapphire Hill has a tasting room now...seriously...this is great stuff. And..where in NJ? I grew up in Westfield.

Lots of people love the Mission Area. It has a grittier feel but so do blocks right outside Union Square! Get a tour guide book and do some homework. Each to their own. San Francisco is known for their unique neighborhoods--from the ritzy Pacific Heights, to the funky Ashbury-Height, to the colorful Mission...etc...

chucklesbythebay, I like your idea of walking around North Beach and checking out the cafes and restaurant menus. Kinda reminds me of Europe.<BR><BR>PamSF - Toms River, home of the 1998 Little League World Champions. Sapphire Hill is on my short list.<BR><BR>Thanks everyone for the food for thought, and all your great ideas and restaurant recommendations.

Scott's is decent, but I see no reason to go to Oakland to eat a chain seafood restaurant. You will find plenty of good restaurants in SF or Sausalito. The newly revamped Ferry Building will be open on the Embarcadero and the views are nice in that area.