San Francisco - need restaurant & tourist tips
 

I have a friend who is traveling to SF in September and is interested in great places to eat, places to visit and tourist sites.

I was in SF about 7 or 8 years ago and can't remember the places we ate - but I remember the science center was fun. However, they probably won't have time to go there. We took a city bus tour (Hop On - Off type) and really enjoyed that.

With literately 1000's of places to eat could you narrow it down to type & price range?
It's said that there are enough seats in restaurants for every person in SF to eat at the same time.
Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai & of course lot of sea food.
While an exaggeration the old joke is you can get any kind of food in the World in San Francisco except American, You have to go to Oakland for that. LOL!

Here are my ideas

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

My favorite restaurant in The City right now is Nico.
http://nicosf.com/

Stu Dudley

Thanks Stu, am checking out the link and Nico.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/food/top-100-2015/

I use guides like this (which, unlike guidebooks, are updated annually) to sift through the embarrassment of riches that is the SF restaurant scene.

Go to the Ferry Building. Get a reservation at THE SLANTED DOOR. This is recognized as one of the top places in SF by local press. Try to book now.

We also enjoy KOHKARI. Another hot spot not far from the Ferry Building.

Other than that you could spend 100 years and a lot of emails on recommendations. Good luck.....great food city from one who lived there.

>>We also enjoy KOHKARI<<

Kokkari

http://www.kokkari.com/home/

Excellent restaurant. Hard to get reservations.

Stu Dudley

I was going to mention the spelling of Kokkari, just in case the poster was trying to look it up online. It is very good (I'm having lunch there in a couple of weeks).

NewbE, ever since (years ago) I ate at a restaurant by a well-known chef, listed in Michael Bauer's Top 100, and the salad had "pop rocks" (remember those - fizz fizz) in it, I've been loathe to rely on that list! It is a good overall list however, as a starting point.

We like Michael Chiarello's Coqueta a lot. Nice place, great location, very good food.

sf, I do think those lists privilege the new over the tried and true--reviewers get jaded, I think. Hence, the pop rocks, lol.

If you are interested in a unique dining experience you should check out Feastly (http://bit.ly/1hlKxaj). They put on pop-up dinners where diners sit a communal table, so you get to eat fantastic food and meet interesting people. I've been to a few of their meals (Burmese, Japanese Omakase, Filipino) and they've all be great. The food was really good and I meet some really interesting people.

Bookmarking for an October trip to SF

Besides great dining what should this art lover not miss in SF the week of Columbus weekend?

Also, any favorite walks just outside the city?

We are there a week. Haven't been in years.

gruezi, we enjoyed walking through Discovery park down to the water.

>>Also, any favorite walks just outside the city?<<

No Walks "just outside". SF is surrounded by water - except for the south side which isn't very interesting except for south of Fort Funston area along the Pacific if you can sneak on the Olympic Country Club golf course.

Stu Dudley

How far away in minutes is "just outside" San Francisco?

Stu Dudley

gruezi, I'm sorry, I read this as seattle, not sf. :( nevermind.

any favorite walks just outside the city

Because San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, as stu said there is no "just outside". Are you staying outside the city? If so, let us know where and we might be able to suggest walks near where you will be (if you're staying in Berkeley, which is across the bay to the East, for example, there's not much point in suggesting walks north (Marin) or south (the Peninsula, but not across water) of San Francisco.

There's a good exhibit on at the Asian Art Museum, if art is an interest.

We are staying in the city but we can rent a car. We have a full week.

Yes, for me, art is a big interest.