mosey

My family and I (husband and two children) will be in San Francisco for four days in April. We would appreciate suggestions for restaurants. We are foodies and love all kinds of food. Our children, too, are open to all types of food. We live in the midwest so we would like good seafood, but also, other types, Italian, Chinese, etc. We prefer not to go to typical "kid-friendly" restaurants since they are usually chains and mediocre food. We do; however, need to go somewhere they are tolerant of well-behaved children.

Also, if easytraveler responds, thank you for your hotel suggestions for SF. I tried to send a response, but something happened. We are going to stay at a hotel in Fisherman's Wharf. Thank you for informing me that the restaurants around FW are so so and the suggestions you did give.

mosey

Oops! My children are 8 and 9 if that helps.

KathrynT

Try sfgate.com and click on "Food and Dining" for current restaurant reviews that are very accurate. We have found well-behaved children to be welcomed in most places, especially if you dine early.

Suzie

Three of us adults had a terrific dinner at Cafe Pescatore on Mason near Fisherman's Warf. We had terrific sea bass. It also serves other italian fare like pizza which give you a chance to have great food while the kids have the yummy pizza.

SAB

There are very few restaurants in SF that are not use to seeing children, I've seen children dining out with their parents in some of the most high end restaurants in town. So if your children are used to going places that require them to be well behaved that will not be an issue. So where to go? Are you looking for must do type restaurants or little gems? Farallon would be a great but somewhat expensive seafood experience for you and the children because in addition to the food the decor is amazing. Sam's Grill for seafood might be interesting because of its old style atmosphere. Plouf for its French Bistro feel. Boulevard is also a visually interesting restaurant. Zuni would be fun for them as would Lulu's due to the atmosphere. All three feature California cuisine. My favorite Italian restaurants at the moment are Delphina, Antica and Incanto--none of which are in North Beach and none of which feature Italian/american food but very good.

CalgirlSusan

My nephews always have to go to Fog City Diner, their favorite spot. The food is really good.

Underhill

Go up to Chinatown and have a meal at the Far East Café, which still has the original curtained booths. A little farther from the downtown area is Gold Mountain, great for a dim-sum lunch; the main dining room is enormous, and the servers push heated carts around with a great variety of plates from which you can choose. You can also get noodle dishes and the traditional congee.

If you have a car, head out Geary Blvd. to the Mayflower (Chinese) Restaurant, which is cherished by our Chinese friends for the seafood plates. Wonderful dim sum as well.

You might also like to sample one of the Russian restaurants in the same area as the Mayflower (which is near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral).

vegaslover73

you have to go to the Cheesecake Factory - top floor of Macy's on Union Sq - it's GREAT! & the kids will love it, too.

SAB

I hate to be a food snob, but the Cheesecake Factory is a chain and certainly not unique to SF.

April

We loved the Fog City Diner as well. We went there after walking down the Filbert Steps.

laurelt

Here's another idea, if you find yourself down on the Embarcadero, by the ballpark: Slanted Door, a very nice and up-scale Vietnamese restaurant that is wonderful.

BelTib

Assuming you have a car and can get away from Fisherman's Wharf, I can recommend a few restaurants where you can eat and still be close to places to take the kids afterwards.

The Beach Chalet on Great Highway. If there is such a thing as a kid friendly brewery this is it. The food/beer is good and the view right on Ocean Beach is amazing (there should'nt be any fog in March). You will be near the Cliff House and GG Park windmills and not too far from the zoo.

Near the Exploritorium/Palace of Fine Arts on Chestnut Street in the Marina is Cafe Marimba (Mexican/Oaxacan) and lots of other restaurants. Also, nearby on Union Street/Cow Hollow are places like Pan e Vino (Italian) and Betlenut (pan-Asian) or Rosie's Cafe (for breakfast)

Since we live in Marin now, I like to take visitors with kids on a walk through Muir Woods followed by lunch/dinner at Joe's Taco Lounge in Mill Valley, or the Buckeye Road House next to the Highway 101/Stinson Beach exit.

By the way, I the idea of dim sum out on Geary Blvd.is good, but I like Ton Kiang better than Mayflower. Further out on Geary is Pacific Cafe, we have been going there for 15+ yrs, good fish restaurant, no reservations get there early although if you wait you get free wine.

Have a great trip.

zootsi

If you want a real Italian home cooking kind of place thats casual but with a lot of atmosphere, try the Gold Spike in the North End.

E

SAB, if you're a snob, then so am I! If I hear the Cheesecake Factory recommended again, I swear, my head will explode. It's a chain, it exists all over, and its main claim to fame is obscene portion sizes of artery clogging junk food. Yes, that's just my opinion--but it's a *chain*, so why recommend it to travelers when they could eat someplace unique instead??

ParrotMom

We loved going to Scoma's...try checking out www.chowhound.com and go to the S.F. site.. they wil give you all sorts of great info.

ParrotMom

forgot..I agree about the Cheesecake Factory..lol...thereare lots of non-chains along the waterfront and of course China Town or North Beach...they might like the Stinky Rose.. Scomas specializes in great fish and ciapinno (sp) which is great fish stew

BayArea

I have to disagree on the beach chalet. Fabulous setting! Horrible food! Ugh! Hope springs eternal and I keep going back,only to have my expectations drowned in unbalanced, overly greasy food.

Unfortunately, the only way to get a table with the view is to order a meal, but yuck, what a horrible meal it is.

On a different note, I highly recommend Straits Cafe on Clement (Geary?). It's Singaporean food that you won't get in the midwset, it's like a mix between Indian, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. Great food. No view though...

April

For inexpensive 'basics' like spaghetti, fried chicken and milkshakes, try the casual, 50s-style Lori's Diner at Ghirardelli Square (not far from the Argonaut Hotel) where you can sit at a window seat overlooking the bay.

mosey

Thank you all so very much for the wonderful suggestions. We look forward to our vacation and happy eating in San Francisco!

easytraveler

Hi, mosey!

Another suggestion of a restaurant for kids:

Lori's diner on Powell, just a block north of Union Square. I just had lunch there today. Fun place!

Had a CAR parked inside! Haha! Green Edsel. Of course, they have an Edselburger! Lo! All 1950s theme.

Chinese Chicken Salad for you and Edselburgers for the kids!

Have a great time!