San Francisco Restaurants
 

Our family is staying at the Fishermans Wharf. Can anyone recommend restaurants in that area or nearby? <BR>Thanks. <BR>Laurie

You would do well to stay away from the FW restaurants as they are overpriced for the mediocre food they provide. Instead, I would recommend that you walk over to North Beach. <BR>Caffe Sport is a Sicilian retaurant that serves "family style". Kids will like the very busy decor.

I was nearby last week and had a terrific meal at McCormick & Kuletos in Ghiradelli Square. Great view of the sunset, too. Menu great! Afterward, galleries and shops nearby and area safe. We saw loads of tourists and there's no dress code.

Im going to assume that while you are staying near the Wharf, you may walk arund and see the city so I thought of two places I like that are near Union Square.(We always walk from Union Square into North Beach and Wharf....)One is an Indian Restaurant called New Delhi (the worlds best Rogan Josh served there) and the other is a French Restaurant on Campton Place called Anjou. Also Kuletos (on Powell) serves great food (I bought their cookbook).

Agree that eating at the wharf is overpriced for mediocre food. If you want a bayside setting go down to The Waterfront which has excellent food but is quite pricy. The Helmund in North Beach is highly rated and quite reasonable. Also check this web site www.sfgate.com/food and look under the section on specials. <BR>

Try "The Stinking Rose" in the North Beach/Fishermans Wharf area. Everything is made with garlic, including the deserts. Then your kids could have the fun of breathing heavily on each other for the rest of the way!

You'll likely have to leave the FW area to find worthwhile dining experiences. In ChinaTown, there's a can't-miss hole-in-the-wall called House of Nan King. You'll think I've sent you to a roach motel when you find it, but the food is fabulous! Just tell the owner when he seats you what kinds of food you like, and he'll order for you. Nice portions and very reasonably priced. In the shopping district, try a place called Mocca Cafe. Look it up in the phone book when you get there; they serve the most incredible seafood salads. It's a few doors down from a great kitchen store called Sur Le Table, also close to Macy's. On Fisherman's Wharf, my brother recommends Alioto's -- but make sure you eat upstairs, NOT in the street level casual dining area. Bon Apetit!

Just had a posting drift off into fodorspace. We recently ate at Helmund and their Afgan food is astounding and very reasonable. There are some great Italian restaurants on Columbus in North Beach. Try L'Osteria for melt in your mouth pizza. The place smells so good, you know you're going to love it.

Last I was in san Francisco (2 years ago), my wife and I enjoyed good dining at the following restaurants, though none are near FW: <BR>· Hawthorne Lane <BR>22 Hawthorne Street <BR>Tel. 415-777 9779 <BR>· Boulevard <BR>Corner of Steuart & Mission Streets <BR>Tel. 415 543 6084 <BR>· Il Fornaio <BR>1265 Battery Street <BR>Tel. 415 986 0100 <BR>· Ruth's Chris Steak House <BR>Corner of Van Ness & California Streets <BR>Tel. 415 673 055 <BR>In FW area, Ghirardelli has an interesting Indian restaurant, though don't bother with the seafood restaurant there. Enjoy! <BR>

If you like vegetarian food at all, Millenium Restaurant in the Civic Center area (near Market Street) is also wonderful. They serve gourmet vegan food and it is to-die-for. <BR> <BR>I also recently went to a little place on the waterfront, not too far from Ghiradelli Square. We stumbled on it by accident when we were hungry and had lunch there. I wish I could remember the name (I'm having a senior moment here!), but it's across the street from a store that sells fake perfume. It didn't have much atmosphere, although it was decorated with little white Christmas lights inside, but the hot crab sandwich was really good, as was their "Italian Coleslaw" . . . and their gelatto truffle desserts were incredible! The prices were pretty reasonable too. We're not talking gourmet food here, but it was cheap and enjoyable and perfect for lunch on the run. If anyone knows the name of it feel free to pipe in (we forgot to grab a business card and I was sure I would remember the name without one. Oh well).

SCOMA's!!! pricey, but worth it...

Beetlenut on Union Street has Asian-fusion cuisine and a fun atmosphere. It's very popular so make reservations.