San Francisco Restaurants
 

My husband & I will be in San Francisco for 4 nights in mid-March and we are looking for restaurant suggestions.

Because we are there for only a short time, I would prefer to have a few dinner reservations made in advance & have a list of other choices.

We have reservations at Boulevard for our anniversary dinner.

So far, Perbacco tops our list of other choices. Any ideas of restaurants to consider?

Also, we are looking for a place that serves good dim-sum!

Many thanks!

2010

You will get so many suggestions...but it will help if you tell us where you're staying and whether you want your restaurants to be in the neighborhood of your hotel (Boulevard and Perbacco are only a few blocks from each other), budget, and type of food you're looknig for (Boulevard, of course, is outstanding "California" cuisine, and Perbacco is wonderful Northern Italian).

Here is a recent article from the SF Chronicle about Dim Sum
http://tinyurl.com/SF-Dim-Sum

My favorite restaurants are the small neighborhood places (not downtown).

-Delfina - Italian - Mission
-Quince - Italian/French - lower Pacific Heights - it's changing locations soon. Higher priced than others - special event place.
-Incanto - Italian. Noe Valley
-Firefly - Calif - Noe Valley
Frascati - Italian - Russian Hill - take Hyde Cable Car there
-Aziza - Moroccan/Calif - out on Geary & 22nd st.
-Pres a Vi - Presidio - Calif - not small
-Isa - French - just off Chestnut in Marina district
-Betelnut - Asian - Union St in Cow Hollow

See www.sfgate.com for descriptions, reviews, prices, location, etc

Stu Dudley

We loved Boulevard last October. The other very special restaurant that we enjoyed in SF was Gary Danko - expensive, but outstanding.

Stu's list is right on the money.

Love Boulevard, Gary Danko's, Tadich Grill (lunch or dinner), Slanted Door and Taylor's Refresher at Fishermans Wharf for lunch..ahi burger is excellent.

Make sure you have your Irish Coffee's at Buena Vista.

>>Slanted Door and Taylor's Refresher at Fishermans Wharf for lunch<<

They are not at the Wharf (thank goodness) - they are located in the Ferry Building at the foot of Market St. Both excellent - Taylors for burgers, fries, etc & dining outside, and Slanted Door for Vietnamese. Make reservations if you want to go to Slanted Door (opentable).

Stu Dudley

2010: are you a long time dim sum consumer or do you just want a one-time experience while you are in San Francisco?

I'll reserve my comments on the San Francisco Chronicle's list until you've had a chance to indicate the degree of your interest.

Thanks! :)

My favorites would be Slanted Door and Fog City Diner. I have heard great things about Gary Danko as well; and Betelnut.

I remember being taken to an enormous Chinese restaurant (the biggest I have ever seen) in SF for dim sum on one of my trips years ago. It was years ago.

Can anyone tell me where it might have been? There were several hundred people or more eating in there!

I will be in SF in March. Would like to hear additional comments on Dim Sum. This will be my first experience. I posted this several months ago and never really go any responses. I am thinking yanksing or cityview. Do I want to do something in Chinatown. Is Cityview considered in the financial district or chinatown?

Also really liked Tadich Grill for lunch (near Ferry Bldg)

LaurenKahn: was that in San Francisco Chinatown?

Was it upstairs or downstairs?

I think it was in Chinatown. I think I was downstairs but there was an upstairs.

Bar Tartine

Duh..of course its in the Ferry bldg..thanks Stu!

perbacco was wonderful when I was there in November... ask to sit updtairs where it is quieter, if you wish or downstiars if you like it a little more lively.

Their cheese plate was incredible.

If it was in Chinatown, it mostly likely was the New Asia, formerly known as "Asia Garden", on Pacific. Asia Garden was much better run, while New Asia has had a lot of problems, although it is still better than a lot of the smaller places in Chinatown.

Thanks. Looking on this thread, I thought of that dim sum place. It was about 25 years ago. My kids were small and that is how I remember. They are now grown and gone!

Thanks for your replies! This is good stuff! I will be checking out all of your recommendations! :)

sf7307: We are staying downtown near Union Square. Proximity to our hotel is not an important criteria for our choice of restaurant. We expect to take a cab in the evening if the restaurant is not within walking distance.

Since dinner will likely be the main event of our evenings, we are looking for restaurants where the food is wonderful, the atmosphere is relaxed and the service is unhurried! We do enjoy places that are lively but intimate, if that makes sense. Any suggestions?

easytraveler: I live in Vancouver where there are a plethora of Chinese restaurants that serve dim sum! With SF's vibrant Chinatown, I was hoping to find a place where we could go for some tasty dim sum! I take it you read the SF Chronicle's article. Your thoughts?

2010

If this is your first Dim Sum experience then I would recommend Yank Sing.

It is very clean and consistent, and you will have a better experience. It is more expensive than other Dim Sum places but worth the clean and well run environment.

I second the Slanted Door, and Gary Dankos.

Another favorie of mine but I can never remember the name, is the restaurant next to and attached to the Francis Drake Hotel. Nice scene, great cuisine, lat night crowd.

2010: Vancouver?! Wow!

Vancouver has the best dim sum on the West Coast, IMHO. Not Vancouver chinatown, but in the outlying areas, is it called Richmond? When we go to Vancouver we always try to make it to Kirin Restaurant, the one on Westminister.

The only really great Cantonese restaurant in the Bay Area that can match the likes of your Kirin is Koi Palace in Daly City. You will need a car to get there.

If no car, there's only one restaurant that I can recommend in Chinatown and that's R&G Lounge on Kearney. Unfortunately, I don't believe they do dim sum.

Dim sum has to be fresh, that's what one has to look for. A lot of the restaurants listed in the San Francisco Chronicle article are holes in the wall, where the age of the dim sum is unknown. You want to go to a big enough establishment where the dim sum is made fresh every day. Smaller places will recycle the same dim sum until it's sold. The take out places may be better, although I tried the barbeque pork buns at the renowned Golden Gate Bakery (Grant Street) which sells for an outrageous $1.25 each and, what can i say? Blaghhhh! Granted it's a matter of taste, but some of these much touted places don't have the best stuff! so, avoid the smaller places, especially if you are a visitor to SF - it's not worth the effort.

City View has been written up a lot and it's a real disappointment. It's clean and expensive, but the dim sum is OLD.

The only dim sum house that I can support recommending on that list is Yank Sing - but it's expensive.

When the writers of the article said they had consulted Cecilia Chiang on dim sum houses, I thought: oh, oh! Cecilia Chiang does Northern Chinese cuisine while the best dim sum is from Southern China. This is like asking Jacques Pepin about Italian restaurants, instead of asking Mario Batali. :)

If you must have dim sum in SF Chinatown, try Gold Mountain on Broadway.

If you want a better dim sum experience and can travel a bit, try the Mayflower on Geary.

If you really must, must, must go to a hole-in-the-wall place, try Balompie's in the Mission. A Salvadorean restaurant or otherwise known as an experience you will not likely have in Vancouver. The waitress may not speak English and neither will the majority of the clientele, but order a beer and just enjoy the food!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/balompie-cafe-san-francisco

Otherwise, I'd stick with the excellent recommendations here for other types of cuisine. You've gotten some top recommendations.

Enjoy! :)

besides yank sing which is upscale, a great dim sum place that was not mentioned in the chronicle is ton kiang.
it has 2 levels and is in the avenues on geary st..
you would definitely need a taxi as it is away from most of s.f. popular spots.

all the restaurants mentioned here are fabulous and it is hard to pick one over another.
but, quince stands out in my mind.
it is small, intimate and in a residential area.
the food and service is beyond compare.
i wish i could afford to eat there more.

I think you may be thinking of Yank Sing for dim sum. It's in the Rincon Annex.

There are so many choices! I say also check out Tartine for lunch or a sweet.It's in the Mission.

I am a BIG fan of Quince and wish someday to eat @ Gary Danko. You might also look at Fleur de Lys..fancy old world French in downtown.

While I really want to like the Tadich for sentimental reasons, I find the food lackluster.

I also find the food at Tadich's to be pedestrian.

Note that there is a Bar Tartine (to which I have not yet been) and Tartine Bakery (same owners), which is a fantastic bakery at 18th and Guerrero -- always a line out the door. You order at the counter and then sit. The croque monsieur is fantastic, as are the brownies.

Recent "misses" for me: Zinnia (good food, nice place, but much too noisy); Orson (weird food -- I'm interested in good food, not the chef's self-indulgent nonsense).

I would make reservations for lunch at Slanted Door, particularly if you will be here on a Saturday and it's nice weather (which, of course, you won't know in advance) --- go to the Ferry Bldg. farmer's market, which runs until 2:00, browse the permanent "marketplace" and have lunch.

I've added Quince, Bar Tartine & Zinnia to our "dinner list" and marked Yang Sing (for dim sum), Slanted Door & Fog City Diner for lunch. Thanks for your delicious suggestions!!! Only wish that we had more time in SF to try all of your wonderful restaurants!

Just one more question: We will be taking the ferry across to Sausalito. Will we find a decent place for lunch there or should we return to the city after our visit?

2010

I would not go out of my way to go to Fog City Diner-way past its sell-by date. If you are in the neighborhood, fine; but not worth a special trip.

There are some decent places to eat in Sausalito, my new favorite at the moment is Murray Circle in Fort Baker. If you like sushi, Sushi Ran is good. If you want a fabulous view and OK food, I would say Spinnaker.

BTW if you are into interesting food, take at look at COI.

2010, I hope you enjoy Bar Tartine as much as I do! The squid and pork belly over egg salad appetizer was so amazing. The service was excellent too. The marrow dish was very good too.

We had dinner at Zinnia last night. We booked a week ago on Opentable, and could only get a 6:15 reservation - we wanted 7:00 or 7:30. When we got there at 6:15 the place was empty. It was never more than half full the entire evening. We selected a quiet booth in the corner next to the street where the four of us would be away from the noise, which I suspected would come from the more crowded "galley" in the center of the restaurant. Food was excellent. I had sweetbreads for an appetizer - which are one of my favorites and these were much-much better than normal - better than I can do at home. I had a stuffed quail, which was also superb. My wife & the other wife both had Gnocchi - which they both said was some of the best they have had - pillow light & buttery. The nice thing about many of the dishes is that you could order them in appetizer size & main course size. My wife had them as a main course, with an appetizer of Ahi Tuna Poke - which she said was excellent. The other wife had gnocchi as an appetizer octapus as a main (but it was listed as an appetizer on the menu - she is a light eater). The husband had scallops as a main - and said they were wonderful. We are all big time foodies. Corkage was $20 - each couple brought 1 bottle of wine from our cellar. Service was perfect. The noise level was very low because there were not many people there & we were in a quiet corner. The restaurant piped in noise (not music) to increase the noise level. Portions are on the small size - this is not a place for big eaters - go there if you want good flavor & not get filled up.

SAB - funny about the "sell by" date of Fog City Diner. It was a big thing about 25 years ago - but don't hear much about it now.

If you go to Boulevard, Quince, and especially Coi - bring lots of money with you.

Stu Dudley

i agree with both sab and stu about fog city diner.
it was a novelty when it first opened about 25 years ago.

some other restaurants within the vicinity,

americano - known for local sustainable food, great view , fun young scene

chaya brasserie - french/japanese fusion, good views

salt house - american food, fun hip scene

waterfront - this one has been around for years. i would not have necessarily recommended it to a foodie but,i read that there is a new hot chef at the helm and the view is just amazing.

there are lots of good restaurants in sausalito within walking distance of the ferry.

poggio - italian - good food, great ambiance and wonderful wnes

spinnaker - good american food - a little touristy but has an amazing location and view - right on the water

angelinos - another italian - great water views across the street.

if you were driving in, cavallo point would be nice.
both the restaurant, murray circle or the bar, farley's have good food and great views.

i hope the weather holds up for you.
enjoy!

Okay, Fog City Diner is off my list! I trust your discerning tastes & opinions!

Stu: When I tried to make a reservation at Boulevard through Open Table, there were no tables available at 7PM, only much earlier or later. I decided to contact the restaurant directly via email & I was able to book the time I wanted - well close, 7:15!

Also, I was most interested that you brought your own wine into Zinnia & paid a corkage fee. Is this common practice in SF restaurants?

And thank you for the deliciously detailed description of your meals at Zinnia! I also happen to love sweetbreads! Zinnia definitely stays on my list!

abranz: Thanks for your lunch spot suggestions in Sausalito. Do you think we would need reservations mid-week at any of them?


Our only challenge is that we are only in SF for 5 days/4 nights. There are not enough days to go to all these wonderful restaurants! Hopefully the weather will be good & we can work off the calories consumed by walking the hills & neighbourhoods!!! Thanks to all for your help!

2010

2010,
for mid week lunching in sausalito i don't think a reservation would be necessary.
all 3 restaurants i mentioned are within walking distance of the ferry and of each other.
it would give you a chance to see the restaurant and menu before making a decision.
have a great time.

most importantly, any calories consumed on vacation do not count.

>> Is this common practice in SF restaurants? <<

Yes. Every restaurant that we've dined at allowed me to bring my own wine. Corkage is about $12 to "too much". Majority about $15 to $20. Many restaurants - including some of the best ones - will "waive" the corkage if you also purchase a bottle from their list. I always call and ask about the corkage. If there are 4 of us, I ask if they waive it if we purchase a bottle from them. I don't want to be surprised with a $30 corkage. I always add extra to the tip to cover the service.

If you don't drink the entire bottle, you are allowed to take it home with you - even if you purchased it from the restaurant.

Stu Dudley

A friend and I took the ferry from SF to Sausalito this week just for fun. We had no particular plans for lunch, and while we were wandering around, we stopped to read the menu at Poggio. Because we were cold and the restaurant looked inviting, we went in. Our lunch was wonderful: The ambience was lovely, the service was great, and the food was delicious. As you can guess from the name, the restaurant is Italian (poggio means hill). The menu offers antipasti, zuppe e insalate, primi, secondi, panini e pizee, and contorni. There's a separate menu for dolci, which we were too satiated to contemplate. We each had a glass of their featured red wine, which I didn't note, unfortunately.

I would definitely return to Poggio. In fact, I'm hoping to take DH very soon. BTW, I have absolutely no affiliation with this restaurant (or any other, for that matter). If you want a relaxing half-day activity on a sunny day, take the ferry over and have lunch.

About Open Table: two issues - not available online, but available on the phone or the desired time is not available online, but restaurant empty when you arrive later. I've been told by restaurant managers that not all their tables are turned over to OT and that's why some of those issues occur. I also recall when booking for Ca vacation last Oct that one restaurant (maybe Gary Danko) told me that on OT I could book 30 days ahead, but by phone 31 days depending on the month. I booked by phone for that one and got what I wanted.

Coming back to you with just more question!

We are arriving in SF very early in the morning! We are hoping for an early check-in at the Chancellor Hotel on Union Square so we can have a bit of a lay down before heading out for the day! For our first night, we may want to go for an early (moderately priced) dinner near the hotel within walking distance.

So far, I have found Cafe de La Presse and Colibri Mexican Bistro - obviously two very different cuisines! I was thinking at the very least we should go for breakfast at the Cafe de La Presse! Any feedback about these choices or any other restaurant suggestions nearby?

Many thanks!

2010

2010-I'm very interested in all the replies you are getting as we will be in SF for 4 days in early April. I do hope you post about your experiences when you return!

Sorry to piggyback on your thread here- someone mentioned the farmer's market at the Ferry Building on Saturdays. I am hoping to go over there shortly after we arrive on a Sat morning to check it out.
Any reccomendations for where to have lunch there, besides the Slanted Door. I know there are all sorts of food offerings there besides "sit down" restaurants. Ideas?

Kristina, there's Taylor's Refresher (burgers and sandwiches -- lots of people swear by the Ahi Burger), Market Bar (regular California cuisine, not very good in my opinion), several take-outs inside the Ferry Building (Out the Door, which is the take-out for Slanted Door and Lulu Petite - Salads, etc.), Hog Island (oysters, etc.). Only Slanted Door would require reservations, so you can just head over there and you won't starve!

2010, lots of people love Colibri (I'm not a huge fan, but I seem to be in the minority). Since you're staying at the Chancellor, though, consider the restaurants on Belden Alley for your first night -- just a few blocks from the hotel, and on the casual side. In the more immediate neighborhood, there's Cortez (which has a Michelin star). We also recently ate at two restaurants at San Francisco Centre that were very good - Lark Creek Steak and Straits (which is a mini-chain of "Asian Fusion" restaurants -- with outlets in Burlingame, Palo Alto and San Jose, too (as well as Atlanta - go figure), which was excellent and a really pleasant space, too.

2010,
you have so many choices of restaurants all around union square.
i have not dined at either colibri or caffe de la presse although the reports are good.
some other moderately priced places that may appeal to you
kuletos - italian
first crush - american has nice selection of wine flights
le central - french
zingari - italian

or if you would venture a little further, belden place is an alley that has a european feeling and a selection of restaurants right next to each other. plouf and b44 are my favourites although all of them are really good.
cafe claude - french bistro is close by - it is as close to france as you can get.

Kristina, the Ferry Building is not large. You can stroll along and if something looks good to you, that becomes lunch. Besides the Slanted Door, there are only a few full service, sit down restaurants, the rest are take away. I think there will be options at the Saturday farmer's market as well.

Here's the link to the Ferry Building Market Place:

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

Here's the link to the farmer's market with a list of sellers:

http://cuesa.org/markets/days/saturday.php

Bon appetit!

I suggest you check out Claude Alley and look at Cafe Gitane or Cafe Claude. It will be a few block walk from your hotel but lots of atmosphere.