We are going to be in San Fran around the time of my husband's birthday so I would like to do his special dinner there. What is considered the top restaurants in San Fran -- all cuisines and styles welcome.

Here's a good place to start looking:

http://www.gayot.com/restaurantpages/index.html

gary danko, i believe

Ditto on Gary Danko.

Gary Danko top's most lists.

Gary Danko
They start taking reservation 2 months in advance.
http://www.garydanko.com/

Wanted to thank you all for your reccomendatins for Gary Danko. I took my husband there and the meal and service were superb. Great advice!

"Best" is in the eye (stomach) of the beholder.

Gary Danko is over-rated, in my humble opinion.

Last week I had an incredible, creative dinner at Town Hall.

http://www.townhallsf.com/

Best is in the eye of the beholder. Town Hall has decent enough food but for a special anniversary dinner I would never recommend it. Unless your idea of special is dining in a place so noisy you can barely hear the waiter..

I'm going to assume differing opinions are due to differing age groups.

Ummmm, which age group do you think the Gary Danko suggestions are from? I actually had a relative of mine suggest Gary Danko to me, and I won't reveal their age until you answer my question.

When I was in my late 20s living in San Francisco, I would go to a Gary Danko type restaurant for birthdays & anniversaries with my wife & perhaps another couple - and enjoy a quiet 2 1/2 hr dinner. I would go to a Town Hall type place to party, drink alot, get together with new friends, etc. A totally different experience.

I'm 61 now, and I avoid the loud places whenever I can (sometimes others invite us to dinner - so I can't avoid them all the time).

So in answer to the age question, I've been going to Gary Danko type places for all of the 33 years we've lived in the Bay Area (Cyrus for our anniversary last week), and to the Town Hall places most weekends when I was in my 20s & 30s, twice a month in my 40s, and very infrequently in my 50s & 60s.

Stu Dudley

Stu's answer backs up my inquiry. My relative who recommended Gary Danko to me, is in her 20's. I have heard raves for GD from people from their 20's to 70's.

Was that Gekko's way of saying I'm old and he's not. LOL My differing opinion in fact has to do with the quality of the food at Town Hall versus Gary Danko and whether Town Hall is really that special. In my humble and apparently old opinion, it is not.