we will be staying close to the convention center but would like some information on must do restaurants in the area. im told we will be close to china town, little italy, castro, etc. we will be in town for 5 days and 4 nights and would like to try a different restuarant each night. we haven't been to san francisco and though we will be busy all day we would like to try some good places to eat in the evening. would appreciate your help.

Nicolino, what is your dinner budget (if any)? Are you looking for super-duper fancy, or nice neighborhood places? What kind of food?

For example, I personally prefer funky to fancy, can't stand places where you can't have a conversation due to the noise level, like very good food but don't to dissect it, in conversation or otherwise -- How about you?

Just for starters....there are many high marks on this board (from me and others) for Perbacco, a lovely Italian place in the financial district. Right near the convention center, we had a fantastic meal at Ame in the St. Regis (much higher priced, but really really good). I recently ate at Zinnia and while I thought the food was good and the place was pretty, the noise level was crazy. Ditto Town Hall.

Give us some guidelines!

well i like good food so fancy or funky is fine as long as the food is good. dont like overly noisy, into italian, any type of asian, sushi, middle eastern, vegetarian etc. like most foods and also willing to try anything outside monkey, elephant or camel etc lol.
don't really have a dinner budget being from New York but a great meal at a great price is always welcomed. I am a great cook so home-made wholesome food makes a difference. thanks sf7307

www.chowhound.com

Friends of mine from Manhattan ate at Quince, Zuni and Slanted Door when they were here. They said they'd return to Quince, thought Zuni was good but not a must, and liked Slanted Door a lot (we were with them for that meal, and it was excellent).

There are two well-known and well-liked vegetarian restaurants -- Greens and Millenium.

I love SPQR, which is a relative of A16, but they don't take reservations and the wait can be interminable. SPQR is a neighborhood spot -- bistro-ish. Other favorites are Cortez (on Geary) and Coco500, both small plates places (although Cortez isn't exclusively small plates anymore; Cortez has recently earned a Michelin star). Coworkers recently returned to Jack Falstaff which has a new-ish chef and said it was great. We like Foreign Cinema and Farina, but more for the ambiance than the actual food (good not great). Florio is also good, not great.

San Francisco is small - but I would not attempt to walk to the Castro from the Convention Center for dinner - way too far away.

When I "show off" San Francisco to friends - I like to visit completely different "venues". Like sf7307, I prefer the quiet, non budget-busting places.

Here are some ideas:

1. Get a "downtown" feel.
- Perbacco - like sf7307 mentioned, is nice. Do this on a work day dinner. Italian Cuisine
- For an "old time" SF lunch, I love Tadich. Get there by 11:45 and sit at the counter & watch the action.

2. Cozy spot, out in one of the "neighborhoods"
- Firefly on 24th St in the Noe Valley. Hop on the J-Church running undergound down Market. Sit on the east side of the car (for views once above ground), get out on 24th st & walk about 6 blocks west to Firefly. You'll walk through the Noe Valley shopping district. Perhaps leave early & have a drink at le Zinc on 24th. Calif Cuisine - don't miss their seafood potstickers.

3. Take a cable car to dinner.
- Frascati on Hyde St & Green. Take the Hyde/Powell CC & get off at Green. Sit in the east side of the car for best views. Italian

4. Asian
Everyone has a different Asian favorite.
-I like Thep Phanom on the corner of Waller & Fillmore. Take the N-Judah there. Thai cooking. They seem to have better specials on week-days.
- Asian with a view - Slanted Door at the Ferry buuilding is one of the most ppopular restaurants in The City. Great for lunch too. Vietnamese.

5. If you are on an expense account:
- Boulevard is perennially the most popular restaurant in The City, according to Zagot. Calif Cuisine.
- Waterbar for great views - of the Bay & of the other diners. seafood
- Farallon - unbelievable interior. seafood.

Stu Dudley

I just remembered - Japanese food at Yoshi's (which also houses a jazz club) is really excellent.

And it occurred to me to describe SPQR as a little like Lupa, although possibly only as big as the front room.

Hello nicolino, since other restaurants I thought of while reading your post have been mentioned I will give you the website for the restaurants in Belden Place which is off of Bush St. A favorite of mine is Plouf's..they are known for their various musssl dishes.

http://www.belden-place.com/

I and many Fodorites like the MonaLisa in NorthBeach and most Fodorite's return there more then one time. Casual and not expensive. Open kitchen, the owner and the servers are all from Italy.


http://www.monalisasf.com/

There is an abundance of wonderful restaurants in SF so your biggest problem will be deciding which ones you want to enjoy!

Agree with sf7307 about Quince - an adhorable restaurant in the lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. The interior was once a pharmacy. I prefer neighborhood restaurants over downtown ones, and I would dine at Quince before Boulevard, Waterbar, or Farallon if I'm being 'treated'. Supposedly, it is changing locations soon. Perhaps the best meal we had in '08 in San Francisco.

Stu Dudley

Quince is relocating - someone just told me where and I've already forgotten, but it's definitely closer to downtown.

Stu, this is more for you than the OP, but we had a really good meal at Straits in SF Centre a few weeks ago...never eaten at the one in Burlingame, but we'd been the Palo Alto branch several times.

Also, dinner at Lark Creek Steak in SF Centre was excellent, if pricey. I wouldn't recommend a steak joint to a couple of New Yorkers, though.

Quince is moving to the former Myth space on Pacific.

Two more recommendations were just given to me - Incanto and NOPA.

For our weekend in SF, we looked over the SF Chronicle's top 100 list and chose a few that looked interesting to us. We really, really enjoyed:

Bar Crudo www.barcrudo.com, "A modern raw bar" kind of an odd place, but right up our alley. You have to like that sort of food, though.

Yank Sing for dim sum www.yanksing.com - pricey, but oh so good. The Stevenson St. location is close to the convention center and was not very crowded when we were there at about 11:30 am on a Sat.

Ducca - Northern Italian www.duccasf.com We probably would have enjoyed this place more if we were not still so full from the dim sum, 9 hours later! We pushed our reservations to 9:30 pm, but could not really get into the meal. Interesting menu, though. I'd like to try it again on an empty stomach.

We also enjoy sitting at the Wine Merchant in the Ferry Building, tasting wine, cheese, & olives, etc. while people whatching.

thanks everyone for your help and recommendations. stu dudley your amazing i have used your info for many other trips especially my trip to france. thanks so much for your input

If I were on an expense account I'd go to Gary Danko. I'd also recommend Absinthe.

Stu, I thought you didn't like your meal at Waterbar.

>>Stu, I thought you didn't like your meal at Waterbar>>

I didn't think it was that great. However, the ambience of the place is rathar interesting and others seem to like it (or maybe "others" are drawn in by the Pat Kuleto "hype")

nicolino - I recall your name!!
Glad I could help you with your France adventures. We were just looking at our vacation pics last night during dinner.

Stu Dudley

Take the train out to Berkley and eat upstairs at Chez Panisse. IT is truly a wonderful experience you shouldn't miss.

Zuni was really good [roasted chicken bread salad for 2 is the must do dish]; Tadich excellent especially for Sand Dabs and Cioppino [we went for dinner around 6pm and sat at the counter, waited only 5 minutes]; Aqua right next door is $$$ but was another excellent meal. A16 was just ok, [great burrata]; noisy.

Deb

IMHO (and it's just that, my opinion), Aqua is not worth the many $$$ it costs to eat there (the food is very pretty, but I prefer my food to taste great for those $$$).

IF memory serves me, Aqua had a 3 course special menu that was reasonable in price and excellent in presentation and taste. It was an elegant restaurant and we do have too many [read that as any] here in SW Colorado. We went in March 2008.

Deb

Nicolino, if you decide to follow DebitNM suggestion to go to Berkeley it is not a train but BART that will get you to Berkeley. Here is the BART website for your review.

http://www.bart.gov/

Thanks, LI for catching my error.

Deb