3 Best Restaurants in The Waterfront, San Francisco

Cold beer, Fernet on tap, semi-frequent live music and a prime waterfront setting keep this venerable Embarcadero standby humming on weekdays and weekends. Although you'd expect to sit elbow to elbow with fishermen, you're more likely to share the space with tourists and nearby office workers drawn by the no-frills cocktails, shrimp melts and cheeseburgers from the kitchen (skip the fried food here), and of course the prime vantage point for gazing across the bay.

For a real cup of joe without any sense of pretension, join the savvy construction workers, Giants fans, and young suits at the Embarcadero's seven-decade-old waterfront classic, where the coffee typically follows a double cheeseburger on sourdough and a cold beer, and the gorgeous view of the East Bay is priceless.

With coffee, sandwiches, and salads by day, and superb drinks at night, this spot right by the California Street cable car terminus is a charming place to visit. Its sunlight-filled atmosphere is refreshingly low-key for FiDi—the rare downtown establishment that feels like a true neighborhood gathering place.