Hotel/Restaurant Suggestions in San Francisco

I went to San Fran/Nappa Valley not too long ago - say a month has past since I hung out in Union Square at the Cheesecake factory on top of Macy's..what a view.

For Italian just go to North Beach - go to Mona Lisa. If you can get in it is the best authentic italian in town - anyone who lives there will tell you that.

We stayed at Hotel Nicco. Beautiful hotel - check it out. Got a wonderful rate due to knowing an employee.

Make sure you go to the longest running satire play/musical Beach Blanket Babylon - it's really good. And go to Alcatraz (sp?) the tour is amazing and well done.

Another thing, if you want to see some of the sweet houses which are on the cliff on the inside, generally there are a ton of semi-public open houses on Sundays on what they call "Billionare's Row". Its unreal, everyone from Robin Williams to Andre Agassi to Allen Steele resides

San Francisco is sweet, I thoroughly enjoyed it, infact I am sure there are many on this board who might live there who could comment further - have fun..

Some interesting facts on San Fran: Real estate is more expensive than Manhatten, SF is only 6 square miles, parking is a LUXURY, 1 in 16 is a millionaire in San Fran. Mean salary is above 300K.

 

IF you want a REAL SF experience, I recommend you go to Asia SF.

It's Asian Fusion type food and the servers and entertainment is unbelieveable!

 

I'd second all those. Must get the banana split at GS.

For dessert, go to Steps of Rome on Columbus in North Beach at night. Must try their tiramisu. Great atmosphere and place for people watching.

 

During your visit to San Francisco, I hope you noticed that the BART subway system is now doing its bit with special "alert" signs:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/15/EDMEYER.DTL&hw=cartoon&sn=010&sc=453

 

need details.. where did u end up staying at? what restaurants did u try?

 

Hotels - Sheraton Palace (no views, but a historic S.F. landmark and beautiful inside).

My favorite restaurants:

Cheap/Moderately priced ($15-25):

Luisa's - Italian Restauant on Union St. Great (simple) food, and very quaint decor. Fresh and homemade.

Zarzuela - Spanish Tapas on Union and Hyde. The best Spanish food I've ever had. Busy and loud, but fun.

The House of Nan King - Accross from Coppola's restaurant at the base of North Beach. Near the TransAmerica building and China Town. Just tell them what you like and let them do the ordering for you. Great and "different" Chinese food.

Moderate/High Priced ($25-50+)

Harris Steak House - Classic Steak House. Very nice inside, moderately fancy. The best steaks in the city IMHO.

Acquarello - Fancy style CA/Italian fusion. Amazing food. One of my favorite 3 stars.

Julius Castle - The food is done nicely, but isn't "great" considering the price. The ambience is the best in the city. Amazing views, and old time S.F. decor. A place to go at least once. Right below Coit tower tucked onto the hillside.

Best Value:

Fringale - French/Basque food. VERY reasonable prices and fantastic quality. Awesome rack of lamb. Great everything.

Have fun!

 

Just went to Alfred's again last night. As always, food, wine, etc. is all molto benne! The chateaubriand was actually pretty damn good. Mixed with '02 Plumpjack, montesomethingorother, and then some single malt, dinner wasn't bad.

--Dan

 

Grew up in the City and Swenson's was the Ice Cream joint i used to go after work...my dad owned the auto repair shop next door. Grab a cone and check out the views on Russian Hill.

If you're in the mood for prime rib, swing down to Van Ness and grab a table at House of Prime Rib.

For the afternoon sandwich craving, I'd suggest Sub Center in West Portal -- right near the entrance to the Metro subway line.

Good morning pastries and eats can be had at Bay Bread on either Pine or on Cole (places to sit in Cole St. location -- right up the street from Haight/Ashbury). Also, check out the macaroons there....can eat a whole box in one sitting.

And for cheap, informal, crowded Italian ... I like Michelangelo's on Columbus in North Beach. Great seafood pasta, great house wine, and gummy bears to munch on while dessert arrives.

 

Dan:

Do you know who "Plumpjack" is? Hint, heavy set guy who used to own the Balboa? A friend of mine.

Art

 

Just read this thread to my girlfriend and she suggested Sam's Grill on bush street.

 

Half a block up from Montgomery. An old-time San Francisco grill, much like John's Grill (see my earlier post above). Only thing to watch out for re Sam's is that it's very popular with the brokers, bankers, lawyers, etc. on Monkey Street, so if you go there at noon on a weekday, be prepared for a crush & wait!