by carla griffin » Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:18 pm
Emailed my niece who lives in CA and lived in S<F for a while. And she is an amazing cook. The following are her suggestions...
Fine dining near downtown – Michael Mina is highly rated, very cutting edge California. Farallon has good seafood (but the foie gras is amazing), high end near downtown. A fun place close to downtown is called Plouf, they only serve mussels of all different sorts. Boulevard is top drawer as well, close to the embarcadero and Market St. - an SF staple.
If you have to go to Fisherman’s Wharf, eat at Gary Danko, it is fine dining, small, clubish, quiet and very good. Otherwise, avoid it at all costs. Although, it is sort of fun to walk around down there early morning before all the tourons get there.
Fun dive bars down there are The Owl Tree, divey, cool, old fart bartended. There are also several Irish pubs on Geary close to Union Sq that are lively. Downtown is not where I would go for nightlife. Although, in SOMA there is a place, very SF ,called Asia SF – the food is pretty good, the drink are great, and the entertainment is so worth it – very fun.
The best place to go out at night is N. Beach – there are endless bars, and endless Italian restaurants. Strip clubs if you are into that. The golden triangle in N. Beach consists of 3 of my favorite bars of all time – Vesuvio’s, Specs and Tosca. All historic and awesome. Fun place to eat is Enrico’s and sit outside -
A nice bar downtown is the bar at the top of the Sir Francis Drake hotel, The Starlight Room, great views. Also, on Nob Hill is the Top of the Mark at the Mark Hopkins hotel, steeped in history, a great place for drinks, not food. Across the st is the tonga room at the Fairmont, campy, fun place to go after you have had a few already.
Bourbon and Branch where you have to go online and get the password to enter the speakeasy. Dark, old speakeasy, very cool. Never mind the fact that it is in the hood, and bum fights break out all over the place – it adds to the ambiance. Don’t wear your dockers and SF t shirt down here.
Liverpool Lil’s is a cool old bar next to the Presidio. And there is a little french place next to it called the Curbside Café, cute, bistro style, nice, reasonable.
Club Delux has the best bloody mary on sundays, it is on the Haight.
Also on Sundays it is fun to take the ferry to Tiburon and have brunch at Sam's on the water, get there at about 10 to get a good table and watch the boats come in, sit in the sun and enjoy a bloody. Then take the ferry back and walk around the Ferry Plaza, get some snacks and sit outside and enjoy – or dine at one of the many restaurants down there. Good oysters there BTW.
For lunch/brunch you must go to Dim Sum on Sat – go to Ton Kiang on Geary – it is sort of far away, off the beaten path, but it is the real deal and sooo good. Be prepared to wait in line.
Also great food is at Aqua, fine dining, seafood.
Carla
There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will. ~Robert Frost