Visiting San Francisco

[lar717]

Going to San Francisco the second week in November. Suggestions on places of "you got to see" or "you got to eat at".

 

[crazy connie]

My personal favorite is a breakfast/brunch at the Palace Hotel. Elegant, old world and so very nice. Plan to take a short walk and nice nap afterwards.

 

[kcowan]

Coit Tower - walk up if the weather is good, especially from the east through quaint neighborhoods

Union Square if the sun is out have a glass of wine and watch the world go by

Check out the cabarets just east of the Square down the laneways

Little Italy (North Beach) - wander around and try some of the cafes

Cow Hollow - do some window shopping

Saucilito for shopping and eating on the water

More details here;
http://www.epinions.com/content_140879367812

 

[TromboneAl]

Walk on GG bridge
Ferry to Angel Island
Alcatraz
Tommy's Joynt (food OK, atmosphere funky)
Finnochio's drag queen show

 

[astromeria]

My SF Must-Sees:

-- Ride at least one cable car the whole route. Going down Nob and Russian Hills on the Hyde-Powell line is good. Also down Nob Hill via California st toward the Bay Bridge.
-- Coit Tower (go inside and look at the lefty WPA murals--no need to go to the top for the view--the views of the harbor, financial district, and especially Pacific Heights from the parking lot are sufficiently awesome!)
-- Drive across the GG Bridge and look back at SF from the Marin Headlands. Conversely, the view of marin from the Presidio and beaches near the GG Bridge are nice, too.
-- View of the city from Twin Peaks
-- Mission District (Latino neighborhood and Valencia St). Walking tour to see the street murals (get latest map from Precita Eyes gallery on 24th St)--and eat!
--Chinatown (don't just walk on Grant St--walk on Stockton, Jackson, Pacfic, Waverly alley). And eat!
-- Japantown
-- Walk or drive around Pacific Heights for city and harbor views and scary, steep streets.
-- Drive/hike up Mt Tam (Tamalpais) in Marin...not too far from Muir Woods if you have time to get out of the city
-- I also like walking/driving through Noe Valley and the Castro

Favorite restaurants...oh, it's been a while...hope these places are still there...Slanted Door (hip Vietnamese), dim sum on Jackson St between Kearney and Stockton--forget the name) or at Yank Sing, Cantonese at R&G Lounge on Kearney, Mifune (Japanese noodle joint inside Japantown "mall"), all sorts of south-of-the-border goodies all over the Mission (Mexican, Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, Peruvian...)--takeout from La Palma Mexicatessen (chile verde, chile colorado, hand-patted tortillas), Thep Phanom (Thai, south of Market near Civic Center), several good Italian places in North Beach (can't remember any names), Greens in Fort mason (elegant vegetarian with a great harbor view).

Now I'm homesick!

 

[kcowan]

Good advice, astromeria.

Thanks for reminding me about Greens. Great ocean views and not very touristy. Good food at reasonable prices. In the warehouse district west of Fort Mason. A little tricky to find.

 

[Nords]

Now I'm homesick!

- Freezing cold fog.
- Freezing cold rain.
- Outlandish prices.
- Ridiculous traffic jams.
- Thin sunshine fooling you into thinking it's getting warmer.
- More drizzling rain that just won't quit.

Feeling better yet?

 

[Zoocat]

Walk by Washington Park in north beach early morning and watch the elderly Chinese doing Tai Chi. Then stop in a coffee house for a great latte and danish

 

[astromeria]

- Freezing cold fog.
- Freezing cold rain.
- Outlandish prices.
- Ridiculous traffic jams.
- Thin sunshine fooling you into thinking it's getting warmer.
- More drizzling rain that just won't quit.

Feeling better yet?

we lived in the "banana belt"--edge of the Mission. From our roof deck in summer, we often saw fog billowing through the northside of the city, from west to east, sometimes moving rather quickly. Sometimes it reached above us, shrouding the Roach Clip (the giant and oddly shaped Sutro Tower, holding up comunications devices). On those days, I loved going downtown or to Chinatown to watch the fog swirl through the alleys...like film noir. Sometimes the fog surrounded our hill (24th St going up Noe Valley from the Mission) on all sides, and our roof deck felt like the center of the universe!

Yes, incredible real estate prices and property taxes--but we had pretty nice real estate! The traffic jams were worse in the East and South Bays heading into SF and into/through Silicon Valley. We headed down 280 into Silicon Valley, which carried much less traffic than 101 by the Bay. I loved the return drive from Cupertino in summer--there was a stretch of 280 where you could see a giant fog wave "crashing" over the coast range into a valley by the highway in slow motion. Uncanny, and beautiful. And yes, many days days of soft or medium rain in the winter and spring.

What a climate.

 

[MJ]

- Freezing cold fog.
- Freezing cold rain.
- Outlandish prices.
- Ridiculous traffic jams.
- Thin sunshine fooling you into thinking it's getting warmer.
- More drizzling rain that just won't quit.

Feeling better yet?

Glass half empty.

we lived in the "banana belt"--edge of the Mission. From our roof deck in summer, we often saw fog billowing through the northside of the city, from west to east, sometimes moving rather quickly. Sometimes it reached above us, shrouding the Roach Clip (the giant and oddly shaped Sutro Tower, holding up comunications devices). On those days, I loved going downtown or to Chinatown to watch the fog swirl through the alleys...like film noir. Sometimes the fog surrounded our hill (24th St going up Noe Valley from the Mission) on all sides, and our roof deck felt like the center of the universe!

Yes, incredible real estate prices and property taxes--but we had pretty nice real estate! The traffic jams were worse in the East and South Bays heading into SF and into/through Silicon Valley. We headed down 280 into Silicon Valley, which carried much less traffic than 101 by the Bay. I loved the return drive from Cupertino in summer--there was a stretch of 280 where you could see a giant fog wave "crashing" over the coast range into a valley by the highway in slow motion. Uncanny, and beautiful. And yes, many days days of soft or medium rain in the winter and spring.

What a climate.

Glass half full!

I spent off and on 6 weeks in SF years ago and thoroughly loved it. It was a smaller and less hectic version of NYC. I would have moved there if I didn't have to give up my NYC rent control $80 apartment, having to buy a car (for job) and abandon my LBYM lifestyle.

 

[Michael Moore]

If you'd been here the past three days you could have gone to the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concerts in GG Park.

http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/

Here's an article on it in today's Comical. Estimates were 500K attendees.

We went over on Friday afternoon for Jimmie Dale Gilmore/Butch Hancock and then Elvis Costello. It was a typical day for out here at the beach - breezy, overcast, and chill. The music was great, even with the interruptions of strafing runs by the Blue Angels (it is Fleet Week). But several of those were timed perfectly to go with some comments from the entertainers about the current US administration and their adventuresome ways.

Saturday and Sunday were clear, warm and sunny. You can't count on the weather to not change as you move around the city.

I went over yesterday for T. Bone Burnett and Elvis C, and it was pretty obvious they hadn't done much rehearsing (and even Elvis admitted they didn't do very well).

I did catch the North Mississippi Allstars before I left, and they were great. They seem to be another band that benefits from live concerts. Singing is really not their long suit, and the shorter pieces on the albums have too much of it. But live there was a lot more space for some smokin' hot guitar.

The only bluegrass I saw was the NMA guitarist playing electric washboard. He had it plugged into his guitar somehow and made a lot of interesting sounds that worked out pretty well.

I can't recommend much in the way of tourist stuff as I stay as far away from them as I can. But the new De Young museum in GG Park, the Asian Art museum at Civic Center, the MOMA at Yerba Buena in the south of Market area downtown, and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are all excellent museums. The Exploratorium is fun too.

cheers,
Michael

 

[califdreamer]

Take the ferry across the bay to Tiburon, hang a left off the boat and have some mussels and beer on the patio overlooking the bay at Sam's Anchor Cafe. You can catch the boat from Fisherman's Wharf. As an earlier post mentioned, do not miss dim sum at Yank Sing. They have two locations, both south of Market. I prefer the one on the narrow street behind the Chevron office building. Also, enjoy a nightcap at Moose's in North Beach. If you like to sample chocolates, cheeses and other tasty stuff check out the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street (just north of the Bay Bridge on Embarcadero). Nice wine bar inside as well.

 

[P.S.]

My SF Must-Sees:
-- Drive across the GG Bridge and look back at SF from the Marin Headlands. Conversely, the view of marin from the Presidio and beaches near the GG Bridge are nice, too.

Cantonese at R&G Lounge on Kearney

My brother/SIL had their wedding at Marin headlands. Very pretty. Drive up to the lighthouse and see the water/coastline.
R&G has awesome chinese food (love the pepper crab), but o/w most Chinese go out of the city for good food/dim sum.

 

[johnlw]

We went there a few months ago. My restaurant recommendation is a place called The House of Nanking (I hope I'm remembering the name correctly).

The place was packed wall to wall and lets just say that the atmosphere is "diner like". Someone came and took our drink order, then this guy comes over and asks if we are ready to order. We tell him that we don't even have menus yet. He points his thumb to his chest and says: "I'm the Chef... I'll take care of you". He then asks us if we are allergic to any foods or have any religious preferences about what we can't eat. We tell him that our one daughter doesn't eat beef, then off he goes. So my wife and I look at each other and start laughing, we have no idea what we are going to get and what it will cost... this is great...

Very shortly, a platter of food arrives and it's delicious. We wound up getting 4 platters of food, they were all excellent. The sauces he prepares are wonderful.

So now we know the food is great, but what about the bill? It comes and we are pleasantly surprised. If memory serves me right it was about $47 for 4 people (and I had 2 beers). In San Francisco, that's cheap.