Best Restauraunts & Food in San Francisco, CA?

[jbf]

Hey all,

I know there are quite a few members here from the Bay Area and i was wondering what were some good restaurants and places to eat.

Everything from the best 'hole-in-the-walls' to diners, dives, whatever. Affordable, good cuisine is a plus. 🙂


As far as what type of foods i like?

Indian, Italian, Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, American, whatever. I like it all pretty much.

Hope some of you guys can help.

Thanks!

Jonathan

 

[Bingley]

You've got to be kidding! SF is a culinary heaven. Your challenge will be finding a bad restaurant (fast food does not count). Here are some places where I've eaten in the last twelve months and would recommend to anyone:

Market Bar (reasonably priced bistro at Ferry Bldg)
Slanted Door (Vietnamese, at Ferry Bldg, not as reasonably priced, but fabulous. Book well in advance).
Boulevard (one of SF's best)
Greens (wonderful veggie restaurant at Fort Mason)
Yank Sing (dim sum)
LuLu (grilled food, reasonable prices, near AT&T park)
The cafe at the SF Museum of Modern Art is not bad.

Other favorites include:
Tadich Grill (old time SF seafood place)
The Presidio Golf course club house (the Nat'l Park Service one) has a nice cafe where you can get a good sandwich (I don't play golf, but the setting is nice)
Fringale (nice little bistro on 4th st)

Most of my eating has been in the south of Market St. as that's the part of SF I most often get to for business and pleasure.

Avoid Fishermen's Wharf (tourist trap). A better place to eat fresh fish is the Hog Island Oyster Co. at the Ferry Bldg. Or go to Tadich's.

There are some v. good places to eat in Berkeley, too (try Cafe Rouge on 4th St., Saul's, and of course Chez Panisse; Oliveto in Oakland is also good).

The list goes on. Other RFF'ers will have their own favorites.

 

[somecanuckchick]

For the best sushi ever...

Ebisu (link) on Ninth, at Irving

 

[RayPA]

For the best sushi ever...

Ebisu (link) on Ninth, at Irving

I can definitely second this one! There are actually a few good sushi restaurants in the inner Sunset area, but Ebisu is King!

I have to also echo Bingley. You really would be hard-pressed to find bad eating, and it really depends on what you want. For example, if you want Mexican food, wandering into the Mission district and eating at any one of the many taquerias or restaurants is very satisfying.


🙂

 

[ernstk]

SF Food

SF Food

My personal favourites are...

Zuni Cafe on Market (Eclectic selection; great oysters, best roast chicken ever)
LuLu on Folsom (Huge wood fired oven/rotisserie, great wine list)
Plumpjack Cafe on Fillmore

SF is one of the greatest dining cities in the world. Your problem will be having enough time to sample everything.

Enjoy!

Regards
Ernst

 

[ferider]

I can definitely second this one! There are actually a few good sushi restaurants in the inner Sunset area, but Ebisu is King!

I have to also echo Bingley. You really would be hard-pressed to find bad eating, and it really depends on what you want. For example, if you want Mexican food, wandering into the Mission district and eating at any one of the many taquerias or restaurants is very satisfying.

🙂

And to make things worse, there are really great restaurants in the bay and
further south, too.

Since you come from far away, I recommend a car, and considering
driving a few miles.

She is one of the best/most famous cooks in SF:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXwkJR-K0YE

Almost made it to the "Iron Chef" last year.

Dennis Leary is another one:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/12/CMGL7CDMN11.DTL&type=food

For a romantic dinner (if you travel two-up) try "Bella Vista" on
Skyline boulevard (highway 35), up the hill from San Mateo.

If you can make it to Napa, there is Greystone, one of the two cooking schools
of the CIA. Receives students from Bocuse every year. Phantastic place.

Good wine, fresh ingredients - you're bound to have some of the best
kitchens in the world here 🙂

Don't restrict yourself to SF only.

Roland.

 

[Bingley]

JBF: One further thought that may help you. I recently picked up a copy of Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide. It covers restaurants, cafes, bars, bakeries, and markets in SF and surrounding areas, and is indeed pocketable. Her recommendations seem pretty good, and include a variety of places to eat at different price levels and different cuisines. I now take a copy w/ me to SF, particularly as a guide to places I haven't tried yet.

Here's the link to amazon.com's listing:

http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-Untermans-Francisco-Lovers-Guide/dp/1580088333/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8056379-9889725?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187631516&sr=1-1

 

[cmedin]

If you're into the spicy stuff, it can be fun to hit Prince of Wales in San Mateo for the infamous habanero burger. I did it some years back... good times.

 

[jbf]

Awesome! Thanks for all of the info guys!

Unfotunatley I dont have the cash to be renting a car for 10 days so we'll be using the BART everywhere we can and i guess taxis if needed.

So some places might not be viable for us.

But i'll definately check out that book from Patricia Unterman!

Thanks again guys.

oh and does anyone happen to know of any good Indian restaurants or thai places?

Thanks again!

 

[Bingley]

I don't, but Patricia Unterman's book includes some recommendations on Indian and Thai restaurants in SF.

Public transport is not bad in SF. In addition to BART, there are street cars that run up and down Market St and along the Embarcadero, and the Muni operates busses everywhere. Oh yes, and there are cable cars, but you will have to wait in a long line to ride one. You may also be able to rent bikes, and if you do I'd recommend the Marina, Crissy Field, Fort Point (and Golden Gate Bridge), and Presidio as good spots to visit with interesting photo ops.

 

[RayPA]

Awesome!...
oh and does anyone happen to know of any good Indian restaurants or thai places?

Thanks again!

The last time I had Thai in SF was at a place called Manora's (on Folsom, near 11th, but I haven't been their in probably 15 years, it was good back then.

🙂

 

[agi]

I can definitely second this one! There are actually a few good sushi restaurants in the inner Sunset area, but Ebisu is King!

I have to also echo Bingley. You really would be hard-pressed to find bad eating, and it really depends on what you want. For example, if you want Mexican food, wandering into the Mission district and eating at any one of the many taquerias or restaurants is very satisfying.


🙂

Sorry guys I have to disagree on Ebisu as I think it's over-rated and too much hyped. They were good...a few years ago but have slipped tremendously.

If you want good sushi go to Kabuto in the Richmond. Ebisu doesn't compare nor come close.

Tons of places to eat in SF as the others have noted. My favorites are:

Delfina in the Mission
Absinthe in Hayes Valley - best damn cocktails ever.
Kokkari - fantastic Greek in the Financial District
L'Osteria del Forno - small Italian in North Beach - haven't been there in awhile since all the damn tour books wrote about it and now you can't get a table.
Foreign Cinema in the Mission where you can even catch a movie while having dinner.
Dosa - Indian restaurant in the Mission
Shalimar on Polk - Indian food.
Tom Kiang - dim sum in the Richmond District
Zuni Cafe as others have already mentioned.

Much much more..

The Mrs. & I love to eat. 🙂

 

[rich815]

Sorry guys I have to disagree on Ebisu as I think it's over-rated and too much hyped. They were good...a few years ago but have slipped tremendously.

Afraid I'd fully second that. I used to go to Ebisu in the late 80's and it was good, but there was more than a couple better ones*. Went there about a year ago it was alright but nothing special. Wayo on Van Ness is great, as is Shimo in the Richmond, and Kabuto. Unfortunately perhaps the best, IMO, ever in San Francisco is now closed. That was *Matsuya on 24th in Noe Valley....