Headed to Frisco

[Dr. Hips]

San Francisco to be exact....I like to say Frisco though. I wanna blend in with the locals and all. LOL kidding

anyway, my wife and I are taking a short trip to the city by the bay and would love to hear some fun suggestions for stuff to do. Beyond the normal touristy things.

Have a favorite hole in the wall for a drink? FAvorite AD? Killer restaurant that you bumped into? let's hear em.

We do have one thing scheduled already, which is the Anchor Steam Brewery tour. I love me some Steam.

[rustedmetal]

I'm a McQueen fan; so corner of Clay and Taylor!!

[Dr. Robert]

Union Square, the Ferry Bldg., Chinatown, North Beach,(these neighborhoods have good restaurants), gotta go to Fisherman's Wharf & Ghirardelli Square(touristy but a lot of fun), Golden Gate park.....San Francisco is a food city, lots of great places @ all price points.
Shreve & Co. (Post St.) for watches...also Tourneau/Rolex on Market St. @ Westfield Ctr.
for more watches.

[boa2]

Taqueria Pancho Villa for some great Mexican food. I like Ideale in North Beach for Italian. Eiji has excellent sushi. Loads of great restaurants. Steinhart Aquarium is fun. And definitely hit Blue Bottle if you like yummy coffee. They have several locations. Have fun!

[David Woo]

Originally Posted by Dr. Robert

Union Square, the Ferry Bldg., Chinatown, North Beach,(these neighborhoods have good restaurants), gotta go to Fisherman's Wharf & Ghirardelli Square(touristy but a lot of fun), Golden Gate park.....San Francisco is a food city, lots of great places @ all price points.
Shreve & Co. (Post St.) for watches...also Tourneau/Rolex on Market St. @ Westfield Ctr.
for more watches.

And on the second day you can sleep in a bit, lol.
Zuni Cafe on Market at Van Ness is a great place to eat. And if you're an expresso fan, there's an amazing little store that sells machines in North Beach called Thomas Cara.
DW

[Warnsboy]

Have a great trip Ray.....Wife and I wish we could join you

[Denver Dick]

I lived there for year back in early 70s. To blend in with the locals, it's "The City" or San Francisco. Never, never Frisco . . . that's for the tourists. Hey, I don't make the rules . . .

[kareemthedream33]

Jim Harbaugh? Is that you?

[DCgator]

Lived in and around SFO for five years in late 70s and I've returned to the Bay Area as much as I can. See as much as you can and Chinatown really has fantastic chow! Try to do a day trip to Monterey if you can. Enjoy...

[sea-dweller]

Locals call it "The City".

San Francisco Centre on Market Street for shopping (close to Union Square).
Take the ferry from Fisherman's Wharf and tour San Francisco Bay (Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge up close).
Coit Tower, for a awesome view of the whole city.

[cyglee]

If you can, you should walk across the Golden Gate bridge... relatively short, tourist-y, and bundle up. Cable cars could be a long, long wait. I like Spiazzo's, 33 West Portal for neighborhood Italian away from usual tourist places. Old school Italian in the avenues would be Gold Mirror, 800 Taraval. Breakfast brunch at Cliff House. The list is endless... enjoy "The City".

[fusionstorm]

Would help to know what kind of food you like, where you're staying and if you'll have a car or public transit only.

[Dr. Hips]

Originally Posted by fusionstorm

Would help to know what kind of food you like, where you're staying and if you'll have a car or public transit only.

I'll eat anything so as far as food goes...I"m WIDE open.

We are staying near the Warf and are renting a car for a day to hit Muir woods.

thanks for all the recommendations folks. keep em coming.

[mtrunner]

If you want literally the best burrito in San Fran head to Taqueria La Cumbre located at 515 Valencia St. It is truly unreal. I stop by there every time I am in San Francisco for the past several years. It was recently featured on Man vs. Food.

[Speed]

No No No!!!!! STAY AWAY FROM FISHERMANS WHARF!!! STAY AWAY.

Do you really want to browse endless T-Shirt shops and add to your Snow Globe collection? Puhleeeze. You might as well not visit San Francisco. < GROAN >

Get into the neighborhoods - THATS where you find the great little restaurants.

Restaurants:
Chinese - R&G Lounge...people come from Hong Kong for the Salt & Pepper Crab
French - La Folie - 1 michelin star / Foie Gras as big as your fist!
Zuni Cafe - If you go - as David W. suggests, you must order the Zuni Chicken. Takes 45 minutes, but is the best roast chicken you will have
Coffee - 4 Barrel coffee in the Mission Neighborhood, Philz one cup a time coffee in the Castro neighborhood.
Italian - Del Finas - Mission neighborhood - make reservations as soon as you can
Bakery - Tartine Bakery - near Del Finas
American - Gary Danko - actually near the wharf ( shudder ) but very high end
Museums - SFMOMA, De Young
California Academy of sciences -acquarium, planetarium etc.

Anyway...just a few suggestions - not knowing what you are into

[AK40DJ50]

Best breakfast - Dottie's True Blue Cafe. Just a hole in the wall but be prepared to wait on line for great food.

[cyglee]

Hey Ray, how many days are you staying? As you can see from all the posts it would be absolutely frantic trying to fit it all in. Muir woods is great, but please go early to beat the crowds and get parking. On the way back to SF, you can stop on the Marin side of the GG bridge, park and walk across the bridge... but you will need to go back to get the car!
Fort Point at the base of the SF side of GG bridge is also good to visit.... the list goes on.

[psv]

A) Never ever call it Frisco! :-)

B) If you are down in the Union Square area, I like the "One Market" restaurant. Sure, it is large and busy but good food/wine/people watching. http://www.onemarket.com/

[seand442]

Tadich Grill, Fog City Diner come to mind. Have fun. It's an incredible city.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by mtrunner

If you want literally the best burrito in San Fran head to Taqueria La Cumbre located at 515 Valencia St. It is truly unreal. I stop by there every time I am in San Francisco for the past several years. It was recently featured on Man vs. Food.

La Cumbre is very good. I've been there many times. I do prefer Pancho Villa, but as good as both are, I would do a taste test between the two.

If you want an unforgettable meal, go across the Bay Bridge to the 4th Street Market in Berkeley and go to Tacubaya. Seriously the most unique Mexican food I've had. Been there many times, as well as to their more upscale Dona Tomas in Oakland. The ceviche, chilaquiles, tortilla soup, etc...Tacubaya is phenomenal. It's just off the freeway at the University Exit, maybe 15-20 min. from SF.

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by boa2

La Cumbre is very good. I've been there many times. I do prefer Pancho Villa, but as good as both are, I would do a taste test between the two.

If you want an unforgettable meal, go across the Bay Bridge to the 4th Street Market in Berkeley and go to Tacubaya. Seriously the most unique Mexican food I've had. Been there many times, as well as to their more upscale Dona Tomas in Oakland. The ceviche, chilaquiles, tortilla soup, etc...Tacubaya is phenomenal. It's just off the freeway at the University Exit, maybe 15-20 min. from SF.

Oh yes Tacubaya is unreal! I would totally recommend it as well. Phenomenal!

[David Woo]

Originally Posted by seand442

Tadich Grill

man, their cioppino is amazing.
DW

[gettocard]

Red Room on Sutter street used to be my favorite place for a drink.

[Dr. Robert]

Was in the city (San Francisco) today.....cold & foggy, a perfect winter day in the city!
Had lunch w/ friends @ Le Central on Bush St., it was o.k., not as good as in the 70's & 80's, but then the original owners sold it.....martinis were very good though!!!!
We walked lunch off through Chinatown on Grant Ave., ended up in North Beach....Cafe Trieste, packed, but still good. Bus back downtown, late afternoon cocktails @ The Clock Bar in the St. Francis Hotel. Then back on BART, sat back, IPOD on Beatles & cruised back to Pleasant Hill!!!! A good day.