Hotel/Restaurant Suggestions in San Francisco

Narrow it down a bit. Expensive, middle, economy? What part of the city? Are you taking your Ferrari? (Has to do with safe(r) areas to park.)

Meanwhile take a look at the websites of the _SF Weekly_ and _San Francisco Bay Guardian_ newspapers. These are free newspapers in the city which routinely publish and maintain capsules of recommended restaurants and I think other attractions as well.

Check weather. SF at this time of year can have foggy, colder mornings and evenings blending into sunny, pleasant days. You can tell tourists in August by how they are shivering.

 

try the hyatt Regency on the embarcadero. it is a safe area day and nite .
I say this because hotels around union square and theater district are great by day but as nite falls the criminal elements apear.

 

Many a drunken and sober night spent in and around union square - no issues whatsoever with criminals of any variety (save ugly women, but that's a different order of criminal) - i'd be concerned about tenderloin and the other usuals but you'd have to go looking for trouble to find it, methinks.

Renaissance Parc 55 is a good middle-of-the-line hotel. Ritz is nothing more than a name. Same with St. Francis. Have heard good things abotu Delano (?) I think.

--Dan

 

Just asked a friend, he had a few recs:

1) Serrano Hotel on Taylor St.
2) Four Seasons (I find the Four Seasons hotels pretty unappealing personally)
3) Mandarin Oriental on Sansome St.
4) Campton Place Hotel on Stockton (his favorite)

--Dan

 

Union Square is my favorite area in San Francisco. The free entertainment is incredible. I personally have never been disappointed with a Four Seasons, but I prefer the Villa Florence, or #1 Nob Hill. Dinner at Kuletto's is as good as it gets.

 

There are only about 50 hotels and 100 good restaurants. Again, narrow down what you are looking for. Harbor Court is right on the Embarcadero and is reasonable...right on restaurant row, too. I like the W, but there are tons of boutique hotels. There are more restaurants than you can shake a stick at. I have at least 20 favorites. Depends on whether you want seafood, steak, italian, chinese, etc.

 

My friend took me to the "Delancey Street" restaurant last weekend, and I'd have to say that it is one of the better ones around. It is near Pac Bell park and has a nice view of the Bay Bridge.

 

Hotel Vitale is a nice new hotel on the waterfront. Some of the rooms have outstanding views.

Hard to beat the Mandarin views. Then again you also have the Fairmont and the Mark Hopkins at the top of Nob Hill, some excellent views up there as well.

 

Pick the area that you want to stay in, and then look for the right hotel there. If you are planning on touring the bay area, I'd get something close to North Beach, but the quality of the hotels there isn't great, to say the least. The better hotels are either on Nob Hill, the financial district or the boutiques South of Market.

For Steaks, I'd go to Alfreds. For Italian, the North Beach Restraunt.

Art

 

If and when you settle on a hotel, mention it here, and then some restaurants in the area can be suggested. No point in sending you way across town unnecessarily!

If you plan to be walking around from your hotel, then one in the Fisherman's Wharf area may be your best bet. Somewhat pricey this time of year, but you can stroll to the Wharf, the Cannery, Ghirardelli Square, and the old North Beach area.

SF is also a great city to get almost anywhere via the Muni bus system (forget the overpriced, long-wait cable cars!). From the Wharf area you can catch the 30 Stockton bus to get anywhere along Columbus Ave (NB restaurants, City Lights Books, Chinatown, etc.) or all the way to downtown (Union Square) for $1.25 (and etc. with free transfer). Better than scrabbling for $$$ parking, as the City has recently jacked up its parking meters (Would you like to pay 25 cents for 10 minutes?!) and has very aggressive meter vultures.

Do not park on Bay Street in the Wharf area 4-6 PM weekdays. Tourists do this all the time, and are instantly towed by SF's infamous towing contractors.

 

I'll have to say Hotel Vitale would be a nice place to stay if you would like a nice view of the bay. It is right across the Ferry Bldg. You have views of Alcatraz, Bay Bridge, etc.

I would have to agree with Art on Alfred's. This is a good steak house. There are so much restaurants in SF, let us know what type of food you fancy and we can give you recommendations from there...

 

Art - heard about a new italian restaurant that is the real real deal from paisans... cinellina or something. I'll get the name when I get back.

--Dan

 

Hmm, that's interesting, as the SF is a famous old superhotel on the east side of Union Square. If you're an armed forces veteran, you also might take a look at this in the same area (about 2-3 blocks away):

http://www.marineclub.com/index.htm

If you stay in that area, don't miss lunch or dinner at John's Grill, which is 1-1/2 blocks away from the SF towards Market Street. JG was made famous by Sam Spade's patronage of it in The Maltese Falcon, and the Dashiell Hammett Society meets there regularly. On the menu are "Sam Spade Chops" and a cocktail called the "Bloody Brigid":

http://www.johnsgrill.com/frmst1a.htm

 

If you're staying in the downtown/Union Square area, and want a world-class Sunday brunch, you're just a short stroll away from the zinger:

http://www.gardencourt-restaurant.com/

Be warned that it is pricey, however. Next in line, with a different approach (breathtaking view, modern decor), is the Cityscape restaurant atop the SF Hilton, which is about 1-1/2 blocks away from the St. Francis. You're all the way at the top of the Hilton's tower and can pretty much see everything from Hawaii to Pike's Peak:

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/dining.jhtml;jsessionid=WZN4EZTJ1TATWCSGBIVM22QKIYFC3UUC?ctyhocn=SFOFHHH

For less money but still a really excellent buffet brunch, try the Marriott that's a block south of Market at the corner of Mission Street across from the Metreon theater complex. This is one of the best-kept Sunday brunch secrets in the city. Again a short walk from Union Square:

http://www.sfmarriott.com/

 

To me, a visit to San Francisco is incomplete without a visit to an Ice Cream Parlor.

As I haven't been there in nearly 18 years, any recommendations for Danysh?

 

Well, if you're on expenses, then you might as well eat at Michael Mina, since it's right in the lobby. Make sure to save room for dessert.

RE: Ice cream - To complete the tourist experience, hop on a Hyde St. cable car outside the St. Francis to Swensons Ice Cream, on Hyde and Union. From there you can walk 2 blocks to Lombard St and wonder (as I often do) what the big deal is - it's not even the crookedest street in San Francisco - there's another one in Portrero Hill which is crookeder.

 

That's the original store of the late Earl Swensen, a SF personality. He later franchised the name, but still kept and personally operated this store. Great ice cream, but nowhere to sit down - just a service counter.

Most overwhelming desserts (and pretty good main courses too!) in SF would probably be Max's, which has various locations:

http://www.maxsworld.com/

Note that there's one in the Union Square area, close by the St. Francis.

 

I Second!

Hotel: El Driscoe in Pacific Heights.

 

If you are at the St. Francis, walk up the block to Sears for breakfast, it's a San Francisco institution.

For ice cream I would recommend the place at Giradelli square.

For italian, the prior poster was dead on, North Beach Restaurant is probably the best in the city, their veal is out of this wolrd.

For steaks, I would go with Izzy's or Harris'. I haven't been to Alfred's in years, may still be great.

 

If your family decides to ride the cable cars, don't do as many tourists do and that's buy your ticket and then stand in line for X number of minutes while your ticket becomes less valuable. Locals please correct me if I'm wrong but are the cable car tickets good for a specific period of time like 1 or 2 hours?
Pace yourself as the line advances and then buy your tickets (send someone in your party to the kiosk) a few minutes before you are due to board.

If you have 2 or 3 hours to kill, consider a ferry boat ride to Alcatraz. $10 or $15 round trip from Fishermans Wharf area. Get to see the city from a different perspective as well as wandering around the prison. Just can't do that anywhere else!

Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and then exit for the Marin Headlands Park and watch dusk fall onto the city. IF you want to have dinner overlooking the Pacific, consider the Cliff House. Then there's always Chinatown. Two or three days just isn't long enough to scratch the surface of S.F.

KevFla

 

Hopefully additional helpful info:

Cable car tickets are one-use, one-way, no transfers, unless you buy an all day pass. If you just want to try it, and don't want to stand in line for a few hours, you can get on the California line at Van Ness immediately, which will take you to the new Ferry Building.

Alcatraz ferries require advance reservations, usually, so book ahead.

San Fran is really not known for it's steakhouses, but if that's what you're looking for, I second Izzy's on Steiner St., because it's in a great neighborhood for walking around.

 

If you're considering the "Cliff House" part of town, i.e. out by the west beach areas, a great little place to dine is:

http://www.almasrirestaurant.com/index.htm

Egyptian atmosphere, exotic menu, spectacular dancers (don't call them "belly dancers"!). Reservations necessary, because it's small and fills up fast. Hatem the owner is a retired Egyptian Special Forces general and a great fellow!

If you're around the Wharf, and have never been to a Rainforest Cafe before, you really should do it. Nice menu, decent prices (particularly for the Wharf!), and, well, an atmosphere unlike any other:

http://www.rainforestcafe.com/

Tip: Join the Rainforest Cafe's Safari Club and get various goodies, including preferred seating and 10% discounts in both the restaurant and the shop. The SC card also gets you a 10% discount at Joe's Crab Shack, another popular Wharf restaurant.

There is also a Hooter's on the Wharf, right next to an In-and-Out-Burger. No comment.

http://www.hooters.com/