I need San Francisco help

B

BJ

BJ
The bumpkins from the Northwest are headed down to the big city for a long weekend over Valentine's Day...would welcome any ideas on:

Where to stay

Where to eat

Where to drink

What to do

Where to shop for wine

We're looking at staying at the Stanford Court...anyone know anything about it?

I should also add...we've been many times before and are looking for the new, the off the beaten path, and the different. At least in the eating and to do category.

Thanks.
 
originally posted by BJ:
I need San Francisco helpThe bumkins from the Northwest are headed down to the big city for a long weekend over Valentine's Day...would welcome any ideas on:

Where to stay

Where to eat

Where to drink

What to do

Where to shop for wine

We're looking at staying at the Stanford Court...anyone know anything about it?

Thanks.
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Jeez, Brad, you really need help with all of this? Before I could even begin to answer, I'd need to know what you look for in a hotel/B&B, restaurant, wine bar, wine shop, tourist attraction. Anyway, here are a few general responses:

1. Visit Terroir. You know that you want to.
2. The new De Young is a must see experience. The new California Academy of Sciences is also worth a look see while you're out there.
3. There's no shortage of good places to eat. What are you looking for and what is your price range?

Mark Lipton
 
I was just in SF this past week.

I would not hesitate to return to
The Ferry Building, a really wonderful place to eat, shop, drink, sit, eat, especially on a farmer's market day
Nopalito, excellent and well presented cuisine with inspiration from Mexico
Quince, a real standout meal from the trip

I loved Golden Gate Park. The observation deck of the de Young is must.

Hope you have a nice time.
 
"the off the beaten path."

If you have a rental car, I would suggest the Drisco Hotel in Pacific Heights. It's at the top of the hill and the best neighborhood in the city. Super safe, exceptionally quiet. It also depends on your room budget. "City View" rooms and suites are AWESOME there. If you can't afford one then other options would likely be better. It's a 1903 building but fully up to date with Dish HD TVs, wifi, etc. Stanford Court on Nob Hill is more central if you don't have a vehicle, but in a much more noisy area and if you do have a car, parking will be a expensive. Parking is free and fairly easy at the Drisco.
 
Terroir. sure.

Arlequin is great too. And if you go to Arlequin, you might try Bar Jules for dinner. Great vibe. simple, but flavorful food. Also in the neighborhood is the original Blue Bottle kiosk. Located in the back of garage. great coffee, but often too long of a line.

Concur with Nopalito. Try their other restaurant Nopa too. Busy and fun with great food. nice wine list.

Way off the beaten path in a neighborhood called Dogpatch is Piccino, a tiny, but charming cafe, with great pizza and other small dishes. Their meatballs are insane.
 
A must-stop for moderately priced Italian food is La Ciccia. It specializes in Sardinian cuisine and has a kick-ass wine list with a great selection of Vermentino and Cannonau.

My recent meal at Quince was mixed. For the prices it charges, each dish should make my socks roll up and down. The app (Dungeness crab and prawn timbale) and pasta (a large ravioli with 6 different fillings) were very good, but not earth-shaking. However, our main course (lamb loin) was absolutely stellar. Acquerello still gets my vote for Alta Cucina in SF.
 
originally posted by Ned Hoey:
"the off the beaten path."

If you have a rental car, I would suggest the Drisco Hotel in Pacific Heights. It's at the top of the hill and the best neighborhood in the city. Super safe, exceptionally quiet. It also depends on your room budget. "City View" rooms and suites are AWESOME there. If you can't afford one then other options would likely be better. It's a 1903 building but fully up to date with Dish HD TVs, wifi, etc. Stanford Court on Nob Hill is more central if you don't have a vehicle, but in a much more noisy area and if you do have a car, parking will be a expensive. Parking is free and fairly easy at the Drisco.
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Expensive for us, but looks pretty good. We're now actually looking at Le Meridien, it's in the financial district which is sort of weird, but also maybe quieter during the weekend and also close to the ferry building, and also views.
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
BJ, do you drink German wine? If so, get thee to DeeVine Wines. You can check their older offerings online.
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Thanks Larry, we're pretty much Franco people.
 
originally posted by BJ:
originally posted by Larry Stein:
BJ, do you drink German wine? If so, get thee to DeeVine Wines. You can check their older offerings online.
Click to expand...

Thanks Larry, we're pretty much Franco people.
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They also have a respectable selection of older French wine if you want to spend the money!

(Assuming you didn't mean Franco-era Spanish wine, but they may have some of that too).
 
Terroir and La Ciccia are my picks (duh). Grab some muscadet and go sit at Hog Island on farmer's market day and watch the bay with oysters.
 
katana-ya for ramen, little saigon for bahn-mi, duc loi supermarket for burgers, la ciccia of course, oyaji or sebo for fish, bar jules, redwood city k&l is the good one, tadich grill for lunch, birite ice cream, emmy's spaghetti shack, front porch, chez panisse, ubuntu if you go to napa, manresa in the south bay, coi for the molecular thing, rn74 for the wine list, rosamunde for a sausage....

all that if you can get out of terroir of course.
 
originally posted by guilhaume:
katana-ya for ramen, little saigon for bahn-mi, duc loi supermarket for burgers, la ciccia of course, oyaji or sebo for fish, bar jules, redwood city k&l is the good one, tadich grill for lunch, birite ice cream, emmy's spaghetti shack, front porch, chez panisse, ubuntu if you go to napa, manresa in the south bay, coi for the molecular thing, rn74 for the wine list, rosamunde for a sausage....

all that if you can get out of terroir of course.
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mmmm. forgot about bi-rite ice cream, definitely worth the trip
 
Yep, the salted caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite is the real deal.

For something else off the beaten track and in the same neighborhood as Bi-Rite: Blondie's Bar and No Grill. No better place to get a martini in SF. I meant that as singular because you get the whole shaker, 16 oz. worth. Blackboard menu of gin and vodka choices along with whatever garnishes you want.

The only person I know who drank two was Yaniger and he then came across the street for a full-on jeebus!

The original location for Slanted Door was but a few storefronts away. Made for a nice 1-2 punch.
 
originally posted by guilhaume:
katana-ya for ramen,
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Hmmm, I found Katana-ya to be pretty meh. I was spoiled by what I was getting around LA at the time. It's sure better than anything I can get at home.
 
Guilhaume's list is good, but I find Katana-ya to be no better than decent. If there's a truly great ramen place in the city I haven't found it yet.
 
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