OT: Favorite Restaurant in San Fran

[UConnStats]

Looking for somewhere to eat tonight. Any tips from the Bay Area folks?

 

[Stinger92860]

Capo’s or Elephant Sushi or Mensho Tokyo Ramen

 

[Drytortugas]

CatHead’s Barbecue, La Ciccia, La Mar

 

[husky429]

Looking for somewhere to eat tonight. Any tips from the Bay Area folks?

Tony gemignanis neapolitan pizza place. Forgot the name

 

[ClifSpliffy]

tommys joynt. van ness and geary. it even says 'world famous' on the front. kinda like diner food, but in a sf sort of way. inexpensive. fun.
tommysjoynt.com/
hey, todays specials!
THURSDAY
Braised lamb shank with vegetables $15 for 1 shank, $25 for 2
Burgundy beef with rice $10.10

 

[boba]

What do you like?
Pizza Delfina is obvious.
Slanted Door is very good, Vietnamese food.
Zuni Cafe is reliable, the polenta is very good.
Rich Table probably doesn't have space. But it is one of the best.
I don't recommend North Beach as the good places are open any longer, and what's left is not good. Same is true for Union Square.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Been here for 7 years. Favorite restaurant at the moment is Bellota. Spanish tapas in the Airbnb building. Fantastic food paired with incredible service. Great ambiance and G&Ts. I've lucked out on a weekend even without a reservation.

Liholiho Yacht Club is another highlight. Tricky without reservations but I've done it a couple times (once on a Saturday) so it's not impossible. Even though it's Nob Hill/borderline Tenderloin, the nightlife is great around Bush St.

The House in North Beach is asian fusion. Typically not my thing but they do it very well.

Tony's is phenomenal pizza (was thinking about bringing my visitors there tonight actually) but be prepared for a wait of 90+ minutes. I'm probably going to head to Za's instead.

Happy to suggest other spots if you've got a price point or type of food in mind. Beautiful day today.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Oh yea, China Live is a really hip spot too. Pricey for Chinese food but it's an experience. They have a fancy bar upstairs too.

 

[Stinger92860]

Tony gemignanis neapolitan pizza place. Forgot the name

Capo’s is one of his places

 

[UConnStats]

The group I’m with likes basically everything, so I was just wondering what people enjoyed themselves and going from there. Thanks for the responses everyone, so many great looking choices.

@boba @3for3 I’m staying in the lower knob hill/union square area so thanks for the heads up on that front. I drove through Tenderloin and yikes lol. Liholiho is really close actually

 

[superjohn]

Stars.

 

[HooperScooper]

Was just there last week and ate at a bunch of good places. My brother lives there so these were all his suggestions.

Depends what you want.

For pizza Tony's Pizza in North Beach was really good. I was surprised how good. Quite a menu of pizzas. They have 4 or 5 different ovens (coal fired, Napoletana, 500 degrees, etc.). Of course we got some from the coal fired menu. It was an hour wait when we went. Expect at least that long. But they will text you 5 minutes before your table is ready so you could walk around and check out the neighborhood. I think Chinatown was pretty close to there also.

Do you like expensive foofy food? Best place we ate at was Octavia in Pacific Heights. Very good expensive farm to table food.

Ate at a Northern Italian place called Seven Hills in Nob Hill that was also very good. Small, quaint place.

Nothing else to recommend. Good luck getting in anywhere really good on a Thursday night in SF. Way too much money flowing around there so everyone is out to eat at expensive places every night. Even Monday nights were packed. Really enjoyed the city but my brother says it's overrun by rich ostentatious millennials. Not the same city he moved to 18 years ago.

 

[8893]

Wherever you eat, get your ass to the Saloon in North Beach afterwards.

 

[Mike Honcho]

The group I’m with likes basically everything, so I was just wondering what people enjoyed themselves and going from there. Thanks for the responses everyone, so many great looking choices.

@boba @3for3 I’m staying in the lower knob hill/union square area so thanks for the heads up on that front. I drove through Tenderloin and yikes lol. Liholiho is really close actually

The Tenderloin is essentially Hamsterdam. It's really quite sad. Homelessness (and its side effects) was the most prominent issue in last year's mayoral race to succeed the late Ed Lee.

That said, the state of the neighborhood has depressed rent, so there are a ton of cool bars and restaurants on the come up. If you're looking for drinks to wash down dinner, I'd recommend The Royale (my favorite -- they have free live music on most nights), Owl Tree or Ha-Ra.

 

[HooperScooper]

Stars.

A quick google search says it closed 20 years ago. Is there a new one?

We ate at a place called Sir and Stars in Point Reyes that was really good. But that's at least an hour from SF.

 

[8893]

Was just there last week and ate at a bunch of good places. My brother lives there so these were all his suggestions.

Depends what you want.

For pizza Tony's Pizza in North Beach was really good. I was surprised how good. Quite a menu of pizzas. They have 4 or 5 different ovens (coal fired, Napoletana, 500 degrees, etc.). Of course we got some from the coal fired menu. It was an hour wait when we went. Expect at least that long. But they will text you 5 minutes before your table is ready so you could walk around and check out the neighborhood. I think Chinatown was pretty close to there also.

Do you like expensive foofy food? Best place we at was Octavia in Pacific Heights. Very good expensive farm to table food.

Ate at a Northern Italian place called Seven Hills in Nob Hill that was also very good. Small, quaint place.

Nothing else to recommend. Good luck getting in anywhere really good on a Thursday night in SF. Way too much money flowing around there so everyone is out to eat at expensive places every night. Even Monday nights were packed. Really enjoyed the city but my brother says it's overrun by rich ostentatious millennials. Not the same city he moved to 18 years ago.

Tony’s is definitely solid pie. Probably the closest I’ve had to New Haven-style apizza outside of CT.

 

[HooperScooper]

The Tenderloin is essentially Hamsterdam. It's really quite sad. It was the most prominent issue in last year's mayoral race to succeed the late Ed Lee.

My brother told me to stay away from the Tenderloin at night. Said it's pretty seedy. Is it safe?

 

[Mike Honcho]

Really enjoyed the city but my brother says it's overrun by rich ostentatious millennials. Not the same city he moved to 18 years ago.

 

[HooperScooper]

O.K. rich ostentatious millennial.

 

[Mike Honcho]

My brother told me to stay away from the Tenderloin at night. Said it's pretty seedy. Is it safe?

You'll run into your fair share of drug addicts and people with serious mental health issues, but generally if you give them space and mind your business, you'll be fine. Rarely are people getting robbed.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Tony’s is definitely solid pie. Probably the closest I’ve had to New Haven-style apizza outside of CT.

I'd lump Za's in Russian Hill into the mix as well. The cornmeal crust is delicious. The pizza here is really fantastic. It has succeeded in turning every east coast skeptic into a believer.

 

[8893]

I'd lump Za's in Russian Hill into the mix as well. The cornmeal crust is delicious. The pizza here is really fantastic. It has succeeded in turning every east coast skeptic into a believer.

I will be out there in less than two months. Will check it out. Thanks.

 

[TGW93]

Ryoko's Japanese Restaurant and Bar

 

[HooperScooper]

The other pizza place my brother told me to go to if Tony's had too long of a wait was IL Casaro. How's that place?

 

[superjohn]

A quick google search says it closed 20 years ago. Is there a new one?

We ate at a place called Sir and Stars in Point Reyes that was really good. But that's at least an hour from SF.

No, that's the one. First fine dining restaurant I've ever been to, celebratory family dinner and it ended with the cops running into the restaurant and my dad almost killing a guy.

Businessmen at the table next to us were checking out the pretty girl at the other table....When the guy and his pretty girlfriend paid their bill the guy nonchalantly walked over to the table of businessmen and dumped the entire table on them, food and wine all over them....

We were shocked and commenting how all the guys are covered in wine and what a psycho that guy is. As this is going on, my dad looks down and notices a few drops of wine on his dress slacks and says, "forget about them, I'm covered in ******* wine" and he leaps from the table runs down the stairs pushes the businessmen aside and has the table thrower jacked up against the wall by his neck. My mom doesn't know what to do other than say please make sure your father doesn't kill the guy. My brother is already up and running before she finishes what she's saying.

Now it's my brother and a couple of the businessmen trying to get my dad off of table thrower as the whole restaurant looks on....finally the cops show up and order is restored.

I'ts apparently one of the best restaurant towns but that's my only memorable experience.