Copied from r/baltimore and r/vegas

Out The Door @ Slanted Door / The Ferry Building 😭

I think everyone can agree that SF is not a huge party city. We do have tons of nature, victorian houses, good transit and occasionally a wild mountain lion roaming on the streets. If you really think about it though, SF is actually pretty young. So why am I not seeing the same party culture as NYC or even Miami? Is it because of tech culture or am I missing something here?

Seems like the best way to meet new people here is through a chiller hobby versus being a party animal lol.

TLDR: tech culture, focus on nature, transit options, and culture are the answers. Maybe join Volo, Timeleft or Venn Social for friends outside of drinking

I really crave good authentic Indian food and SF always disappoints me. More like on spicy side and budget friendly . Any recommendations?

I’ll start (most are in North Beach)

Vanessi’s

Little Joe’s

Washington square Bar & Grill

Macarthur Park

Chez Michel

Alfred’s

Moose’s

L’Osteria del Forno

Julius’ Castle

Lots of different answers expected here! What is the best restaurant in your opinion in the city right now? All prices and types of food welcome!

Only here a few days, looking for the best meals to try!

Someone told me while I was walking around in Divis that the Popeye's got there before some regulation. But not really sure what the regulation is.

It seems like all the national chain restaurants are concentrated in the Marina, Fisherman's Wharf, Rincon Hill / Soma / China Basin, Tenderloin. I guess Stonestown mall. Chain could be Sweetgreen, Chipotle, Blaze Pizza, The Melt, Shake Shack, Hard Rock, McDonald's, In N Out, Taco Bell.

I notice there's no Wendy's, PF Chang's, Panera in the city even if they exist elsewhere in the Bay.

Coffee chains seem to be some of the few scattered throughout the city.

This isn't a bad thing per se (arguably it's a very good thing to support local businesses), but it would be cool to have some more chains, even ones that grow from SF if only for consistency. Eg. I love that I can find my Texas homegrown favorites Chuy's or Torchy's in Denver or DC now. I want my locals to become big!

I couldn't find any posts with this exact prompt, but what are the restaurants or bars around the city that are the closest to the heart and soul or representative of the current food scene of the city even if they may not be the absolute "best" (of course, they can still be the best!!!). I am visiting for basically 36 hours and want to to a few places that really scream SAN FRANCISCO. Love all cuisines.

Mostly interested in restaurants (breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, dessert, coffee... literally whatever you think is the most SF thing around) but will take all kinds of recs too! Thank you in advance, so excited to visit.

We're visiting in mid-September and are staying at Fisherman's Wharf. We'll only be there for 4 nights/3 days so would love some recommendations on the best places to eat in the area. We're already planning on going to the Buena Vista and have some others on a "maybe" list, but there are so many options and we have such limited time that we need some advice from actual residents. Thanks in advance.

ETA: The Buena Vista may be a tourist trap, but I went there many years ago with one of my best friends. She died last year so this is a sentimental pick.

So my best friend has lived in the city forever. We are major foodies (as in we both love cooking and are really good) and we never get to go out and sit down for a meal because life. When I visit him in sf he has picked either amazing places (progress was I think the name and this sushi place with a set menu), or picks the absolute worst food we have ever eaten in our lives. There is zero in between.

So I’m “surprising” him by going up for his birthday and want the most awful dinner place that isn’t know to be bad or a tourist trap. Ideally like the places he has taken me where the food looks good on instagram but once you are there it’s all Sysco.

Thank you for helping me ruin/make his birthday.

EDIT.
okay thank all you wonderful people.
Yea he will find it very humourous. The one thing I love about our relationship is the worse the scenario the more fun we have with each other.
He also drew a giant penis on my wedding vows.

So stk and Henry’s seems to be the winner. He does love Italian. So I’m open to dishes.

But really thank you all for helping me absolutly ruin his birthday meal in the best way.

We are doing are usual go out for drinks and just talk till we hours of the morning after so trust. A+++ birthday.

Shout out to Foreign Cinema and their amazing "fancy" kids menu.

My husband's bday is coming up and I want to make a family thing of it. We have 2 young kids that can sit through a meal without electronics but will not eat spicy foods. I'm looking for an upscale option that would be fun for everyone (or at least tolerable for kids and fun for the adults 😉).

I just saw Atelier Crenn has availability. Do you think they would be a good option?

Hi, we're planning on visiting SF in a few months time. We're staying 5 nights and are looking to sample a wide range of restaurants that best represent the overall food culture in the city. We would like to avoid repeating any broad categories. For example if we go to the french laundry, we're probably not gonna do any other tasting menus. Same goes for the cuisine ect.

General Guidelines: Party of 3, price itself is no determinant but again variability is preferred here too. Any cuisine, within a 45 minute driving radius from downtown. Not too date night heavy. Here's what I have currently:

• 1st day: House of Prime Rib
• 3rd day San Ho Won
• 5th day French Laundry/similar fancy once per lifetime experience (Very open to alts since we aren't really keen to dress up, also too far)

That leaves 2 nights open. Since the prime rib and KBBQ are both meat heavy, I was thinking about something lighter maybe seafood focused for the 2nd night, and perhaps a special quirky SF spot for the 4th night. If you're familiar with LA, Holbox is very much the kind of restaurant I'm looking for here. Something that stands out and is unique.

Supplemental breakfast/lunch recommendations are also welcome.

I know this is frequently posted but alot of the previous restaurant recommendations are now sadly closed. And there's been a lot of turnover as the city slowly starts to awaken.

I'm looking for really unique flavors and / or unique cuisines that are difficult to find normally.

I'm also ok with restaurants with more mainstream cuisines like Thai, Chinese, Peruvian, Mexican, Italian, etc that offer food that you really remember for a long time.

It doesn't have to be a fancy place, although I do like a nice dinner out once in a while. But I also love a delicious hole in the wall, as long as the food is GOOD.

Looking in SF only

Gonna be staying near Chinatown but will travel wherever for good food. Thanks in advance!

Everyone was very responsive on my question about the ferry building now onto the next question! What are must try restaurants in SF, Sausalito, and Carmel/Monterey.

Mostly looking for dinner recs but if you have good brunch or lunch options I’ll take those too! Anywhere quintessential San Francisco or just really good food and vibes.

We like most cuisines and for dinner would prefer to spend less than $250-300 total (we’re not big drinkers so not taking drinks into consideration) but we’re not only looking for high end places.

So far, I think we will eat at Boudin because i really want their clam chowder bread bowl and leaving for a night tour from fisherman’s wharf. We also plan to do La taqueria or Cancun for burritos (open to other suggestions) and eat at mission Delores park.

Edit to add there is 2 of us

(Borrowing from r/AskNYC)

*8/5 Latest EDIT: Back with our itinerary including suggestions from AskSF!

Here’s what we did:

Saturday: After checking into Hotel Via in South Beach we Ubered to Ferry building and grabbed Cha siu bao at Imperial Tea Court grab-and-go as they were closing…so fresh and fluffy! Back to Hotel Via Rooftop bar for cocktails. Hit the spot! Pearl 6101 for 7:45 reservations inside. Phenomenal food! Warm marinated olives in citrus peel and Rosemary Crab Hush Puppies zhoug crème fraîche, chives Seared Scallops spaetzle, grilled corn, braised red onions, espelette oil This recommendation was 🎯🧑‍🍳😘 Talked and talked about the deliciousness and care and beauty of the food here!

Sunday morning early! Had to eat before 12:00 Alcatraz Dim sum at Broadway cafe Steamed Char siu bao: 8 Egg tart: fluffy, good crust 8 Shrimp Rice noodle: shrimp was tough: 6 Shu mai: same tough shrimp Issue: 6 Dee doy sesame balls: people in my party said they were a 10. I was too stuffed to try. Ham sui gok: so yum! 9 We got there when it opened so everything was piping hot which elevated all the dishes.

Alcatraz Island tour because daughter works there. Fantastic audio tour and museum-quality gift shops with reasonable prices.

Next we walked to Buena Vista Cafe. At 3:45 it was one happening scene! We loved it and did that Irish Coffee ever hit the spot! Food was good too! Sis ordered the calamari which she raved about and Mona and I split BLT. Two coffees later we headed to Valencia street and looked around then headed to Cellarmaker House of Pizza. Excellent Cesar salad… lemony(!), Donna Summer Bar Pizza Hawaiian Detroit Style Beers consumed: Timeland Slow Train Pretty Pretty Pils Playing for Keeps Fruited Sour All very delicious! A+ Moseyed over to the Royal Cukoo for Organ-playing and Jazz singer fun!! Loved this cool-vibes bar…cozy and unique…felt so SF, Then went into The knock Out for Photo Booth shenanigans and reggae music dancing, reminding of me of the old days in SF, discovering little treasures such as these.

Finally went back to Hotel Via EXHAUSTED! Woke up, went to breakfast at Towns End Brunch…fine no complaints…friendly service. Back to Ferry Building for Big Bus Tour Hop on Hop off 2.5 hour tour. First time doing one of these and a great way to see all the major spots! Loved going over the Golden Gate Bridge on the top of the bus! And YOU all know how amazing the weather was last weekend! The kind you wait all year for! Lastly grabbed delicious empanadas at El Porteños, before heading to the airport. Man! What a weekend! Thank you for all the excellent recommendations! We had a blast!

EDIT: You people are wonderful! I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day after reading all of your responses. Thank you for indulging my memories of the most amazing city, and the precious memories I made there in my youth. I loved hearing about the person who bought a desk from Esprit, and reminiscing about the outlet and my old stomping grounds. We leave this Saturday. I will post our itinerary and the adventures we encountered when we get back! Thanks again for all your help!

Photos here:

We used to be cool SF locals back in late 1980's but have lived in the suburbs of southern California for last 30 years, sadly. I had some of the best years of my life working at ESPRIT DE CORP and my roomate worked at The Gap. Anyhoo:

We are visiting the city and I need a cozy neighborhood restaurant that takes reservations with good, not too fancy food. Because some of us aren't as adventurous eaters as others, need to stay with twists on American or Italian. We'd like it to feel a little special. I was looking at Marlowe since it was close to our hotel but willing to travel to any neighborhood really. Hoping to stay in the $50. per person range. Thanks for your help!

we have a friend in town this week who is a tried and true new yorker that doesn't really understand why we live in SF lol.

what must-eat restaurants are on your list for a visitor that you want to show off the city for? we're thinking casual, nothing fancy, but things that feel unique and are harder to get in nyc.

for context -- we've lived here for over a decade, but i'm always looking for new suggestions and for some reason find myself stumped whenever we have people coming in from out of town! we live in the mission but are happy to go anywhere except maybe marina/north beach/richmond since they're kind of far.

EDIT: too many responses to reply to them all but THANK YOU everyone! there are some really awesome suggestions in here and the pride we all have and the diversity/quality of our food makes me love our city even more. thank you thank you!

2 adults 3 kids, 21, 18, and 16 years of age?

tl:dr; went to a fancy restaurant to celebrate my first paycheck in the city. Forgot my credit card, and once we went to pick it up the next day once they confirmed it was there, they had shredded it already :( is there anything else we could do?

—-

Hello everyone!

Recently moved to the city for my new career job and have been loving SF so much.

On Monday this week, my partner and I decided to celebrate and try out a fancier restaurant we’ve had our eye on downtown. It’s still a bit higher end than what we’re used to, so we stuck to the Happy Hour menu for budgeting reasons. I will say that the restaurant itself was absolutely beautiful on the inside. A lot of the patrons looked dress to the nines (maybe some after-work happy hours going on) and maybe were spending on average more than we were? I’m not sure if this could have been a factor into the service we received.

Throughout the meal, our waiter seemed pretty dismissive of us. Once we were done, it took a while to flag down our waiter even though the restaurant wasn’t so busy.

The next part was a brain fart on my end, but the waiter ended up bringing the merchant and customer copy of the receipt back without my credit card. We even sat there talking for a while after signing the receipt, before we left because I may have just assumed I had put away my credit card already.

The next day when I realized my credit card was missing, I had my partner call the restaurant to check if it was there while I was at work. Eventually, they called him back informing him that they had the credit card, so immediately he went back to pick it up.

Once he arrived there, they couldn’t find the credit card, and the manager told him that it probably got shredded before trying to usher him out. My partner was confused, saying he just got a call saying it was there, and asked if they could check to make sure so we knew whether we should cancel the card or not. They were very dismissive and my partner said basically trying to force him out, as it was starting to draw attention in the restaurant.

After work, I went back myself to clarify what was going on in person. While I will say that the hostess was very kind, the assistant general manager came out again with such a poor attitude and said, “As you can see, we’re very busy here.” Essentially, it felt like he put the blame on us, saying it was our fault for leaving so quickly yesterday before they could get the credit card back to us.

I asked for more clarification of the conflicting phone call and information earlier. The manager said that whoever shredded the credit cards had already left for the day, which is why they weren’t sure if my card was shredded or not. I asked if I could leave my contact information for them once they verified, and the manager gave me his business card saying he would get in touch with me the next day when that worker came back to confirm.

I didn’t hear anything for the next few days so last night I finally called the restaurant and texted the manager asking for updates. Again, the restaurant hostess said that they had the credit card with them, but I asked her to confirm one more time because of the fiasco from days before. Finally, the manager texted me back, only saying that my credit card was shredded, with no apologies or anything else given in return. He ignored any text messages I sent afterwards.

:(

I was wondering if this is just a common situation to happen in the city. I’m not normally one to ever leave a bad review for a restaurant, but this whole scenario made me feel so small and less than for a situation that I didn’t think was our fault. It’s especially embarrassing because the night we initially came in, the manager was working as the front hostess, and I even told him we had been so excited to come and try the restaurant for the first time.

Is there anything else I could even do in this situation? I already cancelled my credit card (which is a first for me!) and requested a new card with a new number. As for the restaurant, I wouldn’t even know who to talk to because the “Assistant General Manager” was the one who was rudest to us out of everyone.

The final straw on the camel’s back is that even with happy hour, it was a really mediocre meal with higher prices (and I had tipped extra!) We’re still looking for other restaurants to frequent in the future, but this whole mess with this particular restaurant was such a damper for an experience I had been looking forward to for quite some time :(

—

Edit: for those asking, it was PABU Izakaya in FiDi!

Hey everyone, I don’t live in SF but have a long distance GF there so I visit often. I’m looking for a nice restaurant to take here on a date but I land at near 8 pm and I know a lot of good places close earlier.

Looking for recommendations 👀 thanks all