San Francisco Bay Area: Your favorite things to do or places to go

[suzzer99]

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duke,

If you want to go one notch down from really high-end steakhouse, Izzy's and House of Prime Rib are both really good options. At Izzy's you get a full meal of very good steak plus two sides for about $25, at HOPR you get a really big dinner of salad + great bread + prime rib + sides for about $35.

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HOPR is the big winner here. Only a couple blocks or so from Ruth Chris, for a fraction of the cost. Hit up some bars on that end of Polk after dinner. Fun fun times.

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Does the Buccaneer still hire nothing but smoking hot female bartenders, who like to get sweaty in their tight sports-bra-ish-style tops, and lightly brush fingers across each others sweaty bodies each time they pass behind the bar? Hmmmm?

[El Diablo]

suzzer,

Alas, no.

[Shillx]

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Mavericks Beach, just north of Half Moon Bay is a great little trip to the beach. In the winter is when the big waves come in and you can kind of see the surfers. I like when the tide goes out. You can walk a couple hundred yards out on a rock ledge and check out the tidal pool sea life. Just near Mavericks is a biker bar that is kinda fun to get a beer. There is also a restaurant that used to be called the Moss Beach Distillery. It is an awesome place to take a lady if you can finish dinner right before sunset. Or you can skip dinner and just have a drink and watch the sun go down. The restaurant sits atop a cliff that drops in to the Pacific Ocean. Just south of Mavericks is great little beach to go boogie boarding that is right off the highway.

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I live just up from the Distillery and it has awesome views. Def a good place to take a date though it is a rip off but worth it for the ambiance. There are some awesome tidepools just below the MBD that are certainly worth checking out. I believe that it is 1 hour behind the Golden Gate low tide but they perfect when you can find a minus 1.0+ tide. There are a lot of other good reasons to check out the coastside including good beachs, Montara Mountain, the new Ritz Carlton, etc.

For food on the coast I would check out a mediterranean place called La Gibraltar, San Benito House for sandos, El Gran Amigo for awesome mexican food and Sushi Main St for good/fresh sushi.

[suzzer99]

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suzzer,

Alas, no.

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...and the last possible regret of moving to LA is erased.

[NotMitch]

For beers by the liter Schroeder's is a fun after work place I enjoy a lot.

[dukemagic]

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Haha, that filet mignon Rossini seems like it'll be too expensive for us. Sounds delicious though!

I'll make sure to get the mushrooms. And I just love good cheesecake, so I think I'm getting some of that. Thanks again for the recommendations.

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So I thought I'd provide a trip report of Harris' Restaurant for you guys. My friends Jim, Corey, Casey, and I went out to eat and then went to the IMAX in San Francisco.

Overall, my friends and I were satisfied with Harris'. We weren't blown away, but the food was pretty good.

We got there and the valets promptly opened the doors for us and took our car - no wasting time to find parking.

We were seated right away since we had a reservation, and got the menus quickly, but we had to wait a while before our drink orders were taken. A note on the drinks: I'm a big fan of real lemonade (especially strawberry lemonade) and since I'm not 21 and thus couldn't get an alcoholic drink, I decided to get a lemonade. I flat out asked them if it was real lemonade and not the fake Minute-Maid crap, and our waitress said "yes, it's real." We got our drinks (and not right away, either) and IT WAS THE FAKE MINUTE-MAID STUFF. WTF??? Our waitress lost big points for that.

The bread they gave us was nothing amazing. It was good warm, but once it cooled, became too crunchy. The servers quickly brought out more bread when we ate ours, so that was good. We all ordered salads but they forgot Jim's (they later brought it out without us reminding them, but this was after they had cleared our salads).

We got the fried mushrooms appetizer, per El Diablo's suggestion, and we all thought it was fantastic. They served it hot and fresh, and the dipping sauce complimented the mushrooms very well.

They food, once we ordered, came fairly quickly. I think we all agree that the food was delicious. Jim got the 49er cut, as did Corey, and Casey got the filet mignon. I got the surf and turf (filet mignon and Maine lobster). They were really big cuts of meat, which was nice, and the entrees included steamed vegetables and potatos (mashed or baked). My filet mignon was perfectly cooked, and very juicy and tender, although the flavor wasn't as bold as I might have liked. Corey thought his 49er cut was very juicy and flavorful, and definitely enjoyed it. Casey thought much the same of his filet mignon. All in all, the steaks were very good. They met or exceeded expectations.

My lobster was very good and pretty big, although nothing incredible. It came in the shell, although they cracked the tail open for you. I'd have preferred to have it cracked for me, but whatever.

As for dessert, they didn't have any cheesecake (El D said the cheesecake was good, so I was looking forward to that... wtf?) so we shared a chocolate timbale. Pretty small serving, and I wasn't blown away by it, but it was very good. Very rich and the rhubarb sauce was delicious.

Overall, we all thought the food was great. The service was quite another matter though. Our waitress was slow and didn't really seem to care about us. I expected much better from Harris' so I'm going to attribute that to a bad waitress and the fact that we are college kids, so maybe they thought we wouldn't tip and served accordingly. I was fully prepared to tip well, though, so her loss.

The busboys, water fillers, and other servers were outstanding though. Our waters were kept full, but the filler never interrupted our meal. He stealthily came around and did his job well. The bread guy kept our table stocked with bread, and the busboys cleared our plates quickly and kept the table cloth crumb free. Corey and Casey, who are both Asian, were disappointed to see that almost all of the busboys and water fillers were Asian, and none of the waiters and waitresses were. Overall, the service was good, but because the waitress did such a poor job, we cut the tip a little bit.

Overall, I think we were satisfied with where we went. Excellent food, but the waitress definitely hurt the experience. My total came to 110 before tax (85 for surf and turf, 10 for salad, 7 for drink, 3 for share of appetizer, 8 for dessert), Jim, Casey, and Corey were all ~70 each. About what we expected to pay, so that was good.

After the dinner, we went and saw 300 on IMAX, which was absolutely amazing... all in all, a great night.

[FlopMissedMe]

The North Beach Festival in summer is a blast - lots of great Jazz, Blues and others together with an ecclectic mix of food and people make it a lot of fun.

Hiking Mt Tam on a clear day, checking out the surfing action under the GG Bridge and walking through the Presidio Golf Course?, through GG Park and up to the coffee house up on the cliff are all great ways to spend a day.

And nobody has mentioned the G&L Mardi Gras which is an absolute hoot

['Chair]

Tadich Grill - B+ seafood, lots of history, sit at the bar

[Snipe]

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Evan,

My favorite burrito place in SF is La Taqueria on Mission near 25th. El Farolito is my second favorite.

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COME ON EL D!!! How on EARTH are you going to mention La Taqueria in the same breath as El Farolito!!!!! BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

La Taq is HANDS DOWN THE BEST BURRITO PLACE ON EARTH (unless you are one of those people who really loves rice - this place has none). El Farolito is nowhere near the same quality IMO.

If you want solid burrito alternatives, you don't have to go far -

La Coroneta <sp> on 23rd and Mission is fantastic (get the super steak and prawn quesodilla <sp> - incredible).

For nightlife, I suggest the following:

Brunos - a very classy location with a very night dependent crowd - from collegy to investment bankery - really runs the gamut - $5 dollar cover is PERFECT to keep the rif raf out and not bother you much.

Medjool - the roofdeck is sweet on a nice night - hectic to get a drink, but between the 3 floors, you should be able to find a spot. Very close to Brunos.

Zeitgeist - best bloody marys in the city, and about as Mission alt hipster. Tons of picknic tables out back to enjoy the sun with a beer or bloody. BBQ ain't too shabby either (particularly after a few of the afformentioned beverages).

Ruby Skye - you really have to be feeling the 'big euro club' urge to go here, but if you are, it's the best choice in the city. Always hot girls and you can escape upstairs if you need a beak from the electronica.

Just a few additions off the top.

[cbloom]

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Ruby Skye

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You are one skeevy chode.