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

[microbet]

Best thing to do on a first date in the East Bay.

Motorcycle ride at night to the pier in Berkeley. I would ride all the way out on the pier, which is certainly quite illegal. Then ride up into the hills to the Lawrence Hall of Science and go around back to where they have a bunch of big tubes that play notes like flutes in the wind.

You might not all be up for this though. Don't blame me if you get arrested or killed.

[J.Brown]

so there are going to be a couple of repeats on my list, but some of my faves and affirmations of others are:

sushi groove south is a total must.

oola in the soma, el d will atest to the ribs there, yummy.
great for late night eats and drinks.

tadich grill for a three martini lunch with a bunch of investment bankers and lawyers. in the financial district.

great shopping for the hip set in hayes valley on like a two block stretch. others will have to elaborate on this.

check out lingba lounge on potrero hill. fun tiki bar vibe, good tropical cocktails, generally a hot girl or two and maybe a good dj spinning.

americano in hotel vitale for after work cocktails is a good spot right by the often mentioned ferry building.

one of the best meals i have ever had in the city (and i have ate a ton of them) was at ame in the st. regis hotel.
esquire magazine loved this place and so did i, omg.
eat anything that is said to be their signature dishes.

city lights is my all time fave book store, it is a must imho and a beer at vesuvio after.

hope this adds to things a bit, i will expand on anyone of these places if more info is needed.

cheers. J.

[PartyGirlUK]

When is the best time of the year to hit San Fran? Im planning Mar/Apr trip.

[DpR]

Sept/Oct

[suzzer99]

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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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Is this the place that's pretty big and open late? If so, best chicken tacos I've ever had. Althogh I think I might be thinking about a place more like 28th and Mission. Like a block or two from Army. I think there's a #1 and #2 pretty close to each other. But it's not El Toro.

I think the best thing about the Bay Area is the sheer beauty of it all. I lived there 5 years, I never got numb to the scenery. I lived in SF and work in Marin for a few years. On a regular basis the bay would take on some new, stunning look that I'd never seen before - either low clouds hanging over the city, or the water smooth as glass with the moon shining off, or a crystal clear sunset.

To that end I think the view at sunset, from Mt. Tamalpais on a clear night, is the best view I've ever seen. It's hard for me to imagine there being a better one on earth, and I've seen some pretty good ones. Other sweet views are coming up over market street at sundown, or Pt. Lobos on a beautiful day.

Other stuff, if it's still going (I've been in LA for 6 years now):

Ali Baba falaffel wrap things in lower haight. Best late night drunk food in the world. I had never had anything like that before I moved to SF. Trying one of those first time late at night, drunk, hungry as hell was a memorable experience.

There's a bar called Finnegan's Wake in Cole Valley that always had tons of cute girls. Somehow the balance never got out of whack with a bunch of moron dudes moving in. Which is rare.

My favorite burrito is (was) a place called Pancho's on Polk St. Kind of dry but I love the char-grilled meat and sweet mango salsa they had. LA does tacos better in general, but SF burritos are the bomb.

I waited tables at McCormick and Kuletos on Fisherman's Wharf for a while. The food mostly sucks. But if you ever find yourself stuck there, the oysters are good, and the dungenes crab if they have it. Also they have a ton of good scotch, and the bartneders really know their [censored]. Also there's a thing called a boat burger in the crabcake lounge, but you can get it downstairs as well. It's a burger with capers and garlic, topped with blue cheese that is still one of my all time favorite burger. Also for brunch the crabcake benedict is awesome.

Loved the oversize martinis at the Red Room, if it's still going. Two of those was all it took. Also Blondie's maritinis rocked.

Loved the Tapas at Timos.

Little Vietnamese place called Cordon Bleu at Van Ness and California (I believe).

Brother in Law's BBQ on Divisidero was the best I had in SF.

Always a nice day to go hiking in Marin somewhere then have dinner at Gyuama's (sp?) in Tiburon.

I always thought Transmission Lounge was a good place to see bands. The ones I saw there kind of sucked except one acid jazz kind of thing I really liked. But good venue.

Probably most of the clubs and bars I would know have rotated in and out of coolness or disappeared. Well that' about all I can think of. Hopefully some of these places are still around.
North Beach Pizza. But ONLY after it was reheated in a toaster oven. The first time too soggy. 2nd crispy and some of the best pizza I've ever had.

[Enon]

The Millennium in the main floor of the Hotel California Downtown The Millenium. El D recommended this completely vegan high end restaurant last time I was in town and I was very impressed. I ordered the prefix menu during the summer that worked in seasonal tomatoes/heirloom tomatoes into every dish, even desert. I was with my non-vegan meat-loving friend who is normally not so into the vegan cuisine in Seattle and he flipped out over this place.

El D: Your offer still on the table if I visit next month?

[Osprey]

Can you go to the beach in SF in the summer, or still too windy/chilly?

[Boris]

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.

In Palo Alto I recommend La Bodeguita Del Medio. Great Cuban influenced food and an expensive liquor selection that is worth almost every penny. Their Rum selection is second to none. Other great restaurants are Osteria (Italian) and Evvia (Greek).

On the East side of the San Mateo bridge is an awesome place to go bird watching. You can rent binoculars for a $2 donation. Bring your own field guide. I also really, really like the Berkeley Botanical Garden on the Berkeley campus.

On Sunday afternoons there is usually a pretty mellow Ultimate game at Mills College in Oakland. There is a more intense pick-up game in Greer Park in Palo Alto on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I'm not sure how often this game still goes.

Arastradero Open Space Preserve has some pretty kick-ass single track. This is right outside of Palo Alto.

Apple Jack's is a good bar to check out the local color in La Honda.

Passport Day, a quarterly tour of Santa Cruz mountain wineries is loads of fun. For the low, low price of $25 you get a tasting at all of 60+ wineries. Designate a driver and bring a good map.

[kidcolin]

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Can you go to the beach in SF in the summer, or still too windy/chilly?

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too cold. I may end up moving there, but the lack of a real hot summer with beach trips and swimming bums me out to no end.

[egordo877]

I can confirm that Cordon Bleu is on Van Ness and California, and it is delicious. Great chicken and rice plates, relatively cheap, crowded everytime i go. Tommy's Joint is also great.

some other food ones i didn't see mentioned:

Sushi Rika, on Polk, has all you can eat, decent sushi for $20 on Sundays.

The Gold Club (strip club) has a free buffet on Fridays around lunchtime. $5 cover. Fast food style, but delicious fried chicken, and I like the cafeteria style spaghetti. either you will hate or love the food, but its such a great value overall. again, $5 cover.

Liberty Cafe in Bernal Heights has some of the best hamburgers ever, definitely not a standard hamburger, I'm not really sure how to describe it other than that its delicious.. on Wednesdays only (may have changed).