Visiting SF

EnterpriseSol · Post #1 » by **EnterpriseSol** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 2:12 pm

Hey guys,

I'll be visiting San Fran from Toronto at the end of the month, will be attending the GSW vs Lakers game on Sat November 1st

Any recommendations on cool things to do in SF?

So far:
- Visit the House from Full House
- Thinking of driving or probably walking to Presidio Park (we're staying at Union Square)
- Want to try ocean-fresh sushi - any good places to visit?
- Golden Gate Bridge obviously

Any cool tech hubs or centers to visit? Any interesting clubs/bars? It'll be two 25 year olds.

Mylie10 · Post #2 » by **Mylie10** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 3:58 pm

Visit the house from Full House?....lololololololol......that is awesome.....I live in the Bay Area and never once have I thought about staring at a house from a TV show.

Just get on a cable car and do all the touristy things. Go to Alcatraz, the presidio, Golden Gate bridge, pier 39, check out the seals, Hopefully the weather is Good for you guys......oh and be sure to check out the house from Mrs. Doubtfire.

cdubbz · Post #3 » by **cdubbz** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 5:10 pm

Bars around Union Square: Local Edition, Bourbon & Branch are cool speakeasy type bars. 21st Amendment is an SF brewery about a mile away from union square.

Take a short cab ride to North beach for more bar hopping/lots of restaurants. Also China town is right next to north beach. All these things are walking distance from union square....15-20-25 minutes. not bad really. more fun to walk the city and explore.

Touristy stuff: Twin peaks (view of the city), Fishermans Wharf (pier39), Castro (gay neighborhood), Crissy Field (big open field with view of GG Bridge).

rcfc1 · Post #4 » by **rcfc1** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 5:37 pm

This stuff is good advice, except for Pier 39, which is just a big tourist trap. My family had done Alcatraz without me and said it was cool. If you have an extra day, go check out the redwoods up north. I personally just like wandering around downtown near the financial district. Also, Chinatown is cool and has some fantastic food.

Twinkie defense · Post #5 » by **Twinkie defense** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 6:19 pm

There are two very good sushi places in SF - Yebisu, in the inner Sunset, which is old school, and Ichi, in the Mission, which is more contemporary.

The Mission is where all the kids are hanging out and bar hopping these days. Also, lots of good food there aside from Ichi.

For bars around Union Square, most of the action is west of Union Square, down Geary and up Polk. I agree Bourbon and Branch is cool, it doesn't have a sign and you need a password (go to their website in advance). Rye is nice, excellent cocktails. There are a couple more fancy clubs where you can get bottle service. And also dive Bars like Hi Dive.

Tourists do go to North Beach, especially on weekends (in fact tourists are in most of SF these days), but it is still a cool, old school and unique neighborhood.

There is nothing in Oakland around the Coliseum, but (also near BART), the Uptown neighborhood on Telegraph between about 15th and 20th is hopping.

Twinkie defense · Post #6 » by **Twinkie defense** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 6:25 pm

Oops, High Tide not Hi Dive.

Mylie10 · Post #7 » by **Mylie10** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 7:20 pm

Good Oakland advice Twink....dudes could get murdered around there looking for a gas station at night.

Sausalito is cool over the golden gate bridge as well if you want some opposite views of the city. Great place to take a date, which I'm presuming is happening.

old rem · Post #8 » by **old rem** » Sun Oct 5, 2014 7:55 pm

Mylie10 wrote:Visit the house from Full House?....lololololololol......that is awesome.....I live in the Bay Area and never once have I thought about staring at a house from a TV show.

Just get on a cable car and do all the touristy things. Go to Alcatraz, the presidio, Golden Gate bridge, pier 39, check out the seals, Hopefully the weather is Good for you guys......oh and be sure to check out the house from Mrs. Doubtfire.

Well.. Chinatown is cool.. though Clement Street.. is less "tourist" more multi culture. Japan Town... yes.. that's a locale.. would also have sushi.. but in the CITY.. you hardly need to try finding Japanese, Chinese, Mexican food ..or a coffee shop. MANY bars, clubs but they cover the whole spectrum of music nowadays. Were you in SF TODAY.. the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest is a HUGE free fest.. GREAT music, big as Woodstock but free and well run. I have seen the Golden Gate Bridge dozens of times from every perspective. The best? The Marin Headlands at sunrise. Next best.. Baker Beach..with enough fog for the foghorns to sing their tune.

Some hyper Touristy spots.. simply are TOO tourist. Do ride a cable car. Go chech out Sausalito or Tiburon..maybe venture up to Napa, hit a good brewpub. Full House? I'd maybe check out the Haight St house the Grateful Dead once lived in. Golden Gate Park. The Palace Of Fine Arts. Up in Marin, Muir Woods or Pt Reyes.

If time is not short... go down HWY one to Big Sur.. hit Pt Lobops near Carmel... most AWESOME.
Hi Tech? Well... Stanford and Silicon Valley ain't far. If it's your bag.. find a FRYS around San Jose, next door to the one in Cambell is Hewlett Packard, and Apple HQ is near enough. I think San Jose has a Hi Tech museum.
A lot of the hi-tech/Silicon valley stuff began in Palo Alto, site of Stanford.

I loved the drive along Skyline, on the ridgeline above Palo Alto,San Mateo. It runs into HWY 9 connecting Santa Cruz to Saratoga/San Jose. If Ridge Vinyard is open and you like good wine.. it's great,...but not cheap.

You could spend weeks..a month to really GET all of Nor Cal.

AliG1488 · Post #9 » by **AliG1488** » Mon Oct 6, 2014 4:41 pm

...but don't come if you're a Seahawks fan

JimmyTD3 · Post #10 » by **JimmyTD3** » Mon Oct 6, 2014 5:01 pm

I'd say hitting up the Palace of Fine Arts is a must, if you have an hour or two to walk around. Its bootiful.

Aside from that I'd say Fisherman's Wharf is a must to check out.

Oh, and put that Seahawks jersey away son.

Warriors Analyst · Post #11 » by **Warriors Analyst** » Mon Oct 6, 2014 6:02 pm

Plan your vacation around food. Food is the vehicle that makes the city more interesting, you find cool neighborhoods and cool people by looking to satiate your tastebuds.

My personal top 5 places to eat:

Zantes Pizza - Zantes is Indian style pizza. Instead of traditional crust, naan crust. Instead of red sauce, curry sauce. Nut in your pants delicious and it's cheap and in an interesting neighborhood.

Another added benefit about Zantes is that it is in Bernal Heights, a cool neighborhood near the mission. After getting your slice, go up to Bernal Hill. Best view of the city with an almost 360 degree view that includes the Bay Bridge, all of Oakland, downtown, the Mission, SOMA.
The view:

Ike's Place - (15th and Sanchez I believe?) #1 place on Yelp in all of California, #2 in the US. Huge, delicious sandwiches with some unorthodox fillings (your standard meats but also will occasionally include things like Mozzeralla sticks, Jalapeno poppers etc). The dirty sauce they use in the sandwiches is to die for, the breads are solid and if you are a vegetarian, Ike's has very good substitute meats, which I as a vegetarian generally avoid except when at Ike's. A little bit pricey but you get free chips and a free caramel apple lolipop. Ike's is also very close to Dolores Park where it's generally always sunny and you can find upwards of 200 + people smoking pot, drinking beers, throwing frisbees and taking off their clothes on any given weekend.

The other thing to look for is burritos. There's a lot of debate as to which burrito is best but after much deliberation I would posit my top 3 in no particular order:

Taqueria Cancun (4 different locations if I recall, 3 in the Mission and one on Market and 5th St) - Delicious burritos and tacos where they load you up with onion and cilantro and avacado slices
La Taqueria (Mission and 24th) - No rice but who gives a damn?
El Farolito (2 locations, one on Mission and 23rd, another on Mission and 30 something) - Delicious and open late enough for drunk excursions in the AM hours.

Twinkie defense · Post #12 » by **Twinkie defense** » Mon Oct 6, 2014 6:17 pm

La Taqueria was named best burrito in the country by Nate Silver's competition. Can't go there now, lines are too long.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/burrito/#brackets-view

The food theme is a great idea though, and if you go to North Beach, Tony's Pizza regularly gets named best pizza in the universe - they do every style, better than where each style is native. Tony even cleans up on the pizza competitions in Italy.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmste ... n-america/

and1GS · Post #13 » by **and1GS** » Mon Oct 6, 2014 9:20 pm

Twinkie defense wrote:Oops, High Tide not Hi Dive.

I've gone to Hi-Dive twice and each time at least a handful of co-workers have gotten black-out drunk and kicked out.

Proceed with caution.

Academy of Science is really cool. They just made a new Exploratorium on the Embarcadero as well.

Twinkie defense · Post #14 » by **Twinkie defense** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 12:31 am

Warriors Analyst wrote:The other thing to look for is burritos. There's a lot of debate as to which burrito is best but after much deliberation I would posit my top 3 in no particular order:

Taqueria Cancun (4 different locations if I recall, 3 in the Mission and one on Market and 5th St) - Delicious burritos and tacos where they load you up with onion and cilantro and avacado slices
La Taqueria (Mission and 24th) - No rice but who gives a damn?
El Farolito (2 locations, one on Mission and 23rd, another on Mission and 30 something) - Delicious and open late enough for drunk excursions in the AM hours.

That is a pretty good list. My secret tip for El Faralito (24th/Mission): late at night, when the long line snakes out of the front of the restaurant, pop in next door to the El Faralito bar. There you can sit, order your food at the bar, and sip a michelada while waiting for them to bring your super chile relleno burrito!

Warriors Analyst · Post #15 » by **Warriors Analyst** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 2:11 am

Twinkie defense wrote:
Warriors Analyst wrote:The other thing to look for is burritos. There's a lot of debate as to which burrito is best but after much deliberation I would posit my top 3 in no particular order:

Taqueria Cancun (4 different locations if I recall, 3 in the Mission and one on Market and 5th St) - Delicious burritos and tacos where they load you up with onion and cilantro and avacado slices
La Taqueria (Mission and 24th) - No rice but who gives a damn?
El Farolito (2 locations, one on Mission and 23rd, another on Mission and 30 something) - Delicious and open late enough for drunk excursions in the AM hours.

That is a pretty good list. My secret tip for El Faralito (24th/Mission): late at night, when the long line snakes out of the front of the restaurant, pop in next door to the El Faralito bar. There you can sit, order your food at the bar, and sip a michelada while waiting for them to bring your super chile relleno burrito!

I didn't even know they had super chile rellenos, of course I learn this when I'm out in the east coast for college again........

Twinkie defense · Post #16 » by **Twinkie defense** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 4:48 am

There is good Mexican ood on the East Coast, what uni?

Warriors Analyst · Post #17 » by **Warriors Analyst** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 5:06 am

Twinkie defense wrote:There is good Mexican ood on the East Coast, what uni?

If that's the case, I can't find it. I'm at Sarah Lawrence College, out in Yonkers/Bronxville, 15 mins north of the Bronx. I've been looking for good Mexican food but have all but given up in favor of making it myself.

I make tacos on the grill with black beans, my homemade hot sauce (chile de arbol roasted in olive oil with an excess amount of garlic, then thrown in the blender with peanuts or almonds), mangos, grilled mushrooms, sour cream, and chopped cilantro and onions. Beats the hell out of any Mexican food I've found in the East Coast and I'd arguably put my tacos over any taco in San Francisco that does it without meat.

Twinkie defense · Post #18 » by **Twinkie defense** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 5:10 am

I'm sure you can get good Mexican food in the Bronx. I lived in Manhattan and I found excellent Mexican food there, better in some ways than SF. Probably even more Mexicans in the Bronx! Ask the Mexicans where to go.

Warriors Analyst · Post #19 » by **Warriors Analyst** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 5:49 am

Twinkie defense wrote:I'm sure you can get good Mexican food in the Bronx. I lived in Manhattan and I found excellent Mexican food there, better in some ways than SF. Probably even more Mexicans in the Bronx! Ask the Mexicans where to go.

I figured the Bronx or Harlem is a pretty good bet but right now I've been so swamped with schoolwork that I don't feel like wandering aimlessly around the city without a definitive reward of a real burrito. Would appreciate hearing some of the names of the good Mexican food in Manhattan, I'm gonna be there this Sunday for CBGB's free festival with Jane's Addiction, Billy Idol, and Devo...

Twinkie defense · Post #20 » by **Twinkie defense** » Tue Oct 7, 2014 11:56 pm

The famous Mission Chinese Food guy opened a place in NYC, Mission Cantina, in the Lower East Side (haven't been though). http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2014/03/ ... ritos.html

Some other places I haven't been but that have been highly rated:

Tres Carnes and Dos Torros in Manhattan.
Taqueria Tlaxcalli in the Bronx.

Places I have been in NYC and like:
Noche Mexicana, in the Upper West Side, which has great huaraches.
Pinche Taqueria, I think this might be a min-chain but they have authentic Baja style fish tacos.
Toloache, in mid-town, which is excellent higher-end Mexican food.