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San Francisco Restaurant Reviews & Recommendations

Gil

By Gil
in California: Dining

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)

Another place you may want to check out is 1550 Hyde--- here's a link to their menu.

They also have seasonal menus using local, sustainable produce and have a great wine list as well. Re: price; they have a fixed price menu each day before 6:30 for $26...

Delfina's has great Italian food with top notch ingredients.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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lizard

lizard

Posted
Posted

Don't do Chez Panisse Cafe, More Restaurants, & Great Website Resource:

If you go to Chez Panisse, go all out and dine downstairs.

Recent reviews of the cafe have been lukewarm at best. If you're coming all the way from BC, don't waste your trip to Berkeley.

Additonal recommendations include:

A16 restaurant - amazing authentic Campagnian cuisine with the best local ingredients

Delfina - SF legend pioneered local ingredients with a Cal-ital flair.

Other listings may be found here- it's for "organic & sustainable" restaurants, but many employ only local ingredients:

http://www.omorganics.org/page.php?pageid=...=52#restaurants

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Carlsbad

Carlsbad

Posted
Posted

I have to disagree. I have never had less than a great experience at Chez Panisse Cafe, and I actually prefer it to downstairs because it's less expensive and has flexibility in how much and what you can order. (The cheese is always great, by the way.) It's also easier to reserve and open for lunch, which means you don't have to worry about making the last BART train back from Berkeley at night.

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted

There are a few different outlets of Bay Bread Boulangerie around the city. I've only been to the Pine St store off of Fillmore which is a beautiful little shop. Great bread and French pastries, including macarons. I've also had a some nice savory tarts from there.

The place in SF with the largest selection of Acme Bread is their own outlet store located in The Ferry Building. All their breads are great, but pick up a walnut wheat loaf if you want a bread for cheese, or breakfast or lunch...

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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lizard

lizard

Posted
Posted
I have to disagree.  I have never had less than a great experience at Chez Panisse Cafe, and I actually prefer it to downstairs because it's less expensive and has flexibility in how much and what you can order.  (The cheese is always great, by the way.)  It's also easier to reserve and open for lunch, which means you don't have to worry about making the last BART train back from Berkeley at night.

Have you gone recently?

http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=28188314

http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=28188469

http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=27843321

I'm just saying that given recent reviews, it would be a shame to come all the way to California, and NOT eat downstairs.

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted

Recent egullet posts regarding dining up and downstairs in the Chez Panisse Cafe here.

Best *deals" are Monday dinners downstairs or lunch in the Cafe upstairs.

In any case, it's easy to look at their website online. The menus for the cafe and restaurant are posted and while they change each week they will give you an idea re: the prices and offerings. click

The experiences are different (between the cafe and the downstairs restaurant) but they've always both been great for me.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Carlsbad

Carlsbad

Posted
Posted

I haven't been in about about 6 or 7 months, but I seriously doubt anything has changed since it hadn't changed over the many years I've been going there. As I usually tell anyone I recommend it to, some people just don't get what the place is about, but chances are if they don't get the upstairs, they won't really get the downstairs either. Since edm is a chef, interested in "casual and affordable restaurants that feature the very best produce available, prepared simply," it seems to me that he/she will get it. Obviously, some people on the threads you cite didn't get it. Following the one thread though, this person did: http://forums.craigslist.org/?act=Q&ID=28205508 I've always found the service first rate both up and down, but then I don't raise a stink over no bread plates or their adding the service on, as it clearly says they will do at the bottom of the menu. It's also hard for me to believe that the bread would be hard as a rock, although maybe they expected fluffy white bread instead of artisan whole grain.

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ingridsf

ingridsf

Posted
Posted
-casual and affordable restaurants that feature the very best produce available, prepared simply.

I can't argue with any of the choices listed above but I'm going to take you down in price considerably. Two SF places owned by the same guy, Chow and Park Chow, have excellent seasonal produce. The thing I like esp is that they offer salads in 3 sizes so you can easily have a shared app (like grilled Monterey squid), a small arugula and white shrimp salad, maybe a good steak w/ garlic mashed and asparagus (12.95 -- yeah baby!) and a piece of chocolate cream pie all for, like, $25. Wines are reasonable, too.

Have fun!

My fantasy? Easy -- the Simpsons versus the Flanders on Hell's Kitchen.

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ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)
-casual and affordable restaurants that feature the very best produce available, prepared simply.

I can't argue with any of the choices listed above but I'm going to take you down in price considerably. Two SF places owned by the same guy, Chow and Park Chow, have excellent seasonal produce. The thing I like esp is that they offer salads in 3 sizes so you can easily have a shared app (like grilled Monterey squid), a small arugula and white shrimp salad, maybe a good steak w/ garlic mashed and asparagus (12.95 -- yeah baby!) and a piece of chocolate cream pie all for, like, $25. Wines are reasonable, too.

Have fun!

Good recs; tasty and good value. I also had a very good pie at Park Chow--it was a double crusted banana caramel pie... :smile:

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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  • 7 months later...
ulterior epicure

ulterior epicure

Posted
Posted

I'll be passing through SF in May on my way up to the Napa Valley. I've got one extra night to negotiate for dinner: any suggestions? I haven't been to SF in a couple of years, and I've never had much time to adequately eat. I'm definitely looking for the "top of the city" type of suggestions...

Thankfully, I've got a good four months' lead time to research, but I thought I might get some direction. Danko's? Slanted Door? Fifth Floor? Or are those already passe or not advisable for other reasons? I have no clue.

Feel free to p.m. me as well.

Cheers.

U.E.

“Watermelon - it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face.”

Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

ulteriorepicure.com

My flickr account

ulteriorepicure@gmail.com

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eje

eje

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Slanted Door is a very good restaurant; but, unless you are really jonesing for Vietnamese food in a crowded upscale setting, it wouldn't be one I would pick as, "top of the city".

Sadly, my truly upscale dining experiences in San Francisco proper have been pretty limited in the last year or so.

Opinions vary on Danko, I believe there is a thread about it somewhere.

What about the dining room at the Ritz-Carlton?

I've heard Chef Siegel is doing some pretty interesting things there recently.

Click for menu.

Edited by eje (log)

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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annachan

annachan

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Posted

Slanted Door would not be my pick. I didn't really enjoy the food when we were there a few months ago. It seems to have turned into somewhat a tourist trap.

I haven't been to Boulevard or Farallone lately, but have really enjoyed the excellent food there before.

The one restaurant I've always enjoyed is Jardiniere. We've been there several times and the last time was about 4 months ago. The food is just divine and service impeccable. Make sure to ask for a table upstairs as the atmosphere is nicer.

I haven't been to either but have heard great things abour the Dining Room at Ritz and Michael Mina at the St. Francis.

Sidenote: Since you're heading to Napa Valley.....I had one of the best meal ever at La Toque in Rutherford 2 years ago. The quality and quantity of food you get for the $98 pre fixe is well worth the price. But do watch out for the wine prices. We got 2 glasses of wine last time and they costed about $90. And they were on the lower end of the price scale....

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melkor

melkor

Posted
Posted
Sidenote: Since you're heading to Napa Valley.....I had one of the best meal ever at La Toque in Rutherford 2 years ago. The quality and quantity of food you get for the $98 pre fixe is well worth the price. But do watch out for the wine prices. We got 2 glasses of wine last time and they costed about $90. And they were on the lower end of the price scale....

From the wine pairing on the menu is listed at $62 per person for 4 wines each. From the half bottle page they have things listed from $16/375ml - I can't imagine how you managed to rack up a $90 tab on two glasses there, especially at the lower end of the price scale. Maybe you had a couple of glasses of Romanée-Conti and got a fantastic deal on them. :biggrin:

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annachan

annachan

Posted
Posted
Sidenote: Since you're heading to Napa Valley.....I had one of the best meal ever at La Toque in Rutherford 2 years ago. The quality and quantity of food you get for the $98 pre fixe is well worth the price. But do watch out for the wine prices. We got 2 glasses of wine last time and they costed about $90. And they were on the lower end of the price scale....

From the wine pairing on the menu is listed at $62 per person for 4 wines each. From the half bottle page they have things listed from $16/375ml - I can't imagine how you managed to rack up a $90 tab on two glasses there, especially at the lower end of the price scale. Maybe you had a couple of glasses of Romanée-Conti and got a fantastic deal on them. :biggrin:

Looking back, I was not surprised that the wine was expensive. Looking through the wine menu at that time, many bottles were in the hundreds range, some in the thousands range and even a few in the ten-thousand range. Just taking a look at the wine list on the website now, there seems to be quite a few bottles for less than $100, which isn't what I remember from the wine menu. Maybe they are offering more wine at lower prices than when I was there.

Anyway, we did really enjoy the food and wine and we got our money's worth. I would definitely go again. :wub:

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moosnsqrl

moosnsqrl

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Gary Danko, Quince, Aqua in the City but I would second the La Toque recommendation. And it's been a while so perhaps someone in the neighborhood could weigh-in with a more recent comment, but I've had a couple of nice dinners at Martini House as well.

Judy Jones aka "moosnsqrl"

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.

M.F.K. Fisher

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