Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Thanks for the tips! I will check them out. It is nice to be close to all these cool places! Barcelona is a short, inexpensive flight and Beaune is a 4 hour drive. I am trying to take more advantage of that. It is still easy to get into a rut, even in Europe.

Enjoy your wine, Ilene.

Mary

Have a great time & keep us posted on your adventure.

DH and I are planning a trip to San Francisco. We're looking at renting a condo so will probably cook a fair bit, but I'd love some suggestions for moderate-priced places to eat (I think we are going to blow the budget on the travel, so high end celebrity chef type places are probably not in the cards). We're hoping to be able to do some day trips as well, so suggestions would be welcome!

Hey Carey,
Definitely go to the Ferry building for all kinds of food. It's one of my favorite places. There are often vendors outside the building, especially on weekends when there is a farmer's market. Thursdays there is a kiosk outside selling really good ramen (Hapa ramen; they may have changed their days so check online.
@Fuzzy: Am I right about when the farmer's market is ?
Nancy

We are heading to Dallas in a few weeks, possibly with a day or so in Austin. We are going to a convention, so we will probably survive on cheese doodles for most of a week, but we do try to get out and get one or two good meals. Anyone have one or two suggestions?

Thanks!

--Lisa

Thanks Nancy,

I will check it out!

Lisa,

You likely aren't able to get away for lunch, but if you are, I'd recommend Franklin's BBQ. Probably the best Q I've ever had.

Amy

Carey,


this is a foodie town. there are lots of places to shop, and lots of good but cheap restaurants. when do you get to sf? have you already rented a place? where?

Fuzzy,

We'll be in town the last week in June (Saturday to Saturday). We've rented a condo in the Hayes Valley neighbourhood - hopefully it's reasonably nice. It's a renovated Victorian, and the owners live in the suite upstairs, which gives some confidence in the location. It's about three blocks north of Haight, three or four blocks west of the Hub. We'll have a car too.

Not sure what our itinerary is yet. We'll definitely be doing at least one day trip to wine country. Plus some of the tourist haunts I suspect (maybe Alcatraz, definitely Fisherman's wharf and The Ferry Building - it looks like there is a farmers market there Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays so we will probably try to make one of the weekday ones). I have to admit, I wasn't keen on a tourist vacation (my vote was to veg out at a cottage or on a beach somewhere, sip wine, read trashy books, sleep a lot), so I'm not all that sold on doing touristy things. DH may have other ideas, but he hates to plan ahead, so it's a bit loose beyond having the flight and place to stay arranged.

Most of Hayes Valley is really nice, and it is very central ... and only about 1 mile from me! I don't know what "the Hub" is though. There's lots of great restaurants in Hayes Valley, including a few that fall into the "good but affordable" camp: Suppenkuche, The Grove, Hayes & Kabob, Cafe Delle Stelle. Note that that's the performing arts neighborhood, so it might be worth seeing if you can still get tickets to something in the summer season.

The only thing Hayes Valley doesn't have is a good grocery store. You'll want to hit markets in other parts of town for anything but the simple essentials.



Unless your accomodation comes with off-street parking, you'd better ditch the car, or you'll spend most of your visit looking for parking. Parking in San Francisco in general is extremely difficult, and Hayes Valley is one of the more impossible neighborhoods. I'd suggest deciding which day(s) you're going to the wine country, and renting a car just for those days.

Your way to get around the city is MUNI, cabs and Uber. And, for anything less than a mile, walking. I strongly recommend getting a MUNI pass for each of you when you get in, and a MUNI map. Smartphones don't yet display the bus routes comprehensibly.



As always, I recommend taking the extra time to drive further north and find the more welcoming and less mobbed wineries: Healdsburg, Calistoga, etc.



Alcatraz is surprisingly worthwhile if you haven't been before: get the audio tour. However, be prepared for it to take the better part of a day, and get tickets in advance if you can.

Fisherman's Wharf is an unadulterated tourist trap which hasn't been visited by an actual fisherman in 30 years. The only worthwhile thing there are the sea lions; otherwise, I'd skip it. North Beach is also a waste of time: there's no Italians left there, and the food is overpriced and mediocre, except for Stella's Bakery.

Things I take people to when they visit:

Around Golden Gate Park:

• Golden Gate Park is a full day by itself; the park is 4 miles long and has buffalo. Consider renting bicycles.
• Beach Chalet: good brewpub overlooking Ocean Beach
• California Academy of Sciences has a fantastic acquarium.
• The De Young Museum will have a Deibenkorn exhibit if you're into him.

Around the Presidio:

• The Golden Gate Bridge, of course. You can walk/bike across if you want.
• Marin Headlands, just across GG bridge. Great lighthouse, old military bases
• The Cliff House is a decent restaurant with spectacular views.
• The Camera Obscura
• Sutro Heights / Sutro Baths is a good hike and scramble with views of the Golden Gate.
• The Palace of the Legion of Honor, especially on Sundays, when they play the organ

Elsewhere:

• First, the tourist Chinatown (Grant Street), then the real Chinatowns (Stockton Street, Clement Street or the Mid-Sunset).
• Telegraph Hill Stairs: hike up 7 stories of wooden stairs, then take the elevator to the top of Coit Tower. Then walk down the other site to North Beach and Chinatown. This is a full day if you do it.
• The Mission: Mexican meets hipster meets foodie. Restaurants, bars, bookstores and more ... from the posh to the cheap.

Note that the Saturday market is much bigger than the other days.



You picked the wrong city for that.

Anyway, when your schedule and mine firm up some more, you shoud come over for dinner or something. PM me your direct contact info.