quote:Originally posted by BigB 01905
WE are flying into Palm Springs and spending a week driving up the coast to SF. WE will be stopping in the San Fernando valley, San luis Opisbo up to Big Sur, Monterey and SF. My wife and I are Burger, Pizza and BBQ people. Maybe a good chinese place if you have a sugestions,
San Francisco wouldn't know good BBQ if it stomped on the City's foot. Still, if you HAVE TO have some, consider Brother-In-Law's on Divisadero (or better yet, take BART to Oakland). Two pizza places come to mind: Goat Hill Pizza on Connecticut St. (Potrero Hill) and Pauline's on Valencia (Mission District). Better known and maybe a better tourist experience is Tommasso's in North Beach (in the old days, Francis Ford Coppola was known to personally cook pies there for friends). Burgers are a mixed bag. There's an In-N-Out near Fisherman's Wharf. There are Slider's around town (2 I know of are on Castro and Polk at Sutter)--these are pretty good places that flame-broil your burger to order and offer the accompaniments at a salad bar style table. And some of the upscale places offer gourmet burgers--in SF, nearly all restaurants post menus in the window or will let you see one before seating you if you walk in and ask.
Chinese (or any other kind of Asian food) is, of course, where San Francisco (and, indeed, the entire West Coast) offer an experience not to be missed by folks from other parts of the country. And there are hundreds, maybe thousands of places. In fact, in SF, there really aren't "Chinese" restaurants--there are Hunan, Mandarin, Cantonese, Sechuan, even Hakka (such as Ton Kiang) restaurants. I prefer Hunan-Sechuan because those cuisines use more wheat products (dumplings etc. and lots of chiles). My suggestion--go for a walk in either of two neighborhoods: Chinatown along both Stockton and/or Grant St.s, or Inner Clement St. in the Richmond District. You will see lots of restaurants with menus displayed. Eat in the one(s) that look(s) best to you (and don't judge it by the size and slickness of the place--several of my favorites including DPD Noodle House are holes-in-the-wall). Stockton St. is more of a neighborhood grocery shopping street for Chinatown residents and my niece, when I took her there, said it seemed like she was in a foreign country. Grant St. is more touristy but probably also has more restaurants (as opposed to grocery stores on Stockton). Clement St. is the heart of the "hood" where Chinese families often move when they get enough money to buy a home and move out of Chinatown. Between 2nd and 7th Avenues (or so) it has numerous restaurants AND grocery stores and some wonderful dim sum places that are most busy on Sunday. If you haven't had dim sum, you should--either here or at Yank Sing downtown (49 Spear or 101 Stevenson). At Yank Sing, try to avoid lunch hour for the office crowd.
One more suggestion: given the type of food you say you prefer, my guess is you'd like a "Mission-style burrito" and, even though there are chains claiming to serve these (e.g. Chipotle) now going national, you should consider having one where they were invented--San Francisco's Mission District. In SF, you'll get lots of arguments over the best place to get one, but I don't think you'll go far wrong at Taqueria Can-Cun (2288 Mission St.), Pancho Villa Taqueria (3071 16th St.), or El Toro Taqueria (598 Valencia). These places all serve the most common and popular style of burrito (fat and stuffed with a variety of goodies like sliced avocado). For a slightly different style--more Mexican, really, which means mostly just meat and beans--try Taqueria La Cumbre on Valencia. In the first 3 places, you'll get your choice of 8 or more different meats. I suggest carnitas (roast pork) or chicken unless you are adventurous enough to hanker for tripe or brains. La Cumbre specializes in skirt steak cooked in front of you as you go through the line (these places are all counter service).
PS--This time of year in Northern CA, bring a rain coat. There's a reason I'm hiding out in Tucson until April.
