We might be up for heading down on Saturday the 18th. If we do, we’ll no doubt end up at Lucky 13. It’s in the Castro, and is pretty much the best dive bar* in the city, with a kick ass jukebox and a killer selection of beer on tap. We could do some touristy stuff too, though.
And you absolutely must go to Brenda’s French Soul Food for breakfast and have yourself a crawfish beignet. Trust me.
I’ve been dreaming about them ever since I had one. Over a year ago I believe.
Zeitgeist might beat it, and you should definitely have a drink there as well.
The Haight-Ashbury district has a problem of very aggressive panhandlers. There have been news reports of people blocking the sidewalks and not letting people pass without paying. Some of these punks have gotten into fights with local residents. The police have tried to crack down, but I don’t know how much success they’ve had.
I’m around in December - will check back for any plans to get together. Not to mess with psycat, but I think the best dive bars are in North Beach… but it might be a matter of age and what seems like a good jukebox
Also, **Demo **and I are confirmed. We’ll be in town Dec 18 and 19, staying in Japantown, and we’ll be going (finally!) to the Cal. Academy of Sciences early Saturday morning. Any and all are welcome to join us!
I’ll be around and would love to meet up if there are any plans for a Dopefest. I think most of the sights and activities have been covered, but I would like to point you to http://sfqueer.org/ to find out about some alternatives that might interest you.
As a resident of the Mission District for many years (24th Street Mission is my home station), it’s great to hear people saying so many nice things about my little neighborhood!
**Demo **and I will be having breakfast on Sat. 12/18 right around 8AM at Park Chow (pdf) if anyone cares to join us.
We’ll be heading over to the Ca. Academy of Sciences right after that, then possibly schlepping through the Music Concourse to the de Young to check out the Post-Impressionists exhibit.
Go to Postcard Row and Alamo Square. It’s just so San Franscico-y over there. And if you’re already out there, you should go out to Haight-Ashbury. Just to say you’ve walked the street where the legends once lived.
It’s not dorky to do the street car/cable car thing. In fact, if you want to get around the city without killing yourself because of the hills, then they are kind of essential. Plus, they’re fun.
If you’re at all into nature, you should go to Muir Woods. They have a tour that will take you there for an hour and then take you to nearby Sausilito for few minutes of shopping.
A tour guide told me that the chocolate at Ghiradeli Square is not made there, true, but it is made in nearby Oakland. So it’s not like it’s made in China or something.
Speaking of which, Oakland isn’t a bad place to visit either. It’s got rough areas, but so does San Francisco.
I stayed in hostel just a block south of the Tenderloin area. Lots of homelessness and prostitution, but I didn’t get hassled. And I was walking the street at all hours of the night.
I visited in October. I had a great time. Hope you do too!
BTW, matt, if you do let me guide you around, I won’t take you to like, 90% of the stuff people have suggested. Just a warning.
Alcatraz is neat, though. I’d never been until a couple years ago. I thought it was gonna be laaaaame, but it was very interesting. Plus, ferry rides are always fun.
psycat, what can you tell me about the PR place in San Rafael? My sister recommends it, but what does she know?
Sol Food?. It’s fairly decent in my estimation, but I can’t go into much more detail than that - I had takeout from there that someone else picked up, the pork chop combination plate. As I recall I wasn’t a fan of the pickled onions, but then I normally wouldn’t be. But the apparently super-rich coconut pudding ( disclaimer - I didn’t try any ) was a big hit.
Kyla and others, where would you take him if you could chose? Most of the visitors to the city want to see the exact same things that they’ve heard about. Not what I consider the true San Francisco but the tourist traps (at least for their first time here). What do you consider the essentials but rarely get to share?
Some places I’d like to take someone:
Mission Delores
The neighborhoods (Noe Valley, Cow Hollow, etc.)
Ocean Beach, China Beach
The Presidio
North Beach with a stop atLiguria’s for some foccacia
Sonoma (not Napa) Fitzgerald Marine Reserve for tidepooling
It’s friggin delicious! There are 2 locations and both usually have a line going around the corner. The original location might qualify for tiniest restaurant ever.
There chicken is wonderful, and the mofongo is downright perfect. Everything is fabulous, and I like how they are inventive with the cuisine while still remaining true to the flavors.
Have you been to El Coqui here in town? It’s also delicious. I think Sol Food hits a few flavors slightly better, particularly their mofongo and their pork chop, but El Coqui is like real home cooking to me and their beans and rice are better than at Sol Food, IMO.
Eating at El Coqui tastes like having dinner at my mother’s house or one of my Titi’s houses every time I go. Come up and visit sometime and we’ll go together!
Tamerlane, I don’t think that’s it. I can’t remember the name, but I think it was Spanish. My sister was telling me she had fried plantains there and now I want to go because we had a conversation here on the SDMB about different varieties of friend plantains awhile ago, and I want to try more. (I liked the ones I had in Colombia, but this isn’t a cuisine I’m very familiar with.)
psy, name the day and time and I’m there! I’m not doing much around here, that’s for sure.
Sandra Battye, I guess it would depend on the guest and what kind of stuff they’re into. I haven’t actually lived in the Bay Area for eight years, so I don’t know much about what restaurants are good right now, but I would definitely go to North Beach, have a latte and a pastry in some little cafe, check out City Lights and get a book. Then head up to Chinatown, which is kitschy but fun and kind of an experience of its own. This is Matt, so we’d definitely want to go over to the Castro, and swing by the Mission at the same time to get some pandulce on 24th St.
I always do love a trip to the Exploratorium, too.
That right there is at least a day and a half.
I grew up mostly in the North Bay, so of course I’d take a guest to Point Reyes. Maybe we’d see some sea lions, and there’s lots of good tidepools. Someone from a more geologically stable place would probably find the Earthquake Trail pretty interesting. If the guest likes wine, we could go to some wineries, although I don’t have any particular favorites. Muir Woods is nice, although I’m partial to Armstrong Grove, up by Guerneville. I took my friend there a few years ago. She’s from Ohio and had never seen redwoods and it blew her mind.
Don’t forget the Tule Elk at Tomales Point in Pt. Reyes. No reason to miss nearby and usually easy to find charismatic mega-vertebrates if you’re going to be in the vicinity anyway ;).
Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo also qualifies as one of the great wildlife spectacles on the Pacific Coast, particularly going into this time of year ( winter breeding season ).
If there’s a group outing of some sort, I’d like to tag along.
The Bay Area has an embarrassment of riches. I’ve lived in San Jose for many years, and it seems like there’s always something new to do. Within an hour or two you have world-class almost everything. If there was a desert nearby, we’d really have it made!
