Restaurant Recommendations for the SF, SJ, Napa Area
Hiya, I'm going to be in the SF/SJ/Napa area (I'm going to be around all three, to be honest) next week and am looking for casual places to eat. (French Laundry is out, and Chez Panisse is booked.) I'm willing to drive up to an hour, hour and a half, to get good food, but my travel companion may not, haha. Local, un-trendy, un-hip, is more what I'm aiming for... price doesn't matter so much as quality of food, no restrictions on cuisine except "tastes good". Thanks!!!
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14 Comments:
Look at these Serious Eats threads from the archives:
SF recommendations
Napa recommendations & Ed Levine's Napa recommendations
and check out the SF Chronicle Food & Dining section. It has a robust restaurant database.
kjgibson at 1:08PM on 09/17/08
If French Laundry is booked, try Bouchon just down the road. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious.
In San Francisco, Fresca (the West Portal or Fillmore locations) and Incanto in Noe Valley are among my favorites, though Incanto is a bit formal. PPQ on Irving is great if you like pho. If you like Ethiopian/Eritrean food, go for New Eritrea, also on Irving. Osha has a few locations, and it's trendy right now, but I have to recommend it because I've never had a dish there that didn't dissapoint. The Front Porch in the Mission is pretty good noveau soul food. Ti Couz makes great crepes, on Valencia. For Dim Sum, go to Ton Kiang on Geary in SF or Fook Yuen in Millbrae. Poleng in SF has great Filipino-style small plates.
And of course, no visit to the city is complete without a visit to the Ferry Building. Go during happy hour at Hog Island!
yogurtsoda at 1:29PM on 09/17/08
Cafe Kati in SF is one of my favorites:
http://www.cafekati.com/
Have fun!
CookiePie at 3:46PM on 09/17/08
"Local, untrendy, unhip" and casual...Well, I guess dim sum in SF's Chinatown would qualify...we ate at Ton Kiang and it was loud, crowded, very Chinese, my husband was the only Caucasian in the room while we were there and I think I was the only non-Cantonese or Mandarin-speaking Asian person in the room.
Your criteria in Napa/Sonoma might be a little harder to fill because it seemed to me the majority of eateries depend on those tourism dollars...That being said, we enjoyed oysters and local sparkling wine at the bar at Bouchon. There was a pork belly appetizer that I still talk about (our last visit was over a year ago). We ate at Mustards and thought it was very good and reasonably priced. Taylor's Refresher is iconic and you should go if you're in the area bc EVERYONE knows Taylor's Refresher. The Rutherford Grill was okay. There was a little taquiera right across from Rancho Caymus that I wanted to try, but never got around to. We saw day laborers sitting outside and eating tacos and we kept saying we had to have one or two, but we always thought about it as we were heading out to a tasting.
Actually, I think you'll find what you're looking for in Healdsburg. The town square is surrounded by little shops, cafes, and restaurants. Some are pretty trendy/hip and others are little diners, pannini places, coffee shops, brew pubs, etc.
You know, one of the surprises was the discovery that the little "general stores" scattered about Napa and Sonoma had great travel food...great coldcut sandwiches, chicken salad, fruits, cheeses, etc. We never went hungry or felt like we were making do until dinner. If anything there were so many options, we sometimes ended up eating 5 times a day.
If you decide to abandon the casual and go out for a nice dinner we really loved Boulevard in SF, Bouchon in Yountville and Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg.
Have fun, I can't wait for our next trip to Napa and Sonoma.
wookie at 12:35AM on 09/18/08
Best Nor Cal Burritto: Gordo on Solano Ave in Berkeley. Trust me!
JudgeFudge at 11:56AM on 09/18/08
I went a little haute on my trip to NorCal, but I also ate normal food. Please see my blog, Annie's New York Eats (http://www.annienewman.typepad.com) and click on Westward Ha! for the blog posts from that time.
annien at 12:02PM on 09/18/08
For a friendly no-nonsense trattoria, try Jackson and Fillmore (on Jackson Street, near Fillmore!) in the city. Zuni Cafe, down on Market, is very Californian and, while well-known and possibly scene-y, consistently excellent. And if you're down the Peninsula, try Bistro Elan in Palo Alto for a small, elegant but low-key New American / French spot with seasonal, local dishes (they list everything that comes from the farmer's market on the bottom of the menu) and an extremely professional staff. Try to get a table in the back garden on a nice night.
Carey Jones at 3:37PM on 09/18/08
SF - A16!!!!! Thats all i gotta say
pmeola at 12:59AM on 09/19/08
Definitely look into Gary Danko in SF and Manresa in Los Gatos
michellecc at 10:51AM on 09/19/08
A few places I go to in SF:
Turtle Tower - I usually get pho ga (with or without intestine) or the bun cha
La Taqueria - for burritos, tacos, and quesadillas
PPQ Dungeness Island (different from the one listed above) - I like the roasted crab
the first two are relatively cheap...PPQ can get pricey depending on the seasonal price of crab, but if you share, it's not that bad
caroliiine at 12:50PM on 09/19/08
Serious Beef - House of Prime Rib on Van Ness - great salad.
Fun and inexpensive - Cha-Cha Cha on Haight
Small and inexpensive - Rue LePic on Pine - sweet folks - great soup starter with all entrees
Larkspur Inn in Larkspur - Brad Ogden - also has a venue in the SF Center between Nordstrom and Bloomingadales
Yank Sing for Dim Sum
La Folie on Polk - small and intimate
Le Chapeau - Inner Richmond
Zuni - I was dissappointed -
Friendly Pub - Liverpool Lil's - at the Presidio Wall - good Fish & Chips
suegsf at 1:45PM on 09/19/08
Healdsburg - Ravenous or Ralph's
Mendocino - Beaujolais - used to be excellent - haven't been there since it sold.
suegsf at 1:51PM on 09/19/08
I would definitely recommend Healdsberg. It is pretty but not pretentious, and it seems much more livable and down-to-earth than Napa. If you like beer, the Bear Republic is a restaurant/brewery in town that brews a variety of nice beers and makes pretty decent food.
bialy at 10:20PM on 09/19/08
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! Looks like I wound up hitting some of these spots and missing some that sound really great. I'll be back though.
PS I went to Healdsburg last year and really liked the area, but this year we stuck to the Napa area :)
feistyfoodie at 11:35AM on 09/30/08