Someone wrote: : BONJOUR, : J'AIMERAI AVOIR DES ADRESSES SYMPA DE RESTAURANTS A SAN FRANCISCO. : MERCI D'AVANCE : HELLO, : I WANT TO HAVE SOME NICE ADDRESSES OF RESTAURANTS AT SAN FRANCISCO. : THANK YOU You didn't mention the type or price range of restaurant you are interested in, however I'll give you some of my favorites, sticking mostly with the inexpensive to moderate since you are at a university but I'll throw in a couple of more expensive places with great food... Chinese-wise definitely go to "House of Nanking" on Kearny between Jackson and Pacific. Don't miss the Chicken in Tsing Tao Beer Sauce or any of the wok-cooked shrimp dishes, plus get the dumplings, not to be confused with the pot stickers... Worth the wait outside in line with a beer if you drink Tsing Tao, etc. Inexpensive and GREAT... Also the original Hunan (well, the orig. original was a hole in the wall closed just after the last quake,) on Sansome, I think 924. Great HOT Chinese food, no MSG (as is Nanking's)... Need an authentic or near authentic French cafe? Try Cafe Claude on Claude Alley off Bush and Grant/Kearny. They brought the place over in pieces from France and have live jazz some nights... great place I think. Good, cheap Italian... Little Joe's on Broadway... "Rain or Shine, there's always a line" is on their T-shirts... not many lines these days with all the restaurants in S.F. but the food is still great and inexpensive... pasta, veal dishes, seafood stew Italian style, etc. More pricey and good is the N. Beach Restaurant on Stockton off Columbus, also in North Beach as is Little Joe's above... Cafe Trieste for old fashioned coffee house flavor cappuccino and espresso, etc. Also a lot of other, but mostly more modern, coffee houses in the area... you can't miss 'em. Okay, more food: Outrageous food... mid-priced but worth every penny is Abiquq... the spelling is almost right... it's on N. 5th, the only part of 5th Street that crosses Market... (non of the other numbered streets in that area cross Market except 5th) again, N. 5th at the corner of, I recall, Ellis. Southwestern (N. Mexico) crossed with oriental flavors and textures... really great but again $40-50 or more for dinner for two... Another great and cheap ($20-25 for two) rest. is a Vietnamese place/hole in the wall... ah, the name just escaped me but walk down (it's not dangerous but it's worth being careful) a half dozen doors on 5th or 6th Street off Market and you'll see on the right this Viet. place that, although gritty, is where even Julia Child has eaten... damn... perhaps the name will come to me in a minute... great food and worth the stop... again on 5th or 6th on the right about a half dozen doors off Market St.... Want a very lively, very S.F. place with a piano player and good food... Italian and Calif. style... very S.F... Moose's at on the 1600 block of Stockton, also in N. Beach... you can't miss the blue neon sign everyone either loves or hates... Want great burritos... try La Cumbre on Valencia above 16th St. in the Mission District... great carne asada, etc. $3-6 per person... Want an upscale place... great ambience and good food... try Bix on Gold Alley a few blocks from the Transamerica. Pyramid Bldg... Gold comes off of Montgomery between Jackson and Pacific... upscale crowd; jazz; big room with sweeping staircase and balcony.. but not pretentious... South or Market... new, hip places... Try LuLu at 816 Folsom... Great grilled muscles and many good dishes... also a newer, smaller restaurant next door I haven't yet tried... (Lulu Bis?) owned by the same people... Good seafood... stay away from Fisherman's Wharf... by all means, see it and run around but don't try and eat a great meal there, unless things have changed... Try Scott's, the orig. at Scott and Lombard... around $50-75 for two... also Reed Herron, the same chef who owns Lulu as I recall, has a Mexican place on Chestnut...the name escapes me this minute and I can't get to my reviews... but it food is GREAT and cheap... Chestnut is in the Marina Dist. of the city just down a few blocks from Union St. which you should visit... Good breakfasts at Perry's, very much like Martells in New York... singles bar come restaurant with pretty decent food... good egg dishes for brunch.. but if you want a more bohemian, less yuppy or upscale rest. try someplace else like Cafe Freddy's, also in N. Beach on Columbus... Yes, the list is ENDLESS and I've left off a dozen favorites, but this is a start from all angles, prices and personalities... bohemian to upscale/quasi yuppy.... also ask at Lulu about other South of Market Street great places... the area is known as SoMa (our SoHo) and has some GREAT new places, the names of which will come to me the moment I post this! Also Yank Sing at 427 Battery for excellent Dim Sum, (small Chinese filled breakfast/lunch pastry/tidbit things, if you are not familiar) also Brandy Ho's, like Hunan, some say better, but I think Hunan still sets the Hunan standard... (Well, Excussseeee MMMeeee!) (Ho's is on Broadway, near Montgomery) If you go to Hunan get the onion cakes... oh, great and inexpensive French at one of our favorites... Fringale at 570 4th Street... I may have my chef's mixed up... does Herron own Fringale? and not Lulu... doesn't matter... I have eaten at both a few times and both are excellent as the foodies will tell you... if you want expensive, but absolutely great French go to Roland Passot's La Folie, around 2300 Polk Street... expensive, but excellent cooking... and if you have a car go over to Berkeley to food mecca at the Cafe at Chez Panisse where, at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters started it all and still does it fine! The rest. downstairs is excellent, requires reserv. weeks in advance, and is expensive... very... simple, but I guess now about $50-75 per person with wine... but Good News, the cafe upstairs has some just as good dishes, no reservations, and is moderate... a definite must if you are into food and don't mind going over the bridge to Berkely.. also try up or down at Oliveto's on College Ave. on the Oakland/Berkeley border... cheap cafe down... upscale and very good dining up... That's it for now... JOSH "Mama... Dada..." M. Duchamp, age 1 1/2 "Still Searching For A Cool Saying"
San Francisco, CA