f13.net forums - San Francisco

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July 20, 2025, 02:06:17 PM

we're back, baby

So I'm off to San Fran on Monday to work at the National Association of Realtors convention for about nine days. I'll have a fair bit of spare time and will be staying near the Muscone center. I wondered if anyone here had any suggestions on things to do or see - beyond the obvious Alcatraz, Fisherman's Warf stuff.

(edit - I couldn't stand the misspelling any longer)

More info on what your looking for please.

Ok, well - I'll likely have time to myself in spots of a few hours ata time, typically later in the day. I'll be bringing my digital SLR, so I'm always looking for interesting stuff to photograph.

Also, any recomendations on good restaurants near Muscone wouldn't hurt.

I wouldn't even suggest Alcratraz, actually - the prison tour is kinda interesting but the island itself is small and fairly boring. If you want to take a nice ferry ride somewhere I'd recommend Angel Island instead (as long as the weather stays as nice as it's been) - there are a number of nifty historical sites there and the views are awesome.

If you go to Fisherman's Wharf, take Muni instead of a taxi or rental car - traffic is bad and parking is worse, so either way it'll cost you an arm and a leg, and you won't get there all that much faster. Pier 39 is overrated; once you get tired of the huge mobs of people there, head west. Check out the Hyde St. Pier. If shopping is your thing, the Cannery and Ghiradelli Square are both right there (I highly recommend checking out Lark in the Morning at the Cannery, very cool music store with instruments I've never seen anywhere else).

Chinatown is fun. I recommend Sam Wo's (813 Washington) - it is IMO the epitome of good cheap Chinese food, and the building is really cool (it's about ten feet wide and three stories tall). Again, driving would be a mistake - Chinatown is best experienced on foot anyway since you're bound to see a shop you want to wander into.

If you take a cable car, don't sit down. It defeats the purpose.

Cool stuff on Nob Hill - check out Grace Cathedral and have a drink at the Top of the Mark (restaurant at the top of the Mark Hopkins hotel, overlooks the entire city).

The Haight (the section between Haight and Ashbury and Golden Gate Park) is becoming increasingly gentrified, but there are still enough bizarre specimens of humanity and funky little shops to make it worth a visit. Stay out of any place that appears to have been painted in the last ten years and you'll be fine.

If you're at all interested in museums and/or science, go to the Exploratorium. (The Academy of Sciences is also excellent, but it's not fundamentally different from most natural science museums; the Exploratorium is an entirely different animal.) The area around it (the Palace of Fine Arts especially, but also the Presidio and the Marina district) is also very pretty and pleasant to walk through.

If you like plants, go to the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park; a lot of the native flowers should still be blooming this time of year so it's bound to be pretty.

North Beach is nice, especially if you like Italian food and/or beatnik history. If you walk down Columbus a bit you'll eventually come to the Condor Club (the world's first topless bar), which is now a sports bar standing firmly between the elegance of North Beach and the seedy row of clubs and adult bookstores on Broadway.

That's all that comes to mind immediately, but lemme know if you're looking for something in particular and I can probably point you at it.

Fringale is one of the better French restaurants I've ever eaten at. It can be a little spendy, but if you're into that sort of thing, you'll enjoy it.

As for stuff around Moscone: avoid the Metreon, even if it calls to you like a giant shiny beacon. The food is edible but that's about all it has going for it. Try the Thirsty Bear (661 Howard), that's pretty close and very yummy. Other than that, I'd just head northwest to the Union Square area (north of Market) and go to one of the many steakhouses or pubs you find there.

Don't drink the water.

Quote from: Signe on October 22, 2005, 04:23:08 AM

Don't drink the water.

Good point. Iif you want drinkable tap water you'll have to come to the East Bay. Fortunately, most restaurants filter.

Yeah that is a pretty comprehensive list, all I can think to add are some photo ops:

You can go out to land's end for some ocean shots, or head towards the marina for some shots of the bridge. The area near the base of Sutro Tower (the name escapes me at the moment) give you nice shots of the city, as well as those funny coin operated binoculars.

Sorry for the last minute notice, but it turns out that I'll be in San Fran Monday and Tuesday (Oct 24/25), so I'm looking to setup a mini-"talk over beer" discussion about Indie Game Dev.

1) Anyone in the immediate area know of a good bar/pub/wherever serves beer that would be a good location?

2) If anyone is interested in attending, either post here with an email address I can contact you at, or email me directly. My email should be in my profile.

I'm staying near the wharf, but if there is a better place that serves good beer, I'm open to suggestions!

1) Kennedy's? Pretty close to the wharf, cheap Guinness, and decent Indian food/pub grub as well.
2) I'll email you.

Seconded on North Beach. Granted, I like Cioppino & was excited to go to City Lights and Speck's.....

The Thirsty Bear was already mentioned in the thread, but they have (had? i've not been there in like 2 years) an upstairs part that has a few pool tables, darts, and a private mini-bar that you can reserve. Would be a good spot for what you're getting at.

Hmm, guess I'm working to hard. I didn't get back here to see Zepps reply till today. Oh well.

Good call on the Thirsty Bear, really nice pub, good food. Also managed to get to North Beach last night and have dinner at Tomasso's. Damn fine Italian restaurant.

Shows starting, Im off...

I'll also recommend Kate O'Brien's (579 Howard St, just up the street from the Thirsty Bear). Stephen and I just missed the Thirsty Bear's closing time so we went there instead and it turned out to be quite decent - not as fancy as the Thirsty Bear, but good pub grub and so forth.