Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I'm traveling to SF for a few days with my young adult children and hubby. I am hoping for a small list of good basic dining options, shying away from expensive haunts serving special architectural sculptural pretentious food. (sorry for the excess of adjectives) Would it be possible to weigh in on the following (I've collected these from non-foodie friends). Any help in pairing down the list would be great! TIA!

Stinking Rose
Tadich Hill
North Beach Restaurant
Belden Lane
Tommy's Mexican Restaurant
Le Petit Laurent (sounds special)
Hang Ah Tearoom
Lulu's
Absinthe
The Slanted Door
Top of the Mark (for the view)
Pauline's Pizza
Kuleto's on Powell ST
Green's
Rose Pistola
Fog City Diner
Bouleverd
Prospect
Samovar (for tea)
Atlier
Delfina
Plouf
Sears Fine Food (for pancakes)

I'll let Fuzzy steer the way here. However, I've been to Lulu's and really liked it. A lot of people like the Slanted Door. I've only been there for lunch so I don't think I've had the full experience. Great fried spring rolls. When in SF you have to check out the Ferry Building. There's a lot of foodie stuff. I usually go to small hole in the wall places with my Aunt and Uncle who live in SF. One of their favorites is the Mandalay.

I'll also let Josh take the lead here, and it's been a few years since I've been to SF, but I adore The Slanted Door.

Amy

Agreed, Fuzzy is the expert. It's been a few years for me, as well. Last time there I went to Fog City Diner (had wanted to go for years). It was good, but not great....just didn't meet my expectatiioins for a great SF restaurant.
Hopefully the Fuz will give you the best info.
ilene

Hi,

We are also fans of Slanted Door. Beldon Court has an excellent Basque restaurant (B44) and a good French Bistro. Nopa on Divisidero is also excellent and very hip.

You should check out Eater.com-San Francisco and the San Francisco Chronicle restaurant reviews.

Tim

I would add Zuni Cafe to your list. The roast chicken and the gnocchi are well worth it.

I should be able to give you the full rundown in a couple days. Places recommended by others in this thread are good; many of those recommended by your friends are tourist traps.

Expensive but really good: Gary Danko

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Great point on reading reviews on Eater.com-San Francisco. Didn't know that existed.

Fuzzy - thanks for the heads up about the tourist traps. I'll look forward to more comments when you have a chance.

Ivy

Ivy,

Some downtime tonight so I can update these. Here's my viewpoints on the list you have:

Tourist Traps Serving Vile Food
Stinking Rose
North Beach Restaurant
Kuleto's on Powell ST

Places With Great Views But So-So Food
Top of the Mark (for the view)
Green's
Cliff House

Restaurants Which Used To Be Good, But Not Anymore
Tadich Hill
Rose Pistola

Forgettable Restaurants
Pauline's Pizza
Fog City Diner

Restaurants Which Are Good But Rather Pricey
Absinthe (better for drinks than food)
Lulu's
Boulevard
Delfina

Just Good Restaurants
Tommy's Mexican Restaurant
The Slanted Door

Special Cases
The Belden Lane restaurants, especiall Plouf, B44 and Cafe Bastille, are excellent if there's good sunny weather and you can sit outside. They close off the alley and fill it with outside tables. If the weather is bad, though, I don't recommend doing Belden Alley.

Samovar (for tea): yes. Excellent for tea.

I Don't Know These
Le Petit Laurent (sounds special)
Hang Ah Tearoom
Prospect
Atlier