Visiting San Francisco

[theavrock]

I'm going to be there for work and booked an extra day to see what I can when I am out there.

 

Anyone have ideas on what the must sees are?

 

I'm in my late 20's. Love food and the bars, but tend more towards the hole in the wall divey stuff than the fancy pants.

I'm heading to ATT park to catch a game at night, but want to make the most of my time out there, so if anyone thinks there are some "have to do's" I'd love to know.

 

Thanks!

[mtrebs]

While these are tourist-y, when I went to San Francisco a few years ago I made sure that I went to Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, walked down Lombard Street, went to Chinatown, went up Coit Tower, walked through the business district where the TransAmerica building is, and pretty much went around most of the city. I also took a tour of AT&T Park (the Giants were out of town) and went to an A's vs. Royals game in Oakland. There's tons of places to go/see in that area so you can't go wrong.

[LouisEly]

If you want to explore a lesser-known, not-so-touristy area of town check out the Marina and Cow Hollow districts. Lots of hole-in-the-wall restaurants and bars. I recommend a local steakhouse that's been around forever - Izzy's - just off of Lombard and I believe Steiner? Good food, very reasonable prices, not pretentious at all, and lots of history. I think it's closer to chestnut. But then again if you're in your late 20's and like sushi I'd recommend Mas Saki - the sushi's good but it's more of a scene, good looking people, fun, and often have a DJ playing. It's on Lombard as well, I believe near Steiner. That whole area you can just wander around and find all kinds of places. It's a younger part of town so it's fun, and mostly locals.

[SenatorShriv]

Vesuvio is a decent place to have a drink. It was a hang out of Jack Kerouac and other beat writers back in the day. http://www.vesuvio.com/

 

The modern art museum has always had some really cool exhibits when I've visited.

 

Stay away from the downtown district - its mostly corporate and doesn't have much culture outside that.

 

I've spent a decent amount of time in the city and most of my favorite times have just been picking a neighborhood and exploring for a whole day. I typically pick a neighborhood / district to have breakfast and then get recommendations for bars, shops, entertainment, parks, etc... in the immediate vicinity. If you're cool being flexible with your time and not necessarily seeing all the big ticket items (mentioned in a post above) then I highly recommend that route - the city has a ton going on and is one of the most fun I've ever explored.

 

PS. If you're not on train route public transportation is surprisingly weak.

[cubfan1126]

I guess it's been about 5 years since I was last there.

 

2 recommendations for dinner

1) Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf - whatever you chose to eat will be excellent but the ciopino is oustanding. great views at sunset

2) (If you like garlic) The Stinking Rose on Columbus Avenue "We season our garlic with food" - 40 garlic chicken and garlic ice cream are also outstanding

[SeriesFinale]

What kind of food and music do you like? Where is your hotel?