The other side of the continent

[andyhat]

Having acquired a USB 802.11b wireless networking thingabob tonight, I'm now back on the Internet from the Residence Inn in San Mateo. I won't have Internet access from work for 3-5 business days; draconian network access policies sure are annoying.

The trip here last night was surprisingly pleasant; noise-cancelling headphones, an MP3/Ogg player, and a backpack full of books and magazines makes the time fly. I got through the current issues of The Economist, Computerworld, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Swink (during which the iHP-120 randomly selected "Oh, the Pleasure of the Plains" from Handel's Acis and Galatea immediately followed by Laurence Lombert's Happyland, both of which are guaranteed to put a stupid grin on my face; together they nicely offset the rather depressing affect of most of Swink's stories), and I started Penn Jillette's new novel Sock, because how can you resist a novel narrated by a sock monkey?

Anyways, I know several of those who read my journal are in the Bay Area. So, where are the good restaruants? What's fun to do in the evenings? What should I plan on seeing the couple of weekends I'm staying in town?

Comments

[capitalfellow.livejournal.com]

d00d. I thought you were in Chicago. So San Mateo is where you're stranded huh? All my dining expertise is for the SF proper.

[andyhat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was in Chicago, but that was just for four weeks :)

I do have a rental car here, so going into SF itself is certainly an option for dinner. As far as I can tell, San Mateo and Foster City don't offer much other than the usual national chains, so I have no problem driving a bit for something good.

[capitalfellow.livejournal.com]

What do you like to eat? A genre if you will.

[andyhat.livejournal.com]

I don't like Mexican or sushi. I love pizza (though after 4 weeks in Chicago, I'd be quite surprised if any pizza place in SF can compare), and I love Italian and Thai. Chinese and American are good, too.

[capitalfellow.livejournal.com]

Chicago Pizza: you'll have to drive over to Berkeley or take BART, but if you're as big a fan of Giordano's as I am it is worth it: Zachary's
Italian: North Beach, U.S. Restaurant, order the gnocchi and a side of sauteed spinach.
Thai: Osha Thai. Take the BART to SF and hail a cab. You'll never find parking.

[capitalfellow.livejournal.com]

http://oshathai.com/

[andyhat.livejournal.com]

I tried Zachary's tonight, and that is indeed the best pizza I've had outside Chicagoland. Well worth the drive to Oakland. Thanks for the recommendation.

[anneth.livejournal.com]

If you have time to run around San Francisco, I suggest:

Boulevard (at the corner of Mission and Stewart, across the street from the Embarcadero. It's pricier, but one of the most popular restaurants in SF, and for good reason.)

House of Nanking, 919 Kearny St, off Chinatown and near North Beach. It's also fabulously good, and very popular. If you've never been there before and you're feeling adventurous, let the host order for you. Also, they're famous for their shrimp dishes.

If you're in North Beach, I suggest you avoid the tourist traps, like The Stinking Rose. They're famous because of their locations, not their food. But North Beach is fun to wander around, especially at night; you can visit the beat hangout City Light Books and drink over-priced cocktails at the million-year-old bar next door; wander around the porn shops and giggle at the weird things people buy and sell, and basically take in the atmosphere. Chinatown is similarly fun, but I prefer to walk around during the day, to really get the full hustle and bustle experience.

MoMo's, on King St, across from the ball park, is an up-and-coming SF hotspot. The food is very good, although pricey. Close by (literally about a hundred feet up the block) is Paragon, which is also excellent. Just make sure you're not in the area during a ball game; then the local restaurants are stuffed to the gills with happy, drunken fans.

In that same neighborhood is a restaurant called Bacar, which is really expensive, but very good. They're most famous for their enormous wine cellar.


If you have time and any interest, a trip to Alcatraz is actually a lot of fun. Yes, it's the stereotypical thing to do when in SF, but it is fascinating. If you don't want to wander around with crowds of people, you can take a night tour (only one offered per 24-hour-period). Visiting the presidio is also kind of a kick; you can reenact that scene from Vertigo and poke around what I've been told are former practice fox-holes, circa WWII. The other stereotypical tourist diversions are worth doing once, but if you've already visited Coit Tower and Fisherman's Warf then once is probably enough.

SF has a pretty vibrant theater-district; you could probably get tickets on short notice to any number of plays. The smaller venues, like the Stage Door Theater, are kind of fun to visit; they're much more European-feeling than most American theaters.

Outside SF, it's always kind of a kick to walk down Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, although it's a little more commericalized these days than it used to be. Nevertheless, the food's cheap, the bookstores are huge, and the gutterpunks are guttery. Also, wandering around the Cal campus is fun; it's gorgeous. In fact, that whole area is gorgeous.

I'm afraid I'm not much help outside of SF; I grew up in a suburb of SF and spent every moment I could actually in the city, rather than the surrounding area.

[andyhat.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for all the recommendations. It looks like the Giants are in town this week, but I'll definitely have to try all those restaurants next week.

[capitalfellow.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation on letting house of Nanking order for you. It's th way to go.

[tizzed.livejournal.com]

Napa is a nice day trip, if you're into wine, but two things make it bad. 1, it is summer and it'll be packed, and it is a bit of a drive. Muir woods is also nice, too.

However this weekend I must recommend the Gilroy garlic festival, 40-60 minutes south on the 101. I've never been, but I hear it is great! And it is a garlic festival after all (garlic ice cream!)

[andyhat.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, this weekend is one that I'm heading back to NC. I'm currently planning to stay in SF the weekends of Aug 7 and Aug 21.