San Francisco Recommendations?

[ Edited by: surfalaia 2009-08-05 07:14 ]

Most of San Francisco where you will propbably be is metered. So either you will have to drive your car to each place or pay for parking at a lot. Sometimes you can find non-metered parking south of Market Street. Chinatown, Fishermans wharf and Tonga can all be done on foot. One of my favorite things to do is take the vintage Muni streetcars that run down Market street (in the downtown section)to Fishermans wharf. Stroll around fishermans wharf and take the cable car towards market Street. you can exit at California and walk up the hill a little to the Fairmont and the Tonga Room. You also could walk to Chinatown from Fishermans Wharf and the Tonga room is not far from the edge of Chinatown.
Check out this thread for a lot of mostly bar and restaurant info;
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11299&forum=16&hilite=francisco%20vintage%20bars

Where are you staying? If you are staying near a BART line, you could leave your car out of San Francisco and take BART to market ST and catch the Street car.
NOTE-do not leave anything visible in your car anywhere in the Bay Area-you risk a break in.

Dine around town is happening January 15-31 in SF. You can get some great deals on great food!
http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/taste/dineabouttown/

Check out some the great new cocktail bars in SF
Downtown, try BOURBON & BRANCH, RYE, CANTINA, THE CLOCK BAR, GITANE
Mission District, take a walk down Valencia St (between 23rd & 14th St) and
check out BERETTA, RANGE, LUNA PARK, and CONDUIT

Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf [I assume that's what the op meant by "waterfront"] and the boat to Alcatraz are all reasonably close to one another. I wouldn't necessarily want to walk them all, but I'm old and a bit lazy and currently injured. For most folks they're a nice walk. The Tonga Room is a bit more of a trek. It's slightly over a mile from the Wharf, mostly uphill. I would park near the wharf/chinatown/north beach area for the day, then drive over to the Fairmont later.

All of these areas are pretty spendy for lots and garages or both spendy and inconvenient for parking meters. However, I suspect that the Nob Hill area [where the Fairmont is] would be the worst, at least during the day. At night there might be some free parking closer to it than to the wharf.

chiwito

[ Edited by: surfalaia 2009-08-05 07:15 ]

A little about Trad'r Sam...I went there for the first time one quiet afternoon a few months ago and had a good time. The bartender was very cool and friendly and my chi chi was surprisingly good. I've read their tropical drinks are just so-so. As far as decor goes, if you ignore the Bud posters/sports stuff (there's not too much of it) and TV, there are some nice old school things to appreciate there.

If you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend Kona Club in Oakland as well. Ask them to activate the volcano over the bar for you!

On 2009-01-19 14:30, Kila wrote:
A little about Trad'r Sam...I went there for the first time one quiet afternoon a few months ago and had a good time.

The quiet afternoons are the best time to go!! Weekend nights can be a bit obnoxius at times.

Keep an eye on the little park over by the Embarcadero Mall thing... that's where hundreds of those crazy green parrots hang out.
Bring apple slices and cheerios for the birds... and some stealth Zombie in a "to-go" cup for you, of course.

On 2009-01-23 18:50, CucamongaChango wrote:
Keep an eye on the little park over by the Embarcadero Mall thing... that's where hundreds of those crazy green parrots hang out.
Bring apple slices and cheerios for the birds... and some stealth Zombie in a "to-go" cup for you, of course.

The Embarcadero flock is kinda mobile; it seems to migrate up and down the bayside waterfront. For several years its most consistent roosting area was right at my union hall, the Longshore hall two blocks from Fisherman's Wharf. The slightly larger and much more famous flock is the Telegraph Hill group, the one that the book and movie were about.

chiwito

SoccerTiki and I had Tiki-rrific Time in the Bay Area a couple of years ago :) Hope you have a Happy Birthday and a Fun Trip too.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=22871&forum=16&start=0

1. Happy Hour at Top of the Mark @ Mark Hopkins - Nob Hill
2. Glamorous cocktails at The Redwood Room @ The Clift, Theater District
3. More glamorous cocktails & dancing at the Starlight Lounge @ Sir Francis Drake, Union Square
4. Sophisticated dining at Bix, Financial District
5. Sake & Beer @ Noc-Noc, Haight

For other than food & drink, Golden Gate Park features:
DeYoung Museum - Oceanic Art
Japanese Garden
Danish Windmill
Flower Conservancy

[ Edited by: christiki295 2009-04-15 21:10 ]