San Francisco and what to do in it

what about el farolito and cha-ya?

i ate at schmidt's, mission chinese, and la taqueria when i was in town 2 weeks ago, and enjoyed all of them, though schmidt's was not quite as good as the last time i went there. but the pea pancake with salmon appetizer there was really great.

Steve Shasta Legendary Foodie thread has some good recommendations from SFers. This is my updated list--prices have all gone up too hah (it focuses mostly on Richmond District--where I live now--and the Tenderloin--where I used to work.) Folks who live in Mission or SOMA can give better recs since I barely make it out of "suburbs" now that I have a babby.

$4 Saigon Sandwiches
$5 Cinderella Bakery
$6 One of the taco trucks (Compadres or Tonyanese)
$10 Mangosteen
$15 Halu
$20 Burma Super Star
$25 Suppenkuche

I ate at Schmidt's a couple of weeks ago (there is a 50% Scoutmob coupon) and I quite liked it. Pretzel was great, as was the Wild Boar Sausage platter. That said if I was in the neighborhood and didn't have the coupon, I would go to Limon Rotisserie instead.

I need to go to Burma Super Star sometime!
Range and Foreign Cinema in Mission might be worth a look at but they aren't exactly 'cheap eats'. I have been to both a few times for a more special occasion type thing, they're on the pricier side but not 'tasting menu' expensive. You can't really go hungry in the mission though.
I've just realised I never go out to eat around Union Sq. But for an easy lunch downtown, the Bistro restaurant in Nordstroms (in the Westfield centre) is actually surprisingly good (I went to another great one in LA so maybe it's a thing that Nordstroms does good food - I always assumed it'd be rubbish because it's in a mall). They have white chocolate bread pudding!

Schmidt's is good but for German(ic) food, I prefer Leopold's.

there are many overrated places in the mission, two that i particularly hate are pakwan and ti couz, get terrible stomach issues every time i eat at either of those

I think Ti Couz is closed now? But yeah it's overrated as is Pakwan.

does The Zam-Zam Room still exist?

I liked Pakwan when I ate there but when I got delivery it wasn't great.

Union Square is generally not great for food although you are very close to Tu Lan which is pretty good/cheap Vietnamese.

i'm not saying pakwan's not tasty and cheap, just that it always gives me el mierdas

Not terribly far from Union Square and not exactly cheap but definitely good value is http://www.sahasf.com/menus.html

I go here before shows at the Great American sometimes and if you were going to Polk Street or the Tenderloin, it would be convenient.

la mierda, tlg

sorry i did german in high school and college

but duh, the endings usually match, right?

la mano

But yes, usually

In the Mission, spend $10 at Kúuup and get the best tacos in SF (straight-up tacos, panuchos, salbutes ... all good.)

Tacqueria Vallarta on 24th has the best tacos - i am sorry.

That's what I told everyone too, until Kúuup opened a couple months ago.

well then!

had some great cambodian food at Angkor Borei on Mission way down by Zante's Pizza. The chili prawns were delicious and really enjoyed the ahmohk (like a curry fish mousse). It was pretty quiet and relaxed for a saturday night and the entrees were only maybe 10 bucks.

Anybody got any recommendations for a great filipino place that's pescetarian-friendly?

Angkor Borei just moved to that location - they're great

if you want great filipino food you should probably go to where the big filipino community is - ie South SF (biggest filippino community outside of Manila!)

Angkor Borei moved? It's been near Zante's for as long as I can remember.

Daly City, too iirc

is the chez panisse cafe worth a trek to Berkeley? My colleague has an appt there and we're considering it for dinner afterwards.

it's not a trek, just a twenty min BART ride from Union Sq, and def. worth it

although for that kind of thing, Baywolf in Oakland is my preference

sorry mixing Angkor Borei up with that Nepalese restaurant on Cortland, whose name is escaping me...

Little Nepal

it is a mile walk from BART to chez panisse

assuming your colleague can manage that i'd agree that it's worth a trip

if you go early in the afternoon there's a pretty good cheese shop across the street that makes very very good slices of pizza

Chez Panisse lost their Michelin star recently, right?

i looked up directions from where i'll be that afternoon and it said 45 min. anyway, was just wondering if the cafe was as good (we were thinking of springing for the real deal but no reservations available). will look up baywolf, too.

it's not an unpleasant stroll and there is no way that a 7 block walk would take 45 mins

okay 9 blocks still, I used to live around there and there is no way the walk from downtown berk bart was 45 mins

no. 45 min total from where i'll be in sf to the restaurant.

i am not a lazy asshole and i don't mind walking a mile.

oh okay that makes more sense and might even be a little optimistic

on an absolute scale the cafe is not as good, but given price and convenience it is quite good in itself

i think though at that price point there is are a lot of other options that are as good, which i don't think is the case w/ chez panisse itself

if i were visiting SF and i had to pick one fancy restaurant to eat at i might pick zuni cafe, but i'm not really a foodie so i don't know if that's a great pick

it was expensive but not quite as much as chez panisse iirc

i don't eat $$$ food very often though, i'm much more a $ type of guy

I haven't been to a fancy restaurant in a while, but Frances is about a million times better than Chez Panisse Cafe (or Zuni)--or at least it was the last time I went there 2 or so years ago.

They still appear to have their Michelin star for whatever that is worth as well.

MY new fave in SF is State Bird Provisions, in the Fillmore. They do sort-of fancy Dim-Sum-style dining, and everything I had there was *more* yummy than it sounded on the menu, which is the opposite of most of my dining experiences lately.

"sort-of fancy Dim-Sum-style dining"

Is this another way of saying they are a small plates restaurant?

Yeah, but they also bring dishes around on carts/trays (or you can just order them, sight-unseen, if you wish).