Restaurants

$7.50 for 2 pieces Chicken + Waffle @ Little Skillet in SOMA

After the gym today I was looking for a place to grab some food. My criteria was simple. I wanted good food and it needed to be somewhere close. My problem? I was south of market (SOMA), surrounded by a lot of downtown high-rises, industrial businesses and lofts.

Using my trusty iPhone, I found that I had “an app for that” problem and soon was on my way to Farmerbrown’s Little Skillet.  It turned out to be a cool “to go” outlet of Farmerbrown’s Restaurant located in the Tenderloin district.

The Little Skillet, as it was cutely referred to by a hipster in front of me to their friend (yes, I’m a known eavesdropper) wasn’t that hard to find once I saw it on my map.  If I was new to the city or visiting, finding Ritch Alley might be difficult.  However it’s worth the hunt, if you want some really tasty southern comfort food. Read More »

Love Izzy's Steaks and Chops in SF!!!

I’ll just say up front that I love this place. They opened their doors in 1987 on Izzy’s birthday and we showed up soon after. We have had date nights here and business dinners over the past two decades.  Izzy’s Restaurant can be found in two other cities in the Bay Area but the only location for me has been in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco. I’ve been coming to this cool spot for steaks and chops forever.

Izzy’s in San Francisco, which was their first location, is a great date night restaurant. It isn’t cheap but you will get incredible food, like their enormous bone-in ribeye steak which melts in your mouth!

This restaurant serves great filet mignon and prime rib dinners and for me, love their side dish of creamed spinach.  This old fashioned veg dish is something my dad would always share with me as a kid when we went out to dinner.  Izzy’s menu always have their famous potato side and equally amazing shoe-string potatoes.  Yum! My husband loves getting the New York Sirloin Au Poivre, with Pepper Cream Sauce for $28 along with a martini.

I’ve been here for company dinners but larger parties are a bit hit or miss with the service. Sometimes they don’t get the orders right or served on a timely basis. I’ve sent stuff back that was cold or just wrong. They were also slow with getting us the bill. On the upside I found out that they started validating your parking at the garage on Webster Street, a block away.  Izzy’s has been around a long time and I think it is still a nice place for a steak dinner whenever you are in the Marina neighborhood.

3345 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 563-0487
www.izzyssteaks.com

Sun-Th 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Fri-Sat 5:30pm – 10:30pm

Hahn's Hibachi Korean BBQ @ Noe Valley

For all of you meat eaters, this is THE place for tasty Korean barbecue and other grilled delights at a bargain price! Hahn’s Hibachi serves up family style lunches and dinners at several locations in the Bay Area.  They have a huge selection of dishes including my favorite, the Korean classic Bibimbop. I am in their Noe Valley restaurant in San Francisco on a regular basis.

Hahn’s Hibachi has been a neighborhood anchor in Noe Valley for years, with its bright green awning you can’t miss it. A great spot when you are starving, cold and want warm comfort food or just need food to take home to the family. Read More »

Bar Seating @ La Terrasse

A relaxing restaurant for a casual weekend or early dinner is La Terrasse Restaurant in San Francisco. They are located opposite the main post in the Presidio, which allows you a nice view of the bay.  Note: if you go on a sunny afternoon, call ahead because it will be crowded.  When we went we sat near dressed up seniors mixed together with dressed down tourists, so you can probably get away with wearing what you feel most comfortable in.  Worst case, they have seating at the bar. Read More »

Cherry Banana Chocolate Peasant Pie

Living in a big urban environment, sometimes we need to have that special place that we go to any time we need a dose of happiness.  Peasant Pies is that place for me.  Let’s start with the location. They are perfectly situated on 24th Street near Castro Street in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.  This is easy to reach by every form of transportation from foot to car. For many city visitors or residents, location plays a big part in the happiness quotient. Next we have the price. Read More »

Shibuya Sliders @ Umami

Some restaurants in San Francisco are closing their doors and some are getting clever and inventive in order to bring customers inside. In the Marina and Cow Hollow area of San Francisco, I am finding even trendy restaurants with expensive chef’s menus need to drum up business to stay alive.

One such trick that worked on me recently was half price bottles of wine at the upscale Umami in the location that previous housed Yoshida-ya, an old school yakitori restaurant. Today Umami continues with the dark wood theme inside and lots of booths but has changed its offering to reflect the current trends of the city.

Given my brother was with us, we started with appetizers that included meat – Shibuya Sliders to be exact. They were dee.lish.ous. Not exactly what I expected but savory and yummy.

We took advantage of the wine offer but we also enjoyed some of the nigiri sushi that the chef was recommending for the evening. Our waiter stopped by and pointed out everything that we had and I must admit that was a great way to taste the freshness of their daily fish and get familiar with the chef’s style.

Chef's Nigiri Specials

We moved on to some of their standard menu options like Amaebi (sweet prawns), California Roll and their Spider Roll. Though they made them with a slight variation to what we had in the past, still we had no complaints. It was a surprise but we enjoyed everything, even the service. Maybe the price could be a little less, even with the wine incentive we walked out paying more than we wanted to.

We might return. Parking is hard for this part of town unless you have incredible street parking karma, can walk/take bus or get a choice spot to make up for the $10 two hour fee, charged in the garage in the next block.

Spider and California Rolls

2909 Webster St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 346-3431
www.umamisf.com

Enjoy "old school" atmosphere at Presidio Social Club in San Francisco

As you can guess from my previous writing here, I love “old school” restaurants, bars, hotels and other destinations here in San Francisco. We are fortunate to live in a city that has survived fires, storms and earthquakes and thrived.

An incredible area of San Francisco that has thrived is the Presidio of San Francisco, built in 1776 and now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  Many of its officer’s housing, airfield and barracks have been either restored or converted to commercial or residential uses.

In Building 563, across from Lucas Digital Arts on Letterman is the Presidio Social Club, located in converted barracks. With its large bank of windows and open floor plan inside, this old school restaurant is perfect for dinner or a large group event.

We stopped in for an early dinner on one of the hottest days this spring and had a great time. They have a long bar underneath a row of fans, combined with the sound of cold drinks being shaken and it felt like we could have been in Hawaii or a plantation setting.

We started with an appetizer of grilled baby squid with artichokes that were fabulous. We ate them way too fast. We skipped salads to go straight to our entrees, though we did get a side of roasted tasty Brussels sprouts. I had their daily special of mashed potatoes and meatloaf while my husband had the grilled hangar steak.

Savory Meatloaf with Brussels Sprouts side

Though we were definitely full, the dessert menu was too tempting to pass up so we shared the home made ice cream sandwiches, served with hot liquid chocolate to pour over them, along with a killer banana cream pie that was out of this world. Easy parking as well makes this a cool place we will return to with friends and family.

Killer Desserts

563 Ruger St
San Francisco, CA 94129
(415) 885-1888
www.presidiosocialclub.com

Photo credits to my iPhone.

Mariachi music is happy music!

In California and around the world, people love to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with great food and lots of margaritas. As St. Patrick’s Day is mostly a celebration of all things Irish outside of Ireland, Cinco de Mayo is mostly a celebration of Mexican heritage and a way to show Mexican pride outside of Mexico. We love celebrating every year with either a big barbecue at home or going out for some killer margaritas!

Here in San Francisco we have a lot of great choices for you to have your own fiesta. We also have some places that serve the best margaritas you’ve ever tasted. Check out these spots for delicious food in a wonderful location around the city:

Tommy’s – Located in the Richmond District, this is one of my favorite family style Mexican restaurants in the city. They are well known for making the most amazing margaritas, made with real fresh lime juice. If you are a lover of tequila this is your place. They serve 100% Agave tequila, and have a separate list of the dozens they offer. I love the chimichangas and their Yucatán menu is delicious. Very reasonable prices too, even for the margarita pitchers!

5929 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-4747
www.tommysmexican.com

Tres Agaves – If you are looking for a sweet spot South of Market, not far from the beautiful AT&T Ballpark, then Tres Agaves Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Lounge is a great destination for brunch or dinner. They can be a little on the pricey side but I think it is worth it – this restaurant has such a cool vibe about it. Maybe what wins me over is that they “celebrate the spirit of Jalisco”, and since I love Mariachi music and tequila which both come from the Jalisco region of Mexico, we are simpatico.  The menu comes from the same region and one of my favorite dishes is the Carne en su Jugo or Jaliscan Style Beef ~ a rich broth with beans, crispy bacon, cilantro, onions & lime, served with rice, beans and corn tortillas. Yum and yum!

130 Townsend St
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 227-0500
www.tresagaves.com

Puerto Alegre Restaurant – In the Mission District you will find this no frills spot that serves delicious food at great prices. Perfect to take kids or just slide into a booth with your girlfriend, what I love about coming here are the quesadilla and the chips and salsa – then the killer margaritas! Ay.Ay.Ay.  This is a fun and very authentic place to go, even if you have a hard time parking. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the city. Call ahead for reservations because they are very popular and you may find yourself waiting in line – a long line.

546 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 255-8201

Photo credit to Tom Chambers

Glass of wine and neighborhood hospitality

San Francisco has quite a few original restaurants that have consistently been part of our “destination dining” experience for decades, like John’s Grill or the Buena Vista Cafe near Ghiradelli Square. Another wonderful place to share with you is the Pacific Cafe, a classic seafood restaurant near Lincoln Park and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

This wonderful city original has been serving fresh fish every day for dinner since 1974. It is the perfect place for a family dinner or a nice date night out.

They have a large chalkboard on the wall above the kitchen with all the fish that they have for the day. They list the way each will be prepared: fried, grilled, poached or sauteed. Every dinner comes with soup and salad.

You also get a choice of classic dinner fries or baked potato but I often just a big piece of steamed broccoli instead – then steal a few fries off of my husband’s plate. They serve local ice cream from Mitchell’s and usually have other desserts like lemon tarts. You won’t go home hungry that is for sure.

Scallop Salmon Combo

What starts the whole dining experience off though is the service. They open at 5:00pm but because they do not take reservations over the phone, by 5:30pm a line forms inside and out. However, more often the reason for the line is that spending time waiting is half the fun. After you write your name down on the clipboard inside, a waiter comes up with full glasses of white wine – on the house!

They will refill your glass as long as you are waiting for your booth. A very nice touch. Street parking can be tricky but we almost always find space on Clement Street, one street over.

Cozy warm booths

7000 Geary Blvd
At 34th Avenue
(415) 387-7091

Mon-Fri 5:00-9:30pm
Sat-Sun 5:00-10:30pm

Crave is clean and cozy

Near the Broadway tunnel on Polk Street is a stretch of lower Russian Hill that provides a steady stream of great San Francisco restaurants, shops and other local businesses.

You can find on one end a super fancy restaurant like Yabbies Coastal Kitchen and on the other, a casual place like the always delicious Little Thai.

On the corner of Polk and Filbert is a wonderful new addition to the area called Crave. This cafe is run by a very hardworking family – during my visit I saw what looked like a father with his little daughter bring more eggs into the kitchen while the mother busily cleaned tables and chatted with customers. Very cute and cozy, especially given the unsettled weather that day.

We were in the neighborhood recently when my stomach started loudly growling. Walking into this corner spot (formerly a bank then a tea shop) we discovered quite a nice menu and atmosphere – though we did have someone sitting at the next table who clearly did not get the memo about not talking loudly on a cell phone in cafes.

They offer lots of savory choices for any time of the day. I plan to go again and try the raved about mac and cheese. This is a perfect spot to bring kids too. We had breakfast burritos and they were a little on the “thin” side. However the chorizo was not too fatty or spicy which my stomach appreciated after I ate it all. They did not steam the tortillas which was my only complaint. I will definitely eat at Crave again when we are back in the ‘hood.

If you like coffee definitely try their French press coffee from Ritual Roasters – a local favorite – you will love it.

2164 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 440-FOOD (3663)

www.eatatcrave.com (website coming soon)