San Francisco Travel Guide

I took an spur of the moment trip to San Francisco at the end of February and it was FANTASTIC!  I've had a number of friends who have moved out to popular San Fran in the last year and it was amazing to go visit them and the sunny West Coast for a week.  Despite a truly out of character lack of planning the trip was jam packed and there were many places (most especially food) that I'd love to return to.

Tuesday:  Arrived less than 24 hrs after booking my ticket around 2:30pm.

Met my friend Daniel and we wandered around Downtown before heading to the Top of the Mark for a quick drink with a view.  Despite being quite touristy the view was beautiful and it helped get me oriented for the week.  Drinks were on the pricey side but I had a tasty local Anchor Steam and Daniel had some good Bloody Marys (who knew I liked those!).

We met up with my friend Glen in Berkeley for some decent Thai and Chinese food before grabbing donut holes and a cinnamon buttermilk at King Pin Donuts.  Both were delicious and if I wasn't so stuffed I would have eaten much more.  Glen ranked the cinnamon highest but I could swear the glazed donut holes were the best thing when I ate them for breakfast the next day.




Wednesday: Waited in a long but quick moving line for a HUGE and delicious burrito at Mexico Au Parc with Glen.  I was much too full to eat the free chips they provide but really enjoyed the Super Veggie Burrito.  After getting our food we ate in the park across the street and enjoyed dog/people watching.  It felt very California!

Thursday: Muir Woods!  The Redwoods were the first thing on my To Do list when I decided to visit SF and definitely lived up to my high expectations.  Glen, Tyler and I hiked the Ben Johnson trail which wound through (literally) breathtaking stands of trees.

Did you know these crevices are called crotches?

We had big plans to hike the Coastal View Trail but started the morning a bit later than expected so switched to Stapelveldt - TCC - Dipsea trails which ended up being perfect.  On a hunch Glen followed some sunlight when we were transferring from the TCC to Dipsea trail and the perfect lunch spot was found overlooking the ocean.

Glen and Tyler enjoying the best lunch of sandwiches and chocolate.

After our ~3.5 hr hike we decided to drive over the Golden Gate bridge.  As we approached Tyler exited for a viewpoint and we got some awesome sights of the bridge and city.  The Golden Gate is definitely my favorite landmark of the city.  The cyclists biking up the hill were also amazing!  Maybe it is because here in Boston I rarely come across a hill but anytime I see someone biking up a hill I am seriously impressed.

Back in San Francisco we visited another location on my To Do list, Bi-Rite Creamery!  I first learned about this place after I read their cookbook and was looking forward to some tasty flavors.  After a few samples I settled upon the Meyer Lemon and Orange Cardamon which I had been eyeing in line.  Glen and I wandered up to Alamo Square Park and ate our ice cream there as the shade closed in.  By the end of my cup I had decided Orange Cardamon was my favorite and even Glen (a die-hard chocoholic) had conceded that it was better than his Chocolate Coconut.

For dinner I reconnected with three friends I had traveled to Perú with and we decided to visit Little Italy.  We ate at Colosseo and I enjoyed my Fettucini Alfredo but have definitely had better.  Also PEAS!  I love peas and really wish they would be in every Fettucini Alfredo.  I need to remember to start asking for them.  For a post-dinner drink we went to The Saloon (found by a google search of nearby 'dive bars').  It was cool to see the oldest bar in SF but after the band started playing we moseyed out to talk a bit more.

Friday: This is officially noted in my calendar as 'Food Day with Emmy.'  I was not disappointed!  I met up with Emmy for a day of ice cream and bakeries and we started off by climbing Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower.  It was fine but not really worth all the effort, although burning a few calories was probably a good decision...

We then decided to head to the Marina district and visited a so-so restaurant called The Brixton.  We moseyed around the area (which I really liked but I hear turns into a frat party at night), window shopped at the Rapha store and eventually found our initial destination, Susie Cakes!  Emmy and I have a mutual love of sweets and bakeries and spent quite a while deciding on our flavors.  I ended up going with Carrot Cake and Emmy had German Chocolate.  Both were extraordinary.  And huge.  I think the German Chocolate was better than mine but I would go for either any day, any time.

Look at that moist crumb!

We ate all the cake we could in Presidio Park (which wasn't much) and then split ways stuffed to the brim!

I met up with Glen and Daniel back in Berkeley for the highly recommended pizza at Cheese Board Collective.  I don't remember the exact topping but there was cheese and it was delicious.  Also it's all vegetarian!  We then grabbed some fancy drinks at East Bay Spice Company.  If you really like mixed drinks it's probably pretty good but not really my thing.  Next on the menu was an ice cream sandwich at CREAM.  Yeah, this is definitely an eating vacation.

Saturday: After a tasty Dim Sum meal with my family I met almost all my SF friends in Dolores for an awesome day.  We got a variety of oddly flavored ice creams at the weirdly named Humphry Slocombe.  Most of us got Lime Basil Sorbet since the options were just a bit eccentric.  We then went to the mystical Mission Dolores Park.  I'd heard about this place from a few friends who in whispered voices told me, "You can drink there, and there are always food and weed vendors!"  Well, we grabbed some ciders, bummed a bottle opener off some new friends and spent the afternoon in the sun watching the most well behaved dogs.  It was magical.

John cracks a cold one.

For dinner my cousin joined us at Mission Chinese which has amazing Fresh Rice Noodles in peanut sauce.  Get that.  A few bars later and we were at Butter!  I enjoyed Butter but could not staring at the skateboarding videos projecting at the walls.

Sunday: After Butter we grabbed the best apple fritter I've ever had at Bob's Donuts.  Great 3am snack.

Hours later and we passed the interview at the Red Door Cafe and had probably the best (fancy) brunch I've ever eaten.  I'll let you read the Yelp reviews and get a feel for the place and just say that I ordered the Havana and ate every last bite.  Daniel and I left $50 poorer with glitter and stickers everywhere but laughing and full.  Highly recommend for open minded vegetarians!

Havana.  Amazing.

Dump Your Wife

Brunch paved the way for a visit to the California Academy of Sciences which I enjoyed!  The multi-level rainforest was very cool and we saw a show in the Planetarium (I would love to sleep in those chairs).

Monday:  My last day!  This trip went really quickly and I had a few very important things to still cross of the SF To Do list.  First up was the famous Tartine.  I had some trouble deciding and was met with some brusque answers after eliciting advice from the staff but my god was everything tasty.  I ended up ordering the Pecorino & Almond sandwich and was aghast when I saw the size of it.  Luckily it made the perfect airplane snack!  Daniel, Glen and I also split the Coconut Cream Pie, Lemon Poppy Seed Bread and some sort of rye chocolate bar which was described as similar to an oreo.  The Coconut Cream Pie had chocolate on the inside of the crust and I would pay quite a bit of money to eat it once a week.  Everything we had was delicious!

Pecorino & Almond Hot Pressed Sandwich

The remains (don't worry that sandwich would never be left behind!)

After stuffing ourselves to the brim we hung out a bit more in Dolores Park before visiting the Golden Gate Bridge.  This time we actually walked across it and saw the sun set!  Also looked up some surprising facts about the suicide rate from the bridge, as well as a few stories about folks that survived the jump.  Fun times.

One last reunion at Ramen Underground (Spicy Vegetarian Salt with egg) with Emmy, Glen, Daniel and a newcomer, John and my time in SF was just about up!  We split ways and the next day I took a long flight back to Boston.

Overall it was an amazing trip filled with so much fabulous food.  I can't wait to return especially since I've already started a new SF Part II To Do list.

SF Must Dos:

1. Ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery
2. Everything at Tartine Bakery
3. Hike in Muir Woods
4. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
5. Hang out in Dolores Park with a beer and friends
6. Cake at Susie Cakes.  Good luck deciding!
7. Brunch at Red Door Cafe
8. A donut, somewhere.  Bob's Donuts in SF and King Pin in Berkeley are great

Remember!  Bring layers, layers, layers.  I don't understand SF weather but I know that sometimes I was hot and sometimes I was cold.  It would have been miserable without my sweater, rain coat, scarf.