San Francisco

[JoeSmith1721]

Any Scoopers from San Francisco?  Or that know of good restaurants in the vicinity of the Yotel on 1095 Main Street?  I am taking my wife to San Francisco (from Portland OR) to see Hamilton (at the Orpheum Theatre at 1192 Market Street) for our 46th wedding anniversary.  Also taking our 13 year old granddaughter.  Any recommendations for a good place to eat that won't bust our budget appreciated.  Thanks.

Mikkeller Bar is a few blocks away and has great beer and food. Definitely a great place to check out if you're into beer at all, the food is also very good.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Doc

Used to be a great place but no more.

We pass through SFO on our way to Napa/Sonoma or Carmel.

theBaby David's mom goes to the Bay Area for work but she is in San Jose/Sand Hill Road. If I join we give the city a miss.

Feces, urine, needles, panhandlers, etc... No thank you.

Sounds like Seattle

[Jon]

Sounds like Seattle

Not even close.

Seattle has similar issues but it's relatively contained and controlled.

We bought a high rise condo in DT Seattle near the Amazon campus and the Federal Courthouse. Sitting at my desk I can watch when a vagrant carrying all of his worldly possessions wanders on to Amazon or Federal property uniformed Amazon security or the federal marshals are all over the would be squatter within 30 seconds.

Not only do the security dudes send the homeless packing but, if they have a shopping cart from the nearby Whole Foods, the Amazon guys recover it as the stolen property it is. Almost invariably the vagrant walks away cursing loudly but I rather doubt the marshals or security guys give a sh1t.

If the homeless problem in Seattle is endemic it is pandemic in SF.   

[🏀]

Not even close.

Seattle has similar issues but it's relatively contained and controlled.

We bought a high rise condo in DT Seattle near the Amazon campus and the Federal Courthouse. Sitting at my desk I can watch when a vagrant carrying all of his worldly possessions wanders on to Amazon or Federal property uniformed Amazon security or the federal marshals are all over the would be squatter within 30 seconds.

Not only do the security dudes send the homeless packing but, if they have a shopping cart from the nearby Whole Foods, the Amazon guys recover it as the stolen property it is. Almost invariably the vagrant walks away cursing loudly but I rather doubt the marshals or security guys give a sh1t.

If the homeless problem in Seattle is endemic it is pandemic in SF.   

[Billy Hoyle]

I highly suggest talking to the people at your hotel.  That is a nice, new area so there could be some cool places that have popped up since I have last been there.  (And I usually go to a microbrewery by the stadium anyway.)

San Francisco is a great city that should be experienced by everyone.  I get that if you have been there a lot that it doesn't make sense to go there when you are in the area, but I hope you have a nice time.

I have a conference in the Bay Area every year and my assistant and I take the day prior to hit up brewpubs and Mexican in the Mission District.

Non-Breweries with great selections:
Hopwater Distribution just off Union Square. All CA beers.
City Beer Store. Locals told us to go there. We stocked up on Pliny the Elder here. Right around the corner from Cellarmaker

Breweries (we usually walk to all of them and have never seen any human waste on the sidewalks despite what some "news" networks report):

Cellarmaker (my favorite). They now have a Detroit Style pizza and beer joint too.
Pacific Standard - one of the coolest brewery spaces I've ever been to.
Black Hammer
Local Brewery (home of the best Hazy I've ever had).  Next door to an amazing wine bar too
Standard Deviant - was ok, end of our last night so we were pretty hammered
Thirsty Bear - the first certified fully organic brewery in the US.  It is pricy for a pint though
21st Amendment - Have skipped on recent trips since they have a wider distribution

[Dr. Blackheart]

I have a conference in the Bay Area every year and my assistant and I take the day prior to hit up brewpubs and Mexican in the Mission District.

Non-Breweries with great selections:
Hopwater Distribution just off Union Square. All CA beers.
City Beer Store. Locals told us to go there. We stocked up on Pliny the Elder here. Right around the corner from Cellarmaker

Breweries (we usually walk to all of them and have never seen any human waste on the sidewalks despite what some "news" networks report):

Cellarmaker (my favorite). They now have a Detroit Style pizza and beer joint too.
Pacific Standard - one of the coolest brewery spaces I've ever been to.
Black Hammer
Local Brewery (home of the best Hazy I've ever had).  Next door to an amazing wine bar too
Standard Deviant - was ok, end of our last night so we were pretty hammered
Thirsty Bear - the first certified fully organic brewery in the US.  It is pricy for a pint though
21st Amendment - Have skipped on recent trips since they have a wider distribution

Great list. Did you mean Southern Pacific? Pacific Standard is in downtown Berkeley (Half Moon Bay). You should try the East Bay too.

[Billy Hoyle]

Great list. Did you mean Southern Pacific? Pacific Standard is in downtown Berkeley (Half Moon Bay). You should try the East Bay too.

Yep, Southern Pacific. Such an awesome space but man, that was a sketchy walk at around 9pm, on my own the first time I went.

I definitely want to get over to the East Bay for brews. I had some beer from Drake's and Fieldwork at a festival and they were great. Maybe the next trip...

[dgies9156]

I travel to San Francisco fairly regularly with work and my wife and I honeymooned there back, well, quite some time ago. The city has its problems, no doubt. And, many are self-inflicted by a government that tries to do too much with too little and sometimes can't seem to get out of its own way.

The reality is that the problems outlined in this thread ebb and flo. Back in the 1980s, it was the AIDs crisis as well as certain public health problems. San Francisco started losing tourist dollars. AIDS got under control, thank God for the public health research and development; some of the vagrancy problems receded because of government action; and, the tourists came back.

One of the big problems the city now has is gentrification. While that brings in higher income folks, the question in San Francisco, as it has been in Chicago and other places, is what to do with the folks who are displaced. The area around the Giants ballpark used to be a place for low and moderate-income folks as well as street people. That's clearly not the case now. People who are accustom to living in San Francisco don't like the East Bay (which too, is gentifing).

All this said, I'd go back in a heartbeat. I love Union Street, Pacific Heights and some of the tucked away places in town.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Yep, Southern Pacific. Such an awesome space but man, that was a sketchy walk at around 9pm, on my own the first time I went.

I definitely want to get over to the East Bay for brews. I had some beer from Drake's and Fieldwork at a festival and they were great. Maybe the next trip...

Fieldwork is excellent...and Gilman is right there. You can then do a nice beer trail down 4th and hit Trummer (meh, limited tours), the Sierra Tornado Room (nice set up), and Rare Barrel (sours). A little one, Novel, is also not too far from Rare Barrel.

Oakland also has its share both in downtown (Drake’s, Woods) but also in Jack London. West Oakland and Temescal good too but you need to know the area.

[Hards Alumni]

I have a conference in the Bay Area every year and my assistant and I take the day prior to hit up brewpubs and Mexican in the Mission District.

Non-Breweries with great selections:
Hopwater Distribution just off Union Square. All CA beers.
City Beer Store. Locals told us to go there. We stocked up on Pliny the Elder here. Right around the corner from Cellarmaker

Breweries (we usually walk to all of them and have never seen any human waste on the sidewalks despite what some "news" networks report):

Cellarmaker (my favorite). They now have a Detroit Style pizza and beer joint too.
Pacific Standard - one of the coolest brewery spaces I've ever been to.
Black Hammer
Local Brewery (home of the best Hazy I've ever had).  Next door to an amazing wine bar too
Standard Deviant - was ok, end of our last night so we were pretty hammered
Thirsty Bear - the first certified fully organic brewery in the US.  It is pricy for a pint though
21st Amendment - Have skipped on recent trips since they have a wider distribution

To add to this list, Speakeasy

[Jon]

[swoopem]

Got to Marin and go to Terrapin Crossroads