Napa trip

[jesmu84]

Wife and I are going to napa 3/15-3/22.

It's just the two of us. We'll likely stay somewhere in Napa and hire a driver or jump on a tour bus. Planning on 4-5 days in the area (other days in SF). We won't have a car.

Looking for recs on wineries, restaurants, other attractions. Things we definitely should do and things we should avoid/overrated/overpriced.

Trying to be there mostly on weekdays so it's less crowded.

I found this thread: https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=53057.msg888109#msg888109

Any updates?

If anyone has SF recs, be glad to have those too!

[wadesworld]

Wife and I are going to napa 3/15-3/22.

It's just the two of us. We'll likely stay somewhere in Napa and hire a driver or jump on a tour bus. Planning on 4-5 days in the area (other days in SF). We won't have a car.

Looking for recs on wineries, restaurants, other attractions. Things we definitely should do and things we should avoid/overrated/overpriced.

Trying to be there mostly on weekdays so it's less crowded.

I found this thread: https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=53057.msg888109#msg888109

Any updates?

If anyone has SF recs, be glad to have those too!

Sorry, can't help you with Napa. In SF, the Alcatraz tour is definitely worth it. Obviously the Golden Gate Bridge is cool, as is Bay Bridge. Lombard Street is cool too.

[CreightonWarrior]

We love all things yountville.

Model bakery and bouchon bakery for breakfast

Oakville grocery is a must for lunch (get the muffaletta sandwich), gotts roadside , the market in st Helena

Rutherford grill, R+D kitchen, goose and gander, sign up for the daily menu at ad hoc for dinner.

Wineries we love:
Fortunati
Jessup
Handwritten
Tres Sabores
Reid Family
Frogs Leap does a good tour
Far niente
Hope and grace


If you're there long enough take trip to Healdsburg. Really cool drive up there with some great Pinots and Chardonnay.

Our longest standing wine club is Copain but check out flowers and macroastie too.

[JakeBarnes]

Model Bakery in Napa. Breakfast Sammie is worth it.

Dinners:

Bottega
R&D

[WarriorFan]

Haven't been there in a while but still buy their wine online regularly:
https://www.vsattui.com

Very cool place.  Used to go regularly when I lived in the bay area.

[pbiflyer]

If you have dirty clothes I hear there is a good laundry there, but it's foreign.

[jesmu84]

Thanks all for the suggestions

[Jay Bee]

I recommend canceling the trip to show solidarity w those affected by the fires

[MU82]

My recommendation is to stay another week so you can watch #1 seed Marquette win two games at the San Fran Regional!

[Strokin 3s]

Barnett is one of our favorite wineries.  Have stopped there several times on trips now.  The views from there are worth the trip.  Dakota Shy is another one that has some really good wines and is one of the places mentioned by multiple other wineries as one of the ones to keep an eye on.

[PointWarrior]

Venge  Hidden gem, father Niles Venge was a Cab Sauv pioneer in Napa, been members for 10 years plus and reasonable for Napa prices...

[dgies9156]

My recommendations relate to wineries.

Alpha Omega — Make a reservation. This winery is the most hospitable we had been to in ages. Tour guide we had was the ex CFO of Fireman's Fund who loved wine. The wine is fantastic.

Darioush — Very nice winery, run by former Iranians. Architecture is spectacular and ambience is fantastic. A must see.

Nickel and Nickel — if you are into wine, this is a must. Fantastic wine but a very technical assessment of why the difference in ground makes for difference in wine.

Chateau Montelena — Been there before they charged. Beautiful winery, great tour, wonderful wine, expensive.

Also recommend just being adventurous and if you see something interesting, call and go in. You'll be glad you did.

Also, big time agree on Oakville Grocery for lunch and Rutherford Grill for dinner.

[21Jumpstreet]

Really enjoyed Duckhorn (beautiful gardens, and my current favorite wine is Paraduxx red blend), Etude (can't quite remember what the wine was but it was something like grapes from a very specific part of a very specific hill on the vineyard, very good. Also bought a bottle of Remy that was aged for some crazy amount of time as the vineyard is on the former home of a Remy Martin distillery), Trefethen (had a cool tasting experience in the barn overlooking the grapes, really enjoyed their Halo wine), Robert Sinskey (grab a Sammie from Oakville grocery, eat it here, tour the caves), Silver Oak, and had a really awesome seafood boil experience at Sterling. It has been ten years ish so not sure if my recommendations are helpful.

Couple pro tips: get a driver, if you choose to bike, that's a heck of an adventure, choose an easy drinking pils or other beer and have one or two between wineries. Keeps the fun and the buzz going, less likely to crash. Enjoy!

[21Jumpstreet]

Some notes about San Fran from about the same time I went to Napa. I'll check to see where my more current notes are. I have always loved SF, I walk everywhere, not sure how that feels nowadays. All the classic places like Swan, Buena Vista, Balboa, Zuni for chicken, Reem's. Chinatown is a must, have dim sum, buy something on the street. Castro and The Haight are incredibly important neighborhoods in the history of the country. Have some yummy sourdough, wear lots of layers, bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, don't sleep on Oakland, hit up Berkeley.

San Francisco
Blue Bottle Coffee

Union Square
Bio--gluten free (o'farrell)
Boxed Food Company

Absinthe
Chez Maman

Belden Place
Sauce--stone ipa, Brussels sprouts salad, stuffed figs, spinach and kale, mac n cheese, lobster roll (recommended didn't eat), 

Ferry Building Matketplace
Tuesday Farmers Market
Blue Bottle Coffee--au lait, Nola iced.
Humphry Slocombe--bourbon cornflakes, summer sweet corn
Donnas Tamales
Japanese Deli

Chinatown
R&G Lounge 631 Kearny Street-- Salt and pepper crab, fresh watermelon martini
Li Po 916 Grant Ave--Mai tai
California and Grant (photo)

The Haight
Toronado (lower haight) blind pig ipa, vendetta ipa, root beer, no spirits, beer mecca
Burger Tuesday
Alembic 1725 Haight (Cole and Shrader)--single barrel bourbon old fashioned, sparkling wine, lunch snacks sumac chips, duck hearts, shishito peppers
Anarchist bookstore, the pork store, boutiques (skunkfunk, ambiance, iris
HA Music Center (Mighty Uke)

Castro
Fork Cafe--big au lait, theater (oriental), 

Fillmore
Yoshis 1330 Filmore St.--dry sake, sashimi, dragon, sake & ikura, narutotai (Nama sake) 
Jazz Club
Pravda Records
Boom Boom Room (Melismatics)

North Beach
Italian Neighborhood
Original Joes Union & Stockton
Don Pistos--guac, bohemia beer, will miss it, weekday brunch til 3, huevos rancheros
Tonys Pizza
Grant St. and Columbus St. shopping
Al's Attire--hand tailored clothes
Comstock Saloon--barkeeps whimsy, leather menu jacket

Mission
Foreign Cinema--unknown drink, great vibe and food,
Mission Chinese
Valencia

Tenderloin
Rick House

Here are some of my notes from a more recent trip, maybe three or so years ago:

San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge - Bike
Alcatraz - Tour
Fisherman's Wharf - Sea Lions
Golden Gate Park

Castro
Haight Ashbury
North Beach - Little Italy
Embarcadero - Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf
Chinatown - Dragon Gate, Bubble Tea,
Mission District - Mexican Food, Mission Dolores Park, Clarion Alley
Lombard Street
Ferry Building


Bike Across Golden Gate Bridge
Cable Car


Food

Burrito
Cioppino
Dim Sum
Dumplings


Humphry Slocombe Restaurant - Ice Cream
Boudin or La Brea Restaurant - SF Sourdough
Sam Wo Restaurant - Chinatown
Red's Java House or Hi-Dive - Embarcadero, Burger
Nopa Restaurant - Burger
Swan Oyster Depot Restaurant - Lunch only
Zuni Cafe Restaurant - Chicken, Burger
Rintaro Restaurant - Mission, Japanese, Yakitori
Lolo Restaurant - Mission, Queso, Tacos
La Torta Gorda Restaurant - Mission, Mexican, Sandwiches
La Taqueria (Taq) Restaurant - Mission, Burrito, Dorado (Extra Crisp)
Reem's California Mission - Mission, Arab
Tartine Bakery Restaurant - Mission
Tartine Manufactory Restaurant - Mission
Besharam Restaurant - Indian
Anchor Oyster Bar Restaurant - Castro, Cioppino
Sotto Mare Restaurant - North Beach, Italian, Cioppino
Good Luck Dim Sum Restaurant - Takeout, Sunday
Hook Fish Company Restaurant - Golden Gate Park, Bike?, Neighborhood Joint (Lands End, Ocean Beach)
Saigon Sandwich Restaurant - Tenderloin, Banh Mi
Beit Rima Restaurant - Castro, Palestinian
AL's Place Restaruant





Hiking

Lands End Park & Ocean Beach
Baker Beach to Golden Gate Bridge - 6.3mi out and back
Presidio -
Angel Island State Park - Ferry, 5.9mi loop
Mount Sutro Loop
Muir Woods - Redwood Trees
Yosemite

Half Moon Bay Coastside Trail - 7.6mi out and back, South of SF



Oakland

Take the BART from SF
Ferry Back to SF from Jack London Square

UC Berkley
Telegraph Avenue
Temescal Alley
Sunday Farmers Market Temescal
Swan's Market
Fruitvale Public Market
Redwood Regional Forest
Racial Justice Movement - Black Panthers
   African American Museum & Library
   Oakland Museum of California
   Marcus Books
   Remember Them Monument
   Alem's Coffee
   Oakstop - Art
   
   
A's Game

Fruitvale
Jack London Square
Old Oakland
Temescal
Chinatown



Food

Saul's - Jewish deli, get it to go, hit up a park, enjoy

Alley 49 - Temescal, Ice Cream, Donuts, Coffee, Shops, Hipster
Cholita Linda Restaurant - Temescal, Tacos
True Burger Restaurant - Lake Merritt
Bakesale Betty Restaurant - Temescal
Homeroom - Mac n Cheese
Swan's Market - Old Oakland
Fruitvale Public Market - Fruitvale
Reem's Restaurant - Fruitvale, Arab Bakery, Breakfast
Lucky Three Seven Restaurant - Fruitvale, Filipino
Shandong Restaurant - Chinatown, Pulled Noodles, Dumplings
Miss Ollie's Restaurant - Old Oakland, Caribbean, Swan's Market

Chez Panisse Restaurant - Berkeley, Alice Waters, Order 2 Days In Advance




Hiking

Redwood Regional Forest
   The Scenic Redwood Loop - 4mi
   The French Loop Trail - Day

   
Lake Merritt Loop - 3mi

[MU82]

21Jump:

Even though this post wasn't directed at me, you have given me great travel info in the past, and I thank you for always being so thorough and detailed. Very helpful.

You obviously are incredibly well-traveled, which has to be fun! Keep on keepin' on.

[drewm88]

This sent me down a rabbit hole of place I've been and found tons of them have closed in the last couple years.

If you can't get into French Laundry, his Bouchon Bistro is great.
On the Sonoma side, Valley Bar and Bottle is interesting and good. Girl and the Fig has been around for a long time and knows what they're doing. Glen Ellen Star is a solid meal in a really comfy atmosphere. El Molino Central is no frills but absolutely delicious.

Hard to go wrong with a vineyard, but the tour at Benziger is interesting because it's a biodynamic winery.

For San Francisco, one of our favorite thing we've done on any trip was an e-bike tour there. So many cool/historical parts of the city (Castro, Haight Ashbury, Chinatown, Mission, Presidio, Golden Gate Park, etc.). The tour gave us a chance to hit all of them, get some insights and identify places to come back to on our own. The company we went through is shuttered, but I'm sure there's somebody doing it.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Be prepared for tasting prices

[21Jumpstreet]

21Jump:

Even though this post wasn't directed at me, you have given me great travel info in the past, and I thank you for always being so thorough and detailed. Very helpful.

You obviously are incredibly well-traveled, which has to be fun! Keep on keepin' on.

82:

Thank you, my friend, I enjoy sharing AND learning. Scoop is filled with travel/food/music info. It's all those years in the restaurant world. I was always on the search for what set places apart in service and experience, what was the best in food and beverage (my love of no shoes, dive bars, and holes in the wall may skew those findings), and what was next. Now, I get to do travel and "research" purely for the fun of it.

Keep on keepin' on indeed!