Seattle Nesties
uwhuskygirl
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
*KimberlyS530*
Hey,
I'm hoping you suggest the best way to get from the Fairmont San Francisco to Candlestick park?
Right now, I'm debating between a town car type service or renting a car. Thoughts?
Also, do you have any bar recs that we can hit up before the 49ers game?
TIA!
Re: *KimberlyS530*
NM, looks like I can do the light rail to the game.
But I will take any bar recs
Where do most people go before the games? I think H wants to go wherever most of the fans are.
I'll take any restaurant recs if you have them too!
We're taking out H's nephew and his GF to Wexlers for dinner one night. Is that place any good?
Thanks!
We'll both eat anything, so I'll take all of the restaurant recs that you can get.
Ideally, I'd like to keep it under $125/plate, but I'd be easily swayed if there was something that's mind blowing.
Okay, uwhusky, here goes a list of restaurants (still waiting to hear back on where the 49ers fans go for bars... your hotel, while nice, is located in an interesting area of town and I don't know of a lot of bars right around it). I'm not familiar with the Muni system in SF much at all because I live in the 9% of the city that's not right close to a Muni line, but I think the C runs close to the Fairmont and you could probably take it down to the Embarcadero stop to get on the BART - I'd double-check with the concierge at the hotel, though, because like I said... I'm not real familiar with it!
Gary Danko - since you said you can do up to $125 / head, I'd recommend trying to secure a reservation at this restaurant if you can. It's my favorite place in the city. They accept reservations 2 months out, but they occasionally get cancellations or have late-night openings, and it's worth trying to sneak in if you can. The 5-course tasting menu is $100 a person, so by the time you add in 1-2 glasses of wine and a tip you're probably at $350 total, but they also have a 3-course tasting menu for $66 if you want to keep it lower. You get to choose your courses from their menu - so you can do three main courses, three appetizers, whatever you want. If you need to cut a course (say you only want to do 4), my advice is skip the cheese, or else you and DH can both do the 4-course menu with one of you getting the cheese and the other getting the dessert, and then you can share those two to get the experience of all 5 courses. It's in Ghiradelli Square, so you'd cab there.
(Depending on when you're coming, and if you REALLY want to splurge, you might try to get a reservation to French Laundry in Yountville, CA; it's often hailed as the best restaurant in the U.S. If you have an AmEx Platinum card, they can assist you with getting reservations as it can be near impossible to get in there - they do reservations 2 months to the day and all the tables are gone within seconds. It's Thomas Keller's flagship restaurant and will set you back $270 a head for the meal - which is either 9 or 13 courses, I can't remember - and probably another $100 a person for wine. Tip and tax are included in the $270 price - DH and I are going the weekend before Christmas and we used the AmEx concierge to get a table no problems, so if you want to go and you have an AmEx Platinum, I'd give them a call.)
Slanted Door - delicious Vietnamese-fusion food on the Embarcadero (in the Ferry Building). Probably would be about $50-70 a head if you do appetizer, main course, side dish, and wine - but really tasty. Tends to fill up on weekends so you'd want to make reservations before you got to SF. In theory you could walk there from the Fairmont (should be mostly downhill) but I'd take a cab back. You're kind of too far from the BART to make it useful for something like this (also you'll be walking up hill to the hotel on your return trip anytime you use the BART).
The House - Good Japanese-fusion style restaurant in North Beach. Again, I'd probably cab. A meal will be $30-$50 with a glass of wine. If they offer it and you like cod, try their black cod in a miso glaze - it's delicious!
Papalote Mexican Grill - There are two of these in the city and the one I frequent is 24th and Valencia in the Mission District. They won a Bobby Flay Throwdown for their triple-threat burrito (a HUGE burrito with chicken, steak, and prawns in it... and a $20 price tag), but the real reason to go here is for their roasted tomato salsa. It is incredible! If you wanted to go to the one I frequent, you'd hop the BART to 24th and Mission and it's a 2-block walk to Papalote.
Jardiniere - French restaurant, with a Monday $45 prix fixe menu if you're in town on Monday. I'd take a cab to and from since it's in the Civic Center area and not many Muni lines go there. I guess you could take the BART if you went down to Embarcadero...
Boulevard - Just a nice, slightly upscale American-food restaurant (think steaks, seafood, etc.); located near the Embarcadero BART stop, and I don't think you need to make reservations too far in advance.
Bobo's Steakhouse - in the Marina, this place is considered the best place in SF to get a steak by many locals. Standard steakhouse pricing.
Delfina - Italian restaurant in the Mission, at 18th and Guerrero. You could take the BART to 16th and Mission, though I'll be honest - I find that station / stop to be particularly sketchy, so if it were me, I'd just take a cab there and back. This place is really popular so I'd book a table in advance.
Wayfare Tavern - I've only eaten here once, but it's Tyler Florence's restaurant (I think he's some sort of food tv personality?). It's American / comfort food and the best fried chicken I've ever had. I happened to be at a charity event on Wednesday night at a friend's house where Tyler Florence was the chef and all the food was outstanding - he had a mac-n-cheese appetizer that was to die for so I would try that if I went to Wayfare and hope it's the same as what I had! I think prices range about $25 for an entree, and the entrees don't come with sides (very standard in SF), which I think are around the $8 to $12 range. Might try to make a reservation in advance, and I don't remember exactly where it is (somewhere in downtown / Financial District) so I'd ask the concierge the best way to get there if you go.
If you like pizza, Little Star at Valencia 15th (I think - it could be 14th) is one of the best places in the city for pizza. They do Chicago style deep dish and they do thin crust as well.
If you like ice cream, the three best known shops are Bi-Rite (18th and Dolores in the Mission), which could be accessed via the 16th and Mission BART stop; Humphry Slocombe (also in the Mission - you'd take the 24th and Mission BART stop and then go to 24th and Harrison - I would probably not go after dark as the Inner Mission can be kind of sketch); and Mitchell's Ice Cream (29th and Guerrero). Bi-Rite is known for their salted caramel; Humphry Slocombe is known for their bourbon and cornflakes ice cream... can't remember the flavor name off the top of my head since I don't like bourbon at all so I wasn't a fan)... all are good.
If you want to wait in a ridiculous line and be a hipster, Tartine Bakery is uber-popular for breakfast. I believe their sweet rolls are the highlight; I'd ask the people working there what they recommend as it can be hit and miss. It's at 18th and Guerrero and could be accessed via the 16th and Mission BART stop.
Firefly in Noe Valley is a popular little restaurant; Foreign Cinema in the Mission is also popular. Haven't been to either but people rave about them.
And if you want a good burger and fries and a shake, Gott's in the Ferry Building (so near the Embarcadero BART stop) is fabulous.
Also, if you are here on a Saturday morning, you should head down to the Ferry Building and check out the Farmer's Market. You can wander the stalls and just nosh on free samples and it's considered one of the best Farmer's Markets in the US.
And if you're a coffee person (I am not), find your nearest Blue Bottle and get some of their coffee - every SF person who drinks coffee raves. Philz is also a popular one, but I think Blue Bottle holds the trump card.
Those are all the suggestions I have for now... will post more if I think of them. When are you coming down here? If it's real soon you may have difficulty getting in to some of the above mentioned restaurants, but if you have more than a week or two before your trip you should be able to get into most all of them, except maybe Gary Danko and obviously French Laundry.
Bon appetit!
NP - if anyone gets back to me with bar recs, I'll let you know. Most the places I tend to drink are far from your hotel because I don't live in that neighborhood (I live in the Mission / Noe area, which is why my recommendations are slightly skewed to those neighborhoods).
One bar that is close by and could be kind of fun for you and DH, but not for before the game, is Top of the Mark. It's totally touristy but the views are fabulous and it's only a few blocks from the Fairmont. Go before 9:00 PM and there's no cover - a great place to go and grab a drink and a dessert (they have a jazz band play and it's totally all old people, but every once in a very-long-while DH and I like to change it up and go there).