Black Swan Green I just read, is good, and much lighter than my previous suggestion. Cloud Atlas, by the same author, might be better, but I haven't read it.
Punch a drunk at a concert. You'll never forget it.
Would you enjoy the Exploratorium? It's an interactive science museum, and even though I hate science and children, I've had fun there. I've forgotten the name of the special section they have there--it's pitchblack, and you navigate it by touch, smell, and even taste--but you need to reserve in advance to get in, which I've never done because I'm lazy, but I hear it's worth doing.
The natural science museum is, I think, closed for repairs, but the Asian Art museum has reopened in a very pretty new space, and the collection is great. I'm a bit jaded on the De Young Museum in the Palace of the Legion of Honor, but I suspect that has mostly to do with Rodin fatigue. SFMOMA, which is also located more centrally than these other ones, is worth a three to four hour visit.
AT&T Ballpark (S.F. Giants) is one of the nicest stadiums in the country. Catch a ballgame.
Read The Keep by Jennifer Egan. You will be able to finish it on the plane ride from the east coast to the west, and it will blow your mind.
Yeah, I just finished Saturday myself, and thought the same thing. Hardly in the same league as Atonement.
Second the recommendation for the Exploratorium. Also fun: play hackey-sack with hippies in Golden Gate Park.
You should catch a service at the Church of Saint John Coltrane. Seriously; I've done it and it's divinely bizarre.
If you are a jogger, I suggest running from Crissy Field up to the Golden Gate Bridge, across the bridge to the parking area on the other side and back. Good workout. Stunning views.
More sedately, take the ferry to Sausilito and back (more for the views than the touristy shops, unless you like that sort of thing).
Middle ground (particularly if you are with other people): pack a picnic lunch and take the ferry to Angel Island (in the middle of the bay) for a picnic and hiking/bike riding.
However, remember that summer is the cold season in San Francisco, so pack a sweater.
Some think I Capture the Castle verges on Chick Lit, but it is exceedingly funny. Naipal's Among the Believers is magnificent non-fiction. Also good: Liebling's Telephone Booth Indian.
As for SF: Do not go to Alcatraz.
Have breakfast at Boulette's Larder then walk around the Ferry market. The breakfast is incredible (though so is everything there). The only bad part is I wanted to buy a lot of stuff to cook with that would be a wee bit difficult to get back on a plane.
Cloud Atlas is my rec. Also extremely good yet still light enough for travel are The Education of Arnold Hitler or Insect Dreams by Marc Estrin. If you haven't read The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shtenyngart, do yourself the favor. I started Absurdistan but haven't finished.
As for the de Young Museum, Jackmormon also thinks marshmallows are terrible, so.
Also in SF: best bear fucking in the US.
Absurdistan is very fine, and I'm glad to hear that the RDHB comes recommended by Armsmasher.
Go up Columbus to City Lights bookstore, buy some beat literature (or suit your tastes), go across or up the street to one of many actually Italian cafes with actual Italians speaking actual Italian, reading actual Italian newspapers and, most important, drinking actual Italian espressos.
Go to Bullock & Jones, now on Post Street near Union Square, and buy some neckties. They have the best ties.
If you're there on a Tuesday, then yes, go to the market at the Ferry building.
If you go out to eat on a TWR, try here---though really, it's hard to go wrong with SF restaurants.
Also, yes to everything involving Golden Gate Park, incl. the De Young, which has some really neat Petos and other trompe l'oeil.
Be sure to eat a non-euphemistic burrito.
Ooh here's a thought -- I bet if you swing by Ghirardelli Center you will be able to take in a mime performance.
Also, a nice piece of SF-related airplane reading: Glen Gold, Carter Beats the Devil.
City Lights bookstore
Yeah, a good place, and if you don't feel Italian, the very good Afghan restaurant, The Helmand (run by Hamid Karzai's brother, for trivia), is half a block up the hill. And even if you don't go there, walk by it, take a left, go up the hill and you'll have an unbelievable view of the Bay Bridge and the city.
The de Young museum also has some really kick-ass views. I may be entirely wrong about the Rodin-dominance, so don't listen to me. My parents are raving about the architecture of that museum's new wing, and they usually turn their Arts-n'-Crafts-loving noses up at modern architecture, when they bother to notice it.
I second the recommendation for the City Lights bookstore. Also, about three blocks down, there's an amazing, well-known, and very cheap Hunan restaurant, whose name I always forget.
there's an amazing, well-known, and very cheap Hunan restaurant
This is the one where they shout at you from behind the counter, telling you what you're supposed to order?
El Farolito in the Mission for burritos -- you'll max out your caloric intake for the week. A little further south is Mitchell's, for ice cream (the best flavours are macapuno (coconut jelly) and canteloupe). And if you happen to be in Berkeley go to Vik's on University for the best chaat ever. Actually, go to Berkeley -- it's worth the trip just for Vik's.
Aaa, now I'm all homesick and shit.
City Lights is great! And near there is the original Tower Records, which always was a favorite record store of mine -- haven't been back there in many years though, it may have been subsumed by its franchise as was the original Nathan's Hot Dogs in Coney Island.
near there is the original Tower Records
Nooooo. That's in Sacramento.
When I visited SF and NY for conventions in the last few years, I was so overwhelmed with the number of things I might do, without being sure of how much time they would take or how much they might cost, that I gave up searching for "bests" and simply wandered out onto the street, to see what I might see, going into places to eat, etc. because they were there.
23--The one I remember was sit-down, but no, the waitstaff wasn't very polite. The food was damned good, though. Hunan is my favorite Chinese cuisine, and it all sucks in my price range in NYC.
If you get over to Berkeley, you'll want to check out the used bookstores and record shops. Telegraph is a decent one-stop address for those (for now). Also, lunch upstairs at Chez Panisse is actually within the realm of affordable, at about $25-30 per person, as opposed to downstairs' $100-150 per person, or whatever it is.
22,23: The restaurant is House of Nanking, at the intersection of Columbus and Kearney. If the chef is your waiter and he is displeased with how you order, he will take away the menus and just start bringing you food. But be warned, he brings you the most expensive food unless you tell him specifically you don't want fish. Food's great though. He took my menu away once (because I asked about brown rice) and I said, "But I'm a vegetarian!" And he looked at me snidely and said, "I know." Classic. Now whenever I go with a group we just tell him how many veg and how many meat eaters we have and he takes care of the rest.
I third the recommendation for the Exploratorium.
Also, while I generally suggest staying away from Fisherman's Wharf at all cost, there's a place there (at the end of Taylor St) called the Musée Mécanique that is a repository for old penny arcade animatronic fortune telling goodness. And they all still work. It's a bizarre slice of old-timey offensive Americana and one of my favorite places in the city.
For burritos, forget what everyone else tells you and go to Taqueria Can-Cún at 19th and Mission. Everything else pales in comparison.
The Gee's Bend quilts exhibit is on now at the deYoung, which is cool, and Matthew Barney films are playing at MoMA, which are deranged.
House of Nanking, at the intersection of Columbus and Kearney
Yes, that's the one I was thinking of.
House of Nanking is the Hunan restaurant. It has excellent white person chinese food. It tastes way better than the authentic places.
Also, If you go to the mission area, Limon and Delphina are real good. The 16th street area in the mission has gotten really crowded with people at night, but mission street is still as sketchy as ever.
Oh, the Musée Méchanique is awesome! Isn't that next to the remains of the giant seaside Art Deco pool that got washed away to sea in the earthquake?
The de Young museum also has some really kick-ass views. I may be entirely wrong about the Rodin-dominance, so don't listen to me.
Right idea, wrong museum. You're thinking of the Legion of Honor, way out in the Outer Richmond. The (newly rebuilt) de Young is in Golden Gate Park; the only view you'll get there is of the empty bandshell (although the Japanese Tea Garden next door is a nifty place to wander around).
While dinner upstairs at Chez Panisse is indeed affordable, you can have much better meals elsewhere in the Bay Area for the same amount of money. I'd eaten at the cafe several times and never understood what the fuss was about the place... then I went to the downstairs.
This is a much more down-market and old-SF recommendation than the others, but if you're in or around Union Square, go to David's for lunch. The service is uneven, but it's a totally unrenovated (or was last time I was there) 70s era deli. And their pastries are great in a completely untrendy way. Have the beehive.
Telegraph is a decent one-stop address for those (for now).
You heard that Cody's shut down the Telegraph store, right?
Yes, to City Lights, followed by a House Capuccino at Tosca across the street. If that's too sweet for you (it's brandy and cocoa, essentially and the name is a throwback to when Prohibition ruled), go to Specs, next door. GREAT fun bar. Or you can go to Vesuvio's next door to City Lights, have a beer and feel generally under-read. Then go to Tommaso's (Kearney @ Broadway) for a pizza. I also second Helmand's, if you're not in the mood for Chinese or Italian.
If you're in that neighborhood and looking for a view, walk up to Coit Tower. Great experience.
OT a bit, what strikes me about these bars in North Beach is that you can actually HEAR each other. I find myself frustrated at bars where it's too loud to talk - is this the effect of age or my unwillingness to learn ASL?
you can go to Vesuvio's next door to City Lights
And iirc, they open at 6AM, too, bless 'em.
A little further south is Mitchell's, for ice cream
Not to be confused with Mitchell Brothers, for... something else entirely.
36: Yeah, Cody's is gone but Moe's is so much more awesome anyway.
Oh, and this place is new and I'm going there on Friday when I'm back for my own visit - Farmer Brown. Neo-soul. Everyone I know who's been has raved about it.
Oh, and I read this recently and really enjoyed it: Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett. Apparently her earlier book, Jenny and the Jaws of Life is quite good - David Sedaris is a big fan of hers and wrote the foreword when it was re-released. She's just silly.
Yeah, I'd heard about Cody's. It sounds like they kinda screwed up their attempt at expansion, frankly. I miss Moe. He used to tyrannize me when I was a kid.
Also, since Labs is decorating a home, the print shop on Telegraph is where I got the awesome "Is Your Washroom Breeding Bolcheviks?" print that's hung on the bathroom door in every apartment I've lived in. (It's an ad for ScotTissue Towels.)
44 -- She recently (yesterday) returned from a week in the internetless wilds of Kansas.
As to reading on planes, I can understand why most people want engaging but not too heavy reading, but I go the other way. I'll carry an important, perhaps difficult book I've been meaning to read, because I know I'll have no choice but to read it. This hasn't always worked, I've sometimes had to give up and look at the wretched airline magazines, but it works surprisingly often.
41: I could never *find* anything at Moe's. Not in the "oh, they don't have any books I want to buy" sense, but in the "afaict there is no organization whatsoever to the stacks here" sense. Much like the Strand.
For a lovely day: Head out to the Richmond (the neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park). The main drag is Clement Street. Eat lunch (or dinner, but the waits can be horrendous) at Burma Superstar (Clement between 4th and 5th) where you'll want to be sure to order the Tea Leaf Salad. Cross the street and walk a couple blocks up to Green Apple Bookshop, the best used bookstore in the city. Quench your thirst with a bubble tea at any one of the many sweet shops. Or, if you find yourself hungry again, stop in at the dim sum shops on the south side of the street. Hargow (shrimp dumplings with green onions) sell four for about $2.
If it's a sunny day, go further west and take a dip at Baker's Beach, San Francisco's clothing optional swimming spot. Or if you prefer porpoises to schlong's (because for some reason most of the people who opt out of their clothing are men) check out China Beach, which feels like your own private stretch of sand.
Cruise into the park for a walk through the Conservatory of Flowers, which has an impressive collection of flesh eating plants. Drink some more tea at the Japanese tea garden. And do hit the deYoung. In fact, the new deYoung has a kick ass observation tower with incredible views of the city -- and the design of the museum is incredible.
Finish your day in the Richmond with dinner at The Richmond (615 Balboa), a lovely new restaurant that locals are raving about on Chowhound. I went last month -- and it was one of the nicest, fanciest meals I've had without forcing me to eat beans and rice for months afterwards.
For a lovely day: Head out to the Richmond (the neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park). The main drag is Clement Street. Eat lunch (or dinner, but the waits can be horrendous) at Burma Superstar (Clement between 4th and 5th) where you'll want to be sure to order the Tea Leaf Salad. Cross the street and walk a couple blocks up to Green Apple Bookshop, the best used bookstore in the city. Quench your thirst with a bubble tea at any one of the many sweet shops. Or, if you find yourself hungry again, stop in at the dim sum shops on the south side of the street. Hargow (shrimp dumplings with green onions) sell four for about $2.
If it's a sunny day, go further west and take a dip at Baker's Beach, San Francisco's clothing optional swimming spot. Or if you prefer porpoises to schlong's (because for some reason most of the people who opt out of their clothing are men) check out China Beach, which feels like your own private stretch of sand.
Cruise into the park for a walk through the Conservatory of Flowers, which has an impressive collection of flesh eating plants. Drink some more tea at the Japanese tea garden. And do hit the deYoung. In fact, the new deYoung has a kick ass observation tower with incredible views of the city -- and the design of the museum is incredible.
Finish your day in the Richmond with dinner at The Richmond (615 Balboa), a lovely new restaurant that locals are raving about on Chowhound. I went last month -- and it was one of the nicest, fanciest meals I've had without forcing me to eat beans and rice for months afterwards.
Blasphemer! I've been incredibly disappointed in the Strand; it seems to have only hardback review books that nobody ever ever wanted. Moe's, on the other hand, has a lot of academic press paperbacks and delightful old treasures.
Here's the thing, though. If your bookstore's main appeal is finding immediately that book a customer was looking for, you're going DOWN in the face of the Amazon juggernaut.
I loved wandering around Valencia Street in the Mission. There was a great samosas and ice cream place that Ben recommended and I heartily second his endorsement and my favorite taxidermy store evah.
Next to your fave taxidermy store? The best pirate supply store in California. Plus you can get lard by the handful there.
Hmmm, too much!
Relatively new to the site, so I am not sure what your tastes are, but some random recommendations:
Indian: For chaat, Vik's in Berkeley is definitely a classic. For upscale South Indian food, Dhosa on Valencia is the new place.
Burritos: Second Can-cun, for sure. Their salsa verde is divine (but note that burrito preference is a religious thing in San Francisco, so if you are with natives, I recommend that you don't insist on any specific place, lest you be burnt like a heretic).
Bookstores: Green Apple is great, but there's a confluence of an SF/horror place, a lefty place , and an OK used place at the corner of 20th and Valencia (Borderlands, Modern Times, and Dog-Eared, repsectively).
Events (parties, performances, etc): check out the Squid List (http://laughingsquid.com/squidlist/events/). Everything that's moderately interesting in SF gets posted there, pretty much.
Depending on when you're here, I'd definitely recommend Writers with Drinks, which is authors reading in a bar (I've seen some really good stuff).
I'm sure there's other stuff, but it depends on when you;re here.
51: I figured I'd get some flak for my opinion of Moe's. I always wanted to like the place more than I did. Same thing with Cody's, actually; the selection of stuff I was looking for was always really skimpy. The one on 4th Street is even worse.
If your bookstore's main appeal is finding immediately that book a customer was looking for, you're going DOWN in the face of the Amazon juggernaut.
Ironically, this is why I generally don't buy from Amazon; when I want a book, I want it nownownow, dammit. I don't wanna wait for it to get shipped to me.
Threadjack!
Has anyone ever had a red bean cake, and are they good to eat? Are they like dessert?
I've never been to SF, and I can't recommend any books unless you want to read philosophy. But have fun!
Squidlist is very cool, but note that it generally lists the stuff that's a little too weird for the local paper.
What kind of red bean cake? I was just eating some Japanese waffle-y cakes the other day that had red bean paste on them and they were about halfway in between snack and dessert but would have passed okay in either context. Tasty.
50: Clement Street, my old home! Green Apple Books really is the best. And if the line at Burma S is too long, go to PPQ on Clement and 24th for the awesomest Vietnamese crab and garlic noodles. And go to Toy Boat for banana ice cream shakes.
Has anyone ever had a red bean cake, and are they good to eat? Are they like dessert?
Yes. No. Yes.
But hundreds of millions of asians might disagree with my second answer.
(My daughter however did not like them so don't take it like my opinion is universal or anything. She has a curious aversion to toppings.)
These ones I saw in the shop were little rice balls with the red beans mixed in.
Oh -- those ones are very good. (I kinda liked the waffle ones though, which were new to me and shaped like fish.)
I went to a wedding that gave out little red bean cakes as favors and they were so yummy that everyone kept trying to steal other people's cakes. So it may depend on the cake.
And why didn't I get all of these cool recommendations about San Francisco?
I'm with Idealist: I think red bean filling's the dessert equivalent of natto. (I find them both vile but millions of Asians might disagree.)
BTW, for food recommendations, you can't beat Chowhound.
64 -- you're not as popular as Labs. Deal.
64: More importantly, why were you interested in a meetup, while Labs clearly isn't?
Where is your "going to San Francisco" post, Becks? Note: I'm only goiing to look at the post so that I can find some way to blame you for not getting as many responses.
As I remember it, you didn't ask for recommendations, Becks.
Here's the post, which doesn't ask for recommendations, but of course I wanted recommendations. Read my mind, people!
Go up Columbus to City Lights bookstore, buy some beat literature (or suit your tastes)
Yes, how about The Subterraneans, it's all about drunkeness and love in San Francisco. If you're into music, you'll have to visit Amoeba Music. It's pretty much the biggest and best used record and CD shop in the US, and possibly in the world.
62: I generally like red bean concoctions, but mostly in baozi (and I prefer lotus paste filling to red bean). If what you're describing is mochi, then I like most versions of it, but there are other things like it that I haven't had or don't like, the names of which I don't know.
Take a walk around Land's End, which is west of the Golden Gate Bridge - fabulous views, a good hike if you skid down the hill to the beach. Park at the foot of Geary and wander in. Eat at Louie's diner there for some real old-fashioned, "How are ya, honey?" service and tuna melts. (This advice is a few years out of date, but the whole point of Louie's is that is can never change.)
Damn, I'm homesick too.
Go North. An afternoon trip to Point Reyes is a fine interlude in any SF trip. Bonus: the rouge et noir cheese factory on the Petaluma road -- not to tour, just to stock up.
In town, I kind of like that garlic restaurant in North Beach.
Go to the Haight. Walk around until a nice man walks past you whispering "trips". Discuss in greater detail.
There's a Spats in SF? I know the one in Berkeley right next to Triple Rock. Those are both cool places: funky cocktails in the former and brewpubby brew in the latter. I particularly recommend the Bullfrog Ale (the cask version of Tree Frog) if they have it.
Yeah, it sounds fun. Take me with you, Labs. I'll bring some books.
Oh, here's an idea: Go to Muir Woods, hike up over the ledge and then down towards the sea. Veer north, and you'll end up on Point Reyes beach! Then after lunch, if possible, hitchhike back up to the top of the ledge, and hike back to your car. Really, really beautiful.
Ooh, SPATS! Get the Borneo Fogcutter.
(And I cannot recommend 'that garlic restaurant' in North Beach. Horrifying tourist trap - I actually tried it to see what all the hub-bub was. A thousand better Italian joints in the City. A16? Delfina? Even Pasta Pomodoro is pretty good in comparison.)
And if you're in the Haight, go to Lower Haight and try RNM for tasty bites (charcuterie plate!) and really, REALLY great cocktails.
Also, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
And if you're in the Haight, go to Lower Haight and try RNM for tasty bites (charcuterie plate!) and really, REALLY great cocktails.
And then go to the Toronado and drink your fill of Belgian beer.
Oh, and while I've never been there myself, a bunch of people I know rave about the beignets at Mabel's Just For You Cafe. Plus, not many tourist guides are gonna tell you about Dogpatch.
Wait! I forgot the best part! If you want a drink and it's a nice day, go to Zeitgeist (corner of 16th and Duboce). Biker bar/beer garden. Best bloody marys I've ever had - they make each from scratch, and giant selection of beer. Plus it's family style seating so you make lots of friends while you hang. I've yet to take an out of towner there who doesn't later speak of it in reverent, hushed tones. If you're lucky, the Tamale Lady will make an appearance.
Tamale Lady tamales just don't taste right unless it's past 1 a.m., though.
I was surprised when I was last there by just how much I was not interested in living in San Francisco.
Yeah, I'm with moira. The Stinking Rose, it's called. No good now, if it once was.
Zeitgeist
I think this is where they have the SF "Drinking Liberally." Should be your crowd, Labs.
I didn't think the Stinking Rose was bad, but it wasn't memorable either. I think they have my umbrella.
Hike Mount Tam to look down on the city.
Try some stinky tofu on a weekend at Star Lunch in Chinatown. Oh, I'm sorry, did you ask for fun things to do? Well, I guess it's fun if you're the kind of guy who, for example, fucks the shit out of bears.
Some genuinely fun things:
Climb to the top of Twin Peaks or Mt. Davidson if you don't have time for Mt. Tam
Get a bowl of pho at Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin
For delicious rotisserie or grilled chicken, Goood Frikin' Chicken at 29th and Mission
Tartine Bakery next to Delfina on 18th and Guerrero
Stinson Beach is beautiful; close to Mt. Tam/Muir Woods. And why not rereread Sometimes A Great Notion? Kesey wrote it just before ordination as a high priest of psychedalia.
Squidlist is very cool, but note that it generally lists the stuff that's a little too weird for the local paper.
The SF Weekly is a piece of shit. At any rate it pales in comparison to the Chicago Reader.
I wish I had time/the energy to go into SF and partake of its many delights more often.
Take the Caltrain out to Palo Alto and pretend to be me.
It's funny, isn't it, that 90% of the suggestions are about food and drink?
Lets you know where our priorities are, doesn't it?
I was actually finding it interesting how many of the suggestions were about walking places -- SF is about my favorite city for walking but I didn't realize that preference was shared by many people. I think it's pretty standard that when you say you are going somewhere and ask about things to do there, a sizable majority of the responses will be dining-related.
I know I'm wicked late to the topic, but for travel reading I really don't think you can beat Raymond Chandler. I devoured a book a day on vacation last week. It's mainly just fun noir with lightning-fast dialogue.
Also, I feel like I'm supposed to italicize "noir," but I also feel like that's self-consciously genre-conscious.