One Day In San Fransisco

[Patrick R]

So my sister's getting married in California in April, about a two hour drive from San Francisco where we're flying in and out. The way our flights are scheduled, we have one day in San Francisco. I'd like to think we can pull off a real

sort of 24 hour period, but the truth is we're probably just going to want to walk around, eat at some places that are cool but not too expensive (since we're spending all our money getting there), and maybe go do one or two genuinely cool touristy things.

 

Any advice from Bay Area Thumbs? Or Thumbs familiar with the Bay Area?

[melmer]

Get the tour bus

I'm pretty sure this is the one we got

https://www.city-sightseeing.us/index.html

They're jump on and jump off so really good way to see the city and also get around. Best tour we did was the one over to muir woods across the bridge and through Sausalito (we just got straight on the bus back, had to wait maybe 30mins)

I know you're there for only a day and I'm telling you to leave the city but I'd say that was one of the best things we did.

We were there for a week and we didn't even get to go to the south of the city :/ lot to see and do but no real stand out MUST DO'S come to mind.

Someone who lives there can tell you the best place to eat. Everywhere we ate was really good but again no real stand outs.

Make reservations for your lunch and dinner when you decide just incase through opentable. You can alway cancel (or not turn up).

Use uber, don't waste your day pounding the pavement.

I honestly think the tour bus is the way to go, you'll see next to nothing of the city otherwise. I used to be a snob about tour buses but now I've seen the light

[jennegatron]

Public transit is really strong in the city also. If you have any museums or things you want to go to, make sure to double check they're open, as we had an extra day in the city and every museum we tried to go to was closed because it was Monday.

We went to the Disney museum in the Presidio, and it was great!

[sclpls]

If you're just interested in walking around I think Golden Gate park is a good call. You can do the DeYoung museum, which is a decent enough art museum, but even if you're not interested in art, it's worth finding the elevator to the top floor where you get a spectacular panorama view of the city. I believe you can go there without admission into the museum itself, but its been awhile so I could be misremembering that.

 

Eating well is extremely easy. Avoid newer restaurants because they have more expensive commercial leases, and the price of entrees reflect that. I generally steer visitors towards Burmese restaurants because that isn't a cuisine you really see in other American cities. The Bay Area also has a lot of Filipino restaurants which are great for adventurous eaters, but I've found a lot of Americans get weirded out by it. Burmese food more closely resembles Thai so people are generally more familiar with it, but do try the specialty dishes like tea leaf salad, and samusa soup. Burma Super Star in the Richmond is probably the most well known one, but their nearby sister restaurant B-Star cafe is just as good, and slightly more affordable and has shorter lines.

 

Other good cheap dining options would include taquerias in the Mission.

 

If you're up around the piers I think the Exploratorium is a pretty cool museum.

[tabacco]

Where's the wedding? Up north?

 

If you'll have a rental car and are interested in redwoods, I'd strongly encourage you to check out the Armstrong state reserve. It's at least as majestic as muir woods, but is infinitely less crowded. It's further away, but you can have a nice drive home down highway 1 south and do some other cool stuff along the way:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

 

If you want a nice photo-friendly view of the golden gate, I'd suggest hitting up Crissy Field. It's easy to walk to (or otherwise get to) and isn't as crowded as the official bridge overlooks:

http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/crissy-field.html

 

For real, please don't bother with Fisherman's Wharf.

[Patrick R]

Other good cheap dining options would include taquerias in the Mission.

!!!! I forgot that San Fransisco is famous for it's burritos (at least, that's what years of listening to JJGO has taught me)! I will definitely need to eat a San Fransisco burrito while I'm there. Are there any specific places that are known for having the best burritos or is it just a city-style sort of thing? Or is it a fictional thing invented by Jesse Thorn because he pines eternal to live back in SG again?

 

For real, please don't bother with Fisherman's Wharf.

 

My parents are very excited about Fisherman's Wharf, so I will live it vicariously through the dozens of pictures my mom will take.

[jennegatron]

Tabacco told me about Armstrong and my parents loved it.
I liked Fisherman's wharf for what it was: A tourist trap with tacky stores and lots of seagulls.

[juv3nal]

It can be time consuming, and it is not particularly cheap, but if your schedule allows it and you like souffles, maybe consider Cafe Jacqueline. It's kinda an institutions and, well not to be rude about it, but Jacqueline isn't getting any younger.

[sclpls]

!!!! I forgot that San Fransisco is famous for it's burritos (at least, that's what years of listening to JJGO has taught me)! I will definitely need to eat a San Fransisco burrito while I'm there. Are there any specific places that are known for having the best burritos or is it just a city-style sort of thing? Or is it a fictional thing invented by Jesse Thorn because he pines eternal to live back in SG again?

 

 

My parents are very excited about Fisherman's Wharf, so I will live it vicariously through the dozens of pictures my mom will take.

 

Haha no SF burritos are a real thing (although people from San Diego will insist the burritos there are better, and I'm afraid they are probably right, but aside from there SF burritos really are the best in the country). Declaring which one is the best is a sure way to spark up an intense internet argument, so I'll just throw in a couple of names that regularly get cited. I think they're all really good, so I don't think you can really go wrong. In no particular order:

 

Taqueria Cancun

El Farolito

Taqueria Los Coyotes

La Taqueria

El Metate

Taqueria San Francisco

Taqueria Vallarta

 

Some people will also insist on including Papalote on this list, but you should ignore them!

[tabacco]

Nah I think those are in order.

[itsamoose]

Haha no SF burritos are a real thing (although people from San Diego will insist the burritos there are better, and I'm afraid they are probably right, but aside from there SF burritos really are the best in the country).

 

I hear this all the time living in San Diego.  There are even a couple places people claim you can't get into unless you get there by at least 11 AM.  On the other hand, everyone down here says San Francisco has the best asian food in the states, so if you're into sushi, korean barbeque or anything like that I'd say give that a go.

[TheLastBaron]

That's interesting, because up here I hear the best Asian food is in LA.

[sclpls]

Yeah I think LA (and Seattle) have better Asian food overall. SF's Japanese and Vietnamese food is thoroughly mediocre. You can get great Chinese food, but you need to know where to go because there are a lot of bad spots.

 

To be fair though, if you extend the scope outside of San Francisco proper into the South Bay the situation looks much better.

[Mike Danger]

The two San Francisco restaurants I fantasize the most about returning to (I used to live in the area) are San Tung in the Inner Sunset for chicken wings and Rhea's in the Mission for sandwiches. You can hit Rhea's for a sandwich and then walk a few blocks to Humphry Slocombe for ice cream, too.

[melmer]

So definitely getting the tour bus then. Cool

[Patrick R]

So we've started looking for lodging (16% hotel tax! Thanks SF!) and are wondering if anyone has recommendations. What we're looking for is somewhere relatively inexpensive, in a neighborhood where we'd be able to get San Francisco International Airport by public transportation. We're looking at some hostels, but aren't sure of the neighborhoods, and if there's any places we should avoid staying.

 

We're looking for somewhere under $150 for a night, if at all possible.

[xchen]

You check airbnb?

[Patrick R]

Got a good rate at The Mosser.

 

Last minute bump. This happens this Sunday! We're looking for some sort of event to attend and nothing playing at the Castro really strikes our interest.

[Patrick R]

So, we've compiled a list of various possibilities and their addresses. Is there a way, on Google Maps or elsewhere, to just enter a bunch of addresses and have them populate a map, so we can plan our day? We don't actually know where anything is in relation to each other.

 

EDIT: The answer is "Yes, save the addresses as "Favorites". Helpful!

[tabacco]

Can you share the map? I'm curious

[Spenny]

Last I checked Google didn't have a way to let you share your starred (favourited?) locations, which is a real bummer.

[Patrick R]

Can you share the map? I'm curious

 

 

Last I checked Google didn't have a way to let you share your starred (favourited?) locations, which is a real bummer.

 

And, as far as I can tell, you can't give tags or names to your stars, so figuring out our plan of action has involved a lot of clicking back and forth between tabs, so we can figure out what address matches what location. Not only that, but at some point it only started showing about four stars on the map and I have no idea how to get them all to show back up again, other than deleting and re-entering all the addresses. Google Maps always did feel finicky and weird to me.

 

BUT, I can say our list of potential places includes:

 

DeYoung Museum

B Star Cafe

Crissy Field

Rhea’s Deli and Market

Humphrey Slocombe

Punchline Comedy Club

Dear Mom

Festa Lounge

Bottom of the Hill

The Thirsty Bear

Fisherman's Wharf?? (Really wasn't planning on it but my partner found out there are sea lions there and wants to see the sea lions)

 

Taqueria Cancun

Taqueria El Farolito

Taqueria Los Coyotes

La Taqueria

El Metate'

Taqueria San Fransisco

Taqueria Vallarta

 

Also, a walk down Castro street (is there a particular stretch worth seeing?) and a ride on a cable car.

 

[jennegatron]

I know people don't like fisherman's wharf (it really is just a cheesy tourist trap) but you can get in, see the sea lions and then get out and go somewhere better in like an hour. Plus you can say you've been there and never go back. There is an aquarium down there that we didn't get a chance to go in, but was something we were interested in.

[Patrick R]

I know people don't like fisherman's wharf (it really is just a cheesy tourist trap) but you can get in, see the sea lions and then get out and go somewhere better in like an hour. Plus you can say you've been there and never go back. There is an aquarium down there that we didn't get a chance to go in, but was something we were interested in.

 

Considering we are getting into the city around 3-4PM and leaving for the airport fairly early the next day, an hour is actually a significant amount of time, especially since it's not anywhere near anything else we want to see. But maybe!

[tabacco]

Considering we are getting into the city around 3-4PM and leaving for the airport fairly early the next day, an hour is actually a significant amount of time, especially since it's not anywhere near anything else we want to see. But maybe!

 

It's not too far from Crissy Field Parking can be really bad, though, if you're driving.

 

Speaking of which, if you're driving a rental car, make really really sure you don't leave anything you care about visible in the car. Car breakins are through the roof in that area because so many tourists leave electronics and things in rental cars.