A little OT: SF Pelicans: Best things to do in the City?

[motion]

I'll be downtown at the Rennaisance this weekend with the SO. Any ideas on what's interesting? Would like to be within walking distance or a short cab ride... have already done the play/theatre thing... mebbe just bar crawling until 5 AM? What's the best street/area to find the most bars within walking distance?

Any ideas are appreciated!

[juanbenae]

not much of a city dweller, but there is an ax across the bay in alameda on saturday. it is a pca event so many porsches

[motion]

Thanks for the Porsche content, k9 I doubt if she's going to go for that after all the racing crap I've been dragging her to lately. Really looking for something a little more 'romantic'.

[84porsche]

Check out Pier 39 if you haven't already seen it. I went last year and had a blast with good food, drinks. They have a Hard Rock Cafe there also.

[juanbenae]

try this>>>>>>>>> http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/

there are a few different bay cruz deals that would be cool. they can be found through the link i just provided. dinner a boat ride and then what ever comes natural,,, nudge nudge,, wink wink....

one last deal but its all the way in santa cruz is these sail boat ride deals. i actually have two passes for day or evening sail boat rides. they are yours if you want to trek down to santa cruz, via san jose to pick them up from me. they are valued at like $40 each. if im on a boat it better have a motor, and if its at sea i better have a fishing pole, so ive never used them

[Randy Webb]

I used to live in SF - here are some personal notes. I avoid Fishy Wharf like the plague....

Downtown – Financial District
USPS Office Rincon Annex – 180 Stewart St. – WPA murals in lobby were controversial: Sir Francis Drake has hand on entire globe, Commie Flags and Russian explorers, and scenes from Tom Mooney case (false charges over a bombing); Orlovsky worked driving mail truck here and Ferlinghetti helped protect the murals from right-wingers

Red’s Java Hut – the real waterfront experience

TransAmerica Pyramid – virtual observatory in the lobby; figure out a way to get up the bldg….
Vertigo on gnd. floor is a smart café; grove of Santa Cruz redwoods on east side of bldg.

Cable Cars – California-Van Ness terminal has fewer tourists than Powell-Market

Café Claude - shaded outdoor tables, comfort and fancy food. 7 Claude Lane, 392-3505.

Tommy Toy’s, 655 Montgomery, moderate – Tommy acknowledges only Chinese and French as great cuisines – trust the staff

Kuleto's - grilled radicchio. 221 Powell, 397-7720.

New Asia – dim sum – 772 Pacific

Clown Alley – 42 Columbus Ave. – has a new sign after it reopened

Yank Sing – 781-1111 101 Spear St. – Tower 1 Rincon Ctr.

Metal People, the bagpipe player, the Robot Guy, break-dancers, Windup Doll Lady In Union Square area
photo the tourists w/candid camera

Banker's Heart, black marble sculpture – Union Square, Powell at Geary; Banker's Heart (actually, Transcendence, by Masayuki), Bank of America Building, 555 California.

Occidental Grill – 453 Pine St. – martini invented here by “Professor” Jerry Thomas

Jack’s Restaurant – 615 Sacramento St. – Mimosa invented here

Maltese Falcon spots: Geary Theatre (where Joel Cairo takes in a show); John’s Grill (2nd floor is a Maltese Falcon dining room); Hammett once lived at 20 Dashiell Hammett Way (cuts up Nob Hill off Stockton; plaque across street for 1st murder in the book)
Jackson Square – Barbary Coast
find place where woman copulated with a wild boar to amuse the gold miners
Gold St. & Hotaling Place are interesting alleys near Jackson St.

Embarcadero
angular atrium in Hyatt Regency
Equinox -- rooftop revolving bar, very spendy so find their cheapest drink
Civic Center
Asian Art Museum – biggest in the West
Museum of the City of SF – local history
Hans Lilienthal House – 2007 Franklin St. @ Jackson, 441-3000 – Furnished 1886 Victorian Mansion; museum tours

British Motors Showroom – 901 Van Ness – designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1928

949 Market - a 2002 zine by a group of people who squatted an abandoned pool hall in a very public way and created a community center in San Francisco. $2-3 cash to: Lara, 3288 21st St. PMB #79, San Francisco, CA 94110

Ponzu, 401 Taylor, 4-5 blocks N. of Market – might be the best deal in town; cool bathrooms; Asian cooking style using local ingredients

John’s Grill, 63 Ellis St., between Market & Union Square – 1908 steak house was setting for The Maltese Falcon; good crab cakes

[john70t]

also:
-top of the Mark Hopkins hotel for drinks/desert sometimes live music and a view. very classy.
-twin peaks at night has memorable city lights view and chilly
-cliff house and the beach chalet have dining w/ocean views
-pool halls at chaulkers and the Metreon (in SOMA) near the 5th st. parking garage.

All the above are easy parking for a quick stop. Parking is impossible in SF in some places and locals all have their own system. Even brand new cars are covered in door dings and I've seen stereos stolen in the middle of the day on busy streets so choose wisely.

If you do Columbus/North Beach/Broadway(hubba hubba), theres usually parking off of east Broadway/finacial district before 7-9 pm and plenty of things to do with a little walking.

Pier 39 is all family tourists, but neat to do once. To sum it up: find parking, clam chowder in sourdough bowl, walk down pier and look at seals/sovenier shops/ferrys, look at silver robot entertainers, get scared by bushman, smile in the sun, walk back to car with a day gone. There's so much to do in the area, a decade isn't enough time.

PCAR content: you can go to the east bay and check out a couple of scrapyards. Parts Heaven in Hayward, and Easy in Emeryville has sat morning coffee gathering with a few 356s, longhoods etc.

[mikester]

Thang Long - order the Crab (whole) and a plate of Garlic noodles.

Awww yeah that's the stuff!

[MichiganMat]

I vote:
Twin Peaks / Davidson Tower - best view in the city
Mt. Bernal - not a bad view either
Mark Hobkins - Classy joint
Union Square - Shopping galore
Presidio - That entire area is beautiful, an interesting drive

[cantdrv55]

Originally posted by Randy Webb

Red’s Java Hut – the real waterfront experience

This one cracked me up. I used to go there as a kid with my stepdad to hang out with his fellow longshoremen. Great doubledog sandwiches and definite authentic waterfront experience. Word of warning: if you eat outside on the benches, watch out for dive bombing seagulls.

[}{arlequin]

Wow Randy thanks... makes me want to go back there just get some of your list crossed off

[motion]

Thanks guys... this is more than I anticipated.. looks like I have lots to do this weekend!! Really appreciate it.

[emcon5]

There is always the O'Farrell Theater.......

Tom

[}{arlequin]

is that in Castro?

[emcon5]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
is that in Castro?

Nope.

link not safe for work:
http://www.ofarrell.com/

Tom

[motion]

I found myself in the O'Farrell once about 15 years ago... I wasn't the same for months...

[techweenie]

San Francisco is a walking town.

Get yourself to City Lights Books and you can go East to the old Barbary Coast or Northeast to somegreat little neighborhood bistros and shops. walk Southwest to Chinatown. Northwest is Russian Hill...

Don't miss Beach Blanket Babylon.

For something more traditional, check to see who's playing in the Plush Room.

Google is your friend in this research.