Dining Out in SF with My Family

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

NOPA. Good luck with the reservations though…

Went to AQ tonight. DAMN! That was good, but doesn’t fit your criteria.

22

Would be fine with $35-50 or so per person before alcohol. I’m looking for solid, just not Gary Danko, etc.

23

just remember that in SF a $35 food cost is really $50 in final bill after taxes, health care charges and tip.

24

Maybe, but many restaurants are going tip + health already included. I will be going to Trestle next week. I have been very fond of Cotogna as well, though it is casual (the very expensive Quince is the sister restaurant next door) and prices have inched up. I’ve had it with Chow; I just got so weary of offerings that never really change, and the food isn’t special in any way,IMO.

25

Tom, you’d all be stuffed to the gills at Chow (even your teens) at that price point. [cheers.gif]

Knowing that you’re in that price/person range opens up a lot. If you’re looking for lively ambience, solid food and a possible celebrity chef sighting, I’d also suggest Wayfare Tavern (Tyler Florence’s place) in the Financial District a couple blocks from the Transamerica Pyramid.

26

in sausalito, le garage is fantastic for bistro dining right along the sailboats. fantastic food- very reasonably priced.
plaj has exceptional scandinavian food and can easily work within your budget.
spruce and benu are even better than Gary Danko’s (which i find both overrated and overpriced) for fine dining but that is above the price point, although you will save money on the selections below and might want to splurge
piccino’s is a great italian joint that has some good beers, interesting wines and is just a laid back vibe.
delfina is THE best italian place in the city- pizzas, pastas, they are amongst the best italian joints in the country and definitely in the price point range you are seeking
incanto is chris cosentino’s masterpiece- he uses the whole animal and he makes everything taste fantastic- can easily be done for $50/person
love four barrel’s coffee
mr and mrs miscellaneous has the city’s best ice cream, bar none
foreign cinema or plow for brunch

27

Hey Tom - Just had dinner Monday at Kokkari. While you could probably get out for $50, it could go up if everyone has big main dishes. We managed to meet that $ pt. and loved it…again. It’s one of those somewhat forgotten SF institutions (mostly among the foodie folks looking for the new stuff). The place got crowded for a Mon. Beautiful room, very good service and the food was really good. $20 corkage. And parking there was not a problem. There was this giant porchetta type roast in the rotisserie. I recommend it. The menu is on their website. Btw-the weather in SF the past week was so nice.

28

What is health care charges?

29

I see a lot of restaurants mention this on their websites.
I think it is 4.5%, but I could be wrong.

30

Incanto closed in February or March of 2014. Chris Cosentino has another restaurant in a different location called Cockscomb, and also has a “tasty pig parts” brand called Boccalone, which is in the Ferry Building. Delfina was my favorite restaurant for a decade; they now also run four Pizzareas, and have another restaurant called Locanda. My heart has been stolen by Cotogna, and the tarrif is almost identical (with pastas costing about $20.00 and entrees close to $30.00), but I believe the pastas are better (7 on offer) and their sformato brings tears to my eyes!

31

You can do OK at Slanted Door for around $50/person for a family. Very good food, fun location right on the Bay. It’s my family’s favorite dinner destination.

32

Most Berserker response of the whole thread! [thumbs-up.gif]

33

I don’t know why you would post that Todd, as it is in no way a part of his budget. Out of towner’s sure do like them some Slanted Door! It is quite loud, and get ready for Gruner and Riesling because their wine list is geared to be good pairings for the food. And if you should want to bring wine you had better check on corkage it was $25.00 a number of years ago. For the money that this restaurant charges there are umpteen better choices.

34

Slanted door does tend to bring out some disagreement. I mentioned it for exactly the reason you said: it’s a great place to go as a family, particularly from out of town, and experience San Francisco by the bay. Love their BTG wine list (I’m a Riesling/Gruner fan, so it suits me well). It’s a fun place for a family, good food, maybe they get a bit of a premium because of the location and reputation, but I guarantee the teenagers will love it a lot more than almost any fine dining place we could send them. Heck, they’d probably rather go to Gott’s next door and have a good burger and fries.

35

from the perspective of a sorta foodie tourist, i couldn’t agree more on both sd and gott’s

36

I will never go back. Back when it was in the original location, I thought it was great (though a bit of a dicey place to park). I went a couple of years ago to the Ferry Building location, and have not one good thing to say about it. The food was average, the service rather rude, and the rest room/handwashing situation is disgusting.This is not a place to take kids if you want them to learn or assume any kind of dining out manners.

37

I mostly agree with Alan. The setting is pretty awesome, and if I were a teenager I’d think Slanted Door was just about the coolest restaurant in the city. The food is still pretty good too, and they have the right wine list for the cuisine.

But I probably won’t be going back anytime soon. It’s a borderline tourist spot now, especially in the summer. It’s always been packed, but fewer and fewer of the diners are locals. It used to be a hot place to get drinks or a late dinner after work among the financial district crowd, but not so much anymore. For one thing, for whatever reason, it used to be easier to eat at the bar. Coincidentally, my wife is in SF right now for work and tried to get in with some of her colleagues last night to sit at the bar (before 7pm!) and were told it would be at least an hour and a half [how do they even come up with that estimate?].

I also think Alan might legitimately be on to something with Gott’s. Obviously, there are lots of places you can get a delicious burger and fries, but on a nice night grabbing a burger and fries at the Ferry Building and sitting on the waterfront behind it is actually a pretty damn good idea for a great San Francisco evening. Especially if you then walked up to Pier 23 afterwards for some live music.

OR just go to Pier 23 for dinner. I can’t believe I didn’t mention it earlier. GREAT food, outdoor seating on the water, super casual.

38

Thanks again to everyone. I think we may actually do Gott’s for lunch. Always loved this in St. Helena. Will be deciding on the dinner location shortly.

39

Which was exactly my point!

An oft-repeated pattern here at WineBerserkers is that someone starts a thread with a post outlining a specific question/criteria, soliciting suggestions or help. Inevitably, a suggestion that is completely outside the criteria given by the original poster gets posted. I thought the Gary Danko recommendation was in keeping with this fine Berserker tradition.


OP: “I’m looking for an inexpensive, but very good bottle of red wine, not too difficult to source, for my boss, who loves new world Cabernet. I’m looking to spend up to $50.”

“helpful” Berserker response: “How about a bottle of '78 Faiveley Musigny? That would impress your boss for sure!” [wow.gif]

40

My apology Todd as I can see now you didn’t post that!