There are at least four great spots within literally a stone’s throw of City Lights. Depending on your mood:

A few doors down Columbus Ave, Brandy Ho’s offers some of the best Chinese food in town. Especially recommended is the House Smoked Ham with Whole Cloves of Garlic. A couple of old roommates of mine make the pilgrimage here every time they’re in SF, just for that dish.

Also downhill on Columbus from City Lights is Vesuvio bar and pizza. Classic North Beach spot.

Across Columbus, Tosca Cafe is a unique bar/cafe, where Irish Coffee is the specialty and the jukebox is full of opera and classics.

A couple of doors uphill from Tosca, tucked into little Adler alley, Specs is a hard to find but pretty cool old beat hangout. Worth sticking your head in to sniff the ambience even if you’re not drinkin’.

Too many other great spots around the city to list…..hope you have a great time in my adopted hometown!

and a stop at the Tomb of The Unknown Erect Penis

Welllll, as long as you’re going to the second best phallic symbol on the SF penisula, why not stop here too? This one not only looks more dickish, but because it is the home of the Hoover Institute for Retired War Criminals, it’s actually a dick that’s full of dicks! Ask the receptionist if they have any bags of salted dicks in stock.

Nearly anywhere in SF is sweet, with the possible exception of the Ebarcadero when the tourists are swarming.

Mr Pierce cranked out some dozen early entries that are sure to be making blood boil, and hot holy shit, Batman, can the dude nail it. Welcome, indeed.

Try the Spinnaker in Sausalito…..great view, great food and not horribly expensive by SF standards….besides, whomever ISN’T driving gets to check out sunset while going over the Golden Gate. Try rock/paper/scissors to see who drives…

How pray tell, do you manage to find these wonderful book covers?

Have recently enjoyed several eateries in Hayes Valley: a German bierstubbe style place called Suppenküche (Hayes at Laguna) and one of the La Boulanges (Octavia/Hayes) and The Grove (Hayes/Franklin). Our vegan friends rave about Gracias Madre on Mission but haven’t tried it yet.

Oh, and a cool wine bar/bistro in North Beach called Dell’uva.

This is the weekend of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival out in Golden Gate Park.

http://www.strictlybluegrass.com/

Tbogg, you’d dig it the most!

Oooh, the City. My favorite place in the whole wide world.

Tosca Cafe. Definitely. Look for the ghost of Herb Caen.

Thursday, at the Great American Music Hall, Bill Kirchen, Steve Earle, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Buddy Miller, and a whole buncha people are playing Peace, Love and Twang.

And at Slims, you got the Jayhawks with Carrie Rodriguez opening on Friday. Me, I’d go for the opener and then go do something fun with my Friday night.

And for a little sunbathing in the buff, there’s always Baker Beach in the Golden Gate’s shadow. Of course, I’m not so sure I’d go with my daughter.

Friday/30th, 3:30, Arrow Stage: Southern Culture on the Skids

Charlie Pierce rools.

The Fook or Yank Sing for dim sum, Henry’s Hunan restaurant for spicy Chinese food.

Try the buffalo at Tommys’ Joint, either in a sandwich or as the meat in chili.

If Charlie Pierce is reading this, I tried clicking on “read the rest” (in the top article about Chris Christie’s company manners) and it just brought me to where I already was. After three or four go-rounds (because I learn quickly), I tried the comment link instead and got the same.

Maybe it’s me, but that’s what happened.

ps: I must mention that the second article’s “read the rest” seems to work.

You know it!

The Mekons, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Thurston Moore!

I’ll be out there at 6am to get a prime spot…

The most romantic restaurant in the world, Jardiniere near City Hall and the Opera House; insist on sitting upstairs; single-malt Scotch, and divine food.

For breakfast, if you don’t mind waiting in line for an hour, Mama’s on Washington Square – cranberry orange walnut French toast; Dungeness crab benedict (oh, God, now I’m starting to drool myself…)

Awww, man…I read these comments…I miss civilization…Dayton’s trying but….need too much money to enjoy it too…have a little extra fun for me if you would Mssr. Boggs. Just sitting in a comfortable place with a view and going “Ahhh…” would suffice.

Man, looking at that lineup, there’s something for everybody!

Friday night 9/30 at the Minna St. Gallery is a book release party/street party (FOR FREE) for Chicken John Rinaldi’s new book. TBogg, I guarantee that you’d love the book, and the event will be an epic San Francisco festival of weirdness. Here’s a link with info: http://www.111minnagallery.com/2011/the-book-of-the-is/

A one of a kind event, no kidding.

You absolutely have to eat here. Burmese food!

http://www.burmasuperstar.com/menu.html

Be sure to get the Tea Leaf Salad!

If you spend an evening in the North Beach area (during visit to City Lights) then…

As mentioned above, after the high culture of City Lights consider a mini pub/restaurant crawl. Vesuvio’s is right next door across the alley. Good for a beer to check out the ghosts of the beats. Across the street is Tosca’s. That is good for an Irish coffee. It’s sort of retro cool but with an emphasis on cold (the place actually looks cold). Not my cup of tea.

Next door is the scruffy Spec’s. That’s more my speed. Lots of really cool junk on the walls (it’s a pseudo museum that has an ‘eclectic’ collection with everything from a few humongous mammal bones to a clock from a wrecked Pearl Harbor destroyer to an original poster from the Spanish Civil War). It also has booze. There are also various snarky posters on the walls. It’s interesting to see how the ancient ones accomplished ‘snark’ prior to the invention of the intertubes.

If you are totally adventurous head up to the Saloon on Grant Ave (1.5 blocks away). But you have to cross Broadway which is a pseudo-cesspool and then the Saloon itself is messy and a subset of the clientele can appear scary at first glance (one of the doormen looks like Uncle Sam on crack but he’s actually a nice guy). However they have really great rock/blues every night and especially on Friday/Saturday ($5 bucks entry those nights). The ratio of grungy surroundings to good music is strangely off the charts.

Good Chinese food around the corner at Yuet Lee’s at Broadway and Stockton. Good Italian seafood at Gigi’s Soto Mare on the block of Green Street between Columbus and Grant. Since you have two folks try the Cioppino. Or order a seafood ravioli and another order of some type of fish) and then divvy the orders up between the two of you. Or order the linguini with seafood (red) which is the best value on the menu – sort of a mini cioppino.

Cheers

Ps. Don’t try to edit a comment using this software. It removes all the blank lines and produces a run on paragraph. Yuck.

Ps. When you get to Coit Tower make sure you check out all the WPA murals that wrap around both walls on the ground floor. The view from the top is excellent of course. If you don’t go to the top be warned that the view towards Alcatraz/Golden Gate is obscured by SHRUBBERY. For some reason they’ve let some scrubby trees grow high enough to obstruct the view. I guess someone wants you to pay to go to the top of the tower. However the view back towards the Bay Bridge and financial district is not obstructed.

Several streets in SF are so steep there are no real streets – just stairs. Take the Filbert street steps to get up to Coit Tower (or better take them down from there). Cool little walk. Imagine what they must do to move furniture into these homes. Do they use a helicopter to bring a new fridge?

Ferry Building at foot of Market is overhyped (too many times mentioned in the NYT travel section) but actually good. Try a pork sandwich at Cane Roso and a gelato at Ciao Bella. Consider a ferry to Sausalito from there. Check out the bay like the commuters do.

Sad to admit this, but I’ve never been to San Francisco. Please don’t make me return my DFH card!

But I may just print this excellent “alternative” tour guide of teh awesome restaurants and pubs for future reference, in case I’m ever blessed to visit a city that only the most hypocritical of Christians and Republicans would dare visit and enjoy.

I haz sad.
I haz nobody to go do any of these things with, and doing them by myself iz pretty sad too.

U haz teh best time ever T and Mrs. T and Baby T. Me, I’m with the Dogs.

You are a good husband, man, father and blogger, TBogg. I hope you are a happy man!

Hardly! Strictly! Bluegrass!
My Friday not at all random 4:
Charlie Musslewite
Kriss Kristofferson & Merle Haggard
John Prine
Robert Plant & Band of Joy.

Be sure and plan for not enough buses headed to the park, and don’t count on cabs cause they hate not having a return fare.

Nights crawling around North Beach should definitely include City Lights, Tosca, Vesuvius. Even the beach end of the Park with the beautiful Beach Chalet brew pub rife with WPA murals would be an excellent choice.

I’ll keep my eye peeled for the both of you.

Err, Not so random Five
SCOT’s in between Kris & Merle and Prine!
Sin City!

On a side note, if you are missing dogs and sand, heigh thee to Crissy Fields, it’s crawling with dogs and people.
My old black lab spent his last day on earth swimming until he could swim no more. Then to the vet . . . . .

Damn, you west coast elitists have it *so* good. Burmese food… hippies… penis monuments… all the live music you can eat. We just don’t have that in Vermont (but on the other hand, our idea of rush hour lasts about four minutes and may include moose).

Enjoy, be safe.

you might want to check the calendar at Yoshis too – something there might get your attention. Too many great restaurants to recommend any besides … mmm … Little Joe’s – if you like Italian, that is.

i couldn’t agree more! sadly, my local place (Alameda) just closed recently (T_T)

Regarding the Sausalito recommendations…yeah, that’s nice. So is Spinnaker. You can also, too, take the ferry to Tiburon. Guaymas may not be the best Mexican food possible but its good enough, and it has the huge feature of being right on the water, right next to the ferry. With dead-on views of both Angel Island and San Francisco. And the Angel Island ferry is just a few steps away if you decide you’d like to explore a former Civil War era fort that later became “the Ellis Island of the West”, then a Nike Missile site. Its even possible to backpack there. Or dayhike to some nice views.

Fancy Thai food on the Embarcadero — it’s where Siun and I used to go whenever she came to town when I still lived there. Worth a visit.

If you have a driving day, head up Marin to see the crack in the earth, 105.5 years old: Point Reyes

Tonight is hot in San Francisco on Twin Peaks. Very, very hot. Our summer usually finally hits the end of September and beginning of October.

I broke down and bought a portable air conditioner from QVC earlier this summer and have finally turned it on since there’s no fog in sight to cool me off. I got sick of hearing “you don’t need air conditioning in San Francisco”, because sometimes you do, you REALLY do.

The good news is that, without the fog, I have a beautiful view of the bay, downtown, the bridge and Oakland across the way. The bad news is it’s hot. Soooo very hot.

No, you absolutely must eat here:

Kezar Bar & Restaurant
Intersection of Cole & Carl streets, Cole Valley

Bar food. Best damn bar food you’ve ever had. Everything is made from scratch. Years ago the place used to make their own ketchup until the crowd said knock it off and pour the damn Heinz, already. Hamburger buns. Ruebens have homemade Russian dressing. Order chips and guac. Chips will most likely come too hot to eat — they’ve just been fried. Salsa & guac, homemade of course.

EAT HERE.

Also, too. If you absolutely feel the overwhelming need to take a joyride on a cable car, and you have no particular interest in going to Fisheman’s Wharf, take the one that stops by the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero. You can always get on there. The one from Powell St. has lines that are longer than the Haunted House at Disneyland on Labor Day weekend.

The Stinking Rose. A tourist trap by many accounts but a damn fine restaurant if you like garlic.

TBogg – if you’re going to San Rafael where I used to live (before changing hemispheres) I’d skip Sol Food which sounds like it should be better than it is, and instead have the best Indian food on the planet at Lotus on 4th Street just off the freeway. Really the best ever.

If you head down the coast to Montara, La Costanera serves yummy Peruvian food. And it’s right on the beach for the nice sunset assuming there’s no fog.

Great – now we have a huge list of places to eat and read Sci-Fi in the Bay Area.

BTW, in downtown Berkeley the Hotel Shattuck Plaza serves a terrific burger (a little spendy, though) and has an inlaid peace symbol in the entranceway. Conflicted DFHworthy!

Charlie Pierce rools.

I read that as drools, which I guess proves my obsession with the bassets of San Diego. (Hell ya, we know they are the only ones.)

Have fun. I hope you don’t run into Michelle Malkin!

If you make it north over the GG Bridge, Muir Woods is must see. The redwoods are spectacular and the drive down into the valley is indescribable!

http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

Me, too. Someday, maybe you and I can go to SF, too.

In my defense, I made a day trip to Austin last weekend, and spent an afternoon squealing “it’s cold!” in Barton Springs Pool. That’s the most exciting thing I’ve done in a long time.
Sigh.

Hope TB and the L&TC are having a great time in the city by the bay.

Lots of good suggestions above, HSB for sure, incredible music for 3 days *for free*, but sounds like you might be at matches when most of it is happening. One word of warning – Oracle Open World starts on Sunday, I think, but a lot of people are here already – something like 50,000 people come here for it, so Union Square, Ferry Plaza, pretty much all downtown is going to be cozy, especially restaurants. I’d head out to the neighborhoods and explore instead.

If you do have time, I’d highly recommend Chrissy Field – it’s my favorite place in SF. It had been an airstrip back in the day, and about 10 years ago they restored it, and it’s a gem. Right on the water, you can walk from Fort Mason to the Golden Gate Bridge – be sure to walk around and in Fort Point, it’s really cool – you may even luck into a cannon demo or something. Alcatraz is right across from there – which I was shocked to find is fascinating and not at all the tourist trap I expected it to be. Doubtful you could get a reservation for this weekend, but check it out sometime – they have an audio tour narrated by former guards and prisoners that is maybe the coolest tourist thing I’ve done anywhere.

You can also get really good food at Chrissy – the Warming Hut is the cafe/gift shop closest to the bridge, and they have a little counter with tasty sandwiches and coffee – as well as some cool gifty things that are a big cut above souvenirs if you want to take something home to the mrs. There’s also another little cafe down maybe half a mile toward Fort Mason. If you really want a walk, you can continue past Fort Mason along the water to Aquatic Park – there’s a wave organ there (you have to walk through the St. Francis Yacht Club to get there).

Another fun city jaunt is a few hours in the Mission – if it’s nice, start off at Dolores Park – gorgeous view of downtown and the East Bay, and if it’s warm and sunny half the Castro and Mission is out there, sunning themselves on the grassy slope. You may be tempted to get a fruitsicle from one of the carts, but hold off. Walk out the 18th Street side and turn toward Mission (the opposite direction of Twin Peaks), and when you see a long line of people, get in it. It’s the line for BiRite Creamery, which some would argue has the best ice cream in town. Salted Caramel is unbelievably good, but everybody has their favorite.

Then walk with your cones another block toward Mission and turn in either direction on Valencia – hip(ster) shops and lots of good restaurants if you need something more substantial.

I also enjoy Japantown — the main drag is Post Street between Fillmore and Laguna – three blocks. Lots of cool shopping – there are connected malls down one side and shops and restaurants down the other. My two favorites: the Soko hardware store on Post between Webster & Laguna – everything from Japanese knives and iron tea pots to bowls and chopsticks and woodworking tools — you could get lost in there for hours. My other favorite is Kinokuniya Stationery & Gift upstairs in the mall behind the Kabuki Cinema. Papers, the best selection of pens (though I have to stick to the cheaper ones, can’t quite bring myself to shell out $5 for a felt tip), all those cute Japanese accessories like pencil cases, staplers … okay, it sounds dorky, but it’s really cool. They also have a bookstore nearby which has an amazing magazine selection. If you want udon, there are a few good places, and a Korean bbq on Post near Webster if you want to fire up your own meal.

You really can’t go wrong whatever you do – hope you are having a wonderful time!

Nancy Shirley you jest!

Tartine Bakery
http://www.tartinebakery.com/

You’re welcome!