Visiting SF, seeking places with great city views

[CinnamonKitten]

We are very excited about returning to beautiful San Francisco in early December. Last winter we enjoyed an evening of drinks and nibbles at a sky-high lounge/bar on top of a hotel that I can no longer remember the name of and we plan to return but we would love some insider recs of other similar places where we can drink, nibble--not necessarily a full dinner--and gawk at your fabulous city views. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[osho]

I would suggest you peruse these threads, as a starting point.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/343175
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/400491
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/421089

The place that I usually take visitors to - is the Top of the Mark - for great views and decent cocktails.
http://www.topofthemark.com/

[rworange]

The Top of the Mark was probably it. It might have been the Equinox on top of the Hyatt Regency. If you look at the website for the Top of the Mark they served food these days, breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you are just looking for drinks and not food, there's the Starlight Room. Other hi-rise views with drinks/food Carnilian Room, Cityscape

Here's a search of the new Places feature on Chow that lists all restaurants with a view in the city of SF

http://www.chow.com/search?search%5Bquery%5D=view+not+mountain+neighborhood%3A%22SF%22+board%3A%22San+Francisco+Bay+Area%22&search%5Bclass_names%5D=Restaurant&search%5Bfrom%5D=10+years+ago&search%5Bto%5D=now&search%5Bsort_mode%5D=relevance&search%5Bboardgroup_id%5D=1&search%5Bboard_id%5D=1&x=41&y=13

The sad truth in SF that with few exceptions ... good view = mediocre food

Hope you report back about where you go and how you liked it. It will help other visitors like you ... and if you visit again we'll have an idea of what you like or don't.

If you get out of the city, here's a search of 95 percent of the Place records in the Bay Area with a view. For some reason the search misses a two or three places where I know the place record has the word 'view'. Also it picks up records that have "view" in the titile or address ... but don't have a view. Haven't figured out how to search on atmosphere.
http://www.chow.com/search?search%5Bq...

[Ruth Lafler]

The View bar at the top of the "Jukebox" Marriott is supposed to be nice, and according to their website they serve "light snacks." I agree, though, that the Top of the Mark is the classic "bar with a view" experience.

-----
Marriott-San Francisco
55 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

[susancinsf]

The view is indeed nice, but I find the ambiance to be, well, like a Marriott....don't think I have tried any of the snacks, other than perhaps peanuts...

[waldrons]

Note that dinner is Friday and Saturday only, with one seating at 7:30 pm. The menu is a fixed-price, 3-course offering.

[Euonymous]

I'll say it again: I haven't eaten there, so I can't comment on the food. I can tell you, though, that in the evening there will almost certainly be no view. The Top of the Mark gets socked in with fog pretty early in the afternoon this time of year.

Go in the early afternoon--before 2:00, I'd say, to be on the safe side--for a good drink and some of their great mixed nuts (complementary, but you pay for them with the price of the drink).

Here's a link to a recent similar thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/460800

Liz