Friday Night Dinner SF 2 Young adults 1Veg.

[natasfood]

Traveling with my two daughters(18 & 22,1 vegetarian) to San Francisco (staying Nob Hill) looking for a Friday dinner restaurant. No too fancy or pricey, we like ethnic.I haven't been there in 35 years! Any suggestions are welcome.

[natasfood]

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR THOUGHTFUL SUGGESTIONS!

[whiner]

Nopa is an excellent choice for young adults and the veggie main is very good. I would not call the restaurant "ethnic" at all and it is certainly a cab ride from Nob Hill. I'm a few years older than your kids and I go to NOPA frequently with other 18-34 year olds. My 22 year old friend who works as a sommelier in the high end restaurant industry winds up there for her own dinner late at night almost every week! (The kitchen is open until 1am and it is known as the place all restauranteurs go for dinner after they close their own restaurants.)

If you are looking for something that isn't modern CA (which is what NOPA really is, despite overt influences from various Mediterranean cuisines) I would reccomend...

Perbacco - Overall, my favorite moderately priced restaurant in SF. Northern Italian. Not particularly young crowd but plenty of twentysomethings go. Dinner can come fast -- I've been in and out in an hour and 15 minutes, which, actually, I had wished it had been slightly more leisurely. This is currently my most visited (non take-out) restaurant in the city. Overall, while not the most glamorous, this is my favorite Italian restaurant that I have visited outside of Italy.

Helmand Palace- Very reasonably priced. Afghani. This is my go-to when I want a nice inexpensive meal with someone.

Troya- Similarly priced to Helmand. Turkish. More minimalistic than Helmand. This would tie or surpass Helmand for my go-to inexpensive ethnic restaurant for dine-in but for the fact that it is way out in the Richmond District which can make it a bit of a pain to get to.

Aziza- Others *love* this place, I only like it, but I do like it a lot. CA-Moroccan. Also in the Richmond, but a bit more upscale, still reasonably priced though. (Main courses in the mid $20s.)

All of these restaurants are veggie friendly. Despite not being ethnic, I do think you and your daughters might get more of a sense of San Francisco by going to NOPA. It does, to me, have a very SF feel and attitude. And the food ranges from very good to nearly mindblowing. The non vegetarians should strongly consider the pork chop and the flatbread -- these are the dishes I think they are most famous for, and rightfully so.

(If you are lovers of Italian food, however, Perbacco is just one for the record books in terms of food quality; and, factoring in price, it has the best Italian wine list I've seen in the U.S.)

http://www.nopasf.com/
http://www.perbaccosf.com/
http://www.helmandpalace.com/
http://www.troyasf.com/
http://www.aziza-sf.com/

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Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117

Helmand Palace
2424 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109

Troya
349 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

[vulber]

I was specifically referring to the tagine as being ethnic (Moroccan)

[whiner]

Vulber,

We AGREE that NOPA is a great choice for this family! :-)

I wasn't trying to be argumentative or disagreeing with you over that one dish, and in fact, as Modern CA restaurants go, I think it is quite clear that NOPA has more of a Mediterranean influence than most. Just looking over their current menu you can find coastal Italian, Spanish, Moroccan, Turkish, and Greek influences, and I've certainly had dishes that seemed to have other Near Eastern influences there on other occasions.

The tagine is explicitly Moroccan, or at least Moroccan-inspired. But I would not call the restaurant, overall "ethnic" -- I would call it modern CA with overt Mediterranean influences. That is all my comment was about.

[grayelf]

Since you are staying in Nob Hill, I'll put on my broken record and suggest Canteen. As a visitor, I recommend this place a lot, and I've seen every age there except for young kids. It's fine dining in a comfy, funky diner setting, so very relaxed environment but with some seriously good food. We've been wowed by Chef Leary's veg options and we are not veg -- last time the veg dish we had was our favourite and there were four of us. It is an easy walk along non-scary streets too. Not ethnic but very northern California with a bit of unpretentious French thrown in. And the best vanilla souffle evah for dessert (dessert is vegetarian, right?).

It's very small and reservations are a must for the three nightly seatings.

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Canteen
817 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[Scott M]

I would consider Nopa if you do not need to stay in Nob Hill. It would be fun for an 18 and 22 yo and is vegetarian friendly.

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Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117

[vulber]

Note that NOPA only has one vegetarian entree (although it is incredible, the tagine, and somewhat ethnic). Nonetheless, it would depend on how picky your vegetarian is.

[Scott M]

True about the entree, but there are usually a few starters and sides that are vegetarian and quite good. I have also had them make the flatbread without meat when dining with a vegetarian family member. So you can definitely have a variety of vegetarian dishes without choosing the entree.