Tips for Dining, Eating, and Food Shopping in the SF Bay Area (including Berkeley, Oakland, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and San Jose)
Start New ThreadStruck out on my effort to get into Gitane or Cafe Claude for dinner at a decent hour next weekend, so I called my hotel and asked the concierge to have a go at it. He didn't do any better, so he recommended Grand Cafe. I have had a couple of bad experiences with concierge-recommended restaurants in NYC, so I'm a little skeptical. Not much written about GC on this board, so does anyone have an opinion?
By dd992emo
on Feb 6, 2011 01:21 PM
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Is there some reason you're restricting yourself to a certain cuisine or area? Valentine's Weekend is tough, but it shouldn't be impossible to get into one of the better restaurants. Grand Cafe wouldn't rank among the great restaurants in the city, but that said, my parents really enjoyed their meal there a few weeks ago.
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Staying in the Union Square area and looking for a restaurant within walking distance or a short cab ride. Not really locked into the cuisine, just looking for some nice atmosphere and some good food. We don't see each other often and like to maximize our opportunities.
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check out Belden Place. If this nice weather holds, it may be a zoo, but it's pretty, and you have a choice of restaurants (tho you probably should book ahead.)
http://www.belden-place.com/
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Belden Place
44 Belden Pl, San Francisco, CA 94104
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I'd take the short cab ride (or medium walk) to Perbacco
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Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111
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When reservations are tough, the tough look to OpenTable. OT always reminds me of a few places I've forgotten, which, for some reason, happen to have a reservation.
Are you specifically doing mid-range french? I wouldn't go to Grand Cafe if I was on limited time, although there's nothing specifically wrong with it. Ie, what Ruth said.
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GC is one of those places you go to if you're maybe already in the area - but not as a visitor, because there are just tons of other good places here. i have loved the food at GC, but it's not really a destination.
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but a nice room (is that damning praise?)
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no, you're right, it's a GORGEOUS room.
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B44, Fish and Farm, Scala's, Town Hall all have Open Table res. for this Saturday.
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B44
44 Belden Place, San Francisco, CA 94104
Town Hall Restaurant
342 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94105
Fish and Farm
339 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
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How about Cafe de la Presse?
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Cafe De La Presse
352 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108
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