Please critique our eating itinerary...

[Buttercream]

I will be in San Francisco for the first time with my best friend in early November, and we have booked the following restaurants:

Farallon
Gary Danko
Boulevard
Mamacita's

Please let me know if we chose well, and if there are better places we should visit.

We love great food, and money is not an issue. (for this trip, anyway!) :-)

Thanks so much!

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Farallon
450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Gary Danko
800 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Mamacita
2317 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA 94123

[sugartoof]

10 years ago, this would have been a hot list.

That list is unfortunately long in the tooth ,and lacking luster now.

I would switch to smaller more current places, like the trio of Bar Tartine, Tartine bakery, Commonwealth, or even Benu as well. Perbacco, Frances, Nopa, Nopalito, the bar at Spruce are better choices. Coi isn't for everyone but it's special occasion dining with a celebrity chef.

Then there's the cheaper eats such as Saigon Sandwich, that are just really good.

Or you can go with the classics and hit up Tadich's or Sam's.

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Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Saigon Sandwich Shop
560 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117

Bar Tartine
561 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[Buttercream]

Thank you to everyone who responded!

I am so glad I posted, since my restaurant choices seem to be a bit outdated.

We are looking for a fantastic sushi restaurant, a great Italian place and are open to almost anything else.

I greatly appreciate your responses. :-)

[majordanby]

for italian, i would go with Perbacco.

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Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

[Robert Lauriston]

SF is absurdly rich in great Italian restaurants. Cotogna, Perbacco, La Ciccia, Incanto, Barbacco ...

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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131

Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Barbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Cotogna
490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

[sfbing]

Compared to NY, sushi is not so great in SF. For a different spin on raw fish preps, consider: Ame, Bar Crudo, La Mar Cebicheria.

As many others have said, the Ferry Building on Saturday is very impressive.

Burmese, Vietnamese, Thai, higher end dim sum are better here than in NY, I think.

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Bar Crudo
655 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA 94117

[rubadubgdub]

I recommend Sebo for top notch sushi and sake. I think we get better fish here than in NY bc Japan is closer. And the prices are a lot more palatable here. I'm floored by the cost of decent sushi in NY! Another really fun sushi experience is Ryoko near Union Square. It's not like a restaurant at all. More like a family den that happens to serve fish flown in from Japan. Sitting at the sushi bar is a must for both.

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Sebo
517 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Ryoko Restaurant & Bar
619 Taylor St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[sugartoof]

I think it's that ultra high end business man experience which NY has duplicated, and SF is lacking.

Sebo would have been my suggestion too, but more so because it errors on the side of unique and inventive combinations to the States. I'm not sure NY has anything similar but I wouldn't make it a priority in replacing the 4 restaurant itinerary above.

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Sebo
517 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

[Nopa]

I can only say to skip Boulevard, too expensive for the food quality and service. I stopped going there a while back. Look at Alexander's and Bix as well.

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Bix
56 Gold St., San Francisco, CA 94133

[margieco]

Agree with sfbing. Tell us more about the kind of food and experiences you like? The ones you've picked are consistent, stable and very traditional. They're good restaurants yet none of them scream "san francisco" to me. They could each exist in any city (IMO). I would maybe keep one from that list and mix it up with some others.

Are there cuisines you like better than others?

[artemis]

Looks like the OP mainly posts on the Manhattan board. I wouldn't really recommend any of the selections to a sophisticated Manhattan diner. Such places are all available there. Benu, Saison, Atelier Crenn, yes. Other usual recs for NYC hounds are Burmese (Burmese Kitchen), regional Italian (La Ciccia), and the Ferry Building on Saturday mornings.

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Saison
2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Atelier Crenn
3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123

[rworange]

Agree with everyone that those sound straight out of a guidebook or best of Zagat. Agree the reason for those choices would be a help.

I'd pick Zuni over Boulevard.

Haven't been to Mamacita's butt most of the stuff I read trashes the place.

I'd make the Saturday morning Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market a stop if you are here on that day. What days will you be here?

How's Aziza these days?

[sfbing]

The first three places are ok, I suppose, but I find them kind of boring. What was it about those restaurants that attracted you? People could be more helpful if you could be more specific about what you're looking for aside from the great food and money is no object thing.

Four that would fit that I would go to instead:
Coi, Benu, Saison, Atelier Crenn

KInd of an overdose on fine dining though.

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Saison
2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110

Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Atelier Crenn
3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123