My Weekend in San Francisco (non-BB)

[HudsonHawk]

Since I solicited and received much appreciated advice from several of you regarding visiting San Francisco (and because I'm sitting in a hotel room bored out of my skull), I thought I'd offer my opinions after visiting:

Lodging:

1.  Hotels were hard to come by for this past weekend and seemed inappropriately expensive.  The cheapest place I could find was $169/night, with many of the hotels that were recommended going for $450/night.

2.  Stayed at the Pickwick at 5th/Mission across from the old Mint and SF Chronicle buliding.  It's an older hotel, so it wasn't made for the modern traveler.  All the electricity and water and such had been retrofitted, wich was a little awkward, but overall it was clean and everything worked, even if it was a very small room.  They told me the movie The Maltese Falcon was filmed in the hotel, which was cool since that's one of my favorite movies.  The location of the hotel was great, just a block from Market St and a few blocks more to Union Square. 

Transportation:

1.  Easy drive from the Oakland airport to downtown SF.  The hotel had parking for guests at $25/day, which seemed comparable to public lots throughout the city.  Didn't drive any in the city, only took public transportation.

2.  The public transportation is OK, I guess, but it's comically inadequate for the number of people.  The shortest wait for any bus/streetcar/cable car was over an hour, with some being up to 3 hours.  Cable cars are not really "public transportation" anyway, they're really just an amusement ride, though I suppose they do get you from Point A to Point B.

3.  The streetcar stations are very poorly marked.  You have to know where you are when you want to get off as there is no announcement or signage indicating at which station it is stopping.  You just have to know, which is difficult for tourists. 

Food:

1.  Overall, the food was very good.  Had Thai noodles for lunch on Friday and had dinner at Dante's at Pier 39 that night.  Lunch at the Wharf on Saturday and (at the advice of Jim) dinner at Fior d' Italia on Saturday night.  Had the veal at Fior and it was very good.  Mrs. Hawk had risotto milanese and she said it was just like her grandmother's, who was from Genoa.  The pasta fagioli soup was authentic as well.  A couple of negatives about the dining experience though.  Service was not a priority anywhere.  Perhaps I'm spoiled in Houston, but waiting and hour and a half for your soup and 45 minutes to get your water refilled is a bit taxing.  Speaking of taxing...you have to pay something called a "San Francisco Minimum Wage Tax" on your food.  Not sure what that's all about, but that's life in the city, I suppose.  The other negative out the dining was that the hours the restaurants were open seemed a little odd.  We had a devil of a time finding breakfast before 9 am and it was impossible to get lunch before 11:30.  Pretty much everything was locked up by 10:00 pm, so no coffee or gelato after dinner, except in the restaurant. 

The Weather:

1.  Was fabulous.  They said the high was 63, but it felt more like 78.  Sunny all weekend, no fog.  I gathered that it was particularly nice, even for SF, so we were lucky there. 

2.  I don't understand why people walked around in heavy coats and parkas.  I was in a long-sleeve tshirt or hawaiian shirt and it was very comfy.  Any warmer, and I would have been sweating.  Not sure why people acted like they were attending a Green Bay Packers game in December.

Errata:

1.  Unbelievably crowded city.  It's just a sea of humanity.  It was more crowded than New Orleans at Mardi Gras.  Made it difficult to get around. 

2.  Did the usual touristy stuff, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Golden Gate, etc.  Was pretty good, and we knew we were doing the touristy stuff, so everything was cool. 

3.  Alcatraz was really cool.  The audio tour is really neat.  I was amazed at how small the cells were.  The entire cell is about the size of a queen-sized bed, and the inmates spent 22 hours a day in them.  Brutal. 

4.  Mrs. Hawk couldn't find any Italian people, even in "Little Italy", which disappointed her.  She wanted to practice speaking Italian. 


A great time overall, and definitely a place to return to, though I was told other times of the year will likely be less crowded.

Thanks to all who provided the advice and recommendations.

[JimR]

damn, HH. i do believe you could make Christmas morning seem like "an ok time."

[HudsonHawk]

damn, HH. i do believe you could make Christmas morning seem like "an ok time."

Sorry, just telling it like it was.  It was great, except having to wait and wait for everything is a bit trying.  At Fior, we sat down at 7:00, and our food arrived at 9:15.  Just kind of puts an otherwise great experience down to an OK one in my book. 

[juliogotay]

Great city. Always have fun there. The Buena Vista is a good, cheap meal. Could eat everyday in North Beach.

[JimR]

Sorry, just telling it like it was.  It was great, except having to wait and wait for everything is a bit trying.  At Fior, we sat down at 7:00, and our food arrived at 9:15.  Just kind of puts an otherwise great experience down to an OK one in my book. 

i did not have that experience at all, but if you had more than one course, that would make it ok to me. they are not in a hurry.

i was there almost one year ago.

[Rebel Jew]

glad to see you had a good time and found a good italian restaurant.  that part of town you were in is especially crowded, but the rest of the city isn't so much, especially compared to similarly dense cities like chicago and new york.  as far as things closing up  at 10 and bad public transportation waits, sounds like just bad luck more than anything or a product of the part of town you were in.

[HudsonHawk]

glad to see you had a good time and found a good italian restaurant.  that part of town you were in is especially crowded, but the rest of the city isn't so much, especially compared to similarly dense cities like chicago and new york.  as far as things closing up  at 10 and bad public transportation waits, sounds like just bad luck more than anything or a product of the part of town you were in.

I got the impression from the locals that it wasn't always that crowded, perhaps just the luck we encountered for the time of year (end of summer, right before kids go back to school, etc).  I don't mind lots of people per se, just makes it difficult to get around and subsequently means you don't get to do as much.  I'll definitely go back.  Someone said October was a nice time there too, so maybe then.  The food at Fior was terrific, it just took forever to get it.  But service was very slow everywhere, just the way it was.

[chuck]

I used to spend a lot of time in SF and took the bus everywhere (the 5 up and down McAllister mostly) and never had any trouble with it nor, other than a day with a blackout, did I have any memorable wait.

I also don't remember that the city seemed especially crowded, although I usually hung out in SoMa, the Mission, Noe Valley, upper Height, etc. Although for some reason my friends and I would often go to a bar on Columbus and Broadway - it had lots of pool tables and an excellent (for me) jukebox. I remember once meeting a guy in there who seemed OK at first. We played some pool and then after a while he sort of morphed into Mr I'm a Preacher and I Am Here to Save Your Soul. Nothing I haven't dealt with before in various scenarios, except that this nut was drinking wheat beer like they were going to quit making wheat. He and his traveling ministry eventually disappeared and my night got a lot more relaxing. His did not, though, because upon leaving my gf and I turned left onto Broadway and while passing one of the strip bars along that stretch (are they still there?) I witnessed a very drunk and very handcuffed Mr I'm a Preacher and I Am Here to Save Your Soul being escorted out and into a city-provided limousine service politely waiting especially for him.

Sort of reminds me of the episode where Early Cuyler has a near-death experience (like a giant DUI road block in the sky - but I hung a u-ey and hauled ass through the woods!), finds Jeebus and goes straight to a gentlemen's club to pass out litrachoor among the ladies. (Nope! Pick it up with the butt-cheeks!)

[ValpoCory]

2.  The public transportation is OK, I guess, but it's comically inadequate for the number of people.  The shortest wait for any bus/streetcar/cable car was over an hour, with some being up to 3 hours.  Cable cars are not really "public transportation" anyway, they're really just an amusement ride, though I suppose they do get you from Point A to Point B.

Thanks for the report HH.  My family is considering a SF trip.  The cable car waits, were those longer than bus waits?  I assume one of the tourist acitivities we'd like to do is ride the cable cars.   Did you find that the cable car waits were longer at certain times of the day?

Thanks again.

[HudsonHawk]

Thanks for the report HH.  My family is considering a SF trip.  The cable car waits, were those longer than bus waits?  I assume one of the tourist acitivities we'd like to do is ride the cable cars.   Did you find that the cable car waits were longer at certain times of the day?

Thanks again.

The cable car lines were pretty long from early morning until about 11:00 pm.  They run until midnight.  So after dinner, it was no problem getting one back to the hotel.  They also run right down the street with the other traffic, so they get caught up in the automobile traffic too.  Sometimes the cable cars lines were long just because all the trolleys were sitting in traffic.  The bus/streetcar waits were more sporadic.  Sometimes they were really long, others not so long.  The F-line (streetcar)  runs down Market St to Fisherman's Wharf, and it was pretty filled up all day long, even until late at night.  Don't know much about the buses.  A lot could be the time of year.  Other times of the year may not be nearly as crowded as it was this weekend, so your times may vary.

[Rebel Jew]

I used to spend a lot of time in SF and took the bus everywhere (the 5 up and down McAllister mostly) and never had any trouble with it nor, other than a day with a blackout, did I have any memorable wait.

I also don't remember that the city seemed especially crowded, although I usually hung out in SoMa, the Mission, Noe Valley, upper Height, etc. Although for some reason my friends and I would often go to a bar on Columbus and Broadway - it had lots of pool tables and an excellent (for me) jukebox. I remember once meeting a guy in there who seemed OK at first. We played some pool and then after a while he sort of morphed into Mr I'm a Preacher and I Am Here to Save Your Soul. Nothing I haven't dealt with before in various scenarios, except that this nut was drinking wheat beer like they were going to quit making wheat. He and his traveling ministry eventually disappeared and my night got a lot more relaxing. His did not, though, because upon leaving my gf and I turned left onto Broadway and while passing one of the strip bars along that stretch (are they still there?) I witnessed a very drunk and very handcuffed Mr I'm a Preacher and I Am Here to Save Your Soul being escorted out and into a city-provided limousine service politely waiting especially for him.

Sort of reminds me of the episode where Early Cuyler has a near-death experience (like a giant DUI road block in the sky - but I hung a u-ey and hauled ass through the woods!), finds Jeebus and goes straight to a gentlemen's club to pass out litrachoor among the ladies. (Nope! Pick it up with the butt-cheeks!)

great story.  north beach is sadly hurting for interesting stories these days, unless they involve strip clubs, touristy italian restaurants, or douchebag night clubs.  there's certainly still a few major gems here and there, but it's a far cry from the crazy mix of cultures that seem to have habitated the area in the past.  i love all the insane stories i've read about the barbary coast days, about naive tourists getting wasted at some such place and waking up to find themselves on a boat in the middle of the pacific and essentially forced into labor.  in fact, north beach is the part of town that i make it to the least, partly because it's just so hard to get to (efficient public transportation not going to certain major parts of town is the big problem with the sf public transit system in general).  my band played a show at a bar on grant street a few weeks ago, and it was a kind-of surreal experience to see the typical mission district indie scene that i'm used to mix with the yuppie north beach vibe.  the bar itself was stuck in the middle of neither, wanting to be the kind of place that's hip enough to have good live music, but also wanting to be like the martini bar next door that was three times as crowded.

[chuck]

but also wanting to be like the martini bar next door that was three times as crowded.

You need to turn down.