Going to San Francisco in a few weeks with my boyfriend and a couple of friends. Does anyone have some recommendations of places to go visit or places to eat that you've really enjoyed? A lot of sites have the same recommendations for tourists (for example, Boudin's sourdough bread and La Taqueria's burritos) but I'm curious about other places to visit or eat at that might not be commonly mentioned. Thanks
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Arie
Walk the bridge, get some crab chowder at fisherman's warf. Alcatraz is worth the money to go to.
I enjoyed just walking around. That big hill with the switch backs is really cool.
I can't remember the street, but it's like 3 blocks over from post street there's tons of bars.

Totally was thinking of visiting Alcatraz, did you do the night tour or morning?
I'm a bit of a scaredy cat so wasn't sure if I wanted to go for the night tour LOL!

Honestly it's hard to get a spot, usually you guy your ticket two days to a week in advance ( I went in January so it's slow). I believe I went in the afternoon.

It was cool either way but night might be fun!

Another recommendation is Muir woods which is about 30 minutes outside San Fran. I rented a car with a few friends instead of the bus. It's a lot cheaper ($10 on hotwire, pick up downtown) and it gives you the freedom to come and go as you please. And then I did all the other fun things​ that are best with a car.

We bought tickets online in advance and did the afternoon tour of Alcatraz. It was the highlight of our trip!! Best meal was at Pinnochio's in little Italy!!

Arie it is hard to get in BUT we booked online with a tour package that included a bus tour. Both were amazing. Go during the day cause there is so much to see, you can stay til night. On the bus tour we stopped a the Chinese fortune company factory....awesome. So good so cheap...must see. We even went back to buy more. There is also a candy shop along fishers wharf....great stuff in there. If you go into Chinatown, souvineirs are much cheaper there. Mir Woods is so worth the trip. Go early cause it gets busy and the time so spend there is so amazing....

Tadich Grill; located in the Financial District. It is San Fran's oldest restaurant (160 years!) The atmosphere is cool, the service amazing & the food is delicious!

Anything that you especially love eating there?

I had the seafood stew. So good!

Dragon Papa dessert in Chinatown has good dragon beard candy, Belly Good Crepes in Japantown (the green tea crepe special is delicious and cute looking!) Brenda's French Soul Food for shrimp and grits and beignets!

Love matcha anything
thanks!

I have a friend there right now who said parts of Alcatraz have been closed for restoration. Just a heads up

Ya they have been for a while. Was h der renovation last year when I was there

Ohh
is there still enough to check out that makes the trip to Alcatraz worth it?

Absolutely

We did a city tour on a bus (not hop on hop off), Alcatraz was certainly worth the money! Cafe Claude is french with live music and amazing food. There is a tiki bar in the fairmont that is worth checking out for fun.

We went on a guided tour of Chinatown-it was very interesting and ended with a delicious lunch. If you want to go to Alcatraz, you have to book ahead. Have a great time! San Francisco is amazing!

Mr. Holmes bakery (you got baked in SF)! Is amazing little hidden gem. The fisherman's warf and pier 39 are great. We also liked the market at the ferry building.

Cable car ride, yes walk the bridge amazing fisherman wharf, farmers market at the ferry building, castro district , little Italy had amazing pasta, coit tower

For something a bit different - try a tea shop in Chinatown. We learned so much about monkey tea by just popping into a random tea house and asking questions

Alcatraz for sure. I never did the night tour, but heard it was awesome.

Alcatraz at night!!!! Lombard street is cool. Haight Ashbury nice for a morning coffee and a little shopping?. Ride the cable cars!! Great city with lots to see and do!

We bought a this city coupon book and used it a few times, the boat tour was worth it alone.

I liked the Blue Mermaid restaurant (I think that's what it's called) on fisherman's warf!

Take advantage of the hop on -hop off buses. Two routes get you every where including Sausalito.

Mission Chinese! World renowned chef Danny Bowen. The Thrice Cooked Bacon and Chongqing Chicken Wings are ridiculous!

Jonas on Hyde was a little corner sandwich shop that was delicious

My husband and I went with our friends as well, and the best day for us was renting tandem bikes and biking across on the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. We stopped for lunch there and had seafood by the water. I'm sorry, I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it was right by the water with numerous seagulls perched on the deck.

Get the City Pass! $100 and you get 7 days unlimited use of all transit in the city and a whole bunch of tickets included for museums and attractions in the city. I totally recommend doing the speed boat around the bay.. so fun.

Stopped off at the Ferry Building, picked up a fresh baguette, cheese & almonds. Strolled along the embarkadero to Fisherman's Wharf...rented bikes and biked across the bridge.
I downloaded songs such as, San Francisco, Sugar Sugar, Aquarius etc & played them as I biked across the bridge. In Sausalito, we bought drinks, ate by the elephant statues...indulged in massive ice cream cones (on the Main Street)...took in the views & rode the ferry back to the mainland. Totally groovy; Experience of a lifetime.

Whenever we are going to a new city for the first time, we always check out past episodes of the tv show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives for ideas of where to eat. We have found some amazing little places that we keep going back to..

This was the best Chinese food I have ever had. Great experience (the owner of the the Wok Shop has a binder of all the food in English and helped us order and came to check to make sure we were good)

We stayed right on Fisherman's wharf and walked to almost everything...then we took a 1)2 day city tour...yes eating right on the street eating crab and sourdough... awesome

We really loved this Tapas/Brewery Place - Thirsty Bear Brewing Company. We also liked the Grove Yerba Buena and the Garden's there too (We stayed South of Market)

The Cliff House. We only had drinks and appetizers, but the view is amazing.

We also did a Sonoma, Napa Valley vineyard tour, best day. Stopped and ate at Bottega amazing!

Oh and Alcatraz at night the view of the city is nice

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Alcatraz island