San Francisco and what to do in it

what the hell, is it really only going to be in the high 60s for this next week

oh my god

farolito's allure is that it's open late and they don't charge for avocado.

^^^neither of which has anything to do with the quality of the food

they also have sesos, cabeza AND lengua... a rare odds n ends triumvirate in the mission.

Farolito's vegetarian burrito is not very good. Salty and flavorless.

At 1am I am not ordering a vegetarian burrito.

Then you are likely having a better Farolito experience than I.

my favorites are taqueria chile verde (right next to the market-cancun) and papalote

also do not get farolito at allllll

meanwhile...

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/08/03/ba-fline04_0500445883.jpg

it's like a movie where a city's public transportation becomes a living being and starts attacking private vehicles

i agree about the taco trucks, alexinsf, but pancho villa? really? totally expensive and full of doinkers.

also, i rep the mid-mission Cancun (REMEMBER that there is one at valencia & mission's intersection too) for their Al Pastor and chicken. but none of the other cheapo places have anything close to the Chorizo at Farolito. it is just...soo...effing...good.

and polyphonic, my veggie friends swear by the veggie burritos at El Buen Sabor, which is usually shit but knows how to do tofu mexican style, somehow, in a really amazing way. so try it maybe.

Hi all, will be back in mid-September for the Root Strata fest.

also, for the visitors-- here is the 'show listing' site, pretty comprehensive: http://dardardar.org/ .

and finally, i am definitely planning on going to the William T. Vollman reading at Moe's in Berkeley on wednesday. like, for seriiiious.

ooh ned, i want tickets to that first night. might have to spring, but at the same time there is the Convention festival in LA that i am considering...mostly because i'm pretty sure Omar-S will show, and because i fucking love the Wighnomy Bros....but if they come up here, i'm all in..mmm.

I feel a little nervous about entering in the burrito discussion cuz I'm generally into most burritos, but I tend to get a veggie burrito to go at Vallerta because a.) I think it's delish b.) under $5 and c.) a little smaller than some others, which I think is nice (I like burritos but I don't like food comas). And to-go means I can eat it at home with beer and records.

vallarta is nice, and they do have nice small burritos

and polyphonic, my veggie friends swear by the veggie burritos at El Buen Sabor, which is usually shit but knows how to do tofu mexican style, somehow, in a really amazing way. so try it maybe.

I don't usually like to eat tofu in a burrito, but maybe I'll give 'er a try sometime.

Only 2 months til I move... I'm sooo looking forward to all of this burritos >_<

"i agree about the taco trucks, alexinsf, but pancho villa? really? totally expensive and full of doinkers."

Again I think their Al Pastor is the best and it's my favorite meat so that's my favorite burrito place (despite being a couple of bucks more.)

This is all very informative, could I impress upon you to argue about the best Chinese and sushi places next?

Will confess I haven't been there in over a year though. Nowadays it's Los Compadres (around the corner from my work) and sadly Gordos (around the corner from my house.)

For chinese if you want Dim Sum, Ton Kiang or Yank Sing are the best but they are both price-y (esp. the latter.) If you want cheap (and I mean cheap) and plentiful, Good Luck Dim Sum on Clement is the place, but eat it quick. Even waiting til you get home is probably too long. I haven't been to a non-dim sum chinese meal in ages so I can't recommend anything else really.

I'll let Shasta give the sushi advice and would actually recommend going with him. He took us to Kuo a while ago and it was great--much better than it probably would have been on our own.

re: non-dim sum chinese, there is mostly shit in my neighborhood (the Mission) so I have to go rather far afield to get the best - my personal favorite is House of Nanking, altho many swear by its neighbor, Chef Jia's.

What's House of Nanking like these days? It used to be great and then it kind of stopped being great and then they completely re-did the whole restaurant and I've not been back.

Taiwan on Clement has great potstickers

Taiwan's another place I haven't been to in a million years, but used to good. A good tip on is don't read Yelp reviews on any of these places. They are at least 25% bitchy people complaining that the Xi Bao or whatever isn't as good as the ones in the Fu Bin Province or whatever.

and then they completely re-did the whole restaurant and I've not been back.

?? how long ago was this? Its been maybe 7 or 8 months since I've been there and everything was pretty much the same (metal chairs and tables, a chef who doesn't let you order off the menu, etc.)

Seven or eight years ago, I guess? It used to only be the left hand side of the restaurant with like 10 tables and the bar. And then they bought the restaurant next door, I guess, added that and completely remodelled the whole thing.

I like Chef Jia's just fine, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get there or anything.

oh - well I've only eaten there post-remodel so that's what I'm basing my judgment on.

last week a bunch of my coworkers inexplicably walked from Mission & Beale to Chef Jia's for lunch and yeah my opinion was "geez its not THAT good"

Is it even better than Henry's?

so I'm staying around Alamo Square near Hayes/Scott - Google Maps tells me it's close to Haight-Ashbury - what's cool and walkable in this area that I can't find in this thread by ctrl+f'ing Haights?

Wikipedia tells me I am staying in the same neighborhood they filmed the opening sequence of Full House in which already makes this trip an unqualified success

everything's pretty walkable in the area, what are you looking to do more specifically?

haha I dunno! what's a good watering hole, maybe?

about 30 seconds from you on divisadero is the bean bag cafe, after 3 pm they got $1.92 pints of pretty good beer + good food.

I also like trax, a divey gay bar on upper haight (haight/masonic.)

+ no shortage of bars on lower haight (the portion of haight street closer to where you're staying)

hah we just passed by the bean bag cafe earlier - looked pretty good. will check out lower haight. my friend naturally wants to know what cheap eats there are around the area - thanks!

haight is pretty much nothing but cheap eats. rosamunde sausage grill and indian oven on lower haight. my favorite place nearby is papalote (not authentic but really good mexican) - fulton and masonic. it doesn't get any love on this thread and sorta looks like a chipotle, but I luv.

buena vista park isn't as essential as golden gate park, but it's def worth checking out if you have the time, and you'll be pretty close.

in addition to the haight, you are a few blocks from hayes valley (cute little gentrified area) and the fillmore district (historical black neighborhood)

def. check the Rosamunde Sausage grill... there's a semi-decent BBQ place down the street from there as well (Memphis Minnie's, I think it is?)

Uva Enoteca is right there too on Haight too. They have great happy hour deals. Waziema (Ethiopean) on Divis & Hayes has an all you can eat veggie happy hour. Little Star Pizza on Divis & Fulton a lot of folks swear by.

Jay's Cheesesteaks I really like too, also on Divis & Hayes.

If you get to Hayes Valley (my old haunt) I wholeheartedly recommend Suppenkuche (great German restaurant/beer hall--they also do a fantastic Sunday brunch) and the Blue Bottle Coffee Kiosk.

Little Chihuahua on Divisadero @ Scott- really good Mexican for white people food. Try the shrimp burrito or anything, really. For a little more upscale, try Nopalito at Broderick and Fell/

Uva (across from Rosamunde and near Memphis Minnie's on Haight) is an excellent Italian winebar with snacky food and their happy hour from 4-6 (I think) is a deal.

If you wander down to Market and Church (could be part of a good walk to the MUNI trains, the Mission or the Castro), check out Chow (Church south of Market), one of the best little, relatively cheap restaurants in the City. Nearby Pilsner bar is a cute gay bar and there's the Lucky 13 up the street (near the Cafe du Nord venue).

If you week like a swank cocktail in the kind of SF place that gets written up in the NY Times, go to Nopa at Divis & Hayes and get something fancy. To atone, you can go across the street and get Popeye's.

also The Grind has good food, especially if yr lookin for kid-friendly fare. Haight & Scott.

i highly rec the walk to the top of Buena Vista...it truly is a good view of a significant portion of the city.

also, in terms of bars in that area, nothing beats Toronado in the Lower Haight, and if you're into smoking, Amber, which is right near to Home, at Church & Market.

that said, i don't go out to bars much in that area. too straight.

If you get any nice weather and you tire of Divis/Bean Bag at breakfast, head down to Cafe du Soleil at Waller and Fillmore. The pastry is made by a French dude, they have salads and open faced sandwiches, wine/beer and potable coffee.

Michael have you been to the Green Chile Kitchen or whatever on Baker/Fulton?

Has anybody seen the new bar on Market where the Expansion and 2nd gen Metro used to be? I passed by there with a gay friend who said it was kind of a gay/hipster combo crowd at the opening but the space is pretty cool. Apart from the old bar, they've totally redone the place.

Alex, Green Chile's green chile stew is awesome. Also their Mexican hot chocolate (for weather like this) is excellent.

I didn't even realize it was being re-modeled until I passed by there a couple of weeks/month ago.