STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

tara t · Marc Jacobs

san fransisco

Andrea Julia · Coach

Yay for this topic! I am going to San Francisco next month on a business trip and am hoping to have some time to do other things. I've never been there so I don't have any recommendations. I hope you are not too disappointed when you read this reply.

tara t · Marc Jacobs

i'm not disappointed ! i'll just wait patiently for your reviews ! flights are super cheap so BF and i are taking advantage !

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

yay for you! SF is my favorite place to visit and i have been there a million times. i've stayed at several hotels over the years, but lately i stay with my brother or with friends. what neighborhoods are you interested in hanging out in? what do you look for in a hotel?

for wineries, do you want sonoma or napa, or both? i recommend sonoma just as a personal preference--it's a bit more laid-back, unpretentious, relaxed and has great wines. but if you are a serious wine connaisseur, napa has the big names and a greater number of ultra-high quality wineries. plus, you can do the "wine train" tour which is sort of fun. my very favorite small hotel on the planet is in sonoma, and if you want the info i will PM it to you--i'm selfish and don't want to share this perfect gem with large numbers of people.

what else are you interested in doing while you are there?

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

I used to live in SF and I love that city more than any other in the world, so I'd be happy to offer recs. How long do you plan on being there? How much do you want to spend for a hotel room?

The cool thing about SF hotels is that there are LOTS of very hip boutique hotels, in all price ranges, so you can definitely find something that you'll like. I recommend staying in the Union Square area - that's where most of the nice hotels are located and it is pretty central to everything. I highly recommend against staying anywhere near Fisherman's Wharf - it's way too touristy (I'm not the biggest fan of FW, but I guess if you've never been, then you should go once).

If you want to go to wineries, you should definitely visit either Napa or Sonoma, but that will take a full day, since it's about 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way to get there. But it's really beautiful and a fun day if you have the time.

tara t · Marc Jacobs

well, we plan on going for about 5 days and 4 nights... i have never been there and have just begun my SF research, so bacisally i know nothing.

bumblebee, i would love your secret info, if you would PM it to me...

LAGal, i have heard about FW, and love boutique hotels...

what butthead and i like to do, is eat, shop and sightsee, BF likes outdoor activites, we are not big on the club scene, so any restaurant info as well would be helpful...

we don't mind doing the cheesey touristy stuff, since we are SF virgins.

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

I could seriously go on and on about SF forever...

For boutique hotels, check out www.quickbook.com. (special thanks to dc for her recommendation of this site) They feature a lot of SF boutique hotels on their website, and their prices are usually the lowest. I used them to book at the Clift Hotel (the Ian Schraeger hotel) in November and it was the best rate that I could find anywhere. Take a look at what's in your price range and feel free to run any hotels you're considering by me.

There is so much to do in SF - shopping in Union Square is always fun because all the major stores are in one area. I highly recommend walking around Union Street (not a part of Union Square, it's a 15 minute drive from Union Square) near Fillmore - it's a more local shopping area, with tons of boutiques and great restaurants. Fillmore Street near California is also great for just hanging out and walking around. And the Haight is fun too - great boutiques and cool vibe.

Definitely check out Golden Gate Park, it's a beautiful park. It's big though, so you should make a plan before you go there. Visit the Japanese tea gardens in the park if you have time.

Since you haven't been to SF before, you should probably visit Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square and walk or drive over the Golden Gate bridge.

The farmer's market recently moved to a permanent location at the Ferry building - it's a gorgeous old building that was completely redone. It's worth a visit.

One of my favorite things to do when I lived in SF was taking the ferry to Tiburon in Marin for lunch on a Saturday or Sunday - it's a 30 min ferry ride and there are a few restaurants right there on the water where you can sit outside and enjoy a great lunch and get an amazing view of the city. The ferries leave from Fishermans Wharf. If you're more adventurous, you can rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and around Marin to Tiburon, then take the ferry back.

As for restaurants, my favorite restaurants in SF are Delfina (Italian in the Mission district), Luna Park (eclectic american in the Mission), and Kokkari (the most amazing Greek food, pricey, near the Financial District). A lot of new restaurants have opened in SF since I left, so I'm not sure I can be of much help with new stuff, but feel free to run it by me...

funnyluci · Nine West

For restaurants make sure you check out Foreign Cinema. It's a great place where they project old movies on the wall of the outside patio as you eat dinner. Great romantic (but not sickly sweet) vibe. You might also want to check out Slanted Door. Another one of my favorites.
Since you're doing the tourist thing, go to Alcatraz if you have the time. I've taken so many friends there and it doesn't disappoint. If you decide to go, make sure you reserve tickets in advance.
For shopping, you should check out two boutique-y neighborhoods--Hayes Valley which is nice and Pacific Heights. Pacific Heights is great. If you go, don't eat breakfast and stop in at Bay Bread Boulangerie. The baker is old-school French and he makes great bread. My favorite gifty store there is Nest. It's a great place to pick up stuff you won't see anywhere else.
The city has a lot of French chefs, so if you're into serious French food, let me know and I can recommend specific restaurants.

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

i moved to SF about 7 months ago- it's a wonderful city! you're going to have a great time. some recommendations....

i've only had a few visitors since i've lived here and they've all stayed with me, so i don't really have any hotel suggestions yet. i've heard that the clift is a good choice though.

if you're into shopping, definitely check out union street. there are a ton of fun boutiques (l f, ambiance, my best friend's closet, brown-eyed girl) and sidewalk cafes. (union square, which is more downtown, is the main shopping area of sf but it is mostly chain store that you can find in any major city.) for a funkier vibe, head to upper haight st. (golden gate park is nearby- definitely check that out!)

i agree with LA gal that fisherman's wharf is too touristy/cheesy. head there to catch the ferry to marin and don't forget to check out the seals (sea lions? what's the difference?) sunning on the docks! soooo cute...

i would definitely head up to napa/sonoma. set aside a full day for that. absolutely beautiful! i'd rent a car though, skip the wine train- it runs along the main road anyway.

great restaurants to try: i'm with you, LA gal- delfina is incredible. also check out zuni cafe (on market street), beetlenut (on union st), and get some sushi while you're here- there are a million great places. tokyo a go go in the mission is a favorite. and no trip to SF would be complete without mexican food in the mission!

one word of advice- if you plan on taking public transportation while you're here, get a good map with all the train and bus lines and study it! the public trans. system is extensive- it can get you literally anywhere in the city, but it's also a little confusing if you've never been here before and don't have someone showing you around.

HAVE FUN!!!

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

i am PM'ing you my sonoma thing.

agree with what everyone has said about FW--beyond the tourist trap-ness of it, the masses of pigeons that congregate there freak me out also.

this is sort of touristy, but really super-fun to do once (in my opinion)--the alcatraz tour. if you do the headphone tour, it's really cool--it has all these interviews with ex-inmates and various people talking about the prison and things that happened there. it's a 1/2 day adventure, though, by the time you take the boat over and back.

walking around union square and union street is good. betelnut is a good recommendation that someone gave for a restaurant on union street--the food is good and it's loud and fun and casual. then you can walk from there over to fillmore and down to a whole bunch of fun local pubs that are all situated around there. once they close, you can get a slice at pizza orgasmica with everyone else who is on their way home from the bars.

i like the clift and think it would be fun to stay there--really good location in the middle of everything near union square. i haven't stayed there, so i don't know what the rooms are like. i like the donatello, also, which is in the same general area. they have the largest rooms of any hotel i've seen in the city, but it's not trendy or anything if you are looking for that. my fave is the campton place hotel, but it is a bit pricey for a tiny room. they have a cute tiny bar also. the W is good if you are wanting to be near the metreon and sfmoma and other south of market attractions. it's a bit of a hike if you think you will be spending a lot of time in union square and want to walk back and forth.

i keep getting interrupted, but i will post more if i think of it!

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

I totally forgot about Alcatraz! You should really try to go there (and absolutely make reservations in advance) - it's probably the most fun thing to do of all the super-touristy attractions. But bumblebee is right - with the boat right there and back, it will easily take up 1/2 of a day.

and betelnut is very yummy....

trixie · Kenneth Cole

I love SF! I am plotting my move out there (someday). During my last visit I went to Napa for the first time and had a great time. We visited a few wineries and my favorite is Peju (www.peju.com) - they have a beautiful vineyard and the people who work there are really fun, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their wines. We also went to Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard which was also very very beautiful. As for restaurants in SF, my favorite is the Straits Cafe on Geary Street. It is a amazing Singaporean food - I have never had a bad meal there. Have a great time!!!!!!!

dc · Dooney & Bourke

I went last year and loooved it. It really helped that we were visiting a friend (I went with my friend and her hubs, and we visited her hubs' friend). She and I actually stayed at a hotel at fisherman's wharf I totally forget the name! It was a Kimpton hotel... oh! it was the Argonaut) and that was great for us because he lives on Russian Hill and it was super convenient to walk (up a huge hill) to his place and walk around that neighborhood. But it was totally touristy down in the wharf area - we didn't hang out near the hotel at all.

Anyway, he drove us all around. My favorite day was wine tasting in Sonoma (we went to Viansa and Valley of the Moon wineries and then had lunch - and more wine! - on the patio of this great little market Healdsburg). Another day we went to the Haight to look around and then had a picnic in Golden Gate Park. And we also went out to Tiburon one day to have brunch at this place called Sam's (I think) that overlooks the bay and SF... very crowded place, but fun (and tasty mimosas).

We had great dinners all over town as well, went and danced at this crazy tiki bar at some big hotel, and also saw an 80's cover band that was quite good & hilarious. It was great to have a real SF resident showing us the ropes. He has this great pad with a fab view of the GG bridge and we had dinner there one night as well.

Anyway, just remembering - sorry to ramble! You'll have a wonderful time.

jah · Dooney & Bourke

Ahhhhh...I love San Francisco.

I recommend the Clift Hotel. http://www.clifthotel.com/ It is an Ian Schrager-Philippe Starck hotel and you can tell in every detail. For it's beauty and location, it is a good price for San Fran. If you want to go "mainstream hotel", the Fairmont in San Fran is beautiful!http://www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco/

If you don't stay at the Clift Hotel at least have drinks in the Redwood Room--LOVE this lounge. For a laid-back, cheap bar, the Bluelight is fun. If you like Sushi, Sushi Groove is really good. It is a small restaurant, service is good and sushi is yummy...try the Sake Martini. I second the betelnut (great restaurant, lots of locals--always a good sign).

Also, get your clam chowder at the Wharf in a bread bowl at one of the walkup vendor stands. Seriously, it is the best at these stands...all the locals know that (or at least that is what my friend John who has lived there for years says...)

In terms of wineries...I second that if you want to do California wine country, Sonoma is a better choice. Napa is "too commercial" these days.

In terms of Haight-Ashbury, I would skip it if you think you have an interest. It is a huge disappointment. As a Jerry Garcia fan, I put this at the top of my list the first time I was in SF and almost cried when I saw a GAP at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. Someone on FH had tried to warn me, but I didn't listen to the message...Oh, the horror. Jerry is turning over in his grave while someone at the ice cream shop (Ben & Jerry's--how convenient) across the street from the GAP is making major buck selling "Cherry Garcia" to all the tourists that just don't get that HA is not the same and never will be again (okay, I'm getting down off my soapbox now:)

You'll love San Fran...so beautiful; a truly unique city.

-- Edited by jah at 23:34, 2005-02-21

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

that gap on the corner of haight/ashbury is the original first-ever gap--it has been there since 1969.

jah · Dooney & Bourke

It might be the original, but the Gap of 1969 is not the GAP of 2005 and I still think Jerry, Janis, etc. are saddened...