Second this - the Fior Di Latte soft serve from Gott’s is fantastic (there is a separate ice cream spot inside the market).
Also the Roli Roti porchetta sandwich if you’ve never had it, they set up on the Eastside outside of the Ferry Building but are only there Thurs 10-2 and Saturday 8-2.
Ardiana is less than a block from La Ciccia so you could try walking into La Ciccia and hit Ardiana if you can’t get in.
I had a pretty meh meal last time I went to Uma Casa.
Dinner Friday at In Situ. @PorkyBelly and @Chowseeker1999 recommendations sold me on it, even though I’m a bit suspicious why they’re not busier.
Sat lunch going to hit up Roli Roti since I love porchetta and bang bang with some oysters, maybe a grilled cheese from Hog Island, and soft serve from Gott’s.
Dinner Saturday at The Morris for that duck!
Might be able to squeeze in another light meal/snack somewhere.
Also, any good breakfast spots near the Embarcadero?
It’s your typical Eater “heatmap,” mix of informed opinion and hype.
Angler’s at the top of my to-try list but good luck getting in. Don’t care about the others except the two in Oakland. Dyafa (open since August) is sort of Oakland’s answer to Bavel.
Unless I’m particularly obsessed with a cuisine or it’s something really unusual, I’d rather wait a year or two for most of them to go out of business.
I like Mama’s but it can get crowded on the weekend. Some other good places in that area although not breakfast are Golden Gate bakery for their egg tarts and Kakkario Estiatoria for Greek food. If you have kids my kids loved the Musee Mechanique near Fisherman’s Wharf. Old school arcade games (like pre electricity old school).
Use the line inside of the market specifically for soft serve that @brisket44 mentioned. Don’t get sidetracked on the walk there by the selections at Humphrey Slocombe.
I find the Michelin-starred restaurants a very narrow and mostly uninteresting slice of the area’s culinary diversity, but the Bib Gourmand and The Plate lists are very good.