Reporting Back: Our Trip to San Francisco - Great Breakfasts, Lunch and Dinners :)

re: golden gate bakery

why is a page like this necessary? their hours aren’t 8-8 everyday?

http://www.is-the-golden-gate-bakery-open-today.com/

@Chowseeker1999 @ipsedixit

Hi @Ns1,

Yah seems like it. Ipse can speak more on this, but from casual searching and our own experience (we showed up, only to see a handwritten sign that they were closed :frowning:), clearly, they seem to have some variable open / close times & dates.

Are you heading up soon? :slight_smile:

I’m leaving tonight at 7pm; I’ll have 3 dogs in tow so it’s take-out or dog friendly only the whole weekend.

Alas my stops for Swan / Dragon Beaux will have to wait until next time.

Nope.

They come and go as they please and observe all Chinese holidays to the max.

2 Likes

Hi @Ns1,

Ah I see. Hope you have fun! :slight_smile: Try out the Croissants at Arsicault if you get a chance.

Update 1:

We were able to go up to SF and San Mateo for a quick follow-up trip. I wanted to group up the links to each of the places on this new visit, in case it might be helpful for others.

Quick Ramen Lunch at Santa Ramen:

A charming, tasty, neighborhood Izakaya with some of the best-tasting, affordable Sake I’ve seen anywhere at Izakaya Ginji:

The best meal we had on this trip, and the best Modern Mexican cuisine I’ve ever had at Californios:

And we finished off the trip with a visit to 3 of the most recommended FTC Bakeries in the area for some excellent Breakfast Pastries at Arsicault Bakery (Revisit), Tartine Bakery (Revisit) and B. Patisserie:

Like before, another wonderful trip overall and a huge thanks again to @beefnoguy @PorkyBelly @BradFord @ipsedixit @SFDiner @sfchris @Emglow101 @chinchi @paranoidgarliclover and so many others for their recommendations. :slight_smile:

We will be back to try more of the list!

Thank you again!

4 Likes

Beautiful pictures and report , as always . Bravo :clap:

1 Like

Update 2:

We had a lot of fun with this batch of meals. I created separate threads for them, but grouping them here in case it’s useful for someone:

Final Morning - Quad x Bang Attempt:

Thank you again @PorkyBelly @robert @beefnoguy @ipsedixit @BradFord @thechez5 @Bookwich @J_L and many others for the recs and thoughts! :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Update 3:

Here’s a summary of the places we just visited on a return visit to SF, combined into one place, in case it’s helpful for any of our FTC’ers heading north. :slight_smile:

Thanks again to all of the FTC’ers who gave us all of these great suggestions! You really made our trip! :slight_smile:

3 Likes

@Chowseeker1999 (or any others who wish to chime in): What would you recommend for a fun / romantic dinner with the SO on a Friday night in SF? Since you are also LA based, I thought it might make sense to ask from a perspective of what might feel unique to us coming from LA. We are coming straight from SFO with our suitcases and so far have been able to find resies at La Ciccia, Foreign Cinema, and Liholiho YC.

Saison
Acquerello
La ciccia
Benu
La folie
Bellota
Californios

For fun and less romantic:
liholiho
cockscomb
in situ
state bird provisions
swan oyster
hog island
dragon beaux
kusakabe

I wasn’t a fan of foreign cinema

3 Likes

Hi @DTLAeater,

@PorkyBelly covered most of it. Romantic and fun, definitely:

Saison
Californios
La Ciccia
Benu

Fun, but not as romantic:

Liholiho
In Situ
Dragon Beaux (Lunch Dim Sum)

How you have a good time! Looking forward to your report. :slight_smile:

Provided you’re seated in a good spot to see the film, and you go after dark, Foreign Cinema is a unique experience. But the food, though solid, is a bit “safe”.

Thanks @Chowseeker1999 @PorkyBelly @hyperbowler. I was very intrigued by La Ciccia from FTC reports, but probably ruling that out because we’ve been eating tons and tons of Italian lately and I’m not sure they will have space for our suitcases straight from the airport.

Booked at Bellota for now and may have time to sneak in Dragon Beaux for lunch the next day.

1 Like

I’m going to offer another suggestion for fun and romantic.

Bix

Sit on the second level and take in the scene down below.

1 Like

When was your last visit? Went maybe 6 months ago and the food was underwhelming.

About a year ago.

We usually go to enjoy th scene and the jazz and generally avoid the entrees and order almost exclusively from the hors d’oeuvres and starters section.

No gripes with the food or the libations. But definitely enjoy the atmosphere more.

The mains were the problem - we actually had to send something back which I never do and the mains were cold by the time they reached us. Cocktails and atmosphere were good though. Sounds like you have the right idea.

It’s a special space. In the 70s, after they tore down the Iron Pot, when it was the Assay Office, we used to go there regularly for happy hour. In the Gold Rush it was the actual assay office.

Oops, urban legend, it was never the actual assay office. From the landmark summary:

This building and the Moulinie Building directly across Gold Street were acquired by a French sea captain during a voyage to California after the Gold Rush. The two buildings were owned by his family for over a century. The building has been home to Four Monks Winery, a cooperage, a truck storage depot, a gay bar named “Gold Street,” and since 1988 the bar and restaurant “Bix.”

More:

The space at 56 Gold St. … never was an actual Assay Office, and the above information is inaccurate. I know this because I used to work in that space from 1976-1977, which was a restaurant built by my late husband, who named it the Assay Office. It was a Barbary Coast themed design with a beautiful stained glass ceiling, etched glass windows on the front door, original Oak front and back bars, and miles of hand crafted molding throughout. Before my husband’s design, it was another restaurant named Gold St. which he had gutted and rebuilt.

Imgur