SFO

Here there is a temperate, cool climate, all sorts of food, culture, arts from around the world, including the California Culinary Academy, symphonies, opera, plays, activities, culture, an international hub airport connecting you to all other parts of the world, and two secondary airports close by.

Visit Union Square, ride on Powell & Hyde Cable Car line, and ride at the front end of the car if possible. The breathtaking view comes toward the last few blocks as it approaches Fisherman's Wharf.

Ferry ride to Oakland, Sausalito, or Alcatraz, or take the Muni F trolley line and just enjoy the scenery, as its long path includes Fisherman's Wharf, downtown along Market Street, gay Castro area, and the Castro Theatre, which plays pipe-organ music and old movies.

So many things to see in San Francisco:

 

M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Cartoon Art Museum, Cable Car Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Asian Art Museum, Natural History Museum.

Golden Gate Bridge, the symbolic entry into our city and nation, connecting to Sausalito in Marin County; Angel Island, where the Chinese were detained in the early 20th century; Palace of Fine Arts; the Exploratorium; drive down the crookiest street, Lombard Street; Transamerica building, with its unique pyramid shape for the skyline; SF Main Library; Mission Dolores & Mission district; Chinatown; Pier 39; Japantown with Kabuki Hot Springs; Morrison Planetarium (and Laserium); Steinhart Aquarium; North Beach; Coit Tower; old hippie days of Haight-Ashbury, now gentrified; Pacific Heights; Union Square; south of Market area (SoMa); Lands End, and where the old Sutro Baths used to be.

Visit Treasure Island, the East Bay with Oakland's Jack London Square, Chinatown, Oakland Museum, Lake Merritt, or the Paramount Theatre.

There's Berkeley, with its university, shopping, and eating, head further into wine country for some 200 wineries in Napa and Sonoma, or go further to Sacramento, the state's capital.

Buy a map of the city with all the Muni stops on it so you can navigate around the city. A map marking the 49-mile scenic drive is another way to drive around and see the city. There are restaurants galore, coming out of your ears.

Drive to Fort Point to foot of Golden Gate Bridge view, drive across the bridge to Marin side and up the hill to view of bridge and city.

Quick Tips:

Resources: Hostels.com, Let's Go, Fodor's, Fodor's hotel listings, Frommer's, Frommer's hotel listings, Lonely Planet, Lonely Planet lodging list, City Pass with admission to six attractions including a bay cruise and unlimited rides on the cable car and MUNI for nine days, Only in San Francisco, SF Visitor, San Francisco Theatre, CityPass, , Wok Wiz, Gay Pocket.

Stay out of Hunter's Point/3rd St. area, and Mission St. between 16th to 24th streets may have gang-related problems. The homeless are a problem, but normally not harmful. Stay alert and have a destination in mind.

There's a string of "lower-cost" motels along Lombard Street near the Golden Gate bridge. Lodging.com, http://www.hotels.com/>Hotels.com or Priceline along with Bidding for Travel to aid in bidding on Priceline for your lodging, unless you're fortunate enough to have a friend with a large enough place to accommodate you. It's expensive to stay or visit here.

Try Traveler, Fairs and Festivals, and SF Station for information.

Pack a light jacket or sweater and a water bottle, as the weather varies throughout the day from overcast to bright sun, and the wind is strong at times, especially down Market St. near Van Ness, where it sometimes seems like a wind tunnel.

Best Way To Get Around:

SFO International Airport is huge and easily confusing. The city is very easily accessible on foot, full of walkable, distinct neighborhoods, so have a good pair of comfortable walking shoes, as streets can be very hilly.

Public transit Muni and BART to/from the airport are the practical ways to getting around the city.

SamTrams 292 local bus is also available to/from the airport, and though slower, is cheaper than BART. SamTrams KX express bus is faster but allows only one carry-on, and only if it fits on your lap while seated.

Transit info can help provide help getting to other places.

Driving is doable, but traffic can get very congested, and parking can be difficult. Don't drive manual transmission if you're not accustomed to driving on the hilly streets. And there are taxis.

Public Transit Muni works well unless you want to get out of the city; you don't need a rental car just to get around the city.

Another option would be City CarShare or Zipcar.

There's 511.org for help on transportation, whether on public transit or driving conditions.

Beck's Motor Lodge is standard fare as motels go--a basic bed in a dingy, smallish room. Built in 1974, with 58 air-conditioned rooms -- some even have fireplaces or whirlpools. Parking is available, and dataports, a mini-fridge, coffeemaker, and an ironing board with iron are in the rooms.

The advantage of staying here is that it's within walking distance of the Castro district, the gay area. Muni F trolley also runs along Market St. It's a busy area full of traffic and people.

Muni F; K, L, M Metro Castro St.; J, K, L, M, N Church St. station

Discounts are available to those with AAA and AARP memberships.

Travelodge San Francisco Airport North is actually physically located in South San Francisco, a few miles from the airport itself. As long as you realize this, plan to be on the last BART train going to SFO airport, be prepared for a $40+ cab fare, or stay overnight in the city.

There's a complimentary shuttle every half hour to and from the airport. When you arrive at the airport, pick up a white courtesy telephone and ask for a pick-up. You must be at their designated pick-up point for hotel courtesy shuttles. One of the hotel courtesy shuttle stops is just outside of the international terminal and close to the SFO BART station. Otherwise, it's around $12 for a taxi to SFO airport, which was what we took when leaving the motel, as we were running late. The motel was kind enough to call a taxi for us.

There's a swimming pool, but it was under maintenance and not available when we went. There's an IHOP next door. The room was clean and decent, but cold. The room heater remedied that. The showerhead was loose and spun around in its socket, so I couldn't adjust the spray. The beds were too soft, and they placed something under the bed sheets that made the bed uncomfortable.

There was a heater/cooler, TV, hair dryer, and mini coffeemaker in the room. The ice machine was a long walk from the room, and there was also a laundry room and meeting facilities.

The motel has a strict policy of no partying.

We received a room at the Clarion Hotel San Francisco Airport, complements of the airline, due to their overbooking of a flight from Seattle. We were rerouted to leave from San Francisco the next morning.

The room itself was acceptable, but not great. The front desk staff person was unfriendly, barely helpful, and had an attitude - unacceptable for customer contact. They want to gouge you on parking. My impression is that this place was cheaply built and wants to charge higher prices to pretend they're higher class than they really are.

If you should eat at their restaurant, your parking is validated for a few hours without charge. Their buffet dinner was all right for $13. What was outstanding was one of their two dessert items.

My partner wanted to go to the bars in San Francisco, but stayed too long, missed the last BART train back to San Francisco airport, and had to shell out an expensive taxi fare back to the hotel. That's a problem if you're staying far from the entertainment and nightlife and you like to stay out late. Any savings will be eaten up quickly with an expensive cab fares. Better to stay in San Francisco, preferably close to where you want to be, unless you're flying out of the San Francisco airport early. In either case, I wouldn't want to stay here again.

The Travelodge San Francisco Airport South in this area was pretty cold at night/morning. The heater/cooler works quickly with a thermostat control. The room was very decent and clean, clock radio, mini-coffee maker, iron & board, in room safe for an additional $1/day, free local calls, a very comfortable bed. There was a shower, but no bathtub, the shower door opens out to the bathroom floor rather than into the shower floor after taking a shower - water dripped onto the bathroom floor; free wi-fi Internet, the Simmons mattress beds provides a very comfortable sleep. The upgraded room for an additional $10-25/day came with a mini fridge, microwave, nicer room, balcony in our room overlooked the BART and Caltrain stations. There's a fitness facility and restaurants nearby. The hotel provides a continental breakfast of cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, bagels, toast, danish, muffins, juice and freshly brewed cappuccinos, espressos, lattes in both regular and decaf from 6am-10am in the lobby near the front desk. Check-in 1pm, check-out 12pm.

Peter's Cafe is nearby and 24 hours. Take a 10-minute walk over to Neal's Coffee Shop (listed as Ben's Coffee Shop on the Internet) at 1845 El Camino Real. Walk out in front of the reception area to the sidewalk, left to the next traffic light, and cross over to opposite side in the Burlingame Shopping Center.

In the opposite direction going past Peter's Cafe, the Millbrae neighborhood area has businesses, shops, restaurants to browse. Hong Kong Flower Lounge, Fook Yuen, Osho, Thai Stick restaurants are all a short 10 minute walk or less away, add another 10 minutes to walk to a Trader Joe's.

The hotel's location is sort of out of the way to San Francisco, but it's a five minute walk to a Caltrain station and BART has service to Millbrae, so the city will be just a BART ride away. There's a 24 hour complimentary shuttle provided by the motel that takes you to and from the airport with a phone call. There is also SamTrans public transit. 511.org can help you plan your trip. But public transit seems to all turn into a pumpkin by midnight, if not earlier. This wouldn't be a good choice if you want to be on the town after midnight, but a good choice if you are back before the last BART train leaves or you're driving.

There are lower cost places elsewhere, including two other Travelodges nearby if your goal is to save money. If you'd like to have things to do, a farmer's market on Saturdays 8am-1pm, Trader Joe's, including a real walkable neighborhood right nearby without having to use a car or go into San Francisco, this place is pretty hard to beat with it's nearby infrastructure without the traffic hassles of the city. It's the best choice of places to stay close to the airport, even if this cost a little more.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans bus route # 391.

Good Nite Inn SFO, aka Ramada Inn SFO Airport, was once part of the Holiday Inn chain, but this property was built on the cheap.

The rooms are big and nicely appointed, but you're charged for everything. Local calls are 10 cents a minute for the 650 area code. Other calls are billed even higher. High-speed Internet is available at $4.95 for one hour and $9.95 for 24-hours and available from your room. There's one Internet station in the lobby for access. The complimentary shuttle is every half-hour and departs the airport 15 and 45 minutes after the hour.

The walls are thin, as noise of the jets nearby can be heard. Swimming pool hours are from 9am to 9pm, but the surrounding area of the pool area is dirty from not being washed down frequently. There is a barbershop on premises and a coin laundry and ice-maker nearby. The mini-coffeemaker, air-conditioning, and furniture are nice. Complimentary breakfast, consisting of a coffee and a muffin, starts at 6:30am.

The bed was comfortable enough, but I couldn't get to sleep for a long while.

We booked this on Hotels.com, but found it for even cheaper on Travelocity.

Be aware that this property is near the SFO airport and not in San Francisco, and if on public transportation, be aware of getting the last train or bus back (usually midnight) to the airport, unless you're driving or taking a taxi (there goes your savings). It's great for an early-morning departure to be close to the airport the night before to minimize traffic commute times and congestion. Otherwise, find a spot in the city and pay more; it'll be better to be close to where you'll spend your time.

Consult 511 for your travel needs.

Their steamed fish is very good (provided it's not overcooked) but pricey, and there's not nearly enough fish as you might like for the money you're paying.

One of the chefs looked like a victim of his own doing. He looked really overweight and unhealthy, perhaps from eating too much rice and too many salty foods.

The food is very good, but you just need to balance a good, healthy diet along with sufficient exercise to increase your longevity. Service is fair, and atmosphere is poor, with fluorescent lights, noisy talking, and cooking.

Open late nights. Closed Tuesdays. Cash only.

Muni: 12, 15, 30, 41, 45, Powell & Mason Cable Car.

The food here is definitely above average, high quality, and fresh, and the prices reflect that. Though it's a good place to eat, I'd pass on the meal due to their high prices, but I would go for their mango pudding for $2.50.

They serve dim sum on the weekends, but be prepared to take a number and wait for up to an hour.

It’s nice for a simple dinner of wonton soup, and not too expensive.

El Farolito Restaurant, a small chain in California, is the place for great-tasting, large-size, budget-conscious burritos, it raises the bar as the standard against which all burritos are judged. There's usually a line, be prepared to wait 20 or more minutes to get your order. I would request whole black beans, rice, meat of choice (my favorite meats are beef tongue, al pastor (marinated pork), and smoked chicken, I won't try the beef brains,) fresh tomatoes instead of salsa, no onions, no cilantro, add avocado.

It's a long narrow aisle toward the front, where you queue up to order and pay. Take a number and wait, depending on how busy it is. Dine in or take away. There are tables in the back and a CD jukebox that plays Mexican songs. The food is excellent, service is at the counter to order, where you pay and wait for your order, and the atmosphere is budget rock-bottom. But I come here for their great-tasting burritos.

They also serve tacos, tortas (Mexican sandwiches), tostadas, carne asada (grilled steak), pollo (chicken), enchiladas, quesadillas, agua frescas (sugar sweetened drinks made with natural fruits in season like cantelope, strawberry,) horchata, sodas and Mexican-sodas.

But a regular size burrito and a fresh-fruit drink will do it for me, especially late at night. I prefer the super quesadillas as its tastier than the regular though too much cheese isn't good for one's diet.

Sunday-Thursday 9am-3am; Friday-Saturday 9am-4am.

BART: 24th St. Mission station.

Muni 14, 14L, 47, 48, 49.

511 TakeTransit Trip Planner

Sub sandwiches are what they do at the Yellow Submarine. There's a pleasant, older Arabian woman who's worked there over 30 years. I visited this place years ago and had forgotten its name, but I still remember how good it was.

I like the beef-and-bell-pepper sandwich, but their marinated chicken sandwich is also very tasty. The woman wouldn't say what they use to marinate the chicken, but she smiled and told me I would like it. They must be doing something right to be here this long.

If you want a really good, tasty Philly cheesesteak sandwich, give this place a try.

This is close walking distance to the UCSF campus, so it may get a bit of traffic from the students and staff.

Muni lines 43, N.

Uncle's Café serves both Chinese and American dishes, and the food was good. When the place got busy during lunchtime, they had people sharing tables.

My friend suggested meeting there for lunch, and I was there early. I didn't want to take up a table space without ordering anything, so I waited outside at the corner for my friend to show up. He is usually early himself, but when he finally arrived, I was upset. I didn't say anything till he opened with the remark, after looking at his watch, that we were both early--I blew a fuse. It turns out that the watch wasn't set for the correct time, as he hadn't worn it for a while.

By then, it was a quarter after noon, and the place was packed. Queuing for a table, the waiter waved to us to share a table. My friend declined sharing a table because we wanted a table to ourselves. It may have been another 15 to 20 minutes before we were finally seated. We ordered and the food arrived.

I ordered oxtail, and my friend ordered a noodle soup dish. They were both very good and very reasonably priced. We had a nice conversation over our lunch, even though the restaurant was noisy.

Yamo Thai Kitchen is open Mondays through Saturdays from 11am to 9:30pm. It has a very small, long counter and two small tables in the back. I went with a friend of mine, ordered a couple Thai dishes for lunch, sat down at one of the two small tables in the back, and enjoyed their food. The Thai food was very good and tasty, and you can get good value with the lunch prices offered till 3pm.

It's probably as close to Thailand as my friend will ever likely get to, since he seldom can afford a vacation.

BART San Francisco 16th St/Mission St station.

The food was good, but the atmosphere is nothing to write home about. I ordered some BBQ ribs to go, and they were quite tasty. The atmosphere of the restaurant is filled with a blurry TV image and sound and backfilled with sounds of the kitchen in semi-dark lighting. It's better to order your food to go and take it somewhere else -- anywhere but there.

 

It seems like an old establishment. They recently changed the waitress uniforms, but this place still comes from the era of Suzi Wong. Chinese lanterns hang overhead while you eat, and the whole restaurant is decorated with a Chinese motif.

Order their steamed fish, but avoid the deep-fried fish. The Chef's Gourmet Chicken is definitely a must-order specialty dish -- deep-fried, battered chicken filet, cut up and soaked in a sweet honey and spicy sauce, covered with cut up pieces of deep-fried wonton skin. The taste is unique, with the sweet honey taste countered by the mild spiciness, mixed in with chicken with the crunches and flavor of wonton skin.

The food portions are huge, and prices very reasonable. One of the set dinners includes the Chef's Gourmet Chicken at a very good value to feed a family of four. This is a good place for a meal and close to the Balboa Theatre on the same block. Credit cards are accepted.

Wing Lee Bakery offers hot steam-table food and dim sum. You can eat in or take out. The food is good for a quick bite, when you want to eat and sit down for a bit. The atmosphere is bright fluorescent lighting and Formica table tops.

 

The food is good, depending on what you order. The pot stickers, Deluxe Won Ton Soup (with shrimp, beef, chicken, Chinese BBQ pork), string bean chicken with a ginger sauce for less salt instead of black bean sauce, pea pods with Chinese BBQ pork, and pan-fried flounder were all good. The pan-fried flounder was deep fried, I thought it would be with a couple tablespoons of oil, not immersed in it. Their Inglenook house wine was enjoyed and quite good. It's a favorite among the locals. Parking is difficult around the streets here.

Mon-Sat 11am-9:30pm; Sun 4pm-9:30pm

Muni 1AX, 1BX, 10, 20, 31AX, 31BX, 38AX, 38BX

Grubstake, established 1927, with its current location since 1967. Breakfast served on weekends with a breakfast special with eggs, pancakes or french toast, bacon or sausage for $7; Grubstake cheeseburger with bacon $6.75, Claim Jumper cheeseburger with sauteed mushrooms or Nugget cheeseburger with bacon and fried egg $7.75. Drinks from root beer float $4, to coffees $1.75-3.25, soda $1.75 or refill $1, juice $2.75, milk or tea $2, wine by the glass $4.50, white wine by the bottle $14-16, red wine by the bottle $16-24, Portuguese Champagne $15. They also serve Portuguese cuisine ranging from $4.50-$17.

It's a good decent place for a meal late at night after all the bars have closed. You'll go away warm and well fed. Cash only. Monday-Friday 5pm-4am, Saturday-Sunday 10am-4am, closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The place is good, clean, and light. The food is good, as are the prices, and they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The menu is varied, but the quality is steady--like their customers, who return often.

 

Gyro King doesn't live up to its name. I passed this place by chance when I had just bought food from some other place. But I love a good gyro, so I turned around, headed in, and ordered one to go.

I've tasted good gyros before, but these are only fair. The meat was overcooked and cold, perhaps because the place wasn't busy. Too bad. I've tasted delicious gyros in London and Vienna. I'll have to keep looking locally.

Credit cards accepted, open daily 10am-9:30pm.

BART San Francisco Civic Center station

Empress of China is one of the best places to eat if it fits your budget. They know how to cook. I usually don't like chicken breast, as it's usually dry. But I tasted their chicken breast in a soup, and at first I didn't know what the meat was, because it was not dry, but tender, tasty, and succulent - quite a wonderful experience. Credit cards accepted. Daily 11:30am-10:30pm

email info@empressofchinasf.com

BART San Francisco Montgomery St or Powell St stations.

Muni any cable car Chinatown stop, 15, 30, 41.

511.org or 511 Transit Trip Planner

California Culinary Academy, now part of the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu (remember the movie Sabrina (1954) with the egg scene in the cooking school?) is a prestigious cooking school. Here is a chance to try out the cooking of tomorrow's great chefs in a nice dining atmosphere in the Carême Room. There are several different stations to go to for your food if you're there on the buffet days--a salad station, a hot entrée station way in the back, and a dessert station by the front entrance.

The time we went, the place was packed, and the service was quite slow. One of us requested iced water, and finally, I ended up grabbing a pitcher nearby and poured it myself. Another request for hot water also was very slow, perhaps 15 minutes before the hot water appeared. They seemed to be very disorganized and hectic behind the scenes. The service needs improvement, but they're probably not used to gearing up for a full load or newer students.

The food itself is there for the taking for the buffet, so just get a plate, and there are servers/chefs to help. The food there is first-class.

This place is open Tuesdays through Fridays 11:30am to 2pm for lunch (must be seated by 12:45pm to dine) and 6 to 8pm for dinner. There's a set menu on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and a buffet on Thursdays and Fridays.

This is your chance to have fine dining without the higher prices of the city's more expensive places to dine. If you don't want or can't eat a buffet, the set menus on Tuesday and Wednesday lunch or dinner is recommended. The best value for the buffet would be Thursday lunch, Friday lunch, Thursday dinner, Friday dinner in that order. I feel Thursday lunch buffet would be my first choice as it's not as busy and you'll get to sample food from future chefs at a reasonable price.

I strongly advise calling at least 2-3 weeks ahead if you plan to go for the Friday evening buffet, to make sure they don't have a private function that night. And do not take the last reservation seating at 8pm, as they cart off the food around 9pm, though you may stay till 10pm.

If you're inclined to sign up for cooking courses but can't quite come up with the $50,000 or more tuition, there's weekend cooking classes offered for less. Single class starts at $175, 5-part essential series for $625. For weekend cooking classes and current prices, call (415) 354-9198.

BART Civic Center Station
Muni 5, 19, 31, 47, 49

The French Room is no more. But on my first visit there, I felt like I was in a movie. I've never experienced this kind of elegance and luxury, except as an observer of the movies. It was an awesome enlightenment, though people with lots of money take it for granted or come to expect it. This was the first time I've seen a water person exclusively responsible for nothing but keeping the customers' water glasses filled. It was a buffet brunch, so I had whatever I wanted. The atmosphere, food, service were all first rate.

It was such a good experience that years later, I was able to arrange another visit. I didn't pay either time, which made it even better.

But now, the French Room is only a thing of memory, unfortunately.

Denny's Restaurants are an international chain, and their quality is good and consistent. This particular location used to have excellent service till they promoted the server to a management position. Last time I went, their service wasn't what it used to be.

Open 24 hours a day.

Little Henry's is right on a corner location in the tenderloin area. It specializes in Italian cuisine, but serves American fare (including eggs Benedict) till 5pm for under $5. That's still a deal. My last visit there for eggs Benedict wasn't good. They used ham instead of Canadian bacon, the hash browns were burnt and didn't look very appetizing. Their Italian food was pretty good at a better price for lunch.

Don't go in the wintertime when it's so cold outside. When I went, the only heat was from the stove.

Beep's Burgers is not quite your classic greasy spoon, because in addition to serving the typical burgers and fries, you can also get pretty good chicken teriyaki over rice. It's great to be able to order teriyaki when I don't feel like eating a burger and fries.

You place your order, pay, wait about 10 to 15 minutes, and your order is ready. It's not really a place to dine in--it's more of a take-away. Near City College.

McDonald's of Ocean Avenue is a company-owned location that serves up those little ol' burgers and flavored fries that we grew up with. Remember the Big Mac slogan? They still won't serve you a root beer float. They don't even have root beer any longer.

 

Polly Ann Ice Cream, Inc., established in 1955, has over 50 flavors and is almost overwhelming. It's a funky, strange-looking store inside, with an extremely large turning wheel with the flavors on it. I ordered ginger ice cream but threw it away. It had ginger crystals in it and was too strong. More to my liking is the green tea ice cream, which is available in some Chinese and Japanese markets.

Sun-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm

Email Polly Ann

Mr. Pizza Man has multiple locations, mainly in San Francisco. It's not a place to go to sit and dine at their establishment, at least not this location. It's more like calling up your order and either picking it up or more likely having it delivered to the door.

I recommend the Mr. Pizza Man special, which has salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, and sausage, and costs from $16 for a small 12-inch pie to $26 for an extralarge 18-inch pie. They have online coupons. The pizza quality is pretty good, with a thick crust, if you want, and a good helping of toppings. And it's tasty and hot when delivered. Allow about 40 to 60 minutes for delivery.

There was at one time in the past a scam with this business where they double charge you: the 1st time when you phone in your order, a 2nd time when you sign the charge slip for your order and add the tip for the driver. If you catch them on it, they would apologize and rush the driver over with the cash back. They don't want you to alert your credit card company of the double charge. If enough complaints came in, the card company would be alerted. Report this to the credit card company if this happens to you. This happened to my partner. The first time he thought it was great, a cash advance. The second time it happened he stopped ordering their pizza.

Siam Thai Noodle 4's atmosphere is simple, clean, and light, and so is its food. I ordered crab fried rice. It came on a large dinner plate, presented with fresh-sliced cucumbers and small tomatoes, with a fork and tablespoon on the side of the plate. Plastic chopsticks of different colors are available on the table. I ordered Thai iced coffee, which was okay, but I've tasted better. My server impressed me with her nice smile, courtesy, and respect - something American seemed lacking for many years now.

Sun-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri-Sat 11am-2am.

Neal's in Millbrae has a nice coffee shop atmosphere--clean, bright, and with a friendly staff. Breakfasts and home fries are good. It's just the kind of place you feel comfortable at and like in your neighborhood--a good working-class establishment filled with customers. Walk in, sit down, place your order, have some conversation with your friends, and just relax a while and enjoy the food.

Hours: Mon-Fri 6am-9pm, Sat-Sun 7am-9pm

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans bus route # 391

Best of Thai Noodle offers authentic Thai recipe cooking. We ordered number 28 off the menu: stir-fried pork with garlic sauce over rice, along with an order of fresh veggie spring rolls that came with a delicious peanut dipping sauce and a sweet-and-spicy dipping sauce for contrast, and Thai iced coffee. The food arrived fairly quickly and the food was fresh, tasty, and the service was good. Cash only.

Free delivery with a minimum of $15 per order, 5:30pm-10:30pm

Hours 11am-1:30am

Caffé DeLucchi is a smallish, trendy restaurant serving some good hollandaise sauce that came with our breakfast of eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine. The homemade potatoes were good, but too salty. The interior is long and narrow, bright and clean with some outdoor sidewalk seating. Our server was attentive.

Breakfast served till 12pm on Fridays, till 2pm on weekends.

Sun-Wed 8am-10pm; Thurs-Sat 8am-11pm

Art's Café has been around since the 1940s, when it was known as Art's Fine Foods. It's a greasy spoon with a long, narrow aisle with counter seating only that serves breakfast and lunch so you're able to see the cook preparing American or Korean food orders on the grill. I've had decent breakfasts there in the past. They've added a popular special dish, Korean BBQ beef, for under $6, accepts cash only.

Tue-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun 7:30am-3:30pm

Muni N Judah

Irving Street Café is a little nice setting with glass tabletops. American-style breakfast is what we go for, and they do a nice job.

Mon-Thur 7am-9pm, Fri-Sat 7am-10pm, Sun 7am-8pm

Muni N Judah

Tart to Tart has two locations, the original on Irving St., another on Geary Bl. The larger original Irving St. location has more seating, you may choose seating outside on the sidewalk if there's space or you can sit indoor.

Although you may order sandwiches, I think of this place more as a dessert selection after your main meal from another place.

They offer items like scones, cakes, cookies, and muffins. Try their lemon tart and root beer float.

Hours 6am-2am.

Muni N Judah.

It was after midnight and we wanted to get something to eat, but we were unfamiliar with the area. Millbrae's Peter's Café sign was brightly lit. Like flies in the dark, we wandered over to their restaurant. We both chose our food off their white-board menu and were served by a Korean waitress with a heavy accent, but understandable English. The food was good, and for late-night dining when you're on foot and unfamiliar with the area, this is it. Judging from its decor, this café looks like it's been around since the 1960s.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans route # 391

Sizzler restaurants is a national chain. They've fallen on some hard times and closed some of their locations, but the two in Daly City are still open for business.

Their salad bar is still a good deal, but was much better in the past. Service for coffee and refills was very bad. Don't bother with their lowest-priced steak, because you'll be disappointed.

Nation's Giant Hamburgers & Great Pies in Daly City is a regional northern California chain that serves some good beef hamburgers, chicken, wild salmon, vegetarian harvester, chili fries, pies, and breakfast. Their barbecue and honey mustard sauces are great for adding on top of the hamburgers, along with their traditional, specialty and feature pies of the month.

I like to add both the sauces onto my hamburger. Their chili by itself is too salty. They offer a chili burger and chili fries that are good. Their banana creme pie is good but too sweet. Their java shake is good.

Open 24 hours, breakfast served till 11:30am.

Denny's Restaurant is an international restaurant chain. Food quality is very good, while service varies from good to poor, depending on how busy it is and who your server is. Turnover seems to be high, probably because they're not paid very well. I like their breakfast. Their version of eggs Benedict is good. Moon Over My Hammy is good (catchy name).

 

Todai is an international chain with a Japanese buffet. I was so looking forward to their opening location in Daly City, but I am disappointed in their food quality. It's acceptable, but not that good. I wish their quality WAS much better than what I experienced.

The queue could be long to get in. There is lots of food but, after a short while, I would prefer to eat higher quality and have less. It's very noisy with all the customers and not very relaxing at all.

Dinner is more expensive than lunch and only a few additional seafood items, like snow crab, that are not on the lunch menu. I'd say save your money by either goin