Secrets to the Bay Area

My favorite thing about the Bay Area is actually 2 different things. I love to go to San Francisco and shop at the great stores there, plus I love to eat seafood at the great restaurants.

In this journal, I am going to cover places all over the bay area to provide suggestions for food and activities. The restaurants listed below are some of my favorite.

Quick Tips:

If you come in the summer time, bring warmer clothes as you will need jeans and a jacket in San Francisco and around the bay.

Also, bring comfortable shoes for sightseeing as most places you want to visit is going to require lots of walking.

Best Way To Get Around:

Depending on where you are going is dependent on transportation. You can get around most of the cities by public transportation: light rail in San Jose, Bart in the East Bay, Caltrain on the Peninsula, and Muni is San Francisco, but if you plan to go north into Marin county, you will need a vehicle.

WOW! is the best way to describe this wonderful hotel. It is located in the middle of San Francisco, walking distance to Union Square (or you can take a trolley car). It is plus. It is about 1 1/2 blocks away from John Stanford''s house. It provides you a great view of what houses use to look like in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake.

The rooms are typical hotel rooms, but they provide nice amenities like turndown service, towel warmer and robes int the bathroom, even a phone too. Our room had upgraded amenities including down comforter.

I stayed here with some girlfriends for a night out on the town and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

They provide express checkout via the television.

If you have a car, be prepared for a $30/night parking fee.

Everything is oversized at this self-styled "Italian immigrant" restaurant, from the heaping platters of southern Italian-style specialties to the riot of photos, posters, memorabilia, and just plain junk that crowds the cavernous dining rooms. You want to come hungry. The food is served family style. A small entree will feed 3-4 people easily. The spagetti is wonderful as is the Pizza Margarita. Upstairs while you wait (street level) is a bar to enjoy a before dinner drink. Most of the seating is on a second level (basement). Don't come here for a romantic night, but for fun and adventure. It gets extremely loud so don't have intimate conversations either.

Cliff House is the third building to stand in the same location. They offer Sunday Champagne Brunch and meals throughout the week at lunch and dinner. I have only been to the brunch, but it was fabulous. It offered 8 different types of salads including seafood salad, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, pancakes, fresh crab and shrimp dishes, and much more. Also, waiters walk around bringing Champagne or Sparkling Cider for you to drink throughout the meal.

However, the food is not what makes the meal. It is the view. The historic Cliff House sits on its famous perch at the north end of Ocean Beach offering tourists and locals alike a warm and inviting respite from the cold ocean air--not to mention an ideal spot from which to view a sunset. While you are eating, you can enjoy a view of the Pacific Ocean or watch people on the beach.

Around for 140 years, the famous Cliff House survived both the turn-of-the-century fires at the neighboring Sutro Baths and the 1906 earthquake. The view is spectacular. Look carefully, and you'll see seals cavorting on the giant rocks below. Serving a Californian fare where it's common to order seafood, this is a fine dining restaurant.

Kuleto's provides great Italian food with a California Cuisine flare. It offeres various pasta dishes, steaks, and seafood. The cooks cook the food in an open counter so if you sit close to the kitchen area, you can watch them cook the different meals people ordered.

The restaurant offers a full bar and provides excellent service to its customers. The atmosphere provides a nice atmosphere for dinner with your family or a romantic night out with someone special. Your dinner does not include salad, but the warm spinich salad is fabulous.

For dessert (if you still want food) you can have Creme Brulee, Tiramisu, or if you are lucky and they have it White Peach Champagne Sherbert.

Have you ever wanted to eat over the water but not be on a boat? At Scoma's you can enjoy absolutely fabulous food and enjoy the view as well.

Scoma's Of Sausalito has the advantage of a prime Sausalito location. Housed on an old Victorian tugboat pier, the views of Tiburon, Angel Island and the mist-shrouded City can't be beat. The menu offers the standard waterfront fare but the execution is fairly consistent. The crowds have been lining up for thirty years. You can't go wrong with a steaming bowl of littleneck clams with a Ceasar salad or one of the daily offerings of simply prepared grilled fish. You'll find that Scoma's Of Sausalito dishes up American food known for their pasta, sandwiches and seafood. Expect the average entrée to cost $20 to $30, and patrons are quite appropriate dressing casual, but fashionable.

I have had a few of the seafood dishes and the Combination Louis, which you can share with someone if you want. The crab is fresh daily and it is wonderful to eat.

If you can't make it to Marin County, but are in San Fransisco, you can enjoy its sister restaurant in the Fisherman's Wharf area.

People compare this restaurant to Bennigan's or TGI Fridays, and feel it is in this class, but a whole lot better.

This Southern California chain is decorated with an over-the-top African safari theme: abundant elephant sculptures, zebra and leopard-print fabrics, waving fans, and waitresses in brief khaki shorts mix oddly with dramatic views of the bay. No wild game on the menu, just typical bar-food classics like burgers, fajitas, ribs, pastas, and oriental chicken salad. The theme decor and reasonable prices attract families, while the large, round bar draws its own clientele from the airport hotels (the Elephant Rampage is a big, pink drink sure to loosen up the crowd). When the Elephant fills up, expect a raucous atmosphere and erratic service.

The food tastes great. I have had the Angel Hair with Lobster, Ceasar Salad, and the Combo Appetizer that is sure to feed everyone. My husband has had the chicken fingers and the jambalaya. Everything tasted great. They offer house specialty drinks like the E-Tea (a very large Long Island Ice Tea) as well as frozen non-alcoholic drinks. Everything tastes great. If you go on a Friday or Saturday, be prepared to stay a while as the wait can be about an hour for a party of four.

The Fish Market has five locations across the bay area. It features various types of fish, shellfish, and an oyster bar.

I have eaten different shrimp dishes which are good. The Jumbo Tiger Prawns remind me of baby lobsters. Each entree comes with your choice of potato or steamed vegatables and your choice of cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, coleslaw or steamed vegatables. After dinner (if you still have room), the desserts they offer are fabulous. It includes a dish of chocolate covered strawberries (8 of them), creme brulee, strawberry shortcake, and cheesecake to name a few. Each dessert costs 3.95, which I don't find unreasonable. Especially for the strawberries as one ususally costs about 8.00.

The atmosphere is very open for families of social gatherings, but not for a romantic evening out.

If you end up having to wait for a table, there is a full service bar located in the cantina.

Gordon Biersch in San Jose is one of several local locations for this brewery. They offer seasonal beers as well as a full bar. It is a great place to meet for an after work drink or where friends can gather to enjoy each other's company over dinner.

They have an indoor and patio seating for the restaurant, while the bar is completely indoors. Their lunch menu offers salads, pizza, sandwiches and pasta, while the dinner menu has steak, more pasta, pizza, chicken, fish, and more.

Did I mention the appetizers? They have chicken and shrimp potstickers, garlic fries, calamari, and soooo much more. Definately a place for friends to gather.

Dave and Buster's is an adult arcade. The wait for a table on Friday and Saturday can be several hours especially if you have a large party. Therefore hey provide people with TONS of activities including video games, laser tag, pool, shuffle board, a golf course (interactive of course) and a full bar.

The drinks and food are on the expensive side. For example, a mixed drink will cost about $6.50 and it is only 8 oz. The food is very tasty, but be prepared to shell out some bucks if you want a full dinner including appetizer and dessert. They offer some salads (Cobb for example) that are fairly large and are reasonable priced, but the steaks and dinner entrees are on average 16.00.

Prizes, Prizes, and More Prizes. Some of the video games and arcade games provide you with tickets (Yes, like what you use to get from Chuck E Cheese when you were young). You can redeem them even for prizes. These prizes range from clothes, to junk, to a television and more. Kids love to do this (as do parents if they get enough tickets).

Speaking of children, they are welcome here with their parents during the day and evening, but at night (10 pm) all children must leave. This means that if you have a child you must leave with your child as only people older then 21 are allowed in after 10 pm. Speaking of 10 pm. There is a $3.00 cover charge if you enter this late. I recommend arriving around 9 if you just want the fun so you can miss the cover charge.

The Winchester Mystery House is found in San Jose off of Interstate 280 and Winchester Blvd. It is on a small section of land that use to be quite large. The house itself is in very poor condition, but you can imagine what it was like when Sarah Winchester lived here. The gardens surrounding the house are very beautiful.

Inside the house you can view bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets that make you wonder if Sarah actually belonged in an asylum after she lost her husband and daughter.

The House is open everyday until about 5 pm and on Friday the 13ths and Halloween, they offer flashlight tours in the evening for extreme fun. There is a lot of walking to do and many stairs to climb so be prepared.

Have you ever been to prison? I haven't until I visited this interesting location.

I recommend ordering your tickets ahead of time as the tours tend to sell out quickly. I also recommend the audio tour as you will have a guide with you who explains the different parts of the prison. It also has interviews with actual inmates. After picking up your tickets at Will Call, you move to get in line for the ferry that will take you to the island. The ferry ride is about 30 minutes.

Once you pull into port, you will climb a hill to the prison to pick up your audio tape player for the tour. This will walk you through the tour, which is about 1 hour long. Sometimes at the pier, a ranger is available to provide a tour and provide history upto the prison as Alcatraz was not originally a prison, but an army fort during the 1800's.

After the tour, you return the audio tapes and can explore a little of the prison grounds. Once you are done, you board the ferry that will take you back to the main land. There are gifts shops on the island as well as back at the pier on the mainland.

The majority of the festival is dealing with various foods that have been prepared. People can try Garlic Ice Cream, Garlic Bread, Garlic Shrimp, Rattlesnake, Alligator, and Turkey Legs. The food is all good. There is one section called Gourmet Alley where they sell pepper steak, Shrimp Scampi, and Brushetta.

There are also various live performances of local bands in different locations across the grounds. It provides a location for people to go rest and relax from walking or for dancing, if they want.

I didn't visit the children's area as I have none, but I saw several walking around with painted frisbees and other craft stuff.

There are also several stalls for crafts being sold. The crafts range from blown glass, hats and appareal to jewelry and house decorations. The women enjoyed this section more then anybody.