Bountiful Bay Area

Where to start?! Although I am definitely a city-person, I absolutely love heading over to relax at one of the beaches in San Francisco, or over to Marin County to hike around in solitude. When I'm in city-mode, however, shopping around Union Square, eating out, and or people watching at the Golden Gate Park are my picks!

Quick Tips:

No matter what time of year you are going, you MUST bring a jacket or fleece, or some sort of covering to keep you warm at night and sometimes during the day as well. The temperature of San Francisco keeps within the same range of 40s - 60s F. most of the year.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you are planning to stay only in the City's downtown/Union Square area, you are fine without renting a car. Parking can be expensive and/or hard to come by and traffic can get slow so cabs, Muni buses, and BART are convenient means of getting around the city, even out to the East Bay. Cabs can get expensive. . .if you're around the city for an extended period, you may invest in a monthly bus pass, which can be purchased at a number of stations, corner liqour markets, etc. Check out the Muni website for more info: http://www.sfmuni.com

I love to walk - the best exercise for me - and thankfully, the city is actually rather small and very walkable from neighborhood to neighborhood. Others choose to scoot, rollerblade, jog, bike, and hike around the city.

A friend of mine who lives nearby saw this lively family-owned restaurant open about a month ago in the Sunset District. It is actually the second of two Paradise restaurants in San Francisco, the original being only a few miles away. The restaurant sometimes gets quite busy during prime eating times, but somehow we scored the last table for four at 7:30PM on a Saturday night. A full bar lines one side of the restaurant which also features a live jazz band on weekend nights. This was the first time I saw and heard an Asian female jazz singer; she was great!

Healthy portions of pizza, salad, pasta, and calzone are offered at reasonable prices in the comfortable and clean setting of Paradise. Gourmet pizzas are popular entrees; we ordered two small size pizzas, roughly $13-14/each, which was more than sufficient for the four of us. One was the Italian Paradise – including tomato, pancetta, fresh basil, mozzarella, provolone; and the other was a "create your own Paradise" of chicken and pesto. The crust was light and of medium thickness; not heavy, dense, and filling like the Deep Dish from Numero Uno’s Pizzeria.

Service provided by an older Italian father-figure-type was friendly and right on target with a red wine suggestion (combination Cab/Merlot). The restaurant was perfect for a casual dinner with friends in the neighborhood.

Bubble ("boba") Tea & other Drinks

A popular drink from Taiwan has made its way to San Francisco through a number of restaurants, Tea houses, and even cybercafes.

My first encounter of a bubble tea occurred in Milpitas, CA, just an hour south of San Francisco, however, I am happy to report that I can find them easily within 5 minutes (driving) of my home. I admit that while the flavored tea tastes delicious, the feel of slimy, chewy "pearls" of tapioca popping into your mouth via a special 1cm. diameter straw takes some getting used to; eventually, you can discover the joy of this sip-and-chew treat.

These drinks are not all just flavored tea with sugar and milk; bubble dinks have expanded into the world of fruit juices, shakes, coffee, and hot chocolate. Snacks, like sweet toast, can be had at establishments that offer bubble teas, but most people just go for the beverage. How do I compare teas? I order the same thing at each house the first time I visit – the peach flavored green tea with pearls. What make a great boba tea? Well, I enjoy the teas that are freshly brewed (not from a powder), that is not too sweet (I ask for not too much sweetener), and a delicate fruity flavor with pearls cooked just right. It is important fro the tapioca balls to be cooked long enough and at the proper temperature so as not to make it too gooey soft and not uncooked in the middle – such pearls are not so much fun to enjoy. I have two favorite places:

Stars 2154 Irving Street, San Francisco 94122 ph.415-682-8828 – offers the most unusual and inventive combinations of flavors. Pearls are the tiniest bit on the soft side but I love the flavor of the tea and close proximity.

Ten Ren Tea Co. Ltd. 949 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108 ph.415-362-0656 – Located right in Chinatown, this tea house is authentic - it sells a variety of dried, loose, and other teas. Drinks are pretty much just the tea drinks; they don’t delve so much into the fresh fruits. TenRen is also a national (international?) chain; there is another in Milpitas as well as in New York’s Chinatown.

By the way, most tea houses have loyalty programs where after you buy 10, you get the 11th drink free.

Ready for some really tasty Chinese food, served in an artsy-but-not-intimidating atmosphere? Come on over to Eliza's where savory dishes in an atypically "nice" environment where you're not obsessing about about the cleanliness of the kitchen.

Once you dine at Eliza's, you'll understand why people patiently wait to get a table. Each dish is garnished prettily, tastes authentic (although they do have some Americanized "Chinese" entrees), and priced very reasonably. Combined with the inventive decor of flowers, colorful art, Eliza's makes a great date place. However, lunch is the best deal, where you can get a cup of soup, entree + rice for about $5. A burrito at Gordo's can cost more than that!

I have tried the mango with beef, Hunan Fish, Hunan lamb, green beans & tofu, mu-shu chicken, spicy eggplant, chow mein - I have not been disappointed. The only items that I am a little wary of are the appetizers - very American to me, but popular with that target customer!

In the somewhat seedy area of Potrero Hill, a Japanese, anime-themed sushi joint bustles at lunch and dinner. Blowfish has a cool, trendy atmosphere (with bar), with television sets playing those cartoony Japanese films.

My first visit there was with a co-worker who knew to get there early- 11:30 AM – both to find parking as well as a no-hassle table. We found a great parking spot just a short block around the corner and only a few tables were occupied when we first arrived. By the time we finished eating, just about every table was packed, and I could tell that the wait for food was lengthening considerably, and we lost our server’s attention.

Lunch combinations (bento boxes) are a tasty, but not necessarily cheaper option; everything on the menu is a little pricey for a quick lunch, but hey, once in a while is a manageable splurge. The combination bento comes with miso soup, potato salad, cabbage salad, rice, and your choice of two items. I opted for the salmon teriyaki and tempura. I easily polished off most of my food, indicating the quality and portion of food served. If you’re really hungry, you might order an extra roll or appetizer. The salmon was not at all fishy and had a good flavor; the tempura was perfect – light and crispy and hot. Would I go back? Yes, if I’m in the mood to be generous to myself.

The Mission/Potrero Hill area is renowned for its plethora of small Mexican/Salvadoran restaurants. It is also known for its less-than-pristine and safe streets, however, the last few years have brought some gentrification to the area (due to the shortage of housing during the tech boom). Well-known and delectable restaurants like Slanted Door and Foreign Cinema are located here as well as simple restaurants like La Paz, located across the street from San Francisco General Hospital. It is said that the Mission is the only place to get "real" Mexican food in San Francisco; I tend to agree.

Lunch can be had for $5-8 and delicious and authentic. I love the La Paz because it features my three most favorite items: chicken chimichangas, enchiladas en mole, and fried sweet plantains, with rice and beans of course. They also offer burritos, tacos, fried chicken – actually quite a nice variety of things. Their vegetable soup did me well when I was feeling sick (lots of large chunky veggies in a savory chicken broth); the chocolaty, rich, velvety mole sauce raises my endorphin levels; and the crispy deep fried chimichanga, while probably clogging my arteries, is most enjoyable.

In case you're wondering what a pupuseria is, I haven't actually tried it but a coworker of mine said it is a delicious tostada-like food made with soft tortillas, rather than a crunchy fried tortilla. I'll definitely be trying it soon, as it is a specialty of theirs.

Dine in or out, your choice. The interior is simple and clean, and a jukebox sits nearby for you to make your own musical selections.

San Francisco is one of the most popular travel destinations in the US as well as a highly desirable place to live, judging by the high cost of living. It’s no wondering, however, as this foggy city by the Bay offers the best of outdoor activities, culture, and food.

Recent growth of the high-tech industry contributed to the growth of affluent, intelligent residents from San Francisco down to Silicon Valley. This influx lives amidst the large population of immigrants, typically concentrated in various neighborhoods like North Beach and the Sunset and the Richmond districts. This sustains the "melting pot," adding a lot of unique flavors to the city. There is truly something for everyone here, which is what I love about San Francisco (also, it’s a lot less smoggy than LA, where I was born and raised).