nocharge's Profile
Trip Report (March 31-April 7)--part 1
Judging from La Mar's online menu, it's pretty clear that the dish jalea is a fritura.
empanadas peruanas y frituras
House made with a variety of fillings
All fried and served with dipping sauce
http://www.lamarcebicheria.com/archivo/lacarta/files/seafood%20watch%20Dinner%20Main.pdf
Authentic SF Group Dinner - Financial Dist or North Beach?
One Market is Californian and usually good for groups. It's a 5-10 minute walk from Le Meridien.
"Patricia Unterman, Examiner Food Critic, Dismissed"
I used to know a guy who owned a small restaurant that probably would have been below Bauer's radar except that the guy kept sending him messages asking him to review it. Eventually, Bauer did and gave it two stars, which was probably as much as could be hoped for for that kind of place. The tone of the review was positive and the restaurant's revenue went up 30 percent in the weeks following the review. The food was actually quite good -- the chef later left to open his own place and made the Top 100 list several times.
Is waiting in line at the Tadich Grill worthwhile ?
I don't find it worth waiting in line at Tadich because it's not necessary if you can avoid their peak hours. The serve the same menu throughout the day without closing between lunch and dinner. I usually go there after 8:30 when there's rarely much of a wait. They discuss the wait in their FAQ.
http://www.tadichgrill.com/faq.php
Visiting from Boston with my 15 yo daughter
No need to go to either Swan's or Hog Island for oysters since there are plenty of places that serve good oysters in more comfortable environments without being tourist traps (Bar Crudo, Waterbar, Zuni, Farallon, etc). The Ferry Building is definitely worth visiting but the wait for an uncomfortable seat at Hog Island will be pretty long on a Saturday. Might as well walk over to Waterbar, which is just a few blocks away.
top 100 restaurants 2012
Nobody understands Bauer's rating system, where a bunch of pizza places have the same food rating as Saison, so it would hardly be surprising if he doesn't understand it either.
top 100 restaurants 2012
Possibly, but there are two problems with that:
1. Bauer has indicated that value is already a factor when determining the number of stars.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/12/DDL71MLPS3.DTL&type=food
2. You'd think that the Chronicles annual Bargain Bites list would be a better place to promote value than a "Top 100" list that's bound to include very expensive high-end places whose value could be debated. I mean, are TFL and Saison on the list because of the quality of the food or because they are good value?
Take the case of Lers Ros and Keiko that were reviewed one week apart in January.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/22/FD761MEA77.DTL&type=food
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/29/FD9S1MQ284.DTL&type=food
Keiko got more stars in every category, food (3 vs. 2.5), service (2.5 vs. 2), atmosphere (3 vs. 2), and overall (3 vs. 2.5). And Bauer even wrote a blog entry complaining about the 100 decibel noise level at Lers Ros whereas Keiko registered under 65 decibels.
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2012/01/17/screaming-to-be-heard-at-lers-ros-and-parallel-37/
Seems to me that the fact that Bauer considers Lers Ros one of the top 100 restaurants, but not Keiko, puts a big question mark on his rating system.
top 100 restaurants 2012
The new additions were published a few days ago.
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2012/03/29/here-are-the-15-restaurants-added-to-the-top-100-list/
What I find a little strange is that 6 out of the 15 new additions had been given 2 or 2.5 star reviews.
Claudine (2.5)
La Ciccia (2.5)
Lers Ros (2.5)
Mateo's (2.5)
Outerlands (2)
State Bird Provisions (2.5)
At he same time, Keiko a Nob Hill, which had been given a 3-star review, didn't make the list and a whole bunch of the ones that were dropped have current 3-star reviews. It makes you wonder about how to interpret the star ratings and what "top 100" is supposed to mean.
top 100 restaurants 2012
I believe the following were dropped:
A Cote
Angele
Bar Jules
Bourbon Steak
Gitane
Jardiniere
Kaygetsu
Picco
Plum
Ristobar
RN74
Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar
Station 1
Ubuntu
Zero Zero
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
There is a La Mar in NYC. It's part of a chain.
http://www.lamarcebicheria.com/web/intro.php
Saison weekend prices?
It's pretty common that restaurants charge different prices for the same menu depending on the weekday and time slot using mechanisms like 1000 points on OpenTable or 30 percent off through Savored. If you book a table at 7:30, is the restaurant obligated to disclose that you could have gotten 30 percent off your bill if you had booked a 5:30 table through Savored? Not in my opinion.
Medium Priced Place for Lunch Near Hyatt Embarcadero
There are numerous good places in that neighborhood (including Kokkari). Let me just mention one of the many possibilities: One Market.
1. It's right across the street from the Hyatt.
2. They have a Michelin star but still have some reasonably-priced menu options.
3. It's a huge space, so they should be good at accommodating groups without too much of the noise that might be associated with a smaller space.
4. Their menu should have a lot of universal appeal and includes a number of items that are marked as vegetarian or vegan.
Now, it might not be my first choice for a meal, most of the time, given how many other good restaurants there are in that area, but I've always found it to be pretty reliable when it comes to food and service and the ambience is nice.
http://www.onemarket.com/
Gary Danko or ???
Regardless of whether they are interpreting the law correctly, I have yet to see a bartender allow kids at the bar. And it's the bartender that makes that call.
mandatory tipping for larger groups [moved from Phoenix board]
Tips are voluntary, service charges are not. If the menu says that there is a service charge, you are obligated to pay it. However, if the word "gratuity" is used, it may not be enforceable since the meaning of the word implies that it's voluntary.
Gary Danko or ???
I was sitting at the bar at a very family-friendly place the other day when a family with kids tried to sit down. The bartender politely told them that kids at the bar would violate state law and suggested that they get a table. I believe he was referring to Section 25665 of the California Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Gary Danko or ???
I would assume that other upscale restaurants that are similar to GD would not be great fits for kids either. Have you considered getting a babysitter?
Looking for an exhibition kitchen alternative to Boulevard.
In that general part of town, Wayfare Tavern and Lafitte have counter seating with good views of the action.
Favorable review of new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND
So the San Francisco Chronicle had fun with this story today, which reminded me of a review from the 90s. Prior to taking over the Chronicle, Hearst ran the SF Examiner and their food critic once reviewed a Subway on Ellis and Powell in SF and found it to be to his liking. The rating is missing in the online version, but I seem to remember from the print edition that the critic gave it several stars. (The guy seemed liked he never had a meal in his life that he didn't like.)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1997/02/21/WEEKEND6996.dtl
I like the comment on the ambience: "The overall effect is pleasing but not overwhelming."
Sausalito lunch on a Monday - which restaurant of these 5 would you pick?
Horizons is closed for a remodel. The sign says they plan to reopen in April as the Trident.
Why Use Open Table?
1. I'm not saying that OT doesn't add value, just that it's pricey, possibly due to lack of serious competition.
2. I used to know a reservationist at a restaurant that was sufficiently successful to have several of them dedicated to answering the phones full time even when the restaurant wasn't open. If you figure that a full-time reservationist can handle 20 reservations per hour at a labor cost of $20/h, that would still just be $1 per reservation. Naively, one might have assumed that using a web-based system like OT would cost merely a small fraction of having live reservationists, but that does not appear to be the case. Of course, most restaurants aren't quite that successful and just have whoever happens to be near the hostess stand answer the phone when it rings without hiring any dedicated employees.
The bottom line is that while OT is very convenient, if it were to charge diners directly rather than the restaurant for the cost of making a reservation, it might not be quite as popular.
Why Use Open Table?
Well, if your normal mode of dining is at a Ritz-Carlton on an expense account, paying 5 or 10 bucks for making the reservation is probably no big deal. But for a casual, inexpensive place, paying OT 10 bucks for the reservation of a four top and passing that expense on to a customer may well be a deal killer from the restaurant's point of view. For people who enjoy the convenience of OT and getting 100 points per reservation, it's easy to say that it's such a great system that every restaurant should use it, but in reality, the economics work better for some types of restaurants than others.
Why Use Open Table?
The one downside of OT would be the cost. Assuming that 41 percent of OT's reservations came via the restaurants own website, it looks like in North America, OT generates about $1.59 in revenue per seated diner for reservations made through OT's website. That's $6.36 for a party of four -- money that has to come from somewhere. And that would be an average -- I'm sure you can find restaurants where OT's revenue per seated diner is much higher than that.
"fun" bars to take the president of my daughter's college
Actually, Perbacco has a full bar and fairly straightforward bar seating. It's its sister restaurant Barbacco that is wine and beer only.
Best place for Dim Sum? {also Sushi, San Francisco]
No sure how current this Yank Sing menu is, but it has a bunch of the items that you say don't exist.
http://sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/yank-sing/menu
Plus you can order items a la carte that are not on the menu. Take their beef or seafood chow mein, for instance. It will set you back $15-20, but you have to know that you can order it since it's considered a special order.
Best foodie & wino restaurant one can eat alone at the bar?
If you like Italian, Perbacco. Not too far from Union Square. Among the best Italian restaurants in SF. Has bar dining. You can check out their 21-page wine list on line.
http://perbaccosf.com/
What is it about noisy restaurants that.... [moved from General Chowhounding board]
Here's a WSJ article from a couple of years ago.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704022804575041060813407740.html
SF Tasting Menu w/ Accomodations?
I would suggest that you call the restaurants that you are interested in and ask them how they would handle your particular case. Here's an article on accommodations that mentions both Coi and Saison.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/05/DD6B1D99FQ.DTL
Boston hound needs some advice for tonight
Parallel 37 is surprisingly loud. However, the Ritz also has a lounge that's pretty nice. It's only been open for about a week, so maybe it won't be too crowded.
5A5 Steak impressions [San Francisco]
Their shooters are great. They have some of them on the happy hour menu -- 2 for $5 until 7:30 on weekdays. I haven't been overly impressed with their steaks considering the price, but will gladly go there for happy hour shooters in the lounge if I'm in the area.
Best Tuna Tartare in the East Bay or SF?
If you like Picco and Zero Zero, you may want to check out Bix as well -- another of Bruce Hill's restaurants that often has various forms of tartare on the menu.
