Mrs. Alaska and I are taking an anniversary trip to Carmel and San Fran next week. Best resturants (especially on A-day down near the Pier), things not to miss, etc? Only definite plan so far is Alcatraz.
Carmel/San Fran Trip
- Thread starter alaskanseminole
- Start date
Just got back from 10 days in the area but with a 5 year old son, our trip is probably a little different than yours. We ate at Tony's Pizza Napoletana and it was fantastic. They only sell 73 Margherita pies per day so get there early. Well worth it. Tony was actually making the pies the day were had lunch.
The night before we ate at Nick's Lighthouse. It is a tiny dump in the Wharf, but my wife likes the crab soup in a bread bowl.
If you are going to Alcatraz, go early and buy your tickets now.
In Monterey, we ate at Massaro and Santos, which was fantastic.
The 17-Mile drive is beautiful on a sunny day. We stopped by a par three on Spyglass and my son played on the beach.
The remaining days of our trip were spent in Sonoma.
The weather was absurd. On our way back to the city on Friday, it was 80 degrees in Marin and 56 when we hit the Golden Gate Bridge.
The night before we ate at Nick's Lighthouse. It is a tiny dump in the Wharf, but my wife likes the crab soup in a bread bowl.
If you are going to Alcatraz, go early and buy your tickets now.
In Monterey, we ate at Massaro and Santos, which was fantastic.
The 17-Mile drive is beautiful on a sunny day. We stopped by a par three on Spyglass and my son played on the beach.
The remaining days of our trip were spent in Sonoma.
The weather was absurd. On our way back to the city on Friday, it was 80 degrees in Marin and 56 when we hit the Golden Gate Bridge.
Well one vista point before crossing the Bixby Bridge heading south is where I proposed to my wife so when you hop out of the car there you'll know you've found a great spot.
If none of the locals come along to fill you in, I'll post my knowledge later.
If none of the locals come along to fill you in, I'll post my knowledge later.
Scoma's in San Fran or Sausalito. The Sausalito restaurant is out over the water. Sea Lions pop up looking for handouts. I know there are better places, but it is a SF landmark. The Cioppino is damn good.
Also, you can hike out to the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is pretty intense. Take a leather or wind blocker jacket with you no matter what while in SF.
Also, you can hike out to the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is pretty intense. Take a leather or wind blocker jacket with you no matter what while in SF.
NO!
There's probably a thousand better places to eat in the area and that's without exaggeration.
No kidding. One just opened here in San Antonio a few months ago...line was a mile long. Why I don't know.
Actually when trying to find the name of the restaurant I was going to recommend I looked up Tripadvisor and saw there's 4,850 restaurants in San Fran alone. So there's probably tens of thousands of better choices in Northern and Central California than In n Out. If you live there and want a passable burger for cheap then sure, but by NO means is it worth wasting a meal at one of America's best food cities and areas.
Meanwhile R&G Lounge was amazing. It's only in the 400s on Tripadvisor but a local Chinese woman sent me there and I absolutely loved it. It was the second best Chinese food I've had after Long's Noodle House in Vancouver and found it better than anywhere I've been in NYC or other Chinatowns.
The bad reviews come from two sources, dumb Americans who think authentic Shanghai style cuisine should look and taste like %*%*Cantonese-American "Chinese" food they get in takeout AND complaints of service. I had no service complaints and thought the food was great, Especially the abalone and jellyfish dishes we got.
Compared to Burger King, Roy Rogers and McDonalds which I guess are its competitors, it's great. Compared to Five Guys, Wendy's, and Carls Jr/Hardees it's about comparable. But I much prefer Steak and Shake and it's cheaper or on par.
But nowhere is it a hamburger worthy of mention as the best hamburger in the land. Heck it wouldnt probably even make the top 10 and certainly not top 5 in Tallahassee...let alone San Fran.
The Bush Man on the pier is America's greatest novelty.
If you drop your wallet in Frisco, kick it all the way to Oakland before you bend over to pick it up.
If you drop your wallet in Frisco, kick it all the way to Oakland before you bend over to pick it up.
This is like the third time Semi has posted this "joke" about San Fran. I think he's hoping something will happen when he's there. - Dropping wallet, fingers crossed
About Alcatraz, did you get your tickets yet? We booked ours ahead of time but a lot of people showed up the day of and were told to book for the next day. Very busy in the summer.
Dude, I was kidding. I do love an In N Out as it's the best fast food burger place to me. For real places in town, we ate at a place at the embarcado called La Mar. Peruvian food. Awesome. Highly recommend.
Unwad your panties. Good grief, he was joking.
AK, Napa and Sonoma are also within driving distance.
If you go to the cemetery in Montery, the deer come right up to you late afternoon to evening.
How about the most popular pickup line in gay bars in San Fran?
"May I push in your stool?"
I've got more, Sweet Cheeks.
"May I push in your stool?"
I've got more, Sweet Cheeks.
Ugh. You can't tell. I've heard WAY too many people overblow in-n-out into some kind of mindblowingly experience. When it really is just an ok hamburger to grab for lunch when you need fast food.
I'm at In-N-Out now. Best fast food burger on the planet. Suck it.
At least you're close to the truth by limiting it to fast food, but the best chain fast food burger I've had is Blake's Lotaburger. At least their New Mexico branches where they get fresh hatch chilis.
Naturally you list a place no one has heard of. InO should be right in your wheel house. Locally sources ingredients, never frozen, yada, yada, yada.
Here's my proof. Boy and I had a few burgers after his basketball game.
Here's my proof. Boy and I had a few burgers after his basketball game.
OHNole43123
Seminole Insider
If you are in the Carmel-Monterey area, the Monterey Aquarium has an incredible jelly fish exhibit...really amazing and worth the price of admission.
Big Sur is a short drive south on the Pacific Coast Highway south of Monterey...it is a beautiful drive, and there is a wonderful spot there, a restaurant called Nepenthe. You won't regret making the drive
Naturally you list a place no one has heard of. InO should be right in your wheel house. Locally sources ingredients, never frozen, yada, yada, yada.
Here's my proof. Boy and I had a few burgers after his basketball game.
Blake's Lotaburger isn't a mom and pop, they've got 77 locations throughout New Mexico and a few in Texas and Arizona. You're more likely to find one of those than a McDonalds in Albuquerque as there's over 20 locations there. But what makes it great is they have an open grill (at least at the locations I've seen) and make each burger to order in front of you while you wait. If you get a hatch chili burger (which they're famous for), they take some fresh ground beef and plop it on the grill, then next to it they take some fresh green hatch chilis and toss it on the grill chopping it into Nickel sized pieces and splash some proprietary sauce onto the chilis and let it cook. They set your fresh veggies to the side to keep them cold. Near the end they toWhen the burger is almost ready they add the cheese let it melt a bit and then they scoop the chili on top of the burger moving it to the side. The buns are then quickly toasted in the beef grease left behind in place of butter and then bam everything gets added quickly together and you're served in about five minutes at most.
As far as In-N-Out you're correct, the veggies are the best part of it. They have near real restaurant quality veggies and the closest of the nationwide chains would probably be Wendy's. So the veggies are A+ but the patties aren't as good as a quite a few places like Steak and Shake, Wendy's, Carl's Jr./Hardee's, Whataburger, Blakes and Five Guys. And the bun is nothing special. It's basically an A+ for toppings, B- for patty and C for the bun.
I'm sure if I had an In-N-Out nearby I'd go every once in awhile but it's not worth traveling to. And I didn't have one bad experience and gave up, I've had it in LA, San Fran, Vegas and Phoenix.
Also, I can tell Belem hasn't watched much South Park.
http://southpark.cc.com/clips/152311/teacher-training
http://southpark.cc.com/clips/152311/teacher-training
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Wendy's are never frozen in the contiguous 48 states. Burger King had a big lawsuit and sued over Wendy's "Fresh Never Frozen" claims attacking BK and McDs and Wendy's lost on a technicality. BK was able to show that SOME franchisees in Hawaii and Alaska in the remote areas did in fact use frozen pattys. However, every other location has fresh meat shipped in every morning. Those statements aren't mere claims any longer, but litigated facts.
Whataburger meanwhile advertises that they use 100% fresh USDA inspected beef with no pink slime and no one has sued them to prove otherwise.
My assessment of Whataburger versus In-n-out is the same as in this article.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/in-n-out-vs-whataburger-a-petty-patty-smackdown-6422620
As for the rest I mentioned being better than In-N-Out, I believe only Hardees/Carl's Jr uses frozen patties. Certainly Steak and Shake and Five Guys are fresh as well. And I stick to my statement that Hardees/Carl's Jr has tastier burgers even if frozen and pumped full of weird chemicals. But...Hardees isn't a place I frequent other than for breakfast. I usually go to Steak and Shake or Whataburger for any fast food burger fix with occassional trips to Five Guys and Krystal/White Castle (yes frozen, but don't knock them too much David Chang of Momofuko loves them more than I do and rattles on about them constantly in his book I own. The little sliders are basically American versions of Chinese steamed buns.).
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You gottamn dipshit. I woke up to piss and read your rambling, pissed my leg with the lights off ...thanks
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Scoma's is a must for me every time I visit San Francisco. I'm partial to the SF location, tucked onto a pier, very old school vibe. If you go, take time to sit at the bar beforehand, there are usually some denizens with stories. With the lines at Scoma's, you're usually forced to sit at the bar for a bit anyway. The Cioppino is good, but I'm partial to the Shellfish Sauté Sec.Scoma's in San Fran or Sausalito. The Sausalito restaurant is out over the water. Sea Lions pop up looking for handouts. I know there are better places, but it is a SF landmark. The Cioppino is damn good.
Also, you can hike out to the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is pretty intense. Take a leather or wind blocker jacket with you no matter what while in SF.
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