SF surprise for Xmas

Fior Di'Italia is good, but at this point its a bit of a relic...there are LOTS of better places you can go, if you are looking for italian try SPQR or flour+water, although there are no reservations and the wait can be long for flour+water.

what is your price range? willing to wait or stand in line at all? there is lots of amazing places that dont take reservations and always has a line out the door. one of my favorite spots in SF is like this, state bird provisions. the wait can be well over an hour and they dont take reservations, but it will be one of the best meals you will ever have in your life.

i would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend eating japanese food at Izakaya Rintaro. get the udon noodles. rintaro does take reservations.

depending on when you are there i might be making some soup at Shiba Ramen in Oakland. i dont work there full time or live in the bay anymore, but im helping them out with a few shifts over the holidays, so my ramen might be available in oakland here and there during the month of december. however the best ramen in the bay is in SF at Mensho Tokyo...it is fucking incredible. a serious food experience. get the tori paitan. mensho has no reservations and you have to stand in line, sometimes for quite awhile. dont go on friday, saturday, or sunday during normal dinner hours. but it is so, so worth it. ive eaten at most of the most lauded ramen shops in the country, and mensho is better than all of them. its quite possibly the best ramen in the world outside of japan.

also pizza. i can give recommendations for stellar pizza that stacks up to NYC, but if you are from somewhere like NYC or new haven or chicago that has a deep pizza culture i'd just skip it altogether. best slices are at artichoke bassile in berkeley - the sicilian square slice and plain cheese slice. DO NOT get the artichoke pizza or the crab pizza. you will be tempted to, most of the other customers will be ordering it, but IT IS A TRAP. THEY ARE NOT THE DROIDS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. you want the plain square slice or plain round slice. best whole pies are at emilias in berkeley, but ordering from them is a pretty complicated process, and there are only 2 tables in the whole restaurant that you typically have to book days in advance - most of the orders are carryout. there is a window of time you need to call to place your order at in late afternoon/early evening, and they will tell you when to come pick up the pie...its pretty typical that you cant request any specific pickup time, they will tell you when to be there and sometimes its several hours from when you placed the order, so plan ahead.

also in the bay it is crab season, please eat some crabs. best spot for a crab is probably camino in oakland. camino is one of oaklands most important and famous restaraunts, and it is closing at the end of the year. they were an institution and part of oaklands food history. they do an amazing half crab roasted over a live fire. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended. everything on the menu is good and interesting. if you only leave SF for one dinner, go to oakland and eat crab at camino. plenty of non fish options for the wife as well.

if you post your trip dates ill throw you some dates for jazz shows if thats something you want to do. the only good tourist attraction in the city is called the wave organ. idk if you have been there but its a weird acoustic sculpture built into the beach that makes strange tones as the waves go over it. it will show up on google maps.

camino is not walkable from bart. you will have to uber or something from macarthur station. uber/lyft are very reliable in the bay. if you are down to wait in line, GO TO MENSHO TOKYO. get the tori paitan. for sure. if you dont make it out to oakland, there are plenty of good spots for crab in SF - the most famous being swan oyster depot. its become a tourist attraction due to anthony bourdain, but its genuinely great food, not a tourist trap. many of the seafood restaurants at fishermans wharf or nearby waterfront tourist areas are just tourist traps and not representative of the real quality SF has to offer, just fyi.

https://concerts1.livenation.com/event/1C00556FC67D9062?irgwc=1&clickid=...

" lean towards something more fish "

Sotto Mare. That is all.

https://www.sottomaresf.com/

Enjoy!

Speaking of SF restaurants, here is a news story about how the culinary scene down there is slacking because the workers can't afford to live there:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/09/san-franciscos-foodie-sc...

My fav old-school non-wharf SF restaurants

http://absinthe.com/ We use to go here for late lunch prior to NYE shows at BGCC... in Hayes Valley.
http://www.tadichgrill.com/history.php  Supposedly the oldest restaurant in SF, famous for cioppino and other seafood dishes. Does not take reservations.
http://www.trattoriacontadina.com/ My favorite little place for an authentic Italian meal in North Beach. 
http://www.thebuenavista.com/home/home.html Classic place for Irish Coffee... my mama used to sneak in there in the late 40s! 

http://www.bellanico.net/  Actually in a quiet neighborhood in the Oakland hills, but they serve an amazing Italian brunch worth travelling for.

you can find psilocybe cyanescens and psilocybe allenii aka cyanofricosa growing on irrigated woodchips in the bay area this time of year. golden gate park is a big muhsie hunting zone. good pickins by the windmills. if you are around areas like that, for instance maybe the botanical gardens, keep an eye peeled. if you hit GG park after a rain you will meet many fellow travelers who all have their heads down scanning the ground for mushrooms.

I love the Agave Trail on Alcatraz. 

Lunch in Sausalito  https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfchronicle.com%2Ffood...  Say Hi To Amy the'directrice from Tom In France. wow thats a big link Muir woods Are Magic Mt Tam ,from the top of the Mountain ya can see far n wide

https://www.hamburgermarys.com/sanfrancisco/menu/ When I lived in the bay'area, This place was a December must ,for the upside down Christmas tree..and a prety good Burger

>if there will be a rec dispensary open XMAS day

Green Cross in the Excelsior district is open 8-3 xmas day: https://www.thegreencross.org/

I'd imagine others will be as well...

Sounds like a 4:20 transaction is in the offing.

And.....how'd the reveal go?  What a nice gift. You must've done really well this year. Congratulations and have a GREAT time.

I go to SF occasionally and in the past I've enjoyed the California Museum at the Legion of Honor and the fairly new aquarium in GG Park.

Muir Woods, too. Or driving in a convertible in Redwoods State Park. So much to do, but many of my trips are centered around Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

Travel safe and have a blast!

Sounds like a great visit. No stop at TXR?

Ah, memories of the drive over Tam to get into Fairfax.  Sounds great.