cpar,

I don't think it's that amazing, but Nopa is def pretty good. Also one of the better late night restaurants in SF.

Reservations are actually very easy, though. You can usually get reservations without much advance notice at all, and they always have a ton of walk-in availability. Pretty much anytime except for hot times like Fri/Sat 7-9pmish, you can walk in to Nopa and get seated no problem.

Speaking of pork, the carnitas at their sister restaurant Nopalita are incredible.

Murray Circle/Farley Bar has a great weekend breakfast, just north of the GG bridge in Sausalito. You can eat on the porch, and you have a great view of the bridge and the city from a perspective you don't often see (at bay level, looking up toward the bridge). This is at the Cavallo Point Lodge, which is a nice getaway spot for a weekend with the SO. A little pricey ($400-$500/night) but worth it.

You told me about it last time you were down here. I'll have to check it out just on the off chance I can get my meal covered by you.

no chance you wont go crazy over this place. i see the food you eat and this is your kind of grub.

I live in the bay area and don't go to san francisco nearly as much as I should....any really awesome non-touristy things to do if you're not 21 and only have around $50 to spend for the day? thanks

Go to 25th and Mission St. to La Taqueria and order the carnitas burrito with everything and a strawberry drink. Jump on BART at 24th st and get off at Powell. Explore shopping at Westfield and Union Square. Go back to station - jump on MUNI to the Ballpark (If it's baseball season). Check out the free view of a game at the ball park.

A decent day for <$50 in SF and I maintain that the burrito's at La Taqueria are the best on earth.

I've not yet been to Nopa, though I've heard great things. I have, however been to Nopalita, and while I appear to be in the minority here, I was not a huge fan. It wasn't bad by any means, but I certainly didn't think it was as good as pretty much everyone else seems to think.

Now if you want to discuss places that DID live up to the hype - Wayfare Tavern was FANTASTIC. Highly recommend though you WILL put on a few pounds from the amazing popovers alone.

In the same area is Wexler's which I also really enjoyed. We had the Scotch Egg to start, along with another app that I don't recall atm. The Plate of Pork which was delicious and some fish dish which was good as well. The best thing, however (though everything was really good) was the banana cream pie which was GODLY. I'm not a huge desert guy typically, but this thing was a perfect blend of sweet, crunchy, smooth, and salty. It was hands down the best desert I've had, maybe ever.

In the over rated category of the places I went recently was Fleur de Lys. Good, and cool to be personally thanked by a tv celeb, however I had the duck which was a bit tough and a scallop which was very mediocre. The cheese plate was also unimpressive. I did really enjoy the lobster appt with a rich , creamy sauce that could only be a French attempt to fatten Americans further, and would certainly get no resistance from me. Definitely not worth the price however (though my date's food was all pretty good).

Snipe,

I also was not a huge fan of Nopalita. It was fine/good. However, I LOVED their carnitas.

La Taqueria is my fave burrito place too. My go-to is the chorizo burrito, mmmmmmmm.

CM,

$50 in SF and you're not drinking? That's a ton of money to do whatever. I would just wander around the Mission, North Beach/Chinatown, and/or the Haight people-watching and eating all sorts of delicious stuff. Can also take the train out to Golden Gate Park and the ocean and wander around there if that's more your thing.

Snipe/El D,

Thanks for the replies. I'll def hit up la taqueria next time I'm up there.

I've been thinking about getting a fake id for awhile so i could go bar hopping with my friends, but one of them just got charged with a felony for falsifying a gov document and now I think I can wait a year.

I've been going to UCSB for 1.5 years and I just transfered mid-year to play baseball at San Mateo. Right now I'm living at home but it's been pretty rough living at home with my strict, v religious, v conservative parents. All my friends from HS go to school out of the area, so I'm basically starting over completely.

Right now I'm living at home, but I'm exploring my options. Most likely I'll end up living near campus, but just for fun, where are the best places for for 20-25 quasi-successful to live in the city? and would you recommend it?

I know SoMa is supposed to be the hot place right now, but I'm absolutely clueless after that.

Thanks!

CM,

"where are the best places for for 20-25 quasi-successful to live in the city? and would you recommend it?"

SOMA (where I live) is imo actually pretty bad for 20-25yo types unless you are working at a startup and want to live nearby.

Marina is the clear choice if you want a grown-up version of the frat party scene w/ lots of attractive white people, lots of sports bars and Starbucks, etc.

Mission is the clear choice if you want a grungier, more alternative scene w/ a lot of variety.

Haight and various neighborhoods near Polk Street are other good areas for 20-25yos.

Really anyplace inside the city works fine, though. It's a small city and public transit is great.

CM,

I live in Lower Haight and am 28. Diablo is pretty spot on. Basically anywhere in the city is like a 10-15 min bus ride for me if I want to drink and not drive home. I find myself fitting in a lot better with the Mission/Haight crowds versus say the Marina, but that is much more of a personal preference. Only considering moving to Soma because I'm a Giants Season Ticket Holder and my company is right down there as well. But yeah, basically any neighborhood is pretty sweet. Tenderloin, Hunter's Point or anywhere tooo south are about all I would really avoid. I have also lived in Nob/Russian Hill and liked that quite a bit as well.

edit: as someone who follows snipe's foursquare checkins I can certainly vouch that he eats at a lot of SF establishments!

I'd recommend North Beach over the Marina for a 21-25 year old, there's always something going on and there are always European tourist chicks around + it's a lot easier to get to other parts of the city from North Beach.

CM,

Cliffs: Live close to MUNI light rail. Don't overlook 7th thru 25th and Irving areas.

GO GAUCHOS!!! Idk why you would ever leave UCSB, especially before being able to take full advantage of State Street, but w/e.

I'm in agreement with both El D and PITTM. I think the decision as to where is the best spot for any particular individual really depends on a few key factors:

1) Style - what kind of people do you choose to surround yourself with? Professional, degenerate, preppy, clubby, hipster, atheletic, etc.

2) Lifestyle - what do you like to do on a daily basis? Bar hop (obv not yet as you're not of age), eat, hit the gym, chill at a park, read at coffee shops, etc

3) Commute - personally I think this is the most important aspect of the three as it is a recurring event which takes up a significant chunk of your likely limited free time 5 out of 7 days. When you work 5 days a week and only have 8 hours of free time (7 sleep, 9 at work - both if you're LUCKY) - the difference between an hour each way and 15 minutes equates to damn near a full free (8 hour) day per week!!!

Personally I grew up in the Mission and have a lot of love for that area. Food is great, there are plenty of bars, and I'm good with an abundance of hipsters for the most part. The problem here is that public transit is a bitch as is parking. You can grab BART to MUNI (or just BART it if you're going downtown), but the secret to public transportation is NOT having to transfer. My commute from 20th and Valencia to the Ball Park used to take about an hour. =/

El D hit the Marina spot on. It can be pretty whitebread fratty douchey, but there are a lot of hot, drunk girls, tons of food and bars, and decent Muni access (from what I'm told).

What most people won't tell you, though I recommend to every friend who wants to move into the city, is that there are incredible areas in the Inner Sunset that have the best of all worlds: Safe, tons of food / drink, GREAT MUNI (I suggest living within 4 blocks of light rail access), cheap rent, and easy parking. I live in West Portal at the moment, and while people give me **** for living 'out there', it takes me 20 minutes to get anywhere downtown and I have plenty of food and bars close by.

If I were to move NOW, I'd choose somewhere close to 9th and Irving as there is TONS of great stuff around there, parking isn't bad, the N Judah will take you downtown quick, and if you drive - you're close to 19th Ave and Lincoln / Fell / Oak - basically prime North / South and East / West thoroughfares through the City.

TL;DR and a bit rambly, I know - but solid strategic nuggets that I promise are based on growing up here and often overlooked.

In OTHER news - I just got back from a 2 day Napa trip which was all about shopping and eating. While Napa may not be the immediate Bay Area, I thought I'd put in a very positive recommendation for Morimoto

http://morimotonapa.com/

This place was amazing:


toro tar tare
wasabi, nori paste, sour cream




spicy king crab
tobanjan aïoli, micro-cilantro




kakuni
ten hour pork belly, rice congee, soy-scallion jus




duck duck goose
duck confit fried rice, frozen foie gras



ishi yaki buri bop
yellowtail on rice cooked at your table in a hot stone bowl



Overall, the apps crushed the mains with the Spicy King Crab very likely being the best thing I ate in 2010. Ambiance was nice, and prices were reasonable with two of us having one cocktail each and getting out of there, full and happy, for about $200 after tip and tax. I highly recommend.

Snipe,

Very obvious statement re: what you just said that might not be apparent to the guy - another awesome benefit of living over there is being close to Golden Gate Park and the ocean.

i like the north beach area. and you can walk down to the park easily. s.f. has to be the best city for living in the u.s. imho

i know its an old post, but St. Mary's has been having pretty good games lately. also if anyone heads over to play, pm me i can usually get 8-10 guys that can play on any given night.

UCSF @ China Basin used to be the place on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Probably still is, tho I had my ACL reconstructed mid 2010 and haven't been able to return to hoops yet (might never bother as it was SUCH an ordeal that I don't really want to risk having to do it again). Unfortunately membership is expensive, however you can get a 'basketball pass' that works out to like - $7 a trip or smth last I checked.

The league there is pretty good as well and fairly reasonable. Shamless brag - our championship pic (I'm 2nd from the left).

Yeah my friend lives in the richmond. there are some beautiful views over there.

Snipe,

The only reason I left UCSB was to play baseball and get drafted. You'd have to be pretty dense to leave that place for schooling. If I don't get drafted I'll prob be back there next fall.

Still living at home in Los Altos, still frustrated. I've been checking out craigslist a bit for sharing rooms and subleasing. any advice on that kind of stuff?

After checking stuff out it seems like the marina would fit my personality and taste in women (haha), although my tastes in art/fashion/music seem a bit more SoMa-ish. I'll let you guys know how it goes and what i decide.

p.s.,

I ate Chinese at Eliza's the other day and it was easily the best chinese meal I've ever had.

Yeah, the Marina isn't a bad choice for a young guy (in fact, I think I'm heading there this evening). It's just a bit over priced, and often times, people who live there don't leave and check out the rest of the city. In general tho, you'll probably enjoy it.

Marina and Soma seem like complete opposites in that people who live in the marina go to marina bars and hang out with other people but people in soma generally kind of go all over the city. Just from my experience. But I mean, thats not to say that hanging out in the Marina all the time wouldn't be pretty sweet.

North Beach and Polk St. area are pretty good alternatives to the Marina.

Soma has some pretty good deals but a lot of the apartment buildings are kinda on their own (not many restaurants, stores, etc).

CM,

The Marina is probably as close to heaven as you can get in SF as a 21yo college baseball player w/ pro prospects. It is staggering to think of how many hot young blond Cal grads you will hook up with.

If you are looking into subleasing check craigslist for people renting out rooms in Fort Mason. I lived there my first 4 years and thought the location was great and enjoyed living in a house rather than an apartment.