North Beach
You’re in the culinary heart of the city! What to eat? Italian, of course! Mangia! The only problem here is deciding just what kind of Italian. Unpretentious, hearty North Beach institutions like Little Joe’s or family-style Capp’s Corner? Calzone’s, or another one of the sleek new Roman places on Columbus Avenue? Off-kilter Sicilian, with gargantuan proportions and chairs on the ceiling? Well, that could only be Caffe Sport. You can also treat yourself to a more elegant and innovative approach to Italian food at hard-to-get- into Rose Pistola.

But there’s more to North Beach than Italian food, of course. Moose’s, facing Washington Square, does a wonderful job with California cuisine, and for a change of pace, try Afghan favorite Helmand, on Broadway. Cocktail hour? If you want to get close to the beatnik soul of North Beach however, Vesuvio’s, Saloon, the Tosca Cafe and Savoy Tivoli are where you must go.

Fillmore Street and Japantown
Fillmore Street has dozens of great restaurants so it’s hard to know where to begin. Meet and greet at the Elite Cafe, the best place in town to have Cajun blackened redfish. Enjoy cozy Thai at the Thai Stick. Harry’s On Fillmore serves drinks and food and features jazz on weekends. At Fillmore and Geary, pay a cover charge drink your blues away (or blues your drink away) at the Boom Boom Room. Great noodle houses and sushi bars like Isuzu, Mifune and Sanppo pack Japan Center.

Potrero Hill
Edgy cafes like the Universal Cafe and edgy restaurants like the Slow Club and the Lilo Lounge attract the edgy bohemians and black-clad yuppies in this transitional loft/industrial area.

SoMa
The dynamism of this emerging area can be felt in its restaurant scene, with more “important” restaurants than almost anywhere else in the city, as well as places where the atmosphere’s the only thing that counts. Fringale is considered among the very best French restaurants in the entire city, if not the entire state. Restaurant LuLu attracts a haute-yuppie clientele and offers imaginative food, an extensive list of single-malt scotches, and a very loud dining room. Blowfish Sushi To Die For has some of the best postmodern sushi served anywhere. Brain Wash is one of the best, and perhaps only, places to have a beer, listen to a local band and wash your clothes all at the same time. The Up and Down Club has surprisingly good live jazz, and the wonderfully unrefined Paradise Lounge features open-mic poetry readings.

South Beach/China Basin
Town’s End is one of the better restaurants at the end of the Embarcadero serving wholesome but refined California cuisine. Momo’s, ideally located across from Pacific Bell Park, suddenly has the best address in San Francisco, and the powerful and glamorous clientele to match.

The Haight-Ashbury and Cole Valley
Colorful, funky and intensely popular restaurants like Cha Cha Cha draw a young and festive crowd in the Haight Ashbury. Nearby Cole Valley is less unkempt but features quite a few good restaurants for its tiny size, most notably the wine bar EOS.

The Marina District
On Chestnut Street, the college sweatshirt crowd dines and socializes at quick, comfortable, stylish-but-not-edgy places like Cafe Marimba and Pasta Fuzio. Nightlife centers around lively singles bars like O’Shaugnessy’s. On Sunday, brunch is hugely popular with bicyclists and rollerbladers at places like the Grove.

The Mission District
The city’s hippest, most popular, inexpensive restaurants are to be found in the area around Valencia and 16th Street, referred to as the Valencia Corridor. The Slanted Door, Flying Saucer, Firecracker, Ti Couz and Picaro are among the dozens of imaginative, vibrant places to dine without spending a fortune. Be forewarned of lines and waits, however. For drinks, The Elbo Room offering drinks, music, and photo booths. In a parallel universe to this boho scene are the dozens of great burrito places on Mission and Valencia. Each have their adherents but El Toro Taqueria, Can-Cun and the legendary La Taqueria are the most popular.

The Avenues: The Richmond and Sunset Districts
In Clement Street’s “Little Chinatown,” you’ll find Chinese food rivaling (some say surpassing) the best Chinatown has to offer. Ton Kiang, a Martha Stewart favorite, and dim sum specialists Yet Wah are but two of the many remarkable places to eat here with every one of them unpretentious and a good value. On the other side of the Park, on Irving Street around Ninth Avenue, are dozens of lively and inexpensive restaurants catering to medical students at nearby UCSF.

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