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Frisco: 3071 16th Street (between Valencia & Mission) 415.864.8840
San Mateo: 365 B Street (between 3rd & 4th Avenue) 650.343.4123
Whether in San Francisco or in San Mateo, you can enjoy some grubbin' Mexican food. Every single time I've been there, I've gotten nothing but quality in their food.
Lucia's Restaurant & Pizzeria
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1725 Woodside Road, Redwood City 650.365.3811
Open for lunch and dinner. This is homestyle Italian food and you'd probably not even know it's there if you didn't know about it.
Pasta Pomorodo
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Various locations in the Bay Area
I like this place because the portions aren't hella huge and the menu selection isn't intimidating. My favorite thing to order is the Panna Cotta, even though they don't make it fresh there. Very good value for what you get and most of the location are consistent.
Caprinos
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www.caprinos.com
1000 6th Avenue (at Ralston), Belmont 650.591.4156
This is cute place not too far from City Hall. Their fried calamari is excellent and they often have dinner specials on special occasions and holidays.
Buca di Beppo
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www.bucadibeppo.com
855 Howard Street, San Francisco 415.543.7673
643 Emerson Street, Palo Alto 650.329.0665
1875 South Bascom Avenue, Campbell 408.377.7722
The best ceasar salad I've ever had and I'm still curious as to what's in the men's bathroom (girlie pix?). This is a great place for big get togethers. A little birdie also told me that strippers work there too... I don't know who they are, but it's probably just a rumor. Anything you order there is great. The seafood pasta is really good. It's $20 or so, but it can feed like five very hungry people (I'm not kidding) and still have enough to take home.
update 12/27/04: I recently purchased the cookbook "Into the Sauce" as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, the book did not have the recipe for the seafood pasta. =(
Broadway Prime
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1316 Broadway, Burlingame 650.558.8801
Have an itch for some House of Prime Rib in San Francisco but it's too late to get a reservation at the famous restaurant? Try this place... it's the exact same thing. In fact, my brother tells me that the guy who runs Broadway Prime used to be a chef at House of Prime Rib. Exact same food for exact same price, except parking is a lot easier.
Henry's Prime Steakhouse
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888 El Camino Real, Menlo Park 650.323.7600
This place comparable to Ruth Chris, maybe not just comparable, but exactly the same. They just opened, and if it wasn't for the $50 gift certificate I had, I probably would take one look at the prices and run! The service was excellent and the chef actually went out to talk to us. As for the food, I couldn't ask for more - I asked for a medium rare steak and actually got a medium rare steak. The steak was so well seasoned that I didn't even care to use the special dipping sauces they offered.
Harry's Haf Brau
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www.harryshofbrau.com
Four locations in the Bay Area.
Harry kills me.
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
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www.hmbbrewingco.com
390 Capistrano Road, Princeton By-the-Sea (in Half Moon Bay) 650.728.BREW
They serve fresh seafood and have a great pub menu. They have an outside patio with a fire pit and many of their tables have views of the harbor. Nice place to kick it and have a beer.
COMING SOON! BJ's Rastaurant & Brewery
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www.bjbrewhouse.com
Various locations in California, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, Colorado & Hawaii
Coming soon to the newly remodeled Tanforan Mall (San Bruno) in 2005 (I can't hardly wait). I went to the Oxnard location (see my Outside the Bay section) and it's a really great place to eat. You can't beat the prices during happy hour.
San Benito House Sandwich Shop
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356 Main Street, Half Moon Bay
A lovely local dive for "no-fuss" sandwiches in historical downtown. Locals have been going there for years and I can understand why. In the case of this shop, the bread does make the sandwich. Once my mom asked the owner where he gets the bread or if it's made in the store - he wouldn't give us ANY details.
Little Lucca Specialty Sandwich Shop
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www.littlelucca.com
724 El Camino Real, South San Francisco 650.589.8916
Oh man, these are the best deli sandwiches I've ever had. Every sandwich has their special garlic sauce which is soooo freakin' good. The experice is hard to describe, you just have to try this place! I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed (just a little bloated afterward)!
Pluto's
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3258 Scott Street (at Chestnut), San Francisco 415.775.8867
627 Irving Street (at 8th Avenue), San Francisco 415.753.8867
482 Univerity Avenue (at Cowper), Palo Alto 650.853.1556
I crave their grilled herbed chicken sandwiches and their tri-tip really hits the spot when I'm craving beef. This place is great because it's grubbin' and healthy. You can make your own custom salad and their sides are really comforting.
Cafe V
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1525 Folsom Street (at 11th), San Francisco 415.863.3620
This is a really good cheese steak and a small is so huge! I also had their chili cheese fries and (oh man) they were sooo good! If you're the type that loves a big, sloppy sandwich that's dipping with cheese and a big old side of fries, then please do me a favor and go here!
Ozuma Japanese Restaurant
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894 Laurel Street, San Carlos 650.637.9793
I've been to cheap Japanese restaurants when I'm short on cash but need my fix, but I think this is the best one yet. The quality of their fish is excellent and the value is even better!
Izumi Ya
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1581 Webster Street, San Franciso 415.441.6867
A family favorite of mine. Since my brother is allergic to fish and cannot eat imitation crab, this is a place where we definitely know that they use real crab in their California roll. This is also the place where I fell in love with the dragon roll (yum) and had a date that didn't go so well (whoops), but I still go back whenever I can.
Tani's Kitchen
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32 Park Plaza Drive, Daly City 650.922.1701
I took my co-worker here and he said, "You said this would be a hole in the wall, but damn!" It really is, but it's one of the few Japanese restaurants I go to that is Japanese owned and Japanese people actually patronize. This place only seats like eight people and there's always a crowd wating out front (so you know the food's fresh). I'm not too familiar with homestyle Japanese cooking, but this feels like it... oh yeah, and their Philidephia roll kicks ass and it's only like $2.95!
Ongpin Restaurant
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73 Camaritas Ave, South San Francisco 650.615.9788
The cool part about this restaurant is that they have fiesta style lechon on Sundays (which is a ton better than the roasted pig you get at a Chinese place). I recommend the Coco-cha-cha dessert. It's ice cream of your choice with a lot of the goodies you find in halo halo, but without the shaved ice, and then they pour coconut milk ALLLL over it.
Three Seasons
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www.thethreeseasons.com
3317 Steiner Street (at Lombard), San Francisco 415.567.9989
518 Bryant Street (at University), Palo Alto 650.838.0353
I love their spring rolls, and they're not just the ordinary ones with the boiled pork and shirmp. I had their Summer Rolls which was filled with lettuce, cilantro, rice vermicelli, mint, dungeness crab, avocado, and cucumber served with a giner soy dipping sauce. Pricey, but good.
Hukilau
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www.dahukilau.com
5 Mansonic Avenue, San Francisco 415.921.6242
642 Ramona Street, Palo Alto 650.329.9533
Went to the SF location not to long ago and the food and the drinks were great! I ordered the Spam musabi, and I think everyone at the table agreed that mine was better. I also had the seared tuna salad which definitely made up for the bad Spam musabi. I had a few drinks (don't ask me what), but they were good. Fruity enough to go down easy, strong enough to get a buzz on... will definitely return.