San Fran's Food

Let me just start by expressing my overall feeling of the restaurants and food choices in San Francisco:  OH MY GOD.  We honestly did not eat one bad thing the whole time we were there, we didn't even eat one mediocre thing.  Every place we tried was awesome, and I was very impressed.  Besides going down Lombard Ave at 50 mph in a cab, the food was my favorite part, which is why this entire post is dedicated to the food! 

Friday afternoon, after visiting Alcatraz, we wanted to head down near where the Giant's stadium is because it was the season home opener.  It's a very beautiful area, the stadium is right on the water, and there are a bunch of restaurants and bars surrounding it.  We stopped at a place called SB40, it had a great outdoor patio right on the water.  We decided to get something light since we were eating dinner fairly early, so I went with french fries.. obviously.  They were amazing, had huge garlic chunks all over them and were full of flavor.

Gi got the sweet potatoes fries - they even look amazing.  I'm not usually a fan of sweet potato fries, I like regular fries way too much to ever try something else, but these were amazing.  They came with a little spicy mayo type sauce, which was perfect!  Click here for more information on SB40.

Please forgive my dinner pictures - the light was really tough, and a lot of the pictures didn't come out.  Even though my pictures weren't that great, the food was more than great at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar; which is where we went for my official birthday dinner Friday night.  I lovedddd this place.  It was very intimate restaurant, with a European feel.  The wait staff was more than amazing, which made the meal even better.  We started with the soft garlic pretzels, and I think I could have kept eating those as my entree.  Easily the best pretzels I've ever had.  I had a steak with creme fresh mashed potatoes and asparagus, and ate the entire thing.  It was cooked to perfection.  Gi had the trout, although I was too full to try hers, she enjoyed her meal as well.  We moved to coffee and dessert! 

German chocolate cake with candied pecans = amazing.  As soon as the waitress found out it was my birthday she brought a scoop of ice cream, with a lit candle with "happy birthday" written on the plate.  It was very cute!  I recommend the place to anyone and everyone.  Although a little expensive, they have very innovative food and drinks.  Please click here for more information.

Saturday morning hungover food - Pizzeria Delfina hit the spot.  We also treated ourselves to some regular cokes.  I loved that they served their pop (yes, POP - I am from the Midwest) in the old school Coke bottles!

I ordered the 4 Formaggi pizza, and so did Gi.  Just looking at this pizza now makes me hungry.  It was perfect, very cheesy, the crust was soft and well made.  Also a great recommendation to anyone in the SF area.  They have a couple locations too, we went to the one in Pacific Heights, but it looks like all the locations have the same menu.  Please click here for more information.

A great recommendation from another "foodie" was Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square.  They had a huge assortment, some were filled with a flavor and some without.  We tried one of each.  I had Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, of course.  :)

Gi got the passion fruit cupcake that was stuffed with passion fruit.  They were both very tasty, and the frosting was the best part.  I really liked this place, and the location.  They had outdoor seating right in the square and it was perfect to relax and people watch.  Click here for more information and awesome cupcake pictures. 

The last night we went out to Caffe Sport, a little Italian place with a lot of decoration and character.  It seemed to get very busy, so if you want to make reservations, you might want to just to be safe.  Again, pictures were a little tough because of the lighting, but I did snap a few.  This was the salad we started out with, the portions were very large as you can see.  We each ordered a pasta dish, when in all honesty we could have shared!

Gi ordered the pasta pesto and I got the cheese ravioli.  Both were so delicious, I think both of us were really sad we couldn't take the leftovers home because they would have been great the next day too. 

Of course had to end the night with Tiramisu, possibly one of my favorite desserts when done right.  This one was great, I usually judge on how the marscapone layer tastes, as I like that flavor more than the coffee flavor, and it was done perfectly.  A lot of cheese flavor, not too much coffee!  I want to mention the wait staff here too, everyone was so nice.  We had at least four waiters come up to our table, running the restaurant was a group effort it seemed.  All of them seemed to be foreign too, so it gave the place more of an authentic feel.  Click here for more information on Caffe Sport.

Last, but not least, brunch on Sunday.  We decided to stick near our hotel and found a crepe place that looked perfect.  The Crepe House, very cute place and different from the rest of the breakfast spots we walked by, they didn't have a huge wait.  Mainly because you walked up to the counter, placed your order and then sat down.  The food here was great, and again huge portions.  We both ended up ordering omelets, but split a crepe because we figured we had to get a taste of their speciality.  Gi got the Acapulco omelet, which had avocado, sour cream, black beans and salsa on top. 

I ordered the Polk omelet, which had cheddar, ham, mushrooms and green peppers.  It was so tasty.  They also came with potatoes and two slices of bread.

For "dessert" we ordered the Nutella and strawberry crepe, and it was so good.  Thin crape filled with fruit and Nutella!  Click here for more information.

As you can see the trip was very successful, especially the food.  I had such a great time, and it was an awesome city to explore.  If you have any questions on the places mentioned above, please let me know.  If you ever get out to San Francisco I hope you find the food culture to be as great as I did.

Have a great weekend everyone, see you back here on Monday!