OT: San Fancisco/Napa

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

Last time in San Fran was about 7 years ago and Napa Valley about 25 years ago.
Doing both this trip in late April. Any suggestions from the Pack on bars/restaurants in SF and Napa ? Anyone ever do the hot air balloons over NV ?
Thanks.

 

[57stratdawg]

Work takes me to The bottom of the Bay Area about once a year. Palo Alto is a pretty awesome place that no one ever mentions.

 

[ShrubDog]

The human defecation tour is usually ******. They are renaming the city to San Franshitsco.


https://www.engadget.com/2014/11/21/san-francisco-human-wasteland-project/

 

[missouridawg]

Alcatraz was very interesting. Book tickets well in advance as it fills up quickly.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Whoops. Apologies for the Unintentional Kellenbergering.

I meant to Click Thumbs Up.

I agree with you about Palo Alto. I used to work there many years ago and I loved the place.

 

[DreadNought.sixpack]

Go to Alcatraz, but be sure to go on the night tour.

 

[Dawgfan61]

Napa Valley Wine Train. Really cool good food and wine. We had a driver booked through windstream? To take us to 3 smaller wineries for tasting. Definitely recommend that.

 

[dawgphd]

SF
Tommy's Joint - bar and restaurant and dive. We loved the ambience and the food.

Napa (Yountville)
R&D Kitchen - classy but casual surroundings, impeccable service, delicious food

As a side note. In Yountville is French Laundry. One of the top 2 or 3 restaurants in the country. It's astronomically high. ($300+ a person)
If try to score reservations, please read the food offerings first. The folk who ate with us are foodies and raved about. Still do to this day. We aren't foodies and didn't get all the fuss.

 

[Lettucexxxx]

bro taco... hit me up. I have several good friends in both places. Hell, I might even be out there by then. Seriously, they have accommodations and would help you out if i called. You would get along with all of them, and prob could stay for free or for very cheap....especially in Napa.

Edit to add: thought this was dawg61...sorry, I dont know you but would be willing to help you out. PM me

 

[dotcomdawg]

Check out R&G Lounge in Chinatown. My favorite Chinese restaurant in the city.

In the Napa area, go to Ad Hoc or Bistro Jeanty.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

I don't have any recs for San Fran, but we were in Napa a few months back. I recommend eating at Mustards and Bistro Jeanty, both in the Yountville area. We ate at Morimoto and Celadon in Napa. Morimoto is high end Japanese, and while it was good I didn't think it was worth it. Celadon is Italian and I thought it was great. I have heard great things about Bouchon in Yountville, but we were not able to get a reservation. I have also heard that you should try Gott's Roadside (in St. Helena or in Napa), but we didn't make it.

There are bars in the town of Napa, but not in Yountville or the other little "towns" throughout the valley. There area bunch of tasting houses in those, which are also fun but you're not going to get tvs or anything you'd think of in a normal bar.

We were mostly there for the winery tours, so we had a driver take us all around for a couple of days. The volume of wine definitely adds up as you move from place to place.

 

[wasabaka]

There is excellent craft beer in Napa. You can even tour all the breweries or something like that. Can you tell I've never been?**

 

[InTheIttaBenaHotSun]

You're going to Napa for the wine but if you like and appreciate great craft beer, I suggest you head over to Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa....You'll be in the Valley and not that far away. RR is one of the Top Breweries in the country. Their Double IPA, Pliny the Elder, is one of the top Doubles in the country.

 

[Spotdawg]

French Laundry (even with the complication of blood relation) just didn't live up to what we had anticipated. Rutherford Grill was a great drinks and early dinner stop after a day of tastings. Casual, cool and delicious.

Surprise of of the trip? Breakfast stop at La Luna just outside of Napa. Authentic Mexican grocery/taqueria with huge dishes prepared to order. Food service took a little longer than expected but they were finishing up a to-go order for a local vineyard and it's workers in the middle of harvest. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Utah_Chaney]

SF - Cha Cha Cha in the Haight, Tommy's in the Richmond district for good Mexican food, The Buena Vista in fishermans wharf for breakfast/brunch and famous Irish coffee.

Alcatraz is a fun/interesting experience. Like mentioned before, get tickets in advance.

Not sure about Napa. Have fun.

 

[Utah_Chaney]

Spot on with Tommy's. Awesome place.

 

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

Thanks for all of the rec's.
Did the night tour of Alcatraz the last time out so not doing that again but like many have said, if any are ever in SF, I highly recommend as well.
Still wondering about the balloon tour. So far I've found that a private (2 person) ride is aprox. $2000.00
Not quite sure I'm willing to spend that unless someone else has done it and says it's worth it.

 

[KielDog]

Second this. Santa Rosa was a detour for us and ended up being a favorite part of our trip. The spot where Russian River is located is a cool location, food and atmosphere was great, and pliney the elder did not disappoint (I fully believed it was all hype) we bought a $60 12 pack of it and smuggled it back home and sent off to friends to enjoy. We toured Newton and Chappellet and they were amazing. They are out of the valley on hill sides with amazing views you feel like you won't ever get there and then boom. We also drove to Yosemite which, of course, is amazing. Across the bridge in Sausalito is cool too. Don't care much for San Fran itself, not a fan of visiting big cities since I live in Nashville.