Dine Again?
Shiki Japanese Restaurant is located in the San Mateo Whole Food shopping center, just off Highway 101. They have 2 other locations. They have an extensive menu with items from sushi to noodles to rice bowls. We tried them for dinner.
Nopalito is a new San Francisco restaurant serving authentic traditional Mexican cuisine from the popular restaurant Nopa folks. It is located across the street from the San Francisco DMV, next to upscale grocery store Falletti’s Plaza. They use local, sustainable, and organic ingredients and have some small plates as well as some more expensive big plates. The place was still very new when we visited them for dinner. Lots of Hispanic cooks were cooking the cuisine. This is a place for a quick bite, not much lingering.
Roli Roti is a mobile rotisserie that come to many farmer’s markets including the Saturday San Francisco Ferry building, where we sampled their cuisine. We’ve tried them at the San Mateo farmer’s market and noticed they only had chicken, not the other goodies we saw in San Francisco.
Firefly Restaurant is a neighborhood restaurant located in the Noe Valley part of San Francisco. It has been around for many years. They have a very reasonable $35 3 course Prix Fix dinner Sunday – Thursday. We saw good reviews up on Yelp and decided to see for ourselves.
Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers has been serving up burgers since 1978. They have 7 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and 3 in Southern California. We visited the Steiner St location in San Francisco.
They use humanely raised Niman Ranch all natural ground chuck that is free of antibiotics or hormones. They serve beef, chicken, turkey, and veggie burgers along with salads.
El Norteno is a Mexican mobile food truck in San Francisco. They won the burritoeater 2008 finals. They are located in a parking lot across the street from the Hall of Justice.
Decor, Vibe – ‘Roach Coach’ mobile dining with tacos, burritos, and Tortas in a variety of meats including tongue, cabeza, tripas. Very high 98 food inspection score.
Frascati is a Mediterranean style bistro neighborhood restaurant on Russian Hill in San Francisco. Since 1987 this place has been serving it up. It has some of the highest ratings on Yelp.
Epic Roasthouse is a steak house located strategically on the San Francisco waterfront. It has extra ordinary views and is next door to the seafood restaurant Water Bar. They are both part of the vast Kuleto Restaurant empire. They dry age their steaks for 28 days.
Decor, Vibe – Pat Kuleto is a master restaurant designer and has created Boulevard, Jardinere and many other restaurants. This place has an old school clubby atmosphere with a seawater pump house theme and an upstairs bar area. Well dressed businessmen and others in their 40’s – 60’s were dining.
Pizzaiolo opened in 2005 and has been packing them in for pizza since. The Chef-Owner used to work at Chez Panisse.
Kirala is a popular Japanese restaurant in Berkeley. They have 2 locations. The one in North Berkeley is a to go shop. They do no take reservations, so the place fills up rapidly. We came for lunch. They have a separate lunch menu as well as a sushi menu.
Passionfish offers a “unique California dining experience with serious food and wine in a fun and casual atmosphere. The ever-changing menu features the freshest, sustainable seafood, slow-cooked meats, organic greens and delectable desserts, all complemented by an award winning wine list priced well below what you’ve come to expect.” They have been around for over ten years.
With the world class Monterey Bay Aquarium nearby and all its educational campaigns, this restaurant adheres to the sustainable seafood movement to serve ‘correct’ food. Passionfish is owned and operated by Chef Ted Walter and his wife Cindy Walter, who are vocal advocates for sustainabilty.
Sushi Main Street is a Japanese Restaurant in Half Moon Bay, just off the Main street shopping area on Mill street. They have been around for several years and used to be located on Main street. Their menu is quite extensive for a small coastal town.
El Tonayense is a Mexican restaurant with lots of mobile food trucks throughout San Francisco. They have been featured on PBS’s Check Please TV show. They are parked on the side of the Best Buy at 14th St and Harrison in San Francisco so we decided to give them a try even though we were not hungry.
Decor, Vibe – ‘Roach Coach’ mobile dining with tacos, burritos, and Tortas in a variety of meats including brains, head and cheek.
Golden Boy Pizza is a hole in the wall restaurant in North Beach. This place takes only cash and serves pizza slices from big trays that are warmed up. There are lots of beers and two rows of counter seating.
A stylish high end pizza place with 4 Northern California locations. We reviewed the location in upscale San Jose’s Santana Row shopping center. Pizza is the draw, so we focused on it. The pizza is thin crust artisanal Roman style. They also serve pasta and meats.
Mingalaba Restaurant is a Burmese and Mandarin Chinese restaurant in downtown Burlingame in the Burlingame avenue shopping district. It has been open since late June 2008. They serve many Burmese dishes along with some standard Americanized Chinese fare. They have some good lunch combo deals at $6.95 – $9.95.
Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Harbor is a popular Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Sunnyvale. It has been located in a strip mall for about two years.
When we went at 745pm on Saturday, it was so crowded that we had to wait 30 minutes to get in. They are also very crowded during lunch for dim sum.
Classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the reason to visit. Pronounced “paw-CHEESE”, this place is run by a former cook and manager of Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland. With that heritage, it was time to compare it again the reference.
Little Sichuan, not to be confused with the one in San Mateo, used to be located in Fremont, but moved to this new larger location and upgraded itself. It is now located in a big strip mall anchored by Ranch 99. This mall has a ton of different restaurants. The old one was decent, so we decided to give the new place a try. We tried them on the weekend, when they have some additional specials.
Isa is a french small plate (Tapas) restaurant in San Francisco’s Marina District named after the owner’s daughter. They’ve been serving this type of California influenced tapas since 2000. We like this cuisine as it lets you sample lots of different items. Plates are timed by the kitchen and meant to be shared with the table, family style. This is one of the better restaurants in this part of town.
Stay up to date with all our new reviews by signing up for our RSS Feed, Twitter or Email updates.
Use our category right hand navigation to see other reviews by criteria such as Reviews By Rating: 1 star (Average) 1.5 stars 2 stars (Good) 2.5 stars (Very Good) 3 stars (Excellent) 3.5 stars 4 stars (Out of this world) or Show All Reviews
El Coleguita 2 is a popular seafood restaurant for the locals, in the Marina Vallarta area. It is located in the boat marina for Puerto Vallarta. An english version of the menu is available. The place was consistenly packed, while most other restaurants had only a couple tables occupied.
Marisco 8 Tostada is a popular seafood restaurant for the locals, in the Marina Vallarta area. It is located around the corner from the boat marina for Puerto Vallarta. The place was consistenly packed, while most other restaurants had only a couple tables occupied. They serve lots of seafood with a minimal amount of cooking.
Pasta Moon is one of a handful of restaurants on Main street in Half Moon Bay.
It was time to try it, as we’ve been to Cetrella and Sushi Main too many times.
Daiquiri Dicks is a popular beach front restaurant serving a variety of cuisine.
It is located in the heart of the city and is highly recommended by the Fodor’s Guide. An English version of the menu is available.
Archie’s Wok is one of the few Asian restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. It is located in the Romantic zone, half a block from the beach. They have Chinese, Thai, Filipino style dishes infused with local accents. English translations of the menu are available. The late Archie was the chef to John Houston at his hideaway for many years. Archie’s wife and family continue his legacy today.
El Arrayan has been named Best Mexican In Vallarta for 3 years in a row by Frommer’s and is a Fodor’s Pick. It is located in the heart of the city a couple blocks from the main drag. English translations of the menu are available.
We stopped by for a quick snack. The paintings on the walls look great.
Trio is a Mediterranean restaurant run by 2 chef owners from Europe. It is located in the heart of the city and is highly recommended by the Fodor’s Guide. They have a small back patio and roof top dining if weather allows. Trio also stays open late. An english version of the menu is available.
La Palapa is a popular beach front restaurant serving a variety of continental cuisine. It is located in the heart of the romantic zone and is recommended by the Fodor’s Guide with a star. An English version of the menu is available. This is definitely a more expensive touristy restaurant. You’ll see vendors walking the beach trying to sell you stuff.
Cafe de Olla serves reasonably priced Mexican fare in Puerto Vallarta.
It is located in the central district, a couple blocks from the beach and is a busy place that does not take reservations.
Tommasos, Open in 1935, this place is a North Beach institution that seems to have a line every day
from 530pm onwards. It is an old school Italian eatery that hasn’t changed much. Big communal table down the middle. A small basement eatery with old fashion decor and yellow lighting, this is a classic and full of tourists. Tommasos is well know for their wood-fired brick oven pizza.
