NFT: San Francisco Recommendations

definitely hit up Musée Mécanique, a fascinating operating coin op museum. And i suggest some soup dumplings in china town at bund shanghai
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is fun. Alcatraz is cool but make sure you order tix ahead of time. Tons of great places to eat all over the place. Chinatown is great. The Wharf is tourist central, but it's still worth passing through once.

Lucasfilms has its headquarters in the Presidio and you can go in the lobby and see a bunch of props and stuff from Star Wars if you're into that sort of thing.

Check out the Ferry Building. Hog Island Oyster Company is terrific. A billion great gastropubs and sushi joints and cafes. Can't go wrong.

Muir Woods - it is one of the greatest walks on earth..
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it's worth driving over the GGB to the park on the other side just for the views. Pretty amazing. Then you can continue up to Muir Woods or Sausalito if you don't want to drive too far. Both are well worth it if you're into exploring.

Any time I'm on business travel and have a half day or schedule a full extra day on my own, i'll hop in the rental and explore. Just did the Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the Montana/North Dakota Border. It was awesome.

Did Mt. Charleston outside Vegas two weeks ago.

Did it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. Breakfast at Mama's on Washington Square is phenomenal.

Alcatraz. No doubt.

HOGWASH: peanut butter nitro stout - unbelievable. cool chill bar, great beers.

muir / Alcatraz were great ... golden gate park is incredible. spend the day there and/or walk around Haight-ashbury ... the "people watching" opportunities are unbelievable. seriously, unbelievable.

for lunch ... THE LUNCHPAD (nothing fancy, just amazing food / great low key setting)

eat here. https://www.opentable.com/absinthe-brasserie-and-bar

top 5 meals I've ever eaten. phenomenal cocktails. even better service. my girlfriend and I made it a point to return there while we were already there.

[it's a nice place/great menu, I still ordered their burger - quite frankly, the greatest hamburger I've ever eaten]

few whiskey cocktails perfectly made, great apps, overall 1 of the best dining experiences I've ever had. so good this is the first time I've even given a restaurant "review" on line. go there.

The cable car museum. Big Basin is an option to see Redwoods.

on my last trip too. It was good.

Oldest restaurant in SF, great seafood.

http://www.tadichgrill.com/

Will likely be chilly and windy at the game, so layer up......or buy an overpriced memento sweatshirt at the game.

Pre-game beers: reds java hut(house?) almost directly under the bay bridge. Locals place, good prices, buckets of beer. Also Atwater is cool - just past the ball park and has a nice deck overlooking the stadium and downtown.

If you like bourbon, Hard Water is a can't miss spot just north of the ferry building. Food is solid as well, but unreal bourbon list. Next door is a Spanish place called Coquetta that's great but crowded. Might be good sitting at the bar and getting service there.

SOMA can be cool or grimy depending where you are. If you have time to take an Uber to the Haight, Hayes Valley, or the Mission as there are some cool neighborhoody type places that are better for exploring.

A few favorites are below - enjoy:
Thai - kin khao
Pizza - Tony's in North Beach
American - Nopa or Zuni Cafe
Beer - Toronado

One of the oldest restaurants in the U.S. 1849. Great seafood. Grab an Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe, the corner of Hyde and Beach Streets. Credited with introducing Irish Coffee to the U.S. in 1952. Cable car turnaround is right across the street.

...also when I am there on business I always extend a day and rent a car and drive up to Napa. It's only about an hour north, and IMO is one of the most beautiful places in the US.

and walk up to Hyde Street cable car turn around. Ride the car down town and back again, then grab a sandwich and coffee at Buena Vista Cafe.

the magic of the city, which gave me quite a bit of nostalgia when I moved to NY, were the views. To me I could enjoy the city just by driving around to the nice spots, and take it in.

Probably the best all around view would have to be the top of Twin Peaks. From the parking lot alone you can see from the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge (and beyond). A proper 360 degree view you merely have to drive around the circular lot, or climb a smaller hill. Very few cities have anything quite like it. You literally can feel the size of the city and how small it is compared to even Queens or Brooklyn. When you are finished up there you can come down a different road than the one you came up on, which is nice.

Sutro Tower is a big radio tower in that neck of the woods, tucked away in a residential neighborhood.

Another cool thing is unless you are (even if you are) an adventurous local, there will always be a new vista or pathway to discover. SF is unique like that.

One in particular that is pretty cool that I only discovered only a few years ago is Larsen's Peak. Look up the intersection of 14th Street and Moraga Street, and there is a big stairway up a big hill with some nice views at the top. Even knowing that you are headed there expecting this stairway, it's not so obvious where to find it, which adds to the charm.

I like driving through Presidio, Pacific Heights, Seacliff for the nice homes and view of the water behind.