Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [92]
Lou’s Pier 47 STEAK/SEAFOOD/CAJUN This popular restaurant and blues club is one of the few establishments on Fisherman’s Wharf that locals will admit they’ve been to at least once. The bottom floor consists of a bar and bistro-style dining room, while the upstairs hosts blues bands every night of the week, with the occasional Motown, country, and R&B act thrown in for variety. Lunch and dinner items range from a variety of Cajun classics such as gumbo ya ya, jambalaya, and shrimp Creole to baby back ribs, steamed Dungeness crab, blackened swordfish, and New York steak. There’s a lengthy starters menu if you just want to nosh on a Jamaica jerk salad, Louisiana crawfish bowl, or “peel ’em and eat” shrimp. Budget tip: The Saturday blues show from noon to 3pm is free; otherwise, the upstairs club cover is $3 to $10.
300 Jefferson St. (near Pier 47). 415/771-5687. www.louspier47.com. Main courses $17–$23. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11am–11pm (club remains open until 2am). Bus: 32. Cable car: Powell–Hyde line.
Inexpensive
Bistro Boudin at the Wharf DELI/AMERICAN This industrial-chic Fisherman’s Wharf shrine to the city’s famous tangy French-style bread is impossible to miss. Even if you’re not hungry, drop in to see bakers at work making 3,000 loaves daily, or take the tour and learn about the history of the city’s sourdough bread (Boudin is the city’s oldest continually operating business). Good, strong coffee is served at Peet’s Coffee (another Bay Area great), and at Bakers Hall you’ll find picnic possibilities such as handcrafted cheeses, fruit spreads, and chocolates, as well as a wall map highlighting the town’s best places to spread a blanket and feast. There’s also a casual self-serve cafe serving sandwiches, clam chowder bowls, salads, and pastries, and the more formal Bistro Boudin restaurant, which offers Alcatraz views with its Dungeness crab Louis, pizza, crab cakes, and burgers on sourdough buns.
160 Jefferson St., near Pier 431⁄2. 415/928-1849. www.boudinbakery.com. Reservations recommended at bistro. Main courses cafe $6–$10, bistro $11–$33. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Daily 11:45am–9pm. Bus: 10, 15, or 47. Streetcar: F.
THE MARINA/PACIFIC HEIGHTS/COW HOLLOW
For a map of restaurants in this section, see the “San Francisco Restaurants” map.
Very Expensive
Harris’ ★★ STEAKHOUSE Every big city has a great steak restaurant, and in San Francisco it’s Harris’—a comfortably elegant establishment where the seriously handsome and atmospheric wood-paneled dining room has high-backed booths, banquettes, high ceilings, hunting murals, stately waiters, a convivial bar scene with live jazz Thursday through Saturday, and even a meat counter for the carnivore on the go. Here, the point, of course, is steak, which can be seen hanging in a glass-windowed aging room off Pacific Avenue. The cuts are thick—New York style or T-bone—and are served with a baked potato and seasonal vegetables. You’ll also find classic French onion soup, spinach and Caesar salads, and sides of delicious creamed spinach, sautéed shiitake mushrooms, or caramelized onions. Harris’ also offers lamb chops, fresh fish, lobster, and occasionally venison, buffalo, and other seasonal game. Desserts, such as a sculptural beehivelike baked Alaska, are surprisingly good. If you’re debating between this place and House of Prime Rib, consider that aside from specializing in aged meats, this place is more “upscale” (the appetizer list includes an Eagle Rare Manhattan, and you can get 13 oz. of Kobe beef for $170), while HOPR features prime rib and a classic old-school vibe.
2100 Van Ness Ave. (at Pacific Ave.). 415/673-1888. www.harrisrestaurant.com. Reservations recommended. Most main courses $25–$46. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Mon–Thurs 5:30–9:30pm; Fri 5:30–10pm; Sat 5–10pm; Sun 5–9:30pm. Valet parking $10. Bus: 12, 47, or 49.
Spruce ★ CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN If you haven’t heard of San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood, it’s where most of the city’s old money lives, and now the ladies-who-lunch have a new place to hang