List: Precious Time

San Francisco - like Paris and New Orleans - offers more to see and do than a visitor could possibly fit into one lifetime. A great deal of each city’s charm is also linked to its cuisine: You can dine at a different restaurant every night of the year and never appear on the same reservation list twice.

To make the most of your precious time in San Francisco, these restaurants offer what the French Creole of New Orleans refer to as “lagniappe”: a little something extra served up with your main course.

1. SWAN OYSTER DEPOT
If you arrive after 11:00am, you’ll have to wait in a very long line for one of the stools at Swan’s decades-old lunch counter. Don’t let the wait put you off. This is the best, and most entertaining, seafood joint in San Francisco. The fun-loving Sancimino brothers - who own Swan and work behind the counter - will keep you amused as they serve up a variety of raw oysters, cracked Dungeness crab and local Anchor Steam beer to wash it all down.

1517 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109
415/673-1101

2. THE BEACH CHALET BREWERY & RESTAURANT
Located above and behind the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center (a good orientation to the adjacent park's delights), these two facilities serve hand-crafted ales and modern American cuisine. Great food and drink in a location just off the beach - with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean or garden seating - is good enough reason to visit. The real draws, however, are the 1930s-era WPA art works on the building’s ground floor: Gorgeous murals depict depression-era San Francisco and honey-colored magnolia woodcarvings include old ships, sea monsters and mermaids.

1000 Great Highway at Ocean Beach
San Francisco, CA 94121
415/386-8439
http://beachchalet.com

3. HOG ISLAND OYSTER CO.: THE BAR
As if a selection of local bivalves delivered each morning from Tomales Bay wasn't enough, Hog Island offers Manila clam chowder, Sand Dabs (with crème fraiche) and an amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwich made with Cowgirl Creamery products. Sit at the bar inside the Marketplace to watch expert shuckers open piles of succulent oysters, or dine out on the patio for the City's best Bay Bridge views.

One Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111
415/391-7117
www.hogislandoysters.com

4. GREENS RESTAURANT
Located in a converted warehouse at historic Fort Mason, this renowned restaurant’s art-filled dining room features floor to ceiling windows with sweeping views of Golden Gate Bridge. Open for nearly thirty-years, Green’s also offers twenty boutique wines by the glass and Executive Chef Annie Somerville’s imaginative vegetarian cooking. Before you leave, buy a copy of one of the restaurant's influential cookbooks and perhaps a pastry or two from the bakery counter.

Building A, Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA 94123
415/771-6222
www.greensrestaurant.com

5. JOHN’S GRILL
Johnny Depp has dined at this historic chop house, as did the characters in Dashiell Hammett’s 'Maltese Falcon.' The menu even includes “Sam Spade’s Lamb Chops” served with a baked potato and sliced tomatoes. John’s original period furnishings include dark oak paneled walls and a tiny, atmospheric bar serving excellent martinis as well as the house specialty, “Bloody Brigid,” made with vodka and grenadine splashed over crushed ice. Pay a visit to the second floor for a peek at the Maltese Falcon statue and photos celebrating the restaurant’s history.

63 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415/986-0069
http://johnsgrill.com

6. TADICH GRILL
There is nothing fashionable about Tadich Grill - except for the waiters scurrying about in crisp white jackets - yet this charmingly retro restaurant takes no reservations and serves 700 meals a day. Tadich remains a destination for locals as well as tourists because it bucks trends by continuing to offer menu items that have all but disappeared from other establishments. This is the place to try historic recipes found only in San Francisco: Hangtown Fry (reportedly a condemned man’s last meal of oysters and bacon scrambled with eggs) and Cioppino - a spicy fisherman’s stew.

240 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
415/391-1849

7. ENRICO’S
Immortalized in the great 60s flick 'Bullitt' - as Steve McQueen uttered, “Let’s go to Enrico’s” - this Beat-era watering hole recently reopened with a modernized bistro-style menu including wood fired pizza. Enrico’s epitomizes San Francisco’s reputation as America’s most European city: It’s the perfect place to linger over a drink served on the patio overlooking Broadway and Columbus. During your visit, there may or may not be a local celebrity sitting at the next table, but you’ll surely chuckle at the parade of colorful characters drifting by.

504 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
415/982-6223
www.enricossf.com

8. THE GARDEN COURT
As the hotel’s web site notes, the Palace is “One of San Francisco’s most treasured landmarks.” Built in 1875, over the decades dignitaries and celebrities including Sarah Bernhard, Oscar Wilde, Presidents Harrison, McKinley, Grant, Roosevelt, Taft, Harding and Clinton have spent time here. Opera star Enrico Caruso was a hotel guest during the great quake of 1906 (the hotel survived with dignity intact; Caruso panicked and vowed never to return). The grand hotel’s most prominent feature is the elegant Garden Court restaurant - a glass roofed atrium bedecked with crystal and gold chandeliers. Afternoon tea service in this luxurious setting is a bit of a splurge, but well worth the price for specially blended teas (Oriental Spice, Red Vanilla, Moroccan Mint), assorted pastries, tarts and crust-less sandwiches. After tea, don’t miss a peek at the famed 1909 Maxfield Parrish mural on the wall of the hotel’s Pied Piper Bar.

2 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415/512-1111
www.sfpalace.com

9. IT’S TOPS COFFEE SHOP
It's Tops is the real deal: A genuine piece of 20th-century Americana. Renowned for its burgers and pancakes, this tiny coffee shop is open for breakfast and lunch and the interior still looks like it did when your great-grandpa may have visited. Sit at the counter, order a lemon coke, drop a coin in the juke box and time travel back to 1942. The visit will be twice as much fun if you arrive via one of the City’s historic F-line street cars (www.streetcar.org).

1801 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/431-6395

10. YANK SING
While there are dozens of excellent dim sum restaurants located throughout San Francisco, Yank Sing must be the biggest, if not the busiest. This upscale restaurant is always packed with customers enjoying traditional Chinese dumplings that can be steamed, baked, deep-fried, grilled or stir-fried and come stuffed with shrimp, pork, chicken, shiitake or a thousand other delicious fillings. On weekends, Yank Sing's tables spill out into the beautiful Rincon Atrium and serving carts make the rounds to even more customers so they can pick and choose from an endless variety of goodies. After your meal, head to the old Post Office on the north end of Rincon Center. Here you’ll find a magnificently restored Art Deco-era building including a free exhibit of depression-era murals and historic Gold Rush-era bits discovered during the building’s construction.

Rincon Center
101 Spear Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415/957-9300
www.yanksing.com