We have a rental car and paid for hotel parking with unlimited in-and-out privileges. Is there any neighborhood in the city where it's not a complete pain in the ass to get a street parking spot? We can pay for metered parking but pay lots will bust our budget. MH wants a burrito tonight ... will we be able to find parking in the Mission?
Would it be better to just take BART or something like that?
Normally we have no issues with walking in big cities, but holy shit these hills are steep!!!
We aren't SF residents, but we visit frequently and go to the Mission frequently during those visits, and we've never had a problem finding street parking. I don't know if that's the norm, but it's been our experience every time.
Post by emilyinchile on Aug 19, 2014 18:34:29 GMT -5
Are you close to a BART station? If so, I would take it. Parking is just such a hassle there, and BART is easy. MUNI is less easy because you have to know what bus to take and where to get off and have exactly $2, but you can look at their website to see if there's an easy route that makes it worth it.
We aren't SF residents, but we visit frequently and go to the Mission frequently during those visits, and we've never had a problem finding street parking. I don't know if that's the norm, but it's been our experience every time.
This is amazing to me.
I haven't driven to the Mission since April of 2012, when it took my husband 45 minutes to find parking for dinner one Friday night. Before then, we never had good luck finding parking, but always ended up blocks and blocks away from our destination after driving for ages.
Ever since the 45 minute incident, it's subway or not at all.
ESF - weekend nights are a different story. OP mentioned they were going tonight.
As far as other times, I don't know. I mean, we don't pull right up to our choice of waiting spots or anything, but we've always been able to find one with not too much trouble.
ESF - weekend nights are a different story. OP mentioned they were going tonight.
As far as other times, I don't know. I mean, we don't pull right up to our choice of waiting spots or anything, but we've always been able to find one with not too much trouble.
Finding parking in many areas of SF requires a great deal of patience and most importantly, a willingness to engage in weird & slightly reckless behavior to get the spot.
The only neighborhood I absolutely refuse to drive into is North Beach. Never again after the great parking debacle of 2001.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Aug 20, 2014 11:32:57 GMT -5
I'm actually with dexteroni - not a resident, but I've never had difficulty finding parking in SF - I think the most trouble I've ever had was one lap around the block at Alamo Square. And this with being EXTREMELY picky about parking spaces (I won't parallel park uphill into a space, it's a phobia).
The BART is amazing. We used it to get EVERYWHERE in San Francisco. I'm normally a car-for-everything person, but the BART was reliable, quick, and we loved it.
ESF - weekend nights are a different story. OP mentioned they were going tonight.
As far as other times, I don't know. I mean, we don't pull right up to our choice of waiting spots or anything, but we've always been able to find one with not too much trouble.
Finding parking in many areas of SF requires a great deal of patience and most importantly, a willingness to engage in weird & slightly reckless behavior to get the spot.
The only neighborhood I absolutely refuse to drive into is North Beach. Never again after the great parking debacle of 2001.
absolutely but sometimes even the most hardened OMG I HATE PARKING IN THE CITY!! person finds a gem of a parking spot. mine was earlier this month, main/spear st ... granted it was slightly uphill but it was a half block from my destination and meter was 'no payment required' ... I felt I scored the motherlode of parking spots in SF !!
any other instance, I'm all about taking BART in/out of SF .. for my sanity if nothing else !
ESF, if you want to go to the Mission, the trick to parking is to go off Valencia toward Guerrero into the residential areas. You can usually find parking around 4-6 PM and then again late night, but what you really want to do is find the street that is the next morning's street sweeping, because no one leaves their cars there since street sweeping is so early (7 AM). And Mission hipsters really hate getting up early, even on work days.
ETA: mbcdefg did you get a burrito? If so, where from?
Yes, we ended up at a place called Chava's and it was very good. We circled around the block two or three times and found a spot. Thanks guys:)
Yes to both of these! I also really like Pancho Villa, although even in our limited experience, it can be hit or miss. I love their steak and prawn though, and I especially like their agua fresca for some reason. DH also likes Tacqueria Cancun for al pastor.
Yes, we ended up at a place called Chava's and it was very good. We circled around the block two or three times and found a spot. Thanks guys:)
Oh man, I have never even heard of this place. And you were so close to the greats! El Farolito! La Taqueria! I'm glad you enjoyed it but if you want to go back for more burritos, try one of those places. So delicious. Any other great dining plans scheduled for your time here? Hope you are enjoying SF!
Actually, can you recommend a place for good cioppino, please?
Actually, can you recommend a place for good cioppino, please?
Unfortunately no because I don't like cioppino, but let's send out the bat signal-
carfar, ESF, RockNVoll, starlily, lolo... I'm sure I missed some long-time Bay Area foodies, but I think you all usually have recommendations?
ETA: Some of you guys are hard to tag!
My husband is a huge cioppino fan. He had it at Tadich Grill, and liked it, but didn't love it. He liked it more than other ciopinnos at other restaurants though. That's all I got. In general, I think its one of those dishes that's never going to be *that* good in a restaurant. It takes forever and is expensive to make, so I think a lot of restaurants cut corners.
Oh man, I have never even heard of this place. And you were so close to the greats! El Farolito! La Taqueria! I'm glad you enjoyed it but if you want to go back for more burritos, try one of those places. So delicious. Any other great dining plans scheduled for your time here? Hope you are enjoying SF!
Actually, can you recommend a place for good cioppino, please?
We like Cioppino's at the wharf. It's pretty touristy and usually VERY busy, so the service can SUCK, but the cioppino is pretty darn good, they validate parking, and the portions are huge (two people can EASILY share one order of cioppino).