A few places to eat at when visiting San Francisco

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There are few areas in the world with a better selection of restaurants than the 415 area code. Narrowing the list down to just a few is difficult, but I highly recommend the following:

Mocca: This café in the center of Maiden Lane offers more than just a wonderful lunch, but great atmosphere as well. This is not a cheap restaurant – lunch for one can easily push $15 - $20 – but the food is both decadent and healthy at the same time. Situated next door to the Chanel boutique and other well-to-do stores and businesses, and with a spectacular alley view of the city on one side and Union Square on the other, it’s easy for any patron to escape the realities of the everyday world and just enjoy the food and company. 175 Maiden Lane,?San Francisco, CA 94108?(415.956.1188)

Brazenhead: One step in this almost hidden restaurant in the Marina district, and you’ll wish you’d invited your grandfather. The dark wood paneling and older baseball décor, brings to mind older men sitting around smoking cigars and talking business. However, this feeling will quickly pass as you enjoy well-made cocktails and the perfectly cooked steak, seafood, mashed potatoes or anything else you order. In fact, my favorite dish is the Surf and Turf, which serves a bit of all of the above. This is something like a steak house, so the price is not low, but the food is well worth every last dime. 3166 Buchanan St., San Francisco, CA, 94123 (415-921-7600)

Anywhere in North Beach: Looking for good Italian food? There’s not just one restaurant in the 415 area code, there’s a whole neighborhood. North Beach, the city’s Italian district, offers some of the best, most authentic Italian food outside of Italy. Whether you’re looking for the cheap food and entertaining charm of Steps of Rome, the fame of The Stinking Rose, the homemade pasta of Calzones, the trendines of Panta Rei, or the traditional style of Trattoria Contadina (Union St and Mason St.), you can be sure you’ll walk away with a full and happy stomach. Not sure which restaurant to choose? Walk up and down Columbus Street for a couple minutes and look at the menus and ambiance and smell the aromas wafting out, and just go with whatever your gut tells you. On Columbus St. between Broadway and Filbert

Nick’s Crispy Tacos: Cheap and phenomenally good, this is one of my all time favorite restaurants. It’s not necessarily the most authentic Mexican food, but one bite of the taco, burrito, quesadilla, salad, chips and guac, etc. and that just won’t matter. Every taste bud in your mouth will jump for joy at the prospect of another bite. If this is your first visit, be sure to start with a taco and order it Nick’s way (that’s the only way to get the ‘cripsy taco’). Everyone should try a taco at least once, but after that, feel free to order anything off the menu. Don’t forget the chips and guac with fresh tomatoes and homemade guacamole. The margaritas are also to die for. The price tag for an appetizer, main dish and margarita? Something around $10 - $12, and one can easily get a tasty meal for only $5. 1500 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94109 (415-409-8226)