Insider tips for the San Francisco ATA conference

Alternative hotels, restaurants, museums and things to do near the conference venue

Value Hotels


Grant Plaza Hotel -- 0.61 miles (8 blocks) to ATA Conference. Single room: From $80.00

465 Grant Ave at Bush (by the Gate of Chinatown)
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-434-3883
www.grantplaza.com

Grant Plaza to ATA venue

Located at the gateway to Chinatown, 3 blocks from Union Square and 2 blocks from the famous San Francisco cable cars. It is recommended as a best buy in many travel books. Built in the 1920s, the Grant Plaza is best known for its charm, service and warm hospitality, and convenience to Chinatown, North Beach, downtown, and the city's financial district. Tip: From the hotel, walk 2 blocks North on Grant St. to California St. -- You can catch the cable car all the way down to the conference venue! (fare: $5.00)

 

Allison Hotel -- 0.73 miles (9 blocks) to ATA Conference. Single room: From $122.00

417 Stockton Street at Sutter
San Francisco, CA 94108
415-956-8200

Allison Hotel to ATA venue

Very close to Union Square with newly refurbished rooms, it reopened less than a year ago and is also in a great location.

 

The Hotel Mayflower -- 1.01 miles (12 blocks) from ATA Conference. From $84.00

975 Bush Street at Jones
San Francisco, California 94109
415-673-7010
http://www.sfmayflowerhotel.com

Mayflower to ATA venue

A very quaint hotel connected to San Francisco's past, the staff is very friendly and helpful. This is still a family-owned business.Tip: From the corner of Bush and Taylor streets near the hotel, walk 2 blocks up the hill to California St. -- You can catch the cable car all the way down to the conference venue! (fare: $5.00)

 

Restaurants

(Handpicked by Elgy Gillespie!)

CODE:
$ = inexpensive
$$ = good value
$$$ = moderately expensive
$$$$ = worth the splurge!

 

CHINATOWN

 

Great Eastern Restaurant

Cantonese seafood
COST: $$$
649 Jackson Street between Grant and Kearny Streets
415-986-2500
Open daily 11am-1am


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This Hong Kong-style restaurant features a large wall lined with fish tanks where you can choose from more or less any creature from the deep. Just point at the crayfish or abalone of your whim and ask your waiter to take it out back and dispatch it for your dinner! It may be a shrine for visitors, but locals stay faithful to this long-surviving fixture of Cantonese cooking too and Chinatown residents claim its dim sum is the equal of anywhere. Try the salt and pepper chops as well as any of the seafood soups.

 

NORTH BEACH (San Francisco's Italian neighborhood)

 

Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store

Foccacia sandwiches
COST: $
566 Columbus Avenue at Union Street
415-362-0536
Open daily 10am to 11pm
Cash only


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In this minuscule triangle of a café overlooking the (misnamed) Washington Square, barstools are always filled with focaccia sandwich lovers and devotees of espresso con "vov", another specialty of this former Beats' haunt. "Vov" is an egg-based zabalione that cuts the strong flavor of an espresso and mellows the taste. The most popular sandwich here is grilled eggplant with caramelized onions, a perfect lunch when looking out of the window at SS Peter and Paul and seeing where Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio could not get married - the local priest disapproved of their divorces! Back in the day, Washington Square was indeed a square, until Columbus Avenue bisected it.

 

FERRY BUILDING

 

The Slanted Door

Vietnamese fusion
COST: $$$
1, Ferry building.
http://www.slanteddoor.com
Reservations: 415-861-8032
Open daily 11am to 2:30pm, dinner 5:30am to 10:30pm


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Charles Phan's flagship of Viet-fusion cuisine has graced three different locations and spawned many imitations, but this waterfront setting for his exquisite fare is his most successful yet. From an immigrant family who settled in the city's Mission district, Phan's own hard-won achievement has been this Mecca for foodies since it first opened there over ten years ago. His dishes have kept their clean, crisp flavors and ravishing colors yet have subtle California accents. The caramelized tiger prawns with chili, and shaking beef with garlic, water crest and red onions are famed far and wide, as are his salads and his Riesling-heavy wine list. There's a difficulty in lucking into a casual table, alas! So, make a reservation or sit at the bar.

 

Taylor's Refresher

Standard American fare
 COST: $
Ferry building.
Open daily 10:30am to 8:00pm
No reservations


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Just because Taylor's serves patty melts and burgers and fries with milkshakes doesn't make this your standard diner. In fact, Taylor's raises the touchstones of American cuisine onto a whole new plane of aesthetic delight. The milkshakes come in flavors like espresso bean and white pistachio, and flaunt mixers that include peanut butter cups and Oreos. There's an old-fashioned root beer float (THE ORIGINAL Taylor's dates back to 1949) and the fries come in a sweet potato variety as well as garlic butter and parsley. The burgers include fresh ahi tuna burger with ginger wasabi. In short, this ain't your usual burger joint - but prices are traditionally friendly.

 

EMBARCADERO

 

Boulevard

American regional flavors and French influenced style
COST: $$$$
1, Mission St. at Stuart.
415-543-6084
Open nightly 5:30am to 10pm


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There is a way to sample some of the superb food devised by celebrated chef Nancy Oakes without having to refinance your mortgage. Come for lunch, or simply go to the bar and sit there with a plate or two of appetizers and a wine flight. This way you can sample some of the most inventive and exciting food in San Francisco as well as their legendary wine list. Not to be sneezed at either are the gorgeous surroundings of the Audiffred building, a historic landmark from the Belle Époque age. You will sup with the foodies of the world in the most romantic spot in town.

 

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

 

Bix

Californian
COST: $$$$
56 Gold Street at Sansome
415-433-6300
Hours: Dinner 5-10pm Monday-Tuesday, until 11pm Wednesday-Thursday, until midnight Friday-Saturday; 6-10pm Sunday. Lunch on Friday only.
Reservations: necessary



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This supper club features drop-dead delicious martinis and sidecars in a "moderne" setting that would have lent Frank Sinatra class. The atmosphere evokes the prohibition age, with live jazz to match its namesake. Bix is also possibly the only nightclub menu with truffled hamburgers and a tomato cart from which your waiter will serve you heirlooms heaped with basil. Meat courses are handsome if conventional and service is faultless. Its cuisine has become as famous as those cocktails and features a number of seriously Southern desserts. For a very special splurge, this is one main contender.

 

Schroeder's

German fare and beers
COST: $$
240 Front Street near Embarcadero Center
415-421-4778
Mon-Fri 11am-9:00pm, Sat 4:30-9:00pm, closed Sunday
Reservations optional
Free Wi-Fi



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Inside a vast barn of a brathaus, a beer and sausage menu and walls of antlers lure you into the oldest German restaurant on the West Coast. Founded by the Kniesche family in 1893, this is polka heaven with food to match the Herman Richler paintings, an antique bar and lots of live music. Czech-German owners Jena and Stefan Filipcik rise to the occasion with schnitzel and spätzle and even venison on their menu. Their long list of beers include many rare double bocks and Czech lagers.

 

Café Bastille

French food
COST: $$
22 Belden Place
415-986-5673
Mon to Sat 11:30am to 10pm. Sundays 11am to 4pm



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A little pocket of French bonhomie at the foot of the Financial District's skyscrapers, Belden Alley was the invention of two enterprising Frenchmen, who got this lane pedestrianized for al fresco quaffing, temperature permitting. Café Bastille is the oldest of several adjoining bistros of different flavors, making this a little Europe in microcosm. Eric and Olivier's lunch menu has always included soupe à l'oignon, crêpes of various fillings and the usual Croque Monsieur variations. Lately the Belden scene has touted a tad of tourist-pleasing tat in its ambiance - but it's still a fun place for a bowl of mussels and a glass of fine Rhône wine.

 

Museums

 

Asian Art Museum

200 Larkin at City Center
415-581-3500
Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Thu to 9pm, Cafe Asia open till 9pm.
Free first Tuesday of the month, $5 after 5pm Thurs.


Cable Car Museum

1201 Mason at Washington
415-474-1887
Open daily 10am-5pm
Free admission


De Young Museum

Golden Gate Park, Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
415-863-3330
Tue-Sun 9:30am-5pm, Fri 9:30am-8:45pm
Free first Tuesday of the month


Cartoon Art Museum

655 Mission St
415-227-8666
Open Tue-Sun 11am-5pm
First Tuesday of month "pay what you wish for" day


Chinese Historical Museum

965 Clay Street
415-391-1188
Tue-Fri noon-5pm, Sat-Sun noon-4pm
Free first Thursday of the month


Exploratorium

Palace of Fine Arts
3601 Lyon Street
Tue-Sun 10am-5pm
Free first Wed of the month


California Palace of the Legion of Honor

Lincoln Park near 34th and Clement
415-863 3300
Tue-Sun 9:30am-5pm
Free every Tuesday


Museum of Craft and Folk Art

51 Yerba Buena Lane between 3rd and 4th
415-227-4888
Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm
Free first Tuesday 11am-7pm


San Francisco MOMA Museum of Modern Art

151 Third Street
415-357-400
Open daily except Wed, 11am-6pm
Free first Tuesday of every month, admission half price Thursday after 6pm.


Strybing Arboretum (open air tree museum)

Golden Gate Park, 9th Ave and Lincoln
415-661-1316
Open daily 8am-4:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm
Free admission. Daily guided tours at 1:30pm.

 

Places to visit and things to do

 

Barbary Coast

Named first for the pirate-infested coastline of the same name in North Africa, this ancient section of San Francisco dates to the Gold Rush era of the 1850s and 1860s when the unpaved streets were ruled by lawless mobs like the Sidney Ducks (originally from Australia) and the Hounds, and arrived here as stowaways and made their living by "shanghaiing" innocent young gold seekers -- kidnapping them for crew on board ships. You are lucky enough to be staying within a block or so of the Barbary Trail.

http://www.sfhistory.org/bct/flash_index.html

 

Glass Elevator at Saint Francis Hotel

A little trick: For a breathtaking, unforgettable view of San Francisco, take the glass elevator at the Westin Saint Francis, an unforgettable experience! This historic San Francisco hotel is right in front of Union Square. Go in the main entrance, walk straight to the main lobby, and take a right past the concierge desk. The elevators are on your right.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SPxfl0VMe78

 

Stairways of San Francisco

Often missed by visitors, San Francisco's stairways will afford you panoramas unattainable from any tourist bus. They are a marvelous part of this enchanting city that you won't want to miss. Work up your appetite before dinner after a day of ATA conferences, by exploring San Francisco stairways!


First and foremost, try a trip up Telegraph Hill, a stunning vantage point from which to see both bridges. Start by climbing the Greenwich street stairs and then descend into North Beach via Coit Tower and Lombard Street (directions at link below). Then reward yourself with a drink in North Beach before dinner in a North Beach restaurant or in neighboring Chinatown.


Maps and directions to the stairways at the following site, courtesy of Sister Betty:
http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/index.htm

 

Free walking tours

This is one of San Francisco's best secret bargains: free walking tours of the city. Do not miss this opportunity to discover San Francisco neighborhoods on foot!


http://www.sfcityguides.org/descriptions.html