San Francisco, CA

Up until 2 years ago, my view of San Francisco was limited to what I had seen during the opening credits of the TV show, Full House. There was the park where the Tanner family had a picnic, where tall houses were lined perfectly side-by-side. And then of course there's the Golden Gate bridge, where the Tanners drove across in a red convertible.

As for food wise, I had no clue what to expect. There was a Chinatown in San Francisco, so good Chinese food was an obvious connection, and San Francisco is surrounded by water, so the seafood had to be good. Other than that, I had no clue what to expect.

When I first moved to California, I went to all the tourist spots of San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, etc. Along the way, I stumbled across some good, cheap eats. Living close by, I'm still discovering this eccentric city, but below is what I have found so far. (Don't worry, I'll update the page when I find new spots to eat.)

Ghirardelli Square
900 North Point St.
San Francisco, CA
As a self-diagnosed chocoholic, Ghirardelli Square was a must-visit attraction while I was in San Francisco. Near Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square was a convenient 2 block detour off a bike route that follows along the bay.

Once the site of the Ghirardelli chocolate factory (the actual chocolate making has moved elsewhere), the square has turned into an area for small shops and eateries. With respect to Ghirardelli chocolates, there is a cafe, ice cream, chocolate and souvenir shop adjacent to one another in the square.

I personally recommend getting a sundae from the ice cream shop to fully immerse oneself in the Ghirardelli Sqaure experience. The ice cream shop serves up sundaes drizzled with Ghirardelli hot fudge, and is just heavenly to eat. While inside the ice cream shop, check out the displays on chocolate making wh

Boudin Bakery
160 Jefferson Street
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco is known for their sourdough bread. One of the most popular tourist spots for this is Boudin at the Wharf. At this Boudin Bakery location, there's a museum and bakery tour

Being one of the hotspots , more expensive, but authenticity

In-n-Out
333 Jefferson St
San Francisco, CA
In college, my friends from California always had cravings for this Pacific fast food chain and could not understand, for the life of me, how one could crave a fast food place as much as they did. It's a burgers and fries place, big deal.

Man, I was way off about this one. In-n-Out isn't just any fast food chain that churns out various meat, buns, and fries combos as fast as they can. In-n-Out burgers are simple and simply good. They use quality ingredients in their food and it makes everything on the menu taste 10x better than any other fast food joint. Options are sparse on their menus, but any good local knows that there's a secret menu.

For instance, order a burger or fries "animal style" gets you grilled onions and dressing on top of your usual hamburger. Then there's the option of 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, nxn, which is essentially the number of cheese and beef patties you get for your burger. A 3x3 corresponds to 3 slices of American cheese and 3 beef patties. For the full secret menu, check out the In-n-Out website.