Bi-Rite Ice Cream

Bi-Rite Creamery, located in the Mission district of San Francisco, is well known for having very distinct and unique flavors of ice cream. Freshly prepared daily using local and organic ingredients like Bergamont olive oil, maldon sea salt and lavender. This ice cream parlor is well known in San Francisco and has all of the locals waiting in long lines on sunny days for their delicious ice creams!

Everyone here at Bi-Rite Creamery are extremely friendly. This ice cream establishment is located right next to Dolores Park, so once guests get their scoops of ice cream, most of them head over to enjoy it at the park. When it's hot out--which is very unlikely in San Francisco--this place has a line that curves the street. But Bi-Rite ice cream lovers will wait up to thirty minutes in order to get their hands on this deliciousness.

The flavors that they offer are very unique and you can't get anywhere else. My favorite ice cream that they serve is salted caramel, this ice cream taste like heaven everytime I bite into it. I always highly recommend this ice cream to those that have never been to Bi-Rite before.

Americanized Food Charges Double

Slanted Door--a well known upscale Vietnamese fusion restaurant in San Francisco--charges double for menu items compared to regular Vietnamese restaurants. This restaurant has created a concept of being Americanized to where it caters to the middle class. Vietnamese restaurants are known not to necessarily strive to impress guest through service, for they feel as if their food would be impressive enough. Growing up with a Vietnamese background, I am used to the fast and inconsistent service, but for those that go to Vietnamese restaurants are always really upset with the service they are given. However, if you are interested in eating delicious Vietnamese food followed by incredible service, Slanted Door is the place to go!

Mexico DF, located on Steuart Street by the Embarcadero, is an Americanized Mexican restaurant that serves gourmet Mexican food but charges almost double as opposed to regular Mexican food served in Taquerias. This restaurant is definitely charging for the atmosphere and the service, although the food was very tasty! A lot of times restaurants that strive to impress guests by the services given, charge quite a lot for what they have to offer.

Samovar Tea Lounge




http://samovarlife.com/

Samovar Tea Lounge --Specializing in the ritual of preparing teas--

This tea lounge has such an amazing atmosphere and a great concept--Advertising the importance in the ritual of preparing tea. The concept of this tea lounge is to dig deep inside yourself and to find the zen in not only yourself but also the world around you. 


Located on the top of Yerba Buena in downtown San Francisco--this place is surprisingly relaxing in such a busy place--


The atmosphere at Samovar Tea Lounge is very relaxing. They strive to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere for guest to feel at ease once they enter the establishment. As you walk in, the decor and the tables are set up to feel very comfortable with large windows from the floor to the ceiling. The staff and servers are very friendly greeting you right as you walk in and are very patient with you as you look at a large list full of different types of teas that they offer. It seemed a little intimidating for first timers because the teas that they offer are from all over the world. I couldn't identify half of the teas that were offered, but the servers were amazing and very patient with us.


The style of the food here at Samovar Tea Lounge is very simple but offering a lot to choose from. http://samovarlife.com/lounges/food-tea-menu/ Their desserts pair perfectly with certain teas that they offer. My favorite dessert was the scones that had jam and a custard to spread with and I paired it with an earl red tea that made the flavors pop. I had never had an earl red tea before so it was very interesting to find how wonderful it was.

The service here was absolutely amazing and was a memorable experience. The Samovar Life is what they try to promote focusing on energy, love, life and integrity. This type of restaurant showed a lot of passion that they have in the importance of meditating to promote the beauty within and to embrace life. I would highly recommend this restaurant to those that are interested in having a relaxing and calming life experience.

Dining in The Dark ..

Opaque, dining in the dark, is located near the Civic Center in San Francisco. This dining experience was very unique and it took me by surprise. I was stoked to see what dining in complete darkness was going to be like, for I couldn't imagine how it worked. First, as we walked in we were greeted by a host at the top of some stairs. She checked us in, took our dinner orders and then brought us down the stairs to sit in a small seating area as we waited for our server to take us to our table. She explained to us that the servers at Opaque are legally blind and they would be leading us to our tables and serving us. I was quite impressed by that because I'm sure it takes a lot of skill in order to serve being blind! Right when the server came out to seat us, he had me put my hand on his right shoulder and my friend had his hand on mine, as a train we went through long heavy drapes that kept the light out. As we were seated it was explained to us that we needed to feel everything out and that we had to use our forks as a rakes so that we don't harm anyone. The server then explained to us that since our eye sights are taken from us, we are supposed to have a heightened sense of taste. I, however, did not think that the food was that good even though the concept of dining in the dark was to have a better sense of taste.

The experience in itself was great! But I felt as if the food was low quality for what they charged. It was about $100 a person for this dining experience which I thought was a little too pricey for what the food was like. The experience of being served by a highly trained legally blind server was definitely worth the money, but I would have enjoyed it more if the food was as good as the service.

Drink at your own risk: 50 ml doses of Funranium's "Black Blood of the Earth."

Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee Company has such an amazing background. A freelance musician decided that coffee should be served less than 48 hours after its been roasted so that you can taste coffee at its peak of flavor. He also wanted to use pesticide free, shade free and organic coffee beans in order to create the best flavors. Now, Blue Bottle Coffee has grown rapidly all throughout San Francisco. Their cafes have grown into many locations and they also have their coffee selling at wholesale where cafes and kiosks carry their coffee.

The service at Blue Bottle Coffee is not as great as I would like it to be, for they can be a little snooty about the way that they brew their coffee. I onced asked for an iced espresso and the barista snapped at me and said that they do not ice espresso because it shocks the espresso making it a different flavor..or he said something like that which made me feel stupid for even asking in the first place. They can be a little rude at times, but their coffee is so good so I always keep coming back.

The Old Clam House

The Old Clam House

The Old Clam House, a well known seafood restaurant, has been in business since 1861. Making this restaurant the oldest restaurant in San Francisco that is still in the same location. This is something that they are very proud of. 

This restaurant cherishes the fact that they are the oldest restaurant in San Francisco, specializing in their most popular menu item, Cioppino, a classic seafood pasta. Walking into this restaurant, I felt very welcomed and looking at the decor I felt the history of the restaurant. The staff in the restaurant were all very friendly, making sure to bring out bread and water right away as you sat down. The servers looked as if they had worked their for years, being very comfortable with the menu and the history of this restaurant. It was great to see an old establishment still standing and creating delicious meals as they always had.

The style of the food was simple with so much flavor. They are known for their clam chowder and Cioppino and the server had mentioned that the recipes do not change. That right there was very impressive because restaurants tend to change recipes in order to appeal to new dynamics--guests with different acquired tastes over time--they strive to stay the same.