San Francisco - Good (but not too pricey) restaurants near Crowne Plaza?

I'm headed to SF on Tuesday for a business meeting (after much deliberation, decided not to bring along my significant other). Our group likes to dine together in the evenings but after a long day we won't want to travel far and none of us will have rental cars. Any suggestions for good dining near the Crowne Plaza at Union Square? We'll all be on per diem, so the options must also be reasonably priced. Thanks

I don't know what your budget is, but Grandviews at the top of the Grand Hyatt might be a possibility. Not as expensive as some of the famous places like Postrio or Farallon. You can check out their prices and a sample menu -

http://grandsanfrancisco.hyatt.com/property/hotelinfo/dining/diningmenu.jhtml?ssnav=0&id=2

Gather up your group, walk up Stockton through the tunnel, and eat at somewhere that looks interesting in Chinatown (except stay off Grant, that's for tourists -- cross streets or Stockton are OK). Alternatively, continue up to Green St for Italian family style dining or "The Stinking Rose" garlic restaurant on Columbus. However, these are are a bit of a walk.

(I'm pretty sure both of these are still open): How about these two (they're about 3.5 to 4.5 blocks away from your hotel):

Le Central - Classic French bistro menu

Sam's Grill - (since 1860s) - Old fashioned seafood (similar to Tadich)

Neither features "modern" or "of the moment" foodie-type cuisine, and chi-chi atmsphere may be lacking, but they're both good for a fine, moderate-cost meal, especially for a group.

[This message has been edited by Non-NonRev (edited Feb 01, 2004).]

If you are all up for a decent, but not strenuous walk after a long day (and if its not raining), just walk up through the Stockton tunnel up to North Beach. There are abundant local modestly-priced restaurants. I have a few favorites, but really you can't go wrong in most of them. Maybe you are talking 20 mins walk (maybe more or less, I never really pay that much attention).

As an indicator of the distances (and even the North Beach option is not at all distant, as long as the weather is OK), here are a couple of mapquest maps (the driving directions are pretty good indicators for people on foot):

For Le Central:

http://tinyurl.com/36q7q


For North Beach (Stinking Rose, in the 300 block of Columbus):

http://tinyurl.com/ywksj

Above Macy's is "Cheesecake Factory", which is 2 blocks away from Crown Plaza, on Geary and Powell.
Cortez restaurant is the new hip for local, on Geary and Jone(4 blocks away).
Postrio restaurant is on Post and Mason (3 blocks away)
Or walk on Geary Blvd from Powell to Taylor, there are a dozen good restaurants there, such as Asia De Cuba, Grand, Mellinium, California Pizzia...

.

------------------
Visit FlyerTalk Dining http://flyertalk.com/diningfr.shtml
“I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be.”

Note: Asia de Cuba is very expensive and can be hit or miss. Millenium is interesting - but completely vegeterian.

I also recommend going to Chinatown or hiking over to North Beach.

You also just might want to hop in a cab and head over to the Mission District. Tons of great places on Valencia and 16th st. SF isn't that big of a city - so it may just be worth the quick trip over.

Around Union Square, there are many options that don't require leaving the area. Anjou, which is on Campton Place is a great reasonably priced bistro. There is also Scala's Bistro, which is on Powell between Post & Sutter, which has a French/Italian menu (a bit noisy but fine for a group). E&O Trading is an interesting Asian grill/brewpub which has decent (not spectacular) food & a fun atmosphere - also reasonably priced for SF... but it can be touristy. Finally, if you're up for a 15 minute walk (no hills), Le Charm is a great bistro located on 5th St between Folsom & Harrison (SOMA). It has a great fixed price menu ($25 for appetizer, entree, & dessert) & wine list.

This is very helpful. I'm printing the post out now so I can take it with me (assuming the weather at Dulles cooperates tomorrow).

Thanks everyone!