My Favorite Neighborhood Place in SF
The Gold Mirror, at the corner of Taraval Street and 18th Avenue, in the Sunset District. My family has been eating at this place for more than 30 years (I'm a native of the Bay Area; I've been in exile here in the DC area for a long time). Italian dinners, great veal and pasta, prime rib dinners on the weekends, fair prices. For those that don't have a car and are staying downtown, this place is convenient, as you can take the Muni Metro "L" train from one of the stations underneath Market Street, and the train stops opposite the Safeway market which is across 18th Avenue from the restaurant. For those with a car, it is located one block east of the major north-south through route in the entire city, 19th Avenue (also known as Route 1).
Another wonderful San Francisco institution which is not a tourist joint is the Double Play, at 16th and Bryant, catty corner from where historic Seals Stadium once stood (the Giants played there in 1958 and 1959 before moving to Candlestick). They don't serve dinner, but they serve hearty lunches and honest drinks (the bloody marys are custom blended), and they have wonderful sports memorabilia in there. There's been a tavern on that site for 99 years (they opened in 1909).