And the ones to avoid

OK, here are the places I really don't like. Left at Albuquerque -- very bland food, even worse than Chili's. What's it doing in Cow Hollow??? That's the worst dining experience I've had in this whole area. Also, the bar restaurants in the 3 corners - Eastside West Cafe, Balboa Cafe, City Tavern -- are all bad in their own way. We had brunch at Eastside West. The food was extremely oily, not particularly good, and the service horribly slow. The popular local bar Balboa Cafe is filled with smoke and people, too much of a bar scene, and the food really not that good. The City Tavern was similarly unimpressive. If you're in the neighborhood, skip on by these places.
-E

Naked Fish fills the stomach and fits the budget

When you go out to eat all the time, two things happen: 1) you break your dining out budget easily, and 2) you get tired of eating out. Which is why it's nice to find a place like NAKED FISH, closeby, inexpensive (most plates/rolls $10 or less), with an inventive menu, and tasty. $4 for Nigiri brings you huge chunks of silky fish over tiny balls of rice, and there's the standard rolls like spider, rainbow, etc., but try the Hawaiian-influenced long list of tapas, such as the $8.50 kalua pork with Maui onions wrapped in lettuce, with a side of unagi fried rice. Yummmm! And then there's the relaxed bar area where one can catch Giants night games on a widescreen TV, plus lots of beautiful people around. I saw an Asian guy with 3 blondes... score! This place'll definitely have me coming back. We also went to JUDY'S CAFE recently -- they have very crispy eggy french toast, yum.

So, to make our dollars last longer, there are several strategies: first, don't order drinks -- S and I already do a good job of that. Second, skip the dessert and appetizers -- that one I have a harder time with, especially when all these restaurants make such great tapas and desserts. Finally, don't order too much, because often times left overs are wasted and aren't eaten. This is where places like Naked Fish help. Having the flexibility to order a bunch of smaller plates lets us control portion size easier.