Another not-so-knowledgeable local with touristy friends.

January 4, 2010 2:44 PM

Where can I eat dinner and take in views of the Golden Gate bridge?

Here are the requirements:
-any cuisine is fine
-within 1/2 mile of a spot with good views
-budget is flexible, but preferably not $40+ entrees; our out-of-town guest is a college student
-MUNI-accessible strongly preferred, since we don't have Zipcar
-can seat two people without reservations on a Monday or Tuesday

I'm guessing that requirements 2 and 3 conflict with each other a bit, which is why I'm not asking for a restaurant with great views from the table =)

We live very close to the Bay bridge, so please don't suggest a view of that instead of the Golden Gate. Thanks!

Apologies if this is a duplicate; I'm posting for a friend and have tried searching the archives, but mostly found answers about walking / cycling across the bridge. We've also tried searching Yelp with no luck.

posted by tantivy to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Best answer: This place was great 20 years ago...

Greens in Fort Mason.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:05 PM on January 4, 2010

Best answer: Not MUNI friendly, but Skate's in Berkeley has the best view of the bridge that I know about.
posted by small_ruminant at 3:05 PM on January 4, 2010

Best answer: You can eat at pretty much any restaurant on Chestnut St (or the West end of Lombard St) and walk up to the Marina afterwards and see the bridge. Perhaps others can recommend specific ones but that may help your Yelp search.
posted by vacapinta at 3:08 PM on January 4, 2010

Greens at Fort Mason has an awesome view and fabulous food, and easily accessable by public transit.
They have a 'cafe dinner menu' and a prix fixe menu, but it looks like you'll have to call to find out the price of the latter.
posted by dbmcd at 3:09 PM on January 4, 2010

On review of the website, Greens is only a lunch option on Tuesday, but it's a great lunch.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:20 PM on January 4, 2010

Apparently, reading is a problem for me on the first Monday of the year. Greens is open for dinner on Monday.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:25 PM on January 4, 2010

Best answer: Ditto the HELL out of Skates - on a clear day the view there is absolutely magnificent. As well, if you're open to Berkeley, the hotel bar/restaurant in the Claremont Hotel has a jawdropping view, which includes the Golden Gate. It's a fairly short taxi from the Rockridge BART, as well.
posted by deadmessenger at 7:58 PM on January 4, 2010

Response by poster: For reasons totally unknown to me, my friend decided to rearrange his plans and not actually check out the bridge views after all. However, I am taking my boyfriend to one (or perhaps ALL) of your suggested places. Thank you for the great answers!
posted by tantivy at 8:52 PM on January 4, 2010

And Skates has Lobster mac & Cheese. Just saying ; )
posted by gt2 at 9:08 PM on January 4, 2010

Is that Burger King in the Presidio still open? If you can stomach the food the view is amazing.
posted by phliar at 4:23 PM on January 5, 2010

There are decent views from the top floor restaurants at ghiradelli square.
posted by Arthur Dent at 3:14 PM on February 2, 2010