Food, history and scenery, San Francisco’s Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf has it all!

With September unfolding and the coming of October, generally two of the best monthly options for fair-weather touring of San Francisco, we’re revisiting the City’s eclectic combination of food, history and jaw-dropping scenery.

My brother Ned Viall has been a San Francisco fixture for over 40 years, and has sampled hundreds of SF restaurants, from down-home to upscale places, with an emphasis on good food and great value. So, I asked him to offer his thoughts on touring and noshing along the SF waterfront, namely, from the stately Ferry Building north to Fisherman’s Wharf. I would also suggest one option to both beat SF traffic and challenging cost of parking is to head to Oakland’s Jack London Square, park your car for the day in the Square’s parking deck and take the ferry over to the City’s Ferry Building (you can take bikes on the ferry) and chose to walk, bike or take historic trolleys from the Ferry Building to Fisherman’s Wharf. The ferry also affords a free Bay harbor tour and passes under the dramatic Bay Bridge’s two suspension spans!

Brother Ned begins by pointing out, as “you head north from the Ferry Building on Embarcadero, it morphs into Jefferson Street, the main drag on Fisherman’s Wharf, when it goes from a north-south thoroughfare into an east-west one”.  While he admits he doesn’t know all the restaurant options  along this stretch, he recommends several.  “Pier 23 Cafe is noteworthy, especially for dining outside by the water.  They often offer live music on weekends. Owner Flicka McGurrin also owns Sweetie’s Art Bar, four blocks south of Jefferson at 475 Francisco St.  Sweetie’s has art openings from time to time, often with good live jazz at night outside on the sidewalk.  A very cool vibe”.

He continues, “Fog City Diner, at 1300 Battery Street, right off the Embarcadero, is a short walk inland from Pier 23.  I liked it and went there often when it opened in 1985 (I remember a good pork chop dinner as well as sea food options)”. My spouse and I would echo Ned’s review with recent visits. Ned also includes Cioppino’s, at 400 Jefferson Street.  He loves their Chicken Penne dinner plate, and notes a variety of sea food choices.

He continues, “Capurro’s, at 498 Jefferson Street, is old-school San Francisco.  Like many of the places along this stretch, it was hard hit by Covid-19 shutdowns and the resulting plunge in tourism, but it has rebounded nicely.  I like to sit and eat at the bar, from where I can watch the steady parade of tourists and locals as they march along Jefferson Street.  You might see an occasional San Francisco Giants player dining here”.

Continuing, Ned adds, “one time, after a Giants day game a few years back, I was having a friendly argument with another patron about Giants third baseman Edgar Renteria.  I insisted he was from Colombia, the other patron said no, Venezuela.  Finally the bartender said, “Why don’t you just ask him — he’s right behind you!”  And there Renteria was; he and his wife were having dinner there after the game.  The restaurant walls are loaded with photos of old San Francisco, including at least one of a teenage Joe DiMaggio when he was working on a fishing boat at the Wharf”. Ned points out, “your Embarcadero tour passes the San Francisco Exploratorium and the Aquarium of the Bay, anchoring the touristy Pier 39, itself lined with shops and restaurants”.

Ned adds, “right across the street at 495 Jefferson is the Blue Mermaid Restaurant in the Argonaut Hotel; this side of the block used to be The Cannery.  The Blue Mermaid is known for its clam chowder.  It’s a great place to sit outside and enjoy breakfast or brunch, weather permitting”.

Upon reaching Fisherman’s Wharf, I add my own insight on the historic shipping industry that made San Francisco the heart of the California Gold Rush. The Hyde Street Pier and Fisherman’s Wharf are two of the best places in San Francisco to see big ships up-close and personal.

Until the completion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, 1936 and 1937, respectively, the Hyde Street Pier was the principal ferry departure point for vehicle and passenger traffic to Sausalito and Berkeley, and were part of US Hwy. 101 and Hwy. 40.

For historic ships, the Hyde Street Pier is home to the 1886 square-rigger Balclutha, 1914 paddlewheel tug Eppleton Hall, 1890 steam ferry Eureka, 1895 schooner C. A. Thayer, 1891 scow schooner Alma, 1907 steam tug Hercules, 1890 San Francisco Bay Ark, 1915 steam schooner Wapama and many smaller watercraft.  A small fee is required to tour the vessels.

Larger than life is the 301’ Balclutha, a three-masted square-rigged schooner launched in 1886 by a shipyard in Scotland, which carried a crew of 26 men to handle her 25 sails.  This stately ship carried coal around Cape Horn from Wales and Australia to San Francisco to fuel American railroads and steamships, later serving as a part of the Pacific lumber trade and as a salmon packet (also appearing in the Clark Gable movie Mutiny on the Bounty).

Hyde Street Pier is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, so take the time to prowl through the many exhibits in the museum-proper, just a block up the hill from the pier.  On your way to the museum, you’ll pass by the Hyde Street Cable Car turntable, where the historic cars are turned by hand for their return up Hyde Street.

Fishermans Wharf is also home to two World War II ships on Pier 45.  The USS Pampanito is a World War II fleet submarine, which served on war patrol from March, 1944 until April, 1945.  It sank six Japanese ships, damaged four others and rescued 73 Allied prisoners of war.  Down the pier is the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, one of only two remaining of 2,710 “Liberty Ships” constructed during the war.  The ship was our answer to Hitler’s U-boats, built to haul “beans, bullets and black oil” to our troops around the world – faster than Germany could sink them.  Both the Pamponito and Jeremiah O’Brien charge fees to enter the ships (see web sites below for detail).

More info: Hyde Street Pier, nps.gov/safr/; SS Jeremiah O’Brien, ssjeremiahobrien.org; USS Pampanito, maritime.org.

Contact Tim, tviall@msn.com.  Where are you traveling in the west?

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: San Francisco’s Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf has it all!