San Francisco - The City Tour

We began the morning with a stroll through China Town & North Beach (little Italy) before making our way down to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had planned to have lunch down there on the water, but could not find the right sort of cafe. Everything was either a diner or a coffee shop serving bagels. Obviously for me a bagel was not going to work for breakfast plus I really wanted egg’s benedict. We toured the sights around Fisherman’s Wharf & then decided to head on over to the Ferry Terminal Building & try our luck. We had heard that they have some very nice markets/food shops (even though it was almost lunch time & we were still looking for breakfast).

The Ferry Terminal did have nice food stores but still no nice little breakfast cafe. Time was getting on & by this stage we were starving. We searched the surrounding streets but everything was geared to fast food, coffee & bagels. Eventually I went into the 7-11 & bought an orange juice & some mixed nuts just to get me through. Looking back I guess we at least we were seeing some of the city in our quest for Gluten Free food.

We decided to catch the ferry to Sausalito & try our luck over there. We had heard that they had lots of nice little cafe’s overlooking the harbor plus it would give us a chance to view the Golden Gate Bridge & Alcatraz. With a fresh latte in hand we settled ourselves on the outside deck & relaxed in for the picturesque ferry ride.

To our delight 5 mins after arriving in Sausalito we found a lovely little cafe with home style food and an all day breakfast. I was past my craving for egg’s benny buy this stage & decided on a 3 egg omelette. I explained to the server about my Gluten Free needs & it was no problem accommodating me. Very satisfied we strolled around the harbour for a few hours before returning to the city.

That night we decided to eat at the mexican restaurant next to our hotel - Colibri Mexican Bistro. It had a great atmosphere & excellent service. I explained to our waiter that I required a Gluten Free meal & he instantly advised me which dishes would be suitable. After taking our order, the usual complimentary bread & dips were brought to the table. My husband tried one & said I think this is actually a corn tortilla not a flour tortilla. We called our waiter & who advised that it was corn & gluten free. Actually his comment was, “I would not bring something to your table that you could not have”. I was impressed. It is very rare that you find a waiter so attentive to your needs. Our meals were delicious, like no other Mexican food I had tasted. I was beginning to believe our friend from the airport’s comment that ‘San Francisco is an eater’s city’.

Our next day began with a trip on San Francisco’s infamous cable cars. Again we thought we would just get breakfast whilst we were out and again it was 3pm before we ate. We toured from Union Square, to Lombard St, to Fishermans Wharf, to Golden Gate Park, to the Beach and back to the city before finding somewhere suitable to eat. It was a great day out & thank goodness for mixed nuts and water because our first meal of the day was Gluten Free Penang Thai Curry at 3pm.

My impression of San Francisco is that it is a great city & that has excellent Gluten Free food once you find it!