What's a great restaurant in San Francisco to take an out of town client to?

I would recommend Zuni Cafe (it’s just up Market Street from Union Square). Call ahead for a reservation, and see if you have time for their signature chicken bread salad (I’ve also eaten the burger there for lunch…delicious). As an aside, the owner/chef Judy Rogers has a nice cookbook with many of her recipes. The one for the chicken salad is fantastic, and if you serve it for friends, they will love you forever.

Hayes Street Grill is a lovely restaurant not far from that area.

Tarantino’s—- Get reservations . Great seafood with a better view.

Not much on atmosphere, but Chef Jie is the best Chinese food I found there. Highly recommended by the locals.

Another fantastic option not far from Union Square is to head to the Ferry Building. There are multiple nice restaurants there, including fancy ones like Slanted Door (and Boulevard across the street), but also you can wander around there and buy sandwiches/drinks for an outdoor picnic. Your out of town visitor will be duly impressed, I promise.

@cockswain : i got soo sick from Chef Jia… I don’t know why, it was delicious but didn’t sit well in my stomach, maybe it was just too heavy for me.

Ferry building is a great idea… on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays they have the farmers market (which is slow and limited during the week) ... there are always stands with great food.

Chabaa is a great Thai place on Geary – not impressive looking but very good Thai food. North Beach has a lot of great options, Tony’s for example—check out yelp. Plus, the great thing about North Beach is that because there are so many options, you can find a different place to eat if the one you want is busy.

Let us know what you choose!

John’s Grill is in Union Square. Great food, and terrific history and atmosphere.