If you're from out of town (or if you aren't)
here are some recommendations for places to stay and to eat:

To find places to stay, google or your travel website of choice are the best places to go.
Neither of us have spent much time in San Francisco hotels - have you stayed in a hotel in your town? Neither have we. Just stay off of 6th Street and you'll be fine.

Eating, however, is a different story.

Lux eating experiences are to be had all over the bay area, and sfgate.com/food is as good a place to start as any with that. Or just type "San Francisco restaurant" into google. Or peruse the Chowhound message board. Actually, do that anyway.

But we do have some stops to recommend that we have extensive experience with and would encourage you to stop at while you are in town-or come back to later. These choices reflect our taste and experience which means you can leave the tux in the closet.

On with it:

Brunch:
Kate's Kitchen. 471 Haight, at Fillmore (lower Haight). It's not super fancy, but it's super good. Omelettes, pancakes, and french toast are all very good. The oatmeal is the best Shawn's ever eaten. The hushpuppies are awesome, and you will never see the bottom of your coffee cup. If you're in the East Bay, go to Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe. 4081 Hollis in Emeryville. Food's good, wait's long, and the waitstaff's way hipper than you will ever hope to be. But they serve Peet's coffee, which they allow you to drink while you wait, so it gets the job done.

Do you need pastries?
Yes. You do. Go to Tartine at 600 Guerrero at 18th St. (Mission). Whatever kind of pastry you like, they make it better than anyone else outside of France. Seriously. So good. Decent coffee as well. Shawn's personal favorites are the ham and gruyere croissant and the croque monsieur. Moira is a big fan of the gougere and the mexican wedding cookies. They have fruit and chocolate tarts that will make you want to marry them (the bakers, that is). There is always a line out the door and the supermodel, too-cool, pouty, waifs that work the counter will make you crazy, but it's still worth it. Seriously.

Sandwiches:
Go just up the street from Tartine to Bi-Rite at 3639 18th St. if you are in the mood for delicious sandwiches. They generally have very good fruit there, too. In the East Bay, the word on the street is that Bakesale Betty is the broad you want to see. She's at 5098 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, and though neither of us have had it (they opened after we moved), the fried chicken sandwich has reduced many of our friends to incoherence.

Burritos:
But if you're in San Francisco, forget sandwiches; get a burrito. Shawn can never decide if his favorite burrito in the Mission is Pancho Villa at 3071 16th St (Cross Street: Valencia) or El Farolito at 2777 Mission (at 24th Street). Farolito grills the tortillas while Pancho Villa steams them, so if you have a preference, choose accordingly. Farolito is pretty universally regarded as the best carne asada in the Mission, but your milage may vary on that. Moira is a Taqueria Cancun girl (2288 Mission St. at 19th). These places are all within spitting distance of one another, so feel free to hit the trifecta.

If you are in Oakland, go to Cactus Taqueria at 5642 College Avenue. It's right below the Rockridge stop on the Pittsburgh/Bay Point BART line. The food is a little more upscale than a Mission taqueria but it is SO GOOD. Seriously. Everything is awesome, but Shawn's usual move is to get the pollo con mole verde burrito. Moira's fond of the crispy tacos. You really can't go wrong here. While there, explore the neighborhood. Right across from Cactus is Market Hall, which is like a tiny mall specializing in deliciousness. The best produce in the area hands down, the best meat and fish market, the best flower shop, the best wine shop, very good cheese shop, etc...

Falafel/Shawerma:
Truly Med at 3109 16th Street (at Valencia)(Mission). Best falafel ever. No joke. We aren't sure what days they have lamb on the shawerma rack, but you are lucky if you go on that day, my friend. Lucky indeed.

Hot dogs:
Weird category, sure, but they're good. Top Dog at 2534 Durant Ave or 2503 Hearst Ave (both near Telegraph-right by the university). Their dogs are fanbloodytastic, and they have all sorts of odd libertarian propaganda on the walls. We usually opt for the keilbasa, but their calabrese, their hot link, their bratwurst, and the plain-old frank are all super delicious. And cheap (like 4-bucks-gets-you-2 cheap). There's another location at 2160 Center St, right near Shattuck, and one inside the Long's Drug Store at 5100 Broadway in Oakland-which was always Shawn's favorite, but then he used to live very nearby, and he happens to LOVE that Long's for a variety of probably nonsensical reasons.

Indian/Pakistani:
3 words: Pakwan, Pakwan, Pakwan. It's a Pakistani food place at 3180 16th St. at Guerrero in the Mission. Everything is very good and really reasonably priced (and totally no frills-BYOB anyone?). They have particularly good naan. But the reason to go there is to get the tandoori fish. We don't have any idea what in god's name they do to make this fish so good, but it is quite possibly the best fish ever. It's certainly the best Indian/Pakistani dish ever. And it's never less than perfect. Ever. Seriously. Get the fish.

Miscellaneous:
If you are looking for something to do on a weekend morning, you cannot go wrong with a trip to the Ferry Building Farmers Market. They have booths selling the usual flowers and produce, but they also sell freshly prepared food from rotisserie chicken to handmade tamales to fresh sausage. DO NOT LEAVE THERE WITHOUT HITTING THE BLUEBOTTLE COFFEE CART. We're not kidding. It's the best coffee Shawn's ever drunk by a long mile-and Shawn drinks coffee almost professionally. And they do espresso drinks, too, if that's your thing. While you're there, go into the Ferry Building itself. The Cowgirl Creamery cheese shop is awesome. The Frog Hollow farm store is a little piece of magic. Frog Hollow farm should also have a booth at the farmers market. They only grow stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, pluots, etc...). The best of each of those things we have ever had came from Frog Hollow. The best of each of those things ANYONE has ever had came from Frog Hollow. You think you've had a peach? Nope. You have not had a peach like they grow at Frog Hollow. We don't know how they do it, but near as we can tell, they sold their souls and those of their children to the devil and we now get to reap the delicious rewards.

If there is anything else we can give you a recommendation on, do not hesitate to email us at onerealpeach@gmail.com.