Anyone planning on visiting San Francisco to take the various San Francisco tours, or heading out of the city to enjoy some wine country tours will certainly be interested in a little direction regarding all of the wonderful dining opportunities to be had in those locations. The highly regarded dining establishment review bible Zagat, which made its reputation on the dining reviews of middle and upper echelon establishments, has moved downscale with a new offering that focuses on value dining. Their 2009 pocket guide is in bookstores now and highlights deals to be had around San Francisco and the northern California wine country of Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley. Rather than an outright focus on reviewing low-end establishments, the purpose of the book is to flush out the biggest bang for the buck.
The book is effectively the best values filtered out of Zagat’s Bay Area restaurant guide, offering more than two hundred forty suggested establishments where one can find his money well spent on a dining experience. While there are lower priced food category suggestions, if you’re hoping to be steered toward the tallest heaping pile of rice in Chinatown, or the most palatable $2.00 corndog between your San Francisco tour bus drop point and the Embarcadero, you’re on your own, but prix-fix lunch and dinner menus, means of getting top chef deals or discovering their more casual outlets, and therefore lower price points, are sure to render this book as its own value. If you’re looking to satisfy your discerning taste buds between San Francisco tours or wine country tours but don’t wish to compromise the experience for the reduced budget you’re on, this reference guide will likely serve you well.
