San Francisco Family Restaurants

Families who venture out to Ocean Beach should stop and have a meal, a drink, or at least a look around at the decor of the Beach Chalet, located where Golden Gate Park meets the Pacific. The menu, consisting of well-prepared salads, burgers, fish-n-chips, seafood and steaks, as well a long list of locally made beers, is kid-friendly. The restaurant itself sits on the second floor of the Golden Gate Park Visitors Center and is designed in a way that every seat has a view of the ocean. Downstairs, you'll appreciate the 1930s-era frescoes of California scenery.

This raw, organic, gluten free, vegan restaurant has two locations in San Francisco in the Inner Sunset (1339 Ninth Ave.) and the Mission (2400 Harrison Street) neighborhoods, and is a place you won't find in most tour books. But I consider it a place not to be missed, not only for its hippy-dippy-only-in-San Francisco atmosphere, but for its completely fabulous food. Never mind if you are a carnivore of the highest order, your taste buds will be thrilled with the meals here, which include sushi (without the fish), enchiladas (without the meat), pizza (without the cheese or the traditional crust) plus all sorts of rich desserts from chocolate mousse to coconut cream pie that you can hardly believe are sugar free. Every time I dine here, I come away thinking that if only I could prepare such food at home, I'd be happy to be a vegan. And if all this talk of no sugar and such sounds like no fun for kids, think again. Cafe Gratitude has a fun and festive atmosphere and it's staff goes all out for birthdays. The Ninth Avenue location is a short walk from Golden Gate Park.

Traditional diner decor meets a menu that's definitely not your usual diner fair at the Fog City Diner, located on a leafy street midway between Fisherman's Wharf and downtown. While tourists come to eat at a San Francisco legend, locals return frequently for the find food, such as red curry mussel stew, ahi tuna tartar, and mu shu pork burritos. Be prepared to pay a little more than you do at your hometown diner, but don't worry about dressing up. This restaurant is comfortable, friendly and welcoming to adults and kids alike.

San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood features an overwhelming selection of Italian restaurants, but I recommend taking the family to Mona Lisa every time. Mona Lisa offers just about everything you could ask for after a busy day of sightseeing, including oversized portions, jovial service, a laid-back yet artistic ambiance, and a central location in the middle of San Francisco's famed Columbus Avenue. Its book-like menu features every sort of pasta and pizza you can imagine as well as a lot of seafood and meat dishes.

This local favorite offers casual French fare for lunch and dinner, as well as weekend brunches that people line up for. Zazie, is also near Golden Gate Park and just up the hill from Haight Ashbury, in one of my favorite San Francisco residential neighborhoods, Cole Valley. Dinner might feature chicken liver pate, poached salmon or flank steak with mashed potatoes and every dish is prepared in that impeccable way the French are known for. As for the brunch of eggs benedict prepared in about eight different ways, with a large glass or fresh squeezed orange juice and an oversized bowl of cafe latte, it is sublime.