Good call! I love that place. The main thing you need to know about SF: you will always carry a bag full of layers of clothes. Always. The temperature changes radically throughout the day. Also...it's warm in the fall. And the beer is hoppy. Enjoy.
Cafe Michelangelo - in North Beach, near City Lights Bookstore. Outstanding Italian food. Other than that, the only advice I have is save your money. SF is expensive as hell, but lots of fun.
I'm jealous: weather, landscape, sights, attitudes. But also not jealous: expensive, expensive, expensive.
I moved here to SF from Austin 3 years ago. Cost of living is high and the homeless/crazy people issue is out hand, but living here is great. I use my car maybe once a week at most. I walk/bus/cab it just about everywhere, and the cool weather makes it easier to do outdoors stuff. It's been pretty foggy here the last couple of days, but I'll take mid 50's over triple digit temps any day of the week. If you're looking for an apartment, craigslist works best. Be prepared to sign the lease on the spot, as getting a decent spot can be competitive. Best neighborhoods: North Beach, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Marina Best bars: Monahan's, McTeague's, Delaney's, Maggie McGarry's, Grant and Green, Tonic, Bullitt Best restaurants: too many to list, but don't expect to get anything resembling good Tex Mex or BBQ out here
Almost forgot to mention the Giants. The games are a lot of fun, and the ballpark is gorgeous - great place to spend a Sunday afternoon while hungover. Evening games are a little tougher when it's cold out - you'll get used to the Ghiradelli hot chocolate vendor in the middle of July. Anyway, chances are you'll get hooked and become a Giants fan when you move out here.
What neighborhood are moving too? There's all types of diversity in SF, including as noted weather. It can be sunny and in the 80's on the Bay Side and rainy and in the 50's in Sunset Beach. As far as money saving tips while a lot of things are more expensive than other places food isn't and if you look around you can get all sorts of good Mexican and Chinese food cheap. Also during the summer produce is cheap and very good. My advice would be to avoid the tourist traps and go check out other places. The Mission District is great for food and there are essentially two other Chinatowns with one in the Sunset District and one in off of Geary in the Western Addition. Finally while SF is a nice city there is so much other stuff to see around there. For me if I ever live in the Bay Area again I would want to live in the East Bay because from there it is so much easier to get out to the Sierras and other parts of CA than from SF.
Maybe not Tex Mex but there is a lot of great Mexican food there. Just get off BART at 24th and Mission and there are several great Tacquierias within a block.
Visiting someone on vacation isn't exactly the best way to judge a city. I mean, of course you have a more fond memory of going to a new place on vacation. as for SF though...i've heard good things but never been. Like any place else, it has it's pros and cons. It will certainly be a more scenic landscape.
fify. agree with jukoda on the mexican food. it's where mission style burritos originated. if i could afford it, i'd move there (pretty much anywhere in the bay area) in a heartbeat.
Meh, Mission burritos and taquerias don't really do it for me. Occasionally I'll hit up Taqueria Cancun while hammered at 2AM. If you grew up with the flavors from Texas, it doesn't do the job. Simple things like queso, migas, etc. are unavailable. That said, I'm sure SF Mexican food is better than the fare in MSP, which is laden with Chevy's and crap like that.
San Francisco is without question the most expensive city I have lived in. More than NY, Chicago and Seattle. You will go through huge amounts of money. The taxes are very high, there are surcharges on everything and utilities are incredible. My only suggestion is not to own a car and use public transportation if possible.... get used to paying $5 for a pear and a coke.
SF is better to visit. Houston is better to live. The cost of living is literally twice what it is in Houston. Also, the weather is not "perfect", it can get quite cold and the city is very old and dirty. As for the public transportation options, they end up costing as much as owning and driving a car in Texas. Also, the limitations on personal freedoms in SF are INSANE. They try to legislate EVERYTHING. Still.... I think you will like it for awhile, it is a lot of fun, great history and many interesting people.... but unless you plan on pulling $500,000 a year, you won't be there forever.
