location: 2765 hyde st. at beach, fisherman's wharfthe buena vista is quite possibly one of the most famous attractions in san francisco, and for good reason. they invented and perfected the irish coffee there in 1952 and they are still using the same recipe today that they made over 50 years ago. growing up my parents would tell stories of afternoons and nights spent sippin' irish coffees (bailey's for lw) so it seemed fitting to take mom there for mother's day. the buena vista has a small interior with a long bar for seating and several window tables overlooking the hyde st. cable car turnaround and aquatic park.
we promptly ordered our coffees and i have to say, they were perfect. i have attempted to make an irish coffee or two and they always taste more irish than coffee. being that the buena vista is in fisherman's wharf and that it's so famous, the prices are on the expensive side, although our bill wasn't too crazy for 3 people, a few drinks and an appetizer, it seemed like some menu items were a little overpriced. i had the crab melt sandwich offered on the daily special menu, which was a delicious crab concoction with melted swiss, open face on an english muffin. it was savory, filling and had to be eaten with a fork (read: messy). we had the calamari which was pretty standard but accompanied by a perfect cocktail sauce, possible the best i've ever had. we shared the clam chowder which is wasn't very impressed by due to the presence of corn in the soup. i believe that clam chowder should not have corn, it has very few ingredients and corn should not be one, that being said, it was pretty good but bland. our waitress was lively, attentive and shouted every time an irish coffee was ordered, which i enjoyed. on a nearly perfect spring day, the buena vista is the best place to start out your afternoon.
recommendation: get over there and call me before you go (i live around the corner!)
tastiness: yay!
food vs. price: yay!
service: yay!
