Budget
Chaat Cafe
One block from Moscone Center, this Indian restaurant serves an extensive menu of dishes from Indian street food, wraps, salads, and tandoori to curries, with no MSG, all at reasonable prices. First Indian "fast-food" chain. M-F lunch special $5.
Home Menu
Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine review is for Vietnamese. Stir-cooked dishes with barbecued meats and fresh vegetables. Chef may ignore your order if he thinks you'll like something else better, and when he does the food is excellent for the price. Soups, rice porridge, pho available. Accessible, not vegetarian aware, no MSG, beer, Chinese pop instrumentals, bright lighting, free delivery.
Reds Java House
Have the hamburger, fries and an Anchor Steam combo.
Brainwash
It's a Laundromat! It's a cafe! It's a pub! It's all of the above. A fine place to do your laundry while grabbing a beer, some lunch, playing a little pinball, surfing the net, chatting with your friends, or watching a live show.
Cha Am Thai Restaurant/Bar & Grill
A tranquil Thai restaurant serving delicious and well-presented dishes at very reasonable prices, just a block from Moscone Center.
Katz Bagels
One of very few places to get actual bagels in California. Yes they're boiled, then baked. Open from the morning commute hours through lunchtime. Try the sandwiches.
Midrange
21st Amendment
Good "California-style microbrew" beers. Classic brew pub-grub - burgers, fish, some salads. The Jerk Chicken is excellent. Full menu and images are online. Great place to have drinks before or after a Giants game.
Delancey Street Restaurant
It's not just a restaurant, it's a training school for the Delancey Street Foundation - an organization that helps people rebuild their lives from scratch. Nice backdrop of the San Francisco Bay and cheap eats to boot.
Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant
You'll need a mint or four after sampling their garlic fries, which some say are the best in the city. Relatively standard pub fare with their own brews available on tap.
Manora's Thai Cuisine
A favorite Thai place among locals, they serve up a great Pad Thai and Thai soups.
South Park Cafe
Thirsty Bear Brewing Company
Brewpub meets tapas bar. Good beer brewed in-house, from very light lagers through a nice Kozlov Stout. One or two brews on nitrogen. Very good small-plate food with a Mediterranean / Spanish flair. Tuesday is cask-ale night - beer served from traditional wood cask instead of modern steel - while it lasts, which usually isn't very long.
Tres Agaves
Best margaritas in the city, along with great Mexican food. The food comes with so many sides that one appetizer and one entree is easily enough for 2 people.
Canton Chinese & Dim Sum Restaurant
Large selection of Cantonese dim sum as well as traditional Chinese dishes, including tanks of live seafood. Great place for a banquet.
Hidive
This is where SoMa residents go for quick meetings and meals. You can also find decent food here to go along with the great waterfront views.
Top end
Zuppa
Modern industrial decor and excellent Italian food. Wood fired pizzas, great salumi. Go for salumi, pizza and a salad and split everything for two.
Fringale French Bistro
Yank Sing
This is the place for dim sum, and thus you might need to wait 30 minutes at most to have a table. You do not need a menu to order your food; the staff lets you choose what you want to eat from carts pushed around from the dining room. The shrimp, dumplings, and duck here are delicious. The setting of the restaurant is also wonderful.
In addition to the numerous restaurants listed below, there are also food courts in the Metreon and the San Francisco Shopping Center, both of which are large and offer a variety of restaurants; although in the case of the Metreon, be sure to avoid the food court during lunch hours of any major convention, when the lines for each restaurant will get very long.