eating out
I'm no one's idea of a restaurant critic, but I have my opinions. I haven't bothered, mostly, listing restaurants I don't much like, unless they're somehow notable. Most of these places are vegetarian or vegan, but not all. For vegetarians, there's a huge master list of places to eat in SF and places to eat in Berkeley.
Garden Fresh
Vegan Chinese. Mountain View, El Camino at Shoreline. Very unobtrusive -- the shopping center sign just says "Vegetarian Restaurant". They have excellent scallion pancakes and sweet and sour pork, and just recently I had a General Tso-style "chicken" there that was good too.
Vegetarian Gourmet
Vegan Chinese. San Mateo, 637 South B St. between 6th and 7th. This isn't as good as Garden Fresh, but I like it too. It used to be a few blocks from me. The BAVeg site also has a review. It's closed Sunday, which I find irritating because I always wanted to go there then.
Amber
Indian (North). Mountain View, El Camino just north of Rengstorff (also Santana Row in San Jose and soon in San Francisco). My favorite Indian restaurant here. Extremely good. Very rich. Amazing palak paneer (same as saag, but they call it by its proper name). Sadly, no good for vegans. I had these amazing potato things the first time I was there that I've never seen anywhere else, so they're also creative. And expensive. Definitely a special-occasion place.
Greens Restaurant
General nice vegetarian. San Francisco, Fort Mason Bldg A. I've been there only once, for my birthday. I was really excited to go, given how famous Greens is, but ended up kind of underwhelmed. The food is very good and presented nicely, but nothing terribly special. They can make most things vegan, but for some reason they don't advertise that on the menu. It seems like they cater to people who aren't vegetarian but think that a nice veggie meal is novel and fun, or people who are but don't cook much.
Ti Couz
Crepes. San Francisco, 16th and Valencia. This is one of the first places I ever ate out in SF, and still one of my favorites. It has lots of veggie options but no vegan stuff, really. Plenty to keep the carnivores happy. They advertise an amazing array of alcoholic drinks, none of which I've ever had, but I like looking. The crepes are tasty and there are a lot of variants, so no getting bored, but they can be kind of pricey for the good combos. I had a really great salad there once and their bread (comes free) is really good. It's sometimes crowded.
Lane-Splitter's Pizza & Pub
Pizza (and beer). Berkeley, University at San Pablo. They have vegan pizza with "Notta Ricotta" cheese. The cheese is kind of dolloped on. They have a wide selection of veggie and meat toppings, and two kinds of pizza: thin-crust Neapolitan, and thicker Sicilian. (Also calzones, etc.) I've only had the thinner one, which was good but a little wet. They have good Australian ginger beer as well as lots of local beers. I would describe this as the vegan's Jupiter. Brighter and with better service, too.
Cafe Gratitude
Organic raw vegan. San Francisco: 9th and Judah, 24th and Harrison; Berkeley, 1700 Shattuck at Virginia. I like Cafe Gratitude a lot overall. But some of the stuff they have is just okay and some is really amazing. I really like the bruschetta, carrot-avocado soup, and samosa appetizers. I've tasted Indian-spiced pizza and sweet potato enchiladas that were very good. But the nachos are so-so, a little wet and not with enough chips, and I had a kind of burger-like thing which was mediocre, though not as mediocre as your average veggie burger. And I really hate their incredibly corny dish names and table games. I get that they are grateful for life and food -- me too! But the corniness kind of...trivializes it, I think. And the service, while always friendly, is often slow.
Cha Am Cafe
Thai. San Francisco, 3rd and Folsom. This place is general pretty good Thai with a good selection of veggie dishes. What merits it a mention is that they have a tofu version of my favorite Thai soup, tom kha gai, that they call tom kha J. No idea why the name, but oh my goodness how I love that soup.
Club Waziema
Ethiopian. San Francisco, 543 Divisadero. Their veggie selections are all vegan. The food is very good and not expensive; the veggie platter is heaping and wonderful. I love Ethiopian. I first had it in DC in 1996 and didn't find any again until moving here in 2005. Mmmmm, injera and red lentils and goodness. I always trade the mushroom one with someone else, but that's just because I don't like mushrooms.
Mudai Restaurant
Ethiopian. San Jose, 503 West San Carlos. Nice veggie platter assortment. Really great chickpeas, good red lentils. The service can be slow.
Papalote
Mexican. San Francisco, 24th and Valencia. Good selection of vegetarian and vegan options -- this is one of the few places in the Mission a vegetarian can eat without worrying about chicken broth or lard sneaking in. Wonderful marinated grilled tofu filling. Salsa is excellent, service fast if not excessively friendly. The jicama salad they serve with the food lights up my life (I love jicama).
Mariachi's
Mexican. San Francisco, Valencia at 16th. This is another reasonably veg-friendly and healthy Mission burrito place. Like Papalote, they have soyrizo (vegan 'chorizo'), but they lack the excellent marinated tofu. You can get a variety of veggie burritos, actually more combos than Papalote, but they're less vegan-friendly. They also have wraps, which is kind of neat, though I haven't tried any so I don't know if they're good. Their salsa is good, quite spicy, and they have both regular and tomatillo, but it's nothing amazingly special.
Golden Lotus / Golden Era
Vegetarian Vietnamese. Oakland, 13th and Franklin; San Francisco, O'Farrell at Leavenworth (Tenderloin). These are the same chain. They have excellent Vietnamese, esp spring rolls & pho, with a sprinkling of Chinese. Yummy. Entirely worth the trek to Oakland.
Tofoo Com Chay
Vegan Vietnamese. San Jose, E Santa Clara St at 9th St. Very good soup. The other stuff is okay, especially the sesame chicken and lemongrass tofu, but the soup is where it's at. Very cheap! A tiny place, a few outside tables, and a bike rack conveniently within reach.