After spending a great day in Sonoma, we drove into the city and woke up hungry in San Francisco. We asked our wonderful concierge at the Westin St. Francis for a good place for breakfast and they recommended Sears Fine Food.

The Westin St. Francis

The Westin is an amazing property. I hadn’t plan on reviewing the hotel, so I didn’t take any photos, but after I came home, I decided I had to let y’all know about it. So all the photos you see here are from the Westin site.

Definitely stay there if it’s your first visit to San Francisco. It’s right across the street from Union Square and the staff are amazing. The location puts you right in the middle of everything, including shops and restaurants (Victoria Secret is downstairs, Tiffany’s across the street). The cable car runs right in front of the hotel and the F train is close by. The only tricky part is finding valet/parking. It’s not at the main entrance on Powell but around the corner on Post. Powell is also SUPER busy, our GPS took us to the hotel but the hotel ended up being on the other side of the street. Most of the streets are one way or no left turns after Post, so we ended up driving up like 7 or 8 blocks before being able to turn around and getting back to the side of the hotel.

 

We had originally booked a small room with a queen bed, through hotels.com. Normally most hotels don’t upgrade you when you book through Expedia/Travelocity/hotels.com but the Westin did! They bumped us up from a Classic Queen Bed in the Landmark Building (which is described as cozy…so code for more ideal for one person) to a Grand Deluxe King in the Landmark Building. It was such a pleasant surprise!

 

The room had crazy high ceilings, a sitting area and a view of Union Square, plus a marble bathroom with a rain shower! We found the room to be spacious and the beds were comfortable. Even though our room was right by the elevator, we rarely heard anyone in the halls or our neighbours, so extra points for that.

The Westin had free WIFI in the lobby but WIFI and high speed in the room is extra. I am a Starwood Preferred Guest member, and while you don’t normally get free in-room WIFI as a SPG member, the front desk gave it to us anyways (Pro-tip, always join membership clubs at hotels before your trip because you always get perks and membership is free). The Westin gets  5/5 stars for comfort, location, service and just plain being awesome! Oh also, if you want to work out for $5 you can rent gym clothes and shoes from them, so you don’t need to bring your own. You get to keep the socks with the rental and the gym is free if you bring you own gear.

Sears Fine Food

Sears Fine Food is just up the block from the Westin and has been around for 76 years. We were able to get a seat quick quickly (we got there about 10 am) but by the time we left about 45 minutes later, there was a line up out the door. So get there early!

From the outside, you will likely pass right by Sears Fine Foods. With its old signage and store front, you won’t be pressed to stop. But walk inside and you’ll find a busy and popular breakfast joint. The decor is older and the tables are small but it for sure has its own charms. They have a huge menu and so many options, but we settled on the classics.

My husband got their “world famous” 18 swedish pancakes with sausage and I got their veggie omelette with a side of their smoked chicken apple sausage.

Their pancakes are served with warm syrup and country fresh whipped butter for $10.95 USD and you can add bacon strips or link sausage for $3.25 USD (which my husband did). Their veggie omelette was $12.75 USD and has asparagus, mushrooms, red bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and Monterey Jack cheese. Omelettes are served with hash brown potatoes, buttered toast and jelly. I didn’t but you if you feel inclined, you can substitute home fries for hash browns for $1.00 USD and substitute for egg whites for eggs for $1.00 USD. I did skip the toast as I added the extra chicken sausage for $4.25 USD.

After ordering, we were pleasantly surprised when our food came out 5 minutes later, which is awesome, especially when you’re starving! The veggie omelette was LOADED with veggies and I found it filling. It was not too greasy but still cheesy! I loved their hash browns too. It was crispy on the outside and and soft inside. The thickness of the hash brown is key here; the thin layer of crispy exterior worked so well with the thick soft interior. You also get the crispy layer again when you hit the bottom of the hash. It was kind of like having deep fried mashed potatoes. I did have to add a bit of salt and pepper to the hash brown, but no biggie. Loved this hash brown mucho. The sausages were good…but nothing to write home about. It was tasty but couldn’t taste the apples.

In terms of the pancakes, as you can see, the reason you get 18 is because they are adorable and tiny! They are kind of a cross between a crepe and a pancake and fun to eat! The texture is more on the crepe side and taste is more pancake. Though as fun as they are, I still think the lemon ricotta pancakes in Sonoma were better.

All in all, a solid breakfast joint. They didn’t blow me out of water, but the service was quick and friendly and the food was delicious and filling. A good spot to eat and get going for the day.

You can find Sears Fine Foods at: 439 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA or like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SearsFineFood

You can find the Westin St. Francis at 335 Powell Street San Francisco, San Francisco, CA and tweet them on Twitter @WestinStFr.