Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but for the foodie set, it’s where most of us find our stomachs. Few places in America have such a rich tradition of culinary appreciation (read: food snobbery) as Baghdad by the Bay, and Bay Area bon vivants extend their foodie fanaticism to the online world as well.

Hot in the news this month is the release of the new Michelin Guide, which bestowed a total of 28 restaurants in the Bay Area, and only one — the prestigious French Laundry in Napa County — received three stars. An outrage! A kerfuffle! The peanut gallery was far from quiet on this issue, and Sam at Becks & Posh rounds up the rowdy rabblerousers riling against the French conspirators. (Local blog SFist reminds us that — oh yeah — Zagat, Wine Spectator and Men’s Health all released their recommendations around the same time, to significantly less fanfare and fuss.) But if you want a no-punches-pulled approach to dining in San Francisco, check out Patricia Unterman’s San Francisco Food Lover’s Guide, which Jolynne Lockley calls, “the best book for people who value the real above the buzz.”

...continued: San Francisco, Foodie Heaven

San Francisco may be one of the foodiest cities in the world, but that doesn’t mean every restaurant is a veritable French Laundry. No, we have dives just like everyone else, and at least one person feels that they are as worthy of visitation as the highfalutin shrines to gourmet grub that are peppered throughout the city. Dive documents the dirty and downtrodden eateries that most of us wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot fork. But the evocative tales of colorful clientele and occasionally colorless food make this a highly entertaining read.