SF date night
Fog-proof plans, with a backup.
What it reaches for
- Reads the web
- Spends money
One chore down.Three steps
- 1Copy the prompt and paste it into a new Muse chat.
- 2Tell Muse what you need, in your own words.
- 3Answer its questions. It follows the prompt from there.
Last verified: September 2026. This skill deliberately contains no specific venue names. San Francisco restaurants and bars open, close, and change constantly, so a hardcoded list goes stale fast. It encodes how to plan a good SF date; always find and verify current venues at planning time. Transit service and fares were in flux in 2026, so check anything marked (verify).
Why this skill exists
Generic date advice fails in San Francisco for reasons a map doesn't show: the "short walk" is straight up a hill, the sunset viewpoint is buried in fog, it's 58°F and windy in July, the last train to the East Bay left already, and the bill has a surcharge nobody mentioned. Good SF date plans are built around one walkable cluster, the microclimate, the ride home, and a backup.
Step 1: Ask what matters
Get only what's missing:
- Where each person is coming from (neighborhood, or East Bay / Peninsula / Marin), and whether anyone is driving
- Which date: first date, early dating, established couple, special occasion
- Day and time
- Budget (per person or total)
- Vibe: talky and low-key, lively, active, outdoorsy, cultural, fancy
- Food and drink constraints: dietary needs, not drinking, favorite cuisines
- Shoes and walking: are steep hills or stairways fine, or should the plan stay flat?
- Whether they want bookable spots: everything reserved in advance (Resy, Tock, OpenTable, or a venue's own site), or loose and walk-in. Ask, or default to a mix and flag which stops are bookable.
Step 2: Pick the geography first
- Stay inside one cluster, or two neighboring ones. Crossing town is slower than it looks: Mission to Inner Richmond is often 35–45 minutes on transit (verify).
- Walkable clusters (describe these, then find current venues inside them):
- Mission / Valencia and 24th Street: flat, sunny, dense with dinner, bars, dessert, and bookstores; Dolores Park nearby
- Hayes Valley: flat and compact; wine bars and shops; near the performing arts venues at Civic Center
- North Beach / Chinatown / Jackson Square: flat at the core with steep hills on the edges; pairs with the Embarcadero waterfront
- Russian Hill / Polk Street: Polk is flat; the streets up Russian Hill are very steep, with stairways and views
- Marina / Cow Hollow: flat and lively on weekends; pairs with a waterfront walk; foggy and windy in summer
- Inner Sunset and Inner Richmond (Clement Street): flat, casual, next to Golden Gate Park; cooler and foggier
- Castro / Noe Valley: busy at night in the Castro, calmer in Noe; a hill between them
- Dogpatch / Potrero Hill: flat breweries and restaurants in Dogpatch, steep views on Potrero; check for events at the nearby ballpark and arena
- Embarcadero / Ferry Building: flat waterfront promenade and ferries
- Plan around hills. If anyone is in heels or doesn't want a workout, route along flat streets (Valencia, Polk, Columbus, the Embarcadero) or take a short ride between stops.
- Think about the ride home before anything else, especially for anyone going to the East Bay or Peninsula:
- BART normally runs until about midnight, with last trains varying by station (verify with BART's trip planner). BART has approved a plan to close at 9pm if 2026 funding fails, starting as early as January 2027 (verify). Never assume a late train; always name a fallback.
- Muni Metro runs until about midnight; Owl buses run about every 30 minutes overnight (verify).
- Robotaxis: Waymo covers all of San Francisco (verify service area). For pickups near arenas, festivals, or busy strips, walk a block or two to a quiet side street first.
- Rideshare surges hard right after games, concerts, and festivals.
- If someone is driving: street cleaning and meter tickets are over $100 (verify), and night enforcement has increased. Curb wheels on hills (it's the law). Leave nothing visible in the car, not even a cable or an empty bag, and load the trunk before leaving home rather than after parking. Break-ins are far below their peak but still common at viewpoints and tourist areas.
Step 3: Match the format to the date
Default to an activity, not just dinner and drinks. Each plan should have 1–2 activities, something to actually do together, and dinner or drinks is optional, not mandatory. SF-friendly activities: a stairway or view walk (fog permitting), an Ocean Beach bonfire, a ferry ride across the Bay, a museum's evening event, a bookstore or record shop crawl, comedy, live music, a climbing gym, mini golf or an arcade bar, a cooking class, an outdoor movie (best in September and October), a farmers market, a picnic in a park. Pair one activity with one food or drink stop, or do two activities back to back.
First dates
- Keep it short and easy to extend: drinks, coffee, a casual bite, or a low-key activity, roughly 60–90 minutes, with a natural option to continue.
- Choose somewhere you can hear each other.
- Have a nearby second stop in mind (dessert, a walk, a second bar) in case it's going well.
- Avoid places requiring a large deposit or prepaid tickets.
Early dating
- Lead with the activity, then food or drinks nearby as the second stop.
- Something that gives you both things to talk about works better than another bar.
Established couples and special occasions
- Book the reservation-heavy places well ahead, and still pair the meal with an activity.
- Consider a surprise element or a place tied to their history.
- For anniversaries or birthdays, mention the occasion when booking.
Step 4: Handle reservations realistically
- Buzzy restaurants often release tables about 30 days ahead, at midnight or a set hour; some use a monthly release date or Tock drops. Look up each restaurant's policy rather than assuming.
- Name the booking platform for each stop (Resy, Tock, OpenTable, or the venue's site). Tasting menus often require Tock prepayment.
- Use notify or waitlist features for sold-out times.
- Walk-in strategies: sit at the bar, go early (around 5:30pm) or late (around 9pm), go on a weeknight.
- Kitchens close early. Many stop serving around 9–10pm, earlier Sunday through Tuesday, and some places are closed Monday and Tuesday. Last call for bars is 2am.
- Check the event calendar for that date: Giants games at Oracle Park, events at Chase Center, and big festivals and Fleet Week (early October, around the Marina and northern waterfront) jam transit, parking, and reservations nearby.
- Note cancellation policies and card holds.
Step 5: Verify every venue before recommending it
For each venue:
- Confirm it's still open: recent reviews within the last few months, current hours on its official website or social account
- Check the hours for that specific day
- Check noise level and seating for talkability
- Check payment: many SF venues are card-only; a little cash helps at markets and taquerias
- Check dietary accommodations if relevant
- Check price, including any surcharge listed on the menu
If you can't verify something, say so rather than guessing.
Step 6: Weather and microclimates
- SF weather depends on the neighborhood. The west side (Outer Sunset, Outer Richmond, Ocean Beach) and hilltops like Twin Peaks are often much colder and foggier than the Mission, Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, or Bernal Heights.
- Summer is often cold: fog and wind roll in during the late afternoon. September and October are usually the warmest, clearest months.
- Always tell them to bring a jacket. Even warm days turn cold after sunset.
- For any viewpoint or sunset plan, check the fog forecast or a live webcam on the day, look up the sunset time, and have an indoor backup nearby.
- Ocean Beach bonfires: the fire ring season runs March through October, first come, first served, with a 9:30pm curfew; no fires on Spare the Air days or red-flag warnings (verify rules and that day's status). Go on a weeknight or arrive early.
- Ferries: last return sailings can be early, especially on weekdays. Check the return time before recommending a ferry outing (verify).
Budget and etiquette
- Budget realistically: SF sales tax is about 8.6% (verify), tipping is usually 18–22% at sit-down restaurants and bars, and many restaurants add a surcharge of a few percent (often for the city's employee health care mandate) or a larger service charge. California law requires these to be clearly disclosed on the menu. Read the fee line before tipping, and budget roughly 25–30% above menu prices all-in.
- Driving to Marin or the East Bay means a bridge toll on the way back into the city (verify current amounts).
- Mention cheaper combinations that still feel special: a picnic in a park at golden hour, a bonfire with takeout, happy hour plus a free show, a ferry ride with a walk on the other side.
- Don't assume who pays. Just give the numbers.
Output format
Offer two or three distinct plans, and vary the shape across them. Don't make every plan dinner-plus-drinks. Each plan should have:
- Name and vibe in a few words
- Neighborhood and why it works for both people's route there and home
- 1–2 stops, at least one of which is an activity: venue or activity, what to order or do, estimated cost, and booking action needed (reserve online, buy tickets, walk in), naming the platform when it takes online reservations
- Backup within a short, flat walk
- Getting there and home: transit lines and last-departure times, or a robotaxi or rideshare plan; parking notes if driving
- Weather plan: microclimate for that neighborhood, jacket reminder, fog backup for views
- Verified: what you confirmed and anything that couldn't be confirmed
End by offering to book, set a reminder for a reservation release, or adjust the plans. For an ongoing feed of things to do, the sf-events-lookout skill can keep watch.
If booking on the user's behalf
Follow the safe-purchasing skill for anything with a deposit, card hold, prepaid ticket, or cancellation fee: confirm the details and get approval before booking.
--- name: sf-date-night description: Plan a date in San Francisco, from a first drinks meetup to an anniversary dinner, with realistic logistics for neighborhoods, hills, fog, transit and robotaxis, reservations, and budget. Use this whenever someone asks for date ideas or plans in SF, San Francisco, the Mission, Hayes Valley, North Beach, the Marina, or elsewhere in the city, wants help picking a bar or restaurant for a date, needs a first date spot, or wants something fun to do with a partner in the Bay Area, even if they don't say "date". --- # SF Date Night Last verified: September 2026. This skill deliberately contains **no specific venue names**. San Francisco restaurants and bars open, close, and change constantly, so a hardcoded list goes stale fast. It encodes how to plan a good SF date; always find and verify current venues at planning time. Transit service and fares were in flux in 2026, so check anything marked **(verify)**. ## Why this skill exists Generic date advice fails in San Francisco for reasons a map doesn't show: the "short walk" is straight up a hill, the sunset viewpoint is buried in fog, it's 58°F and windy in July, the last train to the East Bay left already, and the bill has a surcharge nobody mentioned. Good SF date plans are built around one walkable cluster, the microclimate, the ride home, and a backup. ## Step 1: Ask what matters Get only what's missing: - **Where each person is coming from** (neighborhood, or East Bay / Peninsula / Marin), and whether anyone is driving - **Which date**: first date, early dating, established couple, special occasion - **Day and time** - **Budget** (per person or total) - **Vibe**: talky and low-key, lively, active, outdoorsy, cultural, fancy - **Food and drink constraints**: dietary needs, not drinking, favorite cuisines - **Shoes and walking**: are steep hills or stairways fine, or should the plan stay flat? - **Whether they want bookable spots**: everything reserved in advance (Resy, Tock, OpenTable, or a venue's own site), or loose and walk-in. Ask, or default to a mix and flag which stops are bookable. ## Step 2: Pick the geography first - **Stay inside one cluster, or two neighboring ones.** Crossing town is slower than it looks: Mission to Inner Richmond is often 35–45 minutes on transit **(verify)**. - **Walkable clusters** (describe these, then find current venues inside them): - **Mission / Valencia and 24th Street**: flat, sunny, dense with dinner, bars, dessert, and bookstores; Dolores Park nearby - **Hayes Valley**: flat and compact; wine bars and shops; near the performing arts venues at Civic Center - **North Beach / Chinatown / Jackson Square**: flat at the core with steep hills on the edges; pairs with the Embarcadero waterfront - **Russian Hill / Polk Street**: Polk is flat; the streets up Russian Hill are very steep, with stairways and views - **Marina / Cow Hollow**: flat and lively on weekends; pairs with a waterfront walk; foggy and windy in summer - **Inner Sunset** and **Inner Richmond (Clement Street)**: flat, casual, next to Golden Gate Park; cooler and foggier - **Castro / Noe Valley**: busy at night in the Castro, calmer in Noe; a hill between them - **Dogpatch / Potrero Hill**: flat breweries and restaurants in Dogpatch, steep views on Potrero; check for events at the nearby ballpark and arena - **Embarcadero / Ferry Building**: flat waterfront promenade and ferries - **Plan around hills.** If anyone is in heels or doesn't want a workout, route along flat streets (Valencia, Polk, Columbus, the Embarcadero) or take a short ride between stops. - **Think about the ride home before anything else**, especially for anyone going to the East Bay or Peninsula: - **BART** normally runs until about midnight, with last trains varying by station **(verify with BART's trip planner)**. BART has approved a plan to close at 9pm if 2026 funding fails, starting as early as January 2027 **(verify)**. Never assume a late train; always name a fallback. - **Muni Metro** runs until about midnight; Owl buses run about every 30 minutes overnight **(verify)**. - **Robotaxis**: Waymo covers all of San Francisco **(verify service area)**. For pickups near arenas, festivals, or busy strips, walk a block or two to a quiet side street first. - **Rideshare** surges hard right after games, concerts, and festivals. - **If someone is driving**: street cleaning and meter tickets are over $100 **(verify)**, and night enforcement has increased. Curb wheels on hills (it's the law). **Leave nothing visible in the car**, not even a cable or an empty bag, and load the trunk before leaving home rather than after parking. Break-ins are far below their peak but still common at viewpoints and tourist areas. ## Step 3: Match the format to the date **Default to an activity, not just dinner and drinks.** Each plan should have 1–2 activities, something to actually do together, and dinner or drinks is optional, not mandatory. SF-friendly activities: a stairway or view walk (fog permitting), an Ocean Beach bonfire, a ferry ride across the Bay, a museum's evening event, a bookstore or record shop crawl, comedy, live music, a climbing gym, mini golf or an arcade bar, a cooking class, an outdoor movie (best in September and October), a farmers market, a picnic in a park. Pair one activity with one food or drink stop, or do two activities back to back. **First dates** - Keep it short and easy to extend: drinks, coffee, a casual bite, or a low-key activity, roughly 60–90 minutes, with a natural option to continue. - Choose somewhere you can hear each other. - Have a nearby second stop in mind (dessert, a walk, a second bar) in case it's going well. - Avoid places requiring a large deposit or prepaid tickets. **Early dating** - Lead with the activity, then food or drinks nearby as the second stop. - Something that gives you both things to talk about works better than another bar. **Established couples and special occasions** - Book the reservation-heavy places well ahead, and still pair the meal with an activity. - Consider a surprise element or a place tied to their history. - For anniversaries or birthdays, mention the occasion when booking. ## Step 4: Handle reservations realistically - **Buzzy restaurants often release tables about 30 days ahead**, at midnight or a set hour; some use a monthly release date or Tock drops. Look up each restaurant's policy rather than assuming. - **Name the booking platform** for each stop (Resy, Tock, OpenTable, or the venue's site). Tasting menus often require Tock prepayment. - **Use notify or waitlist features** for sold-out times. - **Walk-in strategies**: sit at the bar, go early (around 5:30pm) or late (around 9pm), go on a weeknight. - **Kitchens close early.** Many stop serving around 9–10pm, earlier Sunday through Tuesday, and some places are closed Monday and Tuesday. Last call for bars is 2am. - **Check the event calendar for that date**: Giants games at Oracle Park, events at Chase Center, and big festivals and Fleet Week (early October, around the Marina and northern waterfront) jam transit, parking, and reservations nearby. - Note cancellation policies and card holds. ## Step 5: Verify every venue before recommending it For each venue: - **Confirm it's still open**: recent reviews within the last few months, current hours on its official website or social account - **Check the hours for that specific day** - **Check noise level and seating** for talkability - **Check payment**: many SF venues are card-only; a little cash helps at markets and taquerias - **Check dietary accommodations** if relevant - **Check price**, including any surcharge listed on the menu If you can't verify something, say so rather than guessing. ## Step 6: Weather and microclimates - **SF weather depends on the neighborhood.** The west side (Outer Sunset, Outer Richmond, Ocean Beach) and hilltops like Twin Peaks are often much colder and foggier than the Mission, Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, or Bernal Heights. - **Summer is often cold**: fog and wind roll in during the late afternoon. **September and October are usually the warmest, clearest months.** - **Always tell them to bring a jacket.** Even warm days turn cold after sunset. - **For any viewpoint or sunset plan**, check the fog forecast or a live webcam on the day, look up the sunset time, and have an indoor backup nearby. - **Ocean Beach bonfires**: the fire ring season runs March through October, first come, first served, with a 9:30pm curfew; no fires on Spare the Air days or red-flag warnings **(verify rules and that day's status)**. Go on a weeknight or arrive early. - **Ferries**: last return sailings can be early, especially on weekdays. Check the return time before recommending a ferry outing **(verify)**. ## Budget and etiquette - **Budget realistically**: SF sales tax is about 8.6% **(verify)**, tipping is usually 18–22% at sit-down restaurants and bars, and many restaurants add a surcharge of a few percent (often for the city's employee health care mandate) or a larger service charge. California law requires these to be clearly disclosed on the menu. Read the fee line before tipping, and budget roughly 25–30% above menu prices all-in. - **Driving to Marin or the East Bay** means a bridge toll on the way back into the city **(verify current amounts)**. - Mention cheaper combinations that still feel special: a picnic in a park at golden hour, a bonfire with takeout, happy hour plus a free show, a ferry ride with a walk on the other side. - Don't assume who pays. Just give the numbers. ## Output format Offer **two or three distinct plans**, and vary the shape across them. Don't make every plan dinner-plus-drinks. Each plan should have: 1. **Name and vibe** in a few words 2. **Neighborhood** and why it works for both people's route there and home 3. **1–2 stops**, at least one of which is an activity: venue or activity, what to order or do, estimated cost, and booking action needed (reserve online, buy tickets, walk in), naming the platform when it takes online reservations 4. **Backup** within a short, flat walk 5. **Getting there and home**: transit lines and last-departure times, or a robotaxi or rideshare plan; parking notes if driving 6. **Weather plan**: microclimate for that neighborhood, jacket reminder, fog backup for views 7. **Verified**: what you confirmed and anything that couldn't be confirmed End by offering to book, set a reminder for a reservation release, or adjust the plans. For an ongoing feed of things to do, the `sf-events-lookout` skill can keep watch. ## If booking on the user's behalf Follow the `safe-purchasing` skill for anything with a deposit, card hold, prepaid ticket, or cancellation fee: confirm the details and get approval before booking.