Married to Boulevard Restaurant chef Nancy Oakes, and a Los Angeles native who recalls from his boyhood many a creamy blintz and sweet borscht soup. So you can take home all those fresh dairy products, meats and fish, make sure you take a big cooler. Pack it with ice, and if you need to, buy more ice so you can get your food home safely. Take a lot of them. Most of these tours are in San Francisco neighborhoods with decent parking, but with meters and vigilant meter maids.
Credit cards work, but so does cash, and often more easily.
Go on an empty stomach. Also go with an open mind and curious palate. You are visiting the source of food sold and cooked by people sharing their daily good fare, not some remake in a fusion restaurant Go off the beaten path. Just try it. Our goal was to look in, grab a menu, visit, buy from and eat snacks or meals at as many different authentically ethnic restaurants and groceries that we could handle in one day.