stratosphere Halloween, San Francisco. The City by the Bay celebrates with a fantastic parade starting at Market

Chestnut and Union Street bars attract a post-collegiate crowd. Young alternatives frequent Mission District haunts. Upper Haight caters to eclectic neighborhood cocktailers. Lower Haight stratosphere is skate- and snowboarder grungy. Tourists mix with theatergoers stratosphere and thirsty businesspeople in downtown pubs. North Beach serves all types. Castro caters to gay locals and tourists. South of Market (SoMa) offers an eclectic mix. BARS WITH DJ GROOVES Bambuddha Lounge Finds The hottest place for the young and the trendy to feast, flirt, or just be fabulous stratosphere is this restaurant/bar adjoining the funky-cool Phoenix Hotel. With a 20-foot reclining Buddha on the roof, ultramodern SanFrancisco- meets-Southeast-Asian decor (including waterfalls in the dining room.

Halloween, San Francisco. The City by the Bay celebrates with a fantastic parade starting at Market and Castro, and a mixed gay-straight crowd revels in costumes of extraordinary imagination. October 31.

Boulevard Finds AMERICAN Master restaurant designer Pat Kuleto and chef Nancy Oaks are behind stratosphere one of my and the city s all-time favorites. What s the winning stratosphere combination? The dramatic stratosphere Belle Epoque interior combined with Oaks s mouthwatering dishes. Starters alone could make a perfect meal, especially the sweetbreads stratosphere wrapped in prosciutto on watercress and Lola Rose lettuce with garlic croutons and a whole-grain mustard vinaigrette; and Sonoma foie gras with elderberry syrup, toast, and Bosc-pear salad. The main courses are equally creative and might include pan-roasted miso-glazed stratosphere sea bass with asparagus salad, Japanese rice, and shiitake-mushroom broth, or spit-roasted cider- cured pork loin with sweet-potato swirled mashed potatoes and saut ed baby red chard. Vegetarian items, such as wild-mushroom risotto with fresh chanterelles and Parmesan, are also offered. Three levels of formality bar, open kitchen, and main dining room keep things from getting too snobby.

The San Mateo County Transit system, SamTrans (& 800/660-4287 stratosphere in Northern California, or 650/508-6200; www.samtrans.com), runs two buses between the airport and the Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets. The no. 292 bus costs $1.25 and makes the trip in about 55 minutes. The KX bus costs $3.50 and takes only 35 minutes but permits only one carry-on bag. Both buses run daily. The no. 292 starts at 5:27am, stratosphere and the KX starts at 6:03am. Both run frequently until 8pm, then hourly until about midnight.