visiting San Francisco, looking for bus/van tour

I am visiting SF late this week, spending about six days. Would like to go on one of those bus/van/cruise tours of Napa or Sonoma. There are a lot of these offered, but I would like to find one that isn't too "touristy" if you know what I mean. Also would like to know some of your favorite wine shops/restaurants (not too expensive!) in San Francisco and Berkeley.

Thank you!

Douglas

That's a tough one. AFAIK, all the bus tours are touristy by definition.

Best cheap eats are at ethnic places. Think Vietnamese, regional Chinese, Korean, Ethiopian, South Indian. Avoid the tourist traps at Pier 39. The area around Clement Street is particularly rich in fantastic hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurants.

Berkeley is stuffed with cheap ethnic food. You can just about choose at random and get a good meal. Kermit Lynch and K&L aren't exactly cheap, but they're fine wine shops. In the City, Dee Vine is a superb source of German wines.

What Yaniger said.

Napa IS touristy. It is the basic essence of touristy.

In Berkeley, I would add The Spanish Table---but only if you're really intrigued by Spanish wines, natch. Great selection and decent pricing. Very knowledgeable and passionate wine guy that's fun to talk to.

Also second Yaniger on Clement in SF. Great short street packed with fantastic restaurants, from French Bistro to Viet (Soleil) to Chinese to Burmese (Burma Superstar should be a city heritage shrine).

Another area is the Mission. Chaotic but totally fun area, spattered with good restaurants. Bit pricier on the average than Clement, but worth it I think.

[Jenise]

There are a lot of these offered, but I would like to find one that isn't too "touristy" if you know what I mean.

What the guys said. And the wineries that will let tour buses stop at their places aren't going to be top tier. Hire a private guide, or at least someone who takes small groups in vans.