What are the places that I absolutely must go to in SF? for Questionland Seattle

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What are the places that I absolutely must go to in SF?

Going to San Francisco for the first time (!) and I'm looking for suggestions on where to go. I'll be staying in the Mission (an apartment found in airbnb) and I know that I for sure want to go coffeeshops, bars, and restaurants of course. I basically just don't want to do the tourist thing. Any suggestions?

lilmonster206 asked in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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Fnarf

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See some tips here:

http://questionland.com/questions/12724-whats-a-girl-about-san-francisco-to-do

Basically I like to walk around and enjoy the street vibe rather than head to specific destinations.

Valencia Street is in the Mission -- loads of coffeeshops, bookshops, restaurants, etc. Have breakfast at Boogaloo (corner of 22nd) (if you don't mind waiting). Mission has loads of trendy white hipster bars now but still has plenty of old Chicano flair. Eat tacos here, or the burritos for which the Mission is famous.

Haight is in the Haight-Ashbury and is a bit grisly BUT it has Amoeba Records if you like records. If you don't, skip the Haight. Fat Slice pizza is a good classic punk rock pizza joint.

Another place you should definitely go if you like records but probably not otherwise is Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. For out-of-towners the fun sci-fi BART ride under the Bay might be attraction enough.

One place you MUST go is Caffe Trieste, at the corner of Vallejo and Grant just off Columbus in North Beach (just to the NE of Chinatown). Not only is it the best coffeehouse in America but it has been since the beatniks were unironic. Buy coffee beans to take home, too. If you end up in Caffe Greco on Columbus instead you won't be sorry, either. While you're there be sure to stroll around the corner to Columbus and Broadway, to laugh at the wonderfully ridiculous neon signs of the strip clubs.

Another place that will blow your mind and make you realize how bland and boring Seattle is is Swan Oyster Depot, on one of my favorite streets and very off the tourist track, at California and Polk. You can take the cable car there and not feel like a tourist gomer -- it's an actual transit line used almost entirely by locals (in other words, it doesn't go to Fisherman's Wharf). Get off at Polk, and go in and have the best clam chowder in the city. Get crazy and do it at 8 AM. Go ahead, have the oysters too -- best in the city. You sit at the counter and watch the guy slice the lox freehand thin enough to read the newspaper through. This may not sound that fascinating but it IS -- it's like living history. Polk Street is a wonderful stroll, too, with shops and neighborhoody stuff. Royal Ground Coffee up past Vallejo is a good spot.

If you're more of a bookstore person than a record store person, run out to Clement Street out in the Richmond district, which has turned into a new Chinatown now but still has many holdovers, making for a fascinating mix. The bookstore is called Green Apple, at 6th, and it's great.

Fnarf answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

2 comments by keshmeshi and Fnarf…

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I'd heard, before the first and only time I've been to Trieste, that they had a habit of burning their beans. The coffee I had there put Peet's and Charbucks' to shame, not in a good way.

Maybe when they get it right, they get it *really* right, but their willingness to serve burned coffee is a huge negative in my book.

keshmeshi commented 9 months ago | Report

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Oh, maybe they do, I don't know. The coffee is the least important thing in a good coffeehouse. But I remember my coffee being excellent, everytime I've been there, going back more than thirty years now.

Fnarf commented 9 months ago | Report

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This was my favorite Mission dive. The drinks will knock you on your ass.

http://www.500clubsf.com/

If you want a bike messenger bar with a lovely outdoor beer garden, hit Zeitgeist:

http://zeitgeistsf.com/

Of course you should get ice cream at Bi-Rite, where they were making awesome ice cream when Molly Moon was in diapers, and then go sit and bask in Dolores Park, then get dinner down the block at Delfina or their pizzeria next door.

http://biritecreamery.com/
http://pizzeriadelfina.com/

capicola answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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Coffee: Ritual's, http://www.ritualroasters.com/ Bluebottle, Four Barrel, Cafe Danube (go to Green Apple Books after Danube if you like book stores and Java Beach by Ocean Beach.

I second Zietgist for a bar. Lucky 13 on Market and Church is great. Hang out around the Church st area. It's between Mission, Lower Haight (better than upper Haight) Downtown and Castro so they a good flow of people all night and day. If you need late night grub Sparky's is an all night diner in that area.

Get a burrito! San Francisco style at Taqueria Cancun on Mission and 19th. Not authentic but good food and a fun Atmosphere.

Hit up Bi-rite grocery and creamery near Dolores park. Walk as much as possible. Hit up Valencia st, Mission, and Guerrero night and day.

Have Fun!

Finger Games answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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marymc

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This might be too much "the tourist thing," but it's stuff I really enjoyed...

Alcatraz is creepy and fascinating. You really get a small taste of what it must have been like for those prisoners, within sight and sound of the city lights and music and life, but shut away in that hellhole. I paid for the audio tour, which has voices of former inmates and guards, narrating terrible things that happened right where you stand as you walk around the place. Disturbing, but enthralling.

When I was there last year, there was a guy standing on the sidewalk at Fisherman's Wharf, next to the real fishing boats, shilling for sightseeing cruises on one of them. After hesitating a minute, we went for it. Turned out to be one of the best things I've done in San Francisco. This was a real, old, funky fishing boat--they said it once belonged to the DiMaggio family ("where Joe DiMaggio learned to hate fishing" before he escaped to play baseball, was how they put it), and not a big, cheesy tour boat. It only held 7 passengers, max. We went out past Alcatraz, under the Golden Gate, and back along the waterfront. The views were phenomenal.

marymc answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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Go to Telegraph Hill to see the wild parrots, of course.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (book by Mark Bittner)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (a film by Judy Irving)

Mark Bittner

Judy Irving, filmmaker

Parrot Pages - a blog about the flock

Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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michiko swiggs

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Mexican breakfast at San Jalisco (20th and Van Ness)

And while you're in that neighborhood, get delicious coffee at Philz Coffee (24th and Van Ness). They have their own SF style you won't find in Seattle...

Friday or Sat night, goto a "show" the Audium (audium.org). It's a sound sculpture space that will take you back to the futurism of the 60s.

SF MOMA usually has good exhibits, but go on a weekday.

Get some drinks at the Gold Dust Lounge in Union Square. It's a really old dive bar with a gold rush era feel. When I went, there was a piano player and people getting super wasted and singing along.

The Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate park is really fun: planetarium, living roof, rainforest, aquariums, all encased in a modern, sustainable building.

And if you are at Golden Gate park on a Sunday afternoon, you should check out the roller skaters in the central north side of the park. They usually have a sound system set up and people practice their routines. Great people watching...

Oh, and definitely goto the beach!

Have fun!

michiko swiggs answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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I LOVE Orphan Andy's in the Castro:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/orphan-andys-san-francisco

The waiters are bitchy (in a good way), they have juke boxes on the tables and at any given seating you might see leather queens, seated next to hipsters, seated next to trannies, seated next to power lesbians. It's good times.

Lefty O'Douls is also fun:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lefty-o-douls-san-francisco

http://www.leftyodouls.biz/

The piano bar is key.

Dan Williams answered in Regional Trips 9 months ago | Report

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