Andrew Nash
Vienna Transport Strategies

Admittedly Biased San Francisco Recommendations

Ferry Building - San Francisco is a food lover's paradise and the Ferry Building is the Cathedral! High mass is every Saturday morning from 8 am to 1 pm when the local farmers market is held. There are smaller markets on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays (depending on the season). But, the Ferry Building is worth visiting anytime because it's filled with extraordinary food stores and interesting restaurants. See my Downtown and the Northern Waterfront tour for more information. TIP: the Slanted Door Vietnamese restaurant is one of the best in the world, it's hard to get a reservation but you can sit at the bar and get the same food without a reservation; get there by 11:45 and you won't need to wait.

Naturally, you can also take a ferry ride on the Bay from here. The Golden Gate Ferry offers service to Sausalito and Larkspur. Take the ferry to Sausalito: it's a nice town with interesting shops and restaurants. The ferry is much cheaper on weekdays than weekends. Golden Gate also offers lunch cruises with music during the summer.

Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz - Alcatraz is lots more fun than you may think (make reservations early), the cruise is great and the island is really interesting. Check out the Boudin French Bread Museum in the center of Fisherman's Wharf. The restaurant upstairs is quite nice and calmer than the downstairs café. Also try the 'walkaround' crab cocktails being sold on the sidewalks outside the large restaurants. See my North Beach - Chinatown - Union SquareTour.

North Beach - One of my favorite neighborhoods. From downtown walk up Kearny Street to Columbus (another option is to take Grant Avenue, it goes through the touristy part of Chinatown). Turn up Columbus and you'll pass the City Lights Bookstore (think Beat Poetry) with its great selection of books. Have a drink at the Vesuvio Café next door. Continue walking up Columbus and you'll find yourself surrounded by cafes and restaurants that remind you of Italy. Favorite cafes include Café Trieste (Grant/Vallejo), Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store (Columbus/Union) and Roma (Columbus). Rose Pistola, next door to Roma, is a great restaurant, try the Ciappino, San Francisco's seafood soup. Don't miss a walk down Grant Avenue (lots of interesting shops and restaurants), Union Square (park) and the hike up to Coit Tower (walk east on Union Street), although there is also a bus that goes there. See my North Beach - Chinatown - Union Square tour for more information.

Museum of Modern Art - The SFMOMA on Third Street south of market was designed by Swiss Architect Mario Botta. It's a fine building with a nice collection, good shows and a great gift shop. The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is across the street with a great open green. Behind the SFMOMA on New Montgomery are two great lunch spots: Hunan Restaurant (actually on Minna Street) and Chipote (a chain Mexican restaurant, but high quality and inexpensive).

Chinese Food - San Francisco is a paradise for Asian food. Henry's Hunan Restaurant is really fine. They have several locations. It was one of the first in America to serve Hunan's very spicy food. The great thing is that it's a really clean fire. My favorites include the hot and sour dishes, dry braised string beans and harvest pork. Another huge favorite - hard to get in - is the House of Nanking on Kearney at Columbus. But, many restaurants are highly recommended. Look for Asian families and the restaurant is probably good. Stockton Street in Chinatown and Clement Street in the Richmond District are main Asian food shopping streets, there are many great restaurants in these areas. Here's a list of the ten best Chinese Restaurants in San Francisco, I would agree with most of the selections.

Mission District - The Mission is San Francisco's sunniest neighborhood in many ways. Mission Street and east is full of South and Central American immigrants, shops and restaurants; west of Mission is full of Hipster immigrants, shops and restaurants. Some of San Francisco's best restaurants are in the Mission. Take BART to 16th/Mission and explore the neighborhood, there's something for everyone. See my Mission - Haight - Golden Gate Park tour for more information.

Mission - Noe Valley - Castro Circuit - You can see many sides of San Francisco making this circuit (it can take all day). Start at BART's 16th/Mission station, walk around the Mission (eat lunch). Walk up 24th Street towards Castro, this is the heart of Noe (No-ee) Valley, where hipsters go to raise children. At Castro catch the #24 Divisadero bus up the hill (unless you want a real workout), get off at 20th Street and walk down through the Castro, one of the first Gay neighborhoods in America. At Market turn right and walk or catch one of the historic F-Market streetcars back downtown.

Mexican Food - Maybe it's because we live in Europe, but we really miss Mexican food. Take BART to the Mission District for lots of great choices. Two of my favorites are at 16th Street: Taqueria Pancho Villa and La Cumbre (Valencia, just south of 16th). I also like Chipote, which while a chain, makes really tasty burritos and tacos. Here's a review of Taqueria Pancho Villa on a website that reviews many San Francisco burrito joints (they did not like La Cumbre).

San Francisco Transit Pass - Be sure to buy a transit pass for San Francisco if you plan to use the cable cars! The cable car fare is very high and so a pass pays for itself after a couple rides. Muni sells tourist passes but the City Pass includes entry into several museums with a 7-day Muni transit pass, quite a good deal if you want to visit museums too. Note that these passes only cover Muni (buses, streetcars, cable cars), not the many other transit systems operating in San Francisco (e.g. BART)

Cable Cars - No trip to San Francisco would be complete without a ride on the cable cars - be sure to buy a visitor pass (see above) because single rides are expensive! However, they are often crowded and waits are long during the day. I recommend that you ride the Hyde-Powell cable car sometime after 9 pm. Try to stand on the running board in the front, dress warm - it's even better on a foggy summer night! You will ride over Nob Hill, Russian Hill and on to the Aquatic Park. Have an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista Café (across the street from the cable car terminal), they claim Irish Coffee was invented here, and get back on the cable car (maybe you'll need to sit after the coffee!) for a few more trips halfway to the stars!

Baker Beach - You can't really swim in San Francisco, it's too cold for most people, but you can walk on the beach and sunbathe (when it's not foggy). A favorite beach is Baker Beach in the Presidio. You can get there easily by bike and there's a bus nearby. One end of the beach is frequented by nude sunbathers, forewarned is forearmed.

Sunday in Golden Gate Park - On Sundays cars are banned from the eastern part of Golden Gate Park, it's a great time to enjoy the park and its cultural institutions. Go for brunch on Haight Street (ground zero for San Francisco's Summer of Love), walk west on Haight exploring the shops to Golden Gate Park. Don't miss the new DeYoung Art Museum, especially the observation tower. If you are adventurous you can walk all the way to Ocean Beach. See my Mission - Haight - Golden Gate ParkTour.

Sushi - San Francisco is a great place to eat sushi. The area's large Japanese population and huge foodie culture means that sushi is high quality, fresh and (relatively) inexpensive. There are many good sushi restaurants throughout the city. If you want a bit more of the Japanese flavor visit the Japantown area Post/Laguna where there is a mall with Japanese oriented shops (including the famous Kabuki Japanese Baths). Walk over to Fillmore Street for interesting shops and restaurants. A favorite sushi restaurant is Toraya Sushi Bar and Grill located at 1914 Fillmore between Bush and Pine, it's only open for dinner.

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