SF
Guide

Curated by a local tour guide.
What I recommend on tour, collected in one place.

Neighborhoods

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Marina District

The Marina spreads along the northern waterfront.
The Castro

The Castro was farmland called Eureka Valley before becoming San Francisco's gay neighborhood in the late 1960s and…
North Beach

North Beach is named for a beach that was filled in during the 19th century. It became San…
Nob Hill

Nob Hill is a residential and hotel district at the summit of the hill.

Where to Eat

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Scoma’s

Seafood goes from dock to kitchen with no middleman.

Fisherman's Wharf Seafood

Hon’s Wun-Tun House

Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup with hand-wrapped wontons and clean broth. So Tasty!

Chinatown Chinese

Swan Oyster Depot

Anthony Bourdain called this his favorite seafood spot in America on No Reservations.

Nob Hill Seafood

b. patisserie

James Beard Outstanding Baker award winner

Pacific Heights Bakery

Things to Do

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Musée Mécanique

More than 300 antique arcade machines in a private collection at Pier 45. Includes Laffing Sal (the laughing machine that stood at Playland at the Beach from 1928 to 1972). Ed Zelinsky started the collection as a child; his son Dan now runs it. Free. Machines cost $0.25–$1.00 per play. Bring quarters.

Fisherman’s WharfMuseums

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

A Chinatown shop hand-folding fortune cookies on motorized griddles since August 1962. Owner Franklin Yee runs the place, designated a SF Legacy Business in 2016. Free to watch the workers slip paper fortunes onto warm discs before folding; $0.50 per photo, $17 a box of cookies, $10 a bag of flat unfolded ones.

ChinatownQuirky & Offbeat

GLBT Historical Society Museum

America's first standalone LGBTQ history museum, in the Castro, about 1,600 square feet. Exhibits draw on more than 1,000 items from the GLBT Historical Society's collection; past displays included Harvey Milk's camera and artifacts from the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riot. $10, free the first Wednesday of each month. An expansion on Market Street was approved by the Board of Supervisors in late 2024.

The CastroMuseums