Your SF Guide

Curated by a local tour guide. No ads, no fluff—just honest recommendations from someone who shows people around this city every day.

First Time? Eat & Drink Neighborhoods This Week Day Trips

Neighborhoods

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The Richmond

The Richmond stretches from Arguello to Ocean Beach, foggy and quiet, with some of the best food in…

4 restaurants 29 things to do
The Mission District

Sunny-afternoon Mission. Burrito at La Taqueria, murals on Balmy Alley, park at Dolores, dinner on Valencia.

11 restaurants 21 things to do
The Embarcadero

The 1989 earthquake collapsed the Embarcadero Freeway and gave San Francisco back its waterfront.

2 restaurants 4 things to do
Hayes Valley

A compact neighborhood of independent shops, top restaurants, and performing arts venues that emerged after the 1989 earthquake…

1 restaurants 1 things to do
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Where to Eat

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City View Restaurant

No more carts since the 2023 move. You order from a menu now and the food comes out hotter. Har gow and green onion pancake are the standouts. Friday and Saturday dinner runs 5 to 8:30 PM and is much quieter than weekend dim sum lunch.

$$ Chinatown Chinese, Dim Sum

Hang Ah Tea Room

Go at lunch on a weekday when you can get a table without waiting. Order the har gow and pot stickers. Finding the alley entrance off Sacramento Street is part of the fun.

$ Chinatown Chinese, Dim Sum

The Rotunda

Go for the room as much as the food. The stained-glass rotunda is worth seeing even if you just order tea. It's one of the few dining rooms in SF that genuinely surprises people.

$$$ American

Mister Jiu’s

Book the tasting menu through Resy at least two weeks out. The whole roasted duck needs 48-hour advance notice and is the best thing on the menu. Walk-ins should try the bar early in the evening.

$$$$ Chinatown Chinese, Cantonese, Fine Dining
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Things to Do

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Classic

Green Apple Books

Go with time to browse. The used section upstairs is where the real discoveries happen. Clement Street around the store has some of the best food in the Richmond.

$
Classic

Alvord Lake Bridge

Easy to walk right past without noticing. Look for the fake stalactites hanging from the arch at the Haight Street entrance to Golden Gate Park near Stanyan. One of the first reinforced concrete bridges in America.

free
Classic

Clement Street Farmers Market

Sunday mornings, 9 AM to 2 PM on Clement Street in the Richmond. Combine it with dim sum and a walk through one of the best food shopping streets in the city. Year-round, rain or shine.

30 minutes - 1 hour Free entry
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Written by someone who actually does this every day

I've been a San Francisco tour guide for years. These aren't hot takes from a travel writer who flew in for a weekend—they're the answers I give people every single day.

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