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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Nob Hill

0 restaurants 3 things to do
The Embarcadero

0 restaurants 4 things to do
The Castro

0 restaurants 6 things to do
Chinatown

7 restaurants 3 things to do
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Where to Eat

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Good Mong Kok Bakery

Get the char siu bao and egg tarts while they're hot. Bring cash and be ready to point at what you want. Best before 10 AM on weekdays when the cases are fully stocked.

$ Chinatown Chinese Bakery

R&G Lounge

The salt and pepper crab is the move. Bring four people so you can order it plus three or four other dishes family-style. Reserve for the downstairs room if you want tablecloths, upstairs for energy.

$$$ Chinatown Chinese, Cantonese, Seafood

Foreign Cinema

Book a courtyard table for weekend brunch, it's the best setting. Start with oysters, get the roasted chicken, and don't skip the baked-to-order cookies. Bar seats are your walk-in backup plan.

$$$ The Mission District California-Mediterranean

City View Restaurant

No more carts since the 2023 move. You order from a menu now, which means food comes out hotter. Har gow and green onion pancake are the standouts. Go weekday lunch to avoid the weekend wait, or try Friday/Saturday dinner for something different.

$$ Chinatown Chinese, Dim Sum
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Things to Do

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Classic

SFJAZZ Center

The best jazz venue on the West Coast, period. The main auditorium has perfect acoustics and the smaller Joe Henderson Lab books emerging artists. Grab a drink at the lobby bar before the show. Season memberships give you priority booking and discounts.

$$$
Classic

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

Free to watch but they'll charge you 50 cents for a photo. Bag of fresh cookies is a couple dollars. In Ross Alley off Jackson Street. Takes five minutes but it's memorable.

$
Classic

Monarch

A SoMa club with two floors: a lounge bar upstairs and a dance floor in the basement. The downstairs room books solid DJs on weekends. Upstairs is good for conversation and cocktails. Friday and Saturday nights get crowded after 11pm.

$
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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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