SF
Guide

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

Neighborhoods

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The Castro

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

The Embarcadero is the waterfront promenade along the eastern edge of San Francisco, running from Fisherman's Wharf to…
The Tenderloin

The Tenderloin is one of the densest neighborhoods in San Francisco.
North Beach

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

Where to Eat

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Foreign Cinema

Films from the 1960s and 1970s projected on the courtyard wall.

The Mission District California-Mediterranean

R&G Lounge

Anthony Bourdain featured this Chinatown Cantonese restaurant on No Reservations.

Chinatown Chinese, Cantonese, Seafood

Swan Oyster Depot

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

Nob Hill Seafood

Scoma’s

Seafood goes from dock to kitchen with no middleman.

Fisherman's Wharf Seafood

Things to Do

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Mission Dolores Cemetery

The cemetery at Mission Dolores, the oldest in San Francisco. Hitchcock filmed Madeleine visiting Carlotta Valdes's grave here in Vertigo (1958); the prop headstone is gone, but the spot is unchanged.

The Mission DistrictHistoric Sites

Wave Organ

A sound installation built in May 1986 by Peter Richards of the Exploratorium with master mason George Gonzales, made of 25 PVC pipes and stone salvaged from the demolished Laurel Hill Cemetery. Free, open around the clock, on the jetty past the St. Francis Yacht Club. The sound is stronger at high tide; check NOAA tide tables before you go.

Marina DistrictQuirky & Offbeat

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