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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Marina District

The Marina spreads along the waterfront where San Francisco meets the bay.

1 restaurants 7 things to do
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 Embarcadero

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

2 restaurants 4 things to do
Chinatown

Chinatown is the oldest in North America and one of the largest outside Asia, built to its current…

9 restaurants 5 things to do
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Where to Eat

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Nopalito

Order the carnitas tacos with house-made tortillas, plus the pozole rojo. The Mexican spinoff from the Nopa team since 2009.

Mexican

Tacos El Patron

The quesabirria with consomme is the order. Handmade tortillas make the difference. Go for lunch on a weekday.

$ Mexican

Coco Bang

One of the few legitimate late-night dining options in SF. The spicy tofu soup and short rib BBQ are the two essential orders. Dine in for the tabletop grill experience.

$$ Korean

Sam’s Grill & Seafood Restaurant

Request a curtained booth. Order the sand dabs or rex sole. This is one of the last restaurants in the city that still operates like it did 50 years ago, and it won't be around forever.

$$$ Seafood
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Things to Do

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Classic

Vermont Street

Seven switchbacks between 20th and 22nd Streets on Potrero Hill. Curvier than Lombard Street but with no tourists, no flowers, just cracked asphalt. Free, always open, and you'll probably have it to yourself.

free
Classic

Alemany Farmers Market

Saturdays starting at 6 AM. California's first farmers market, running since 1943. No frills, lowest prices in the city. Off Alemany Boulevard near the 280 freeway. Bring cash and your own bags.

30 minutes - 1 hour Free entry
Classic

Claude the Albino Alligator

Inside the California Academy of Sciences Swamp exhibit, so you need museum admission. Claude is usually resting during the day. Fewer than 100 albino alligators exist worldwide. A quick stop while exploring the Academy.

$$
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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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