Places I actually send people on tour. Lists get updated constantly.
Eat
4 picksBest Pizza in San FranciscoWhere to go for pizza: three in North Beach within a ten minute walk of each other, and one out in the Marina.Eat7 picksBest Bakeries in San FranciscoA James Beard Outstanding Baker, a focaccia oven that has been running since 1911, and a donut counter that never closes.Eat7 picksBest Chinatown Eats in San FranciscoDumpling counters, roast meat windows and a Michelin-starred dining room, all packed into about six blocks.Eat5 picksBest Seafood and Oysters in San FranciscoCounters and dining rooms for oysters, cioppino and crab, including one that predates California statehood.Eat8 picksOldest Restaurants in San FranciscoThe city burned down in 1906. These are the kitchens that can prove a date earlier than that and are still serving.Eat6 picksBest Late-Night Food in San FranciscoMost of the city stops serving food by eight. These are the kitchens that keep going.Eat15 picksPlaces Anthony Bourdain Ate in San FranciscoAnthony Bourdain said he did not trust anyone who did not like San Francisco. These are the places he filmed in, all still open.Eat
Drink
10 picksBest Dive Bars in San FranciscoAn 1861 saloon, a Chinatown basement from 1937, and the rest of the rooms nobody has got round to renovating.Drink8 picksBest Rooftop Bars in San FranciscoDrinks above street level: heated terraces, firepits, and a few small decks most people walk straight past.Drink11 picksBest Cocktail Bars in San FranciscoSomewhere to drink when you want it made properly, whether that is a Mission storefront or a hotel bar downtown.Drink12 picksOldest Bars in San FranciscoA saloon on Grant open since 1861, a Chinatown basement from 1937, and a tiki bar with indoor rainstorms.Drink
See and Do
20 picksBest Things to Do in San FranciscoThe short list. If you only have two or three days, this is what they should be spent on.See and Do19 picksBest Neighborhoods to Explore in San FranciscoChinatown is the oldest in North America. Japantown is one of only three left in the country.See and Do8 picksBest Views in San FranciscoThe de Young's observation tower is free to walk into. Battery Spencer puts the whole bridge below you.See and Do15 picksBest Museums in San FranciscoFrom the two institutions that swallow an entire day to the free oddity on Polk Street that takes about fifteen minutes.See and Do12 picksBest Self-Guided Walks in San FranciscoRoutes with directions, timings and somewhere to eat at the end. Ninety minutes to three hours each.See and Do12 picksBest Things to Do with Kids in San FranciscoPlaces that hold a child's attention for longer than ten minutes, with the free and indoor ones flagged in each write-up.See and Do10 picksFoggy Day San Francisco: Best Indoor Things to DoIndoor plans for when the fog refuses to lift, including which museums are free and on which day.See and Do12 picksWeird & Offbeat San FranciscoA pipe organ played by the tide, tombstones built into a seawall, and gold circles marking cisterns buried under the street.See and Do19 picksFamous Movie Locations in San FranciscoWhere Vertigo, Dirty Harry and The Rock were shot, from the bridge and Coit Tower to the Mission Dolores cemetery and the row of Victorians on Steiner Street.See and Do
Free and Outdoors
15 picksBest Free Things to Do in San FranciscoWalking the bridge. The Coit Tower murals. The Tea Garden before ten. Free outright, not free with a catch.Free and Outdoors8 picksBest Gardens and Green Escapes in San FranciscoGardens and green pockets to disappear into, including a garden planted for scent and a redwood grove downtown.Free and Outdoors9 picksBest Beaches and Coastal Walks in San FranciscoCold water, hard currents and some of the best walking in the city. Bring layers rather than a swimsuit.Free and Outdoors9 picksBest Staircase Walks in San FranciscoThe city has around six hundred public staircases. These are the mosaic runs and the Telegraph Hill climbs worth doing.Free and Outdoors8 picksBest Farmers Markets in San FranciscoSorted by the day they run, from Alemany, going since 1943, to the Ferry Building on a Saturday morning.Free and Outdoors
Nightlife and Culture
15 picksBest Live Music Venues in San FranciscoWhere to hear a band in this city, from a frescoed 1907 hall to rooms that hold a couple of hundred people.Nightlife and Culture7 picksBest Comedy and Cabaret in San FranciscoTouring headliners, drag brunch, improv, and the back rooms where new material gets tried out first.Nightlife and Culture12 picksBest Theaters in San FranciscoSome of these are worth going to for the building alone, whatever happens to be playing.Nightlife and Culture13 picksBest Nightclubs and Dance Floors in San FranciscoDance floors picked for the sound system and the room itself. Mostly SoMa, the rest in the Mission.Nightlife and Culture14 picksSan Francisco Bars and Restaurants in the MoviesTosca Cafe in Basic Instinct, House of Nanking in The Matrix Resurrections, Aub Zam Zam in Blue Jasmine: the bars and dining rooms where film and TV crews set up.Nightlife and Culture
Shop and Unwind
15 picksBest Vintage Shops in San FranciscoRacks worth digging through, from the Haight and Valencia out to the quieter shops on Clement.Shop and Unwind10 picksBest Bookstores and Record Stores in San FranciscoBookshops and record stores, from the one that published Howl to a dealer who opens on Saturdays for 78s.Shop and Unwind5 picksBest Bathhouses and Saunas in San FranciscoSteam rooms, saunas and cold plunges, and what each one is actually like once you are inside.Shop and Unwind
