North Beach
About North Beach
North Beach is the historic Italian neighborhood between Chinatown and the waterfront.
About North Beach (Little Italy)
City Lights Bookstore was opened in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin. City Lights Publishers, the affiliated press, published Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” in 1956. The bookstore is independently owned and open daily, 10 AM to 10 PM.
Washington Square Park is a great place for picnics. Saints Peter and Paul Church is next to the park. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were photographed on the church steps after their January 14, 1954 wedding at San Francisco City Hall. (The church declined to perform the wedding ceremony because DiMaggio was divorced.)
Coit Tower stands on Telegraph Hill at the eastern edge of North Beach. The 1930s WPA murals inside depict California labor, agriculture, and industry; their political content was controversial at the time of installation. The platform at the top of the tower has a 360-degree view of the bay.
The Character
A number of long-running businesses still operate in the neighborhood. Liguria Bakery across from Washington Square has been a North Beach bakery since 1911 and has specialized only in focaccia. Caffè Trieste at Vallejo and Grant runs live opera most Saturday afternoons; the Giotta family started the tradition in 1956. Dear San Francisco is a brilliant 90 min performance i highly suggest!
Broadway has the city’s main concentration of strip clubs, which have operated for several decades, including the Condor, where Carol Doda performed in 1964.
Vesuvio Cafe at 255 Columbus, next door to City Lights, is a bar associated with the Beat writers. Jack Kerouac Alley, the alley between Vesuvio and City Lights, has quotations from Kerouac and other writers embedded in the pavement along with cool murals.
How to Move Through North Beach
A common loop: start at Washington Square, walk the perimeter, then head south on Columbus past Caffè Trieste, Tony’s Pizza, and Molinari Delicatessen. City Lights and Vesuvio are at Columbus and Broadway. South of Broadway is Chinatown.
For Coit Tower, the Filbert Steps run up the east side of Telegraph Hill from Sansome Street. The staircase passes through gardens and small cottages.
Getting There
Muni buses: the 30 Stockton runs from Union Square through Chinatown into North Beach. The 8 Bayshore runs along Columbus. The 45 Union crosses east-west through Washington Square.
The F Market streetcar runs from Castro along Market to the Embarcadero and up to Fisherman’s Wharf. From Pier 39 or Bay Street, it’s a five-minute walk south into North Beach.
Walking from downtown: walk up Columbus from the Transamerica Pyramid. Fifteen minutes, mostly flat until Broadway.
On-street parking is limited. The Vallejo Street garage (great views on 5th floor!) and the Stockton-Sutter garage are the main parking options.
Upcoming Events
Where to Eat
All restaurants →
Sam’s Burgers
Anthony Bourdain ate here on The Layover and called it "top three in the world." plus It's great for late night food after the bar.
Capo’s
Tony Gemignani's Chicago style pizzeria North Beach near his Napoletana flagship.
Butter & Crumble
Great bakery in North Beach but very long lines.
Sotto Mare
Great Italian seafood in North Beach. Known for their Cioppino.
Golden Boy Pizza
Thick focaccia-based crust pizza in North Beach
Liguria Bakery
Liguria Bakery makes one thing: focaccia bread since 1911.
Where to Drink
All bars →
15 Romolo
Industry-veteran bartenders. Order bartender's choice.
Comstock Saloon
Order the Pisco Punch. Live jazz and a sawdust floor.
Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe
A Legacy Business down an alley off Columbus. The menu is cheese and saltines.
Vesuvio Cafe
Kerouac's bar. Order The Jack Kerouac and take a window upstairs.
The Saloon
The city's oldest bar. Come for the live blues.
Tosca Cafe
Order the house cappuccino: brandy, chocolate, steamed milk, no coffee.
Things to Do
All activities →
WORK Vintage
Small North Beach vintage shop at 1445 Grant Avenue with a notable menswear selection for its size. Within a few blocks of Vacation and other Grant Avenue vintage stores for a North Beach vintage walk.
Vacation
North Beach vintage shop at 1499 Grant Avenue with larger-than-usual vintage t-shirt and shoe sections, plus designer vintage and jewelry. Open daily until 8pm.
Missing Audrey Vintage
Small vintage shop at 1767 Stockton, on the seam between North Beach and Chinatown, with rotating one-of-a-kind stock that changes with whatever the owner has brought in. Thursday through Sunday.
Dear San Francisco
Created by Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider, two co-founders of Montreal's The 7 Fingers (Les 7 Doigts), as a tribute to their hometown. A 90-minute circus show that opened October 12, 2021 at Club Fugazi, the North Beach theater that hosted Beach Blanket Babylon from 1975 to 2019. 678 Green Street; tickets from around $59.
Beat Museum
Two floors of original Beat manuscripts, letters, and ephemera tracing the movement from Columbia University through the 1955 Six Gallery reading where Ginsberg debuted "Howl." Half a block from City Lights. 540 Broadway in North Beach, $8 adults, daily 10am to 7pm.
Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Naturalized flock of cherry-headed conures (Aratinga erythrogenys) living on Telegraph Hill since at least the early 1990s, made famous by the 2003 documentary and book "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" by Mark Bittner. Easy to hear, harder to spot. Try late afternoon near Coit Tower and the Filbert Steps; March through July is nesting season. Free.
