Boom Boom Room
A legendary Fillmore Street club keeping blues, funk, and soul alive with nightly performances that pack the dance floor and honor the neighborhood’s musical heritage.
Restaurants
Bottom of the Hill
A legendary Potrero Hill rock club and launching pad for indie bands, offering intimate shows and a welcoming back patio for music lovers seeking authentic underground sounds.
Bourbon & Branch
The password gets you through the door. What happens after that depends on which room you end up in. San Francisco’s most committed speakeasy has been playing Prohibition since 2006.
City View Restaurant
San Francisco’s most approachable excellent dim sum. City View serves traditional cart-style dim sum in a welcoming space, perfect for first-timers and regulars alike.
El Farolito
The Mission’s late-night legend. El Farolito has been serving San Francisco’s best 2 AM carne asada burritos for decades. When the bars close, this is where the city goes.
Flour + Water
The Mission’s destination pasta restaurant. Flour + Water’s handmade pasta and seasonal California-Italian cooking helped put San Francisco on the national food map. Reserve ahead, it’s worth the effort.
Foreign Cinema
Movies projected on the wall while you eat California-Mediterranean cuisine in a converted warehouse courtyard. Foreign Cinema has been one of the Mission’s most beloved destination restaurants for over 25 years.
Golden Boy Pizza
Thick Sicilian style squares from a North Beach institution since 1978. The clam and garlic slice is legendary. Cash only, late hours, no frills.
Good Mong Kok Bakery
The char siu bao here might be the best in San Francisco. Expect lines, cash only, and no frills at this Stockton Street institution.
Hang Ah Tea Room
The oldest dim sum restaurant in America, hidden in a Chinatown alley since 1920. Hang Ah Tea Room serves hand-made dumplings the old-fashioned way. No carts, no spectacle, just excellent food.
House of Nanking
Let the owner order for you at this Chinatown institution. Unconventional service, generous portions, and food that keeps people coming back for decades.
La Taqueria
Fifty years of no rice burritos have made this Mission Street counter a San Francisco institution. The carne asada dorado style sets the standard.
Liguria Bakery
Operating since 1911, this cash only North Beach bakery makes one thing perfectly: focaccia. Get there early before they sell out.
Mister Jiu’s
James Beard Award-winning Chinese-American fine dining in the heart of Chinatown. Chef Brandon Jiu’s cooking honors Cantonese tradition while embracing California’s farm-to-table ethos.
Old Ship Saloon
The bar sits on what used to be a ship. The Arkansas ran aground during the Gold Rush, and instead of salvaging it, someone built a saloon inside. The drinks have been flowing since 1851.
Papalote Mexican Grill
The Mission taqueria known for doing things right. Papalote’s roasted tomato salsa is legendary, their ingredients are sustainable, and their burritos are some of the best in San Francisco.
R&G Lounge
James Beard Award-winning Cantonese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. R&G Lounge’s legendary salt and pepper crab draws food lovers from around the world, and the rest of the menu is just as impressive.
Sam Wo
The oldest restaurant in Chinatown, serving soul-warming congee and noodles for over 100 years. Sam Wo survived earthquakes, fires, and closure, and the food is still as good as ever.
Sotto Mare
This tiny North Beach counter serves legendary cioppino and fresh seafood. No reservations, long waits, and worth every minute.
Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe
Hidden in a North Beach alley since 1968, Specs’ is part dive bar, part museum, part clubhouse for misfits. The walls are covered in maritime artifacts and union banners. The cheese plate is seven dollars. The stories are free.
Taqueria Cancún
The other half of the Mission’s great burrito debate. Taqueria Cancún’s carnitas and carne asada have been fueling San Francisco since 1986. Order the super burrito and pick a side.
Tartine Bakery
The bakery that launched San Francisco’s sourdough obsession. Get the morning bun early, the country bread at 5 PM, and time your visit to skip the line.
The Saloon
San Francisco’s oldest bar has poured drinks since 1861, survived the 1906 earthquake (maybe), and still hosts live blues every night. The beers are cheap, the history is real, and the stories get better the longer you stay.
Tonga Room
A tiki bar in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel where it rains indoors every twenty minutes and the band floats on a lagoon. San Francisco has been escaping reality here since 1945.
Tony’s Pizza Napoletana
Thirteen time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani’s North Beach restaurant serves seven regional styles of pizza, each executed at the highest level.
Tosca Cafe
North Beach institution since 1919. Tosca invented its boozy house cappuccino to survive Prohibition and has hosted Hunter S. Thompson, Bono, and a century’s worth of San Francisco characters ever since.
Vesuvio Cafe
The Beat Generation made this North Beach bar their unofficial headquarters in the 1950s. Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Cassady drank here. The stained glass, vintage décor, and literary ghosts remain.
Zeitgeist
Two hundred people drinking in a gravel lot behind a Mission dive bar. The burgers are cheap, the beer list is long, and nobody cares what you look like. San Francisco’s best beer garden since 1977.
Zuni Café
The roast chicken for two defines San Francisco dining. Order it first thing and spend the hour exploring a menu built on California Italian principles.