City Lights Booksellers & Publishers

Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights was the country’s first all-paperback bookstore and remains fiercely independent, still publishing under its own imprint. Locals treasure it for the deep poetry room upstairs and shelves of small-press and political titles you won’t find in chains. The store stays open late most nights, so it’s a good after-dinner stop when strolling North Beach.