San Francisco
From Mission burritos and North Beach espresso to Lands End trails and the Castro, here are our local picks for eating, exploring, and staying in San Francisco.
Browse San Francisco
Mission
Ask a San Franciscan where to settle the great burrito debate and many will send you here, to a Mission counter that has been at it for over five decades. La Taqueria makes its burritos rice-free, foc
Outer Richmond
This rugged stretch of coast is where the city meets the Pacific, with the Coastal Trail winding past cypress groves, hidden beaches and the haunting ruins of the old Sutro Baths. On a clear day you c
Mission District
Dolores Park is where San Francisco comes to lounge on a sunny day, and the sloping south end frames a postcard view of the downtown skyline. Locals stake out the grassy hill with picnics, dogs and th
Tenderloin
Built in 1956 as the Caravan Lodge and reborn in 1987 as the city’s rock-and-roll inn, the Phoenix has hosted touring musicians from David Bowie to Kurt Cobain around its palm-fringed heated pool. The
Mission
Why it matters: Reem’s California grew from a farmers-market stand (incubated by nonprofit La Cocina) into a Mission bakery led by Palestinian-Syrian chef and former labor organizer Reem Assil, who ce
Chinatown & citywide
Why it matters: SF City Guides is a nonprofit founded in 1978 and sponsored by the San Francisco Public Library, with tours led entirely by trained volunteers and offered free of charge, though donati
SoMa
One of the largest modern and contemporary art museums in the country, SFMOMA spreads seven gallery floors across a dramatic Snohetta-designed expansion, plus a free-to-enter living wall and sculpture
North Beach
One of the last true budget beds near Fisherman’s Wharf, the San Remo has run as a family-owned Italian pensione since it rose from the 1906 earthquake. Most rooms are cozy and share spotless bathroom
Polk Gulch
Locals have been squeezing onto the same 18 wooden stools since the Sancimino family took over this marble-countered seafood depot in 1946 (it first opened as Swan in 1912). There’s no kitchen to spea
Mission
Founded by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, this corner Mission bakery helped define modern San Francisco baking and won James Beard recognition along the way. People queue for the morning buns,
Financial District
Why it matters: The Barrel Room is co-owned by sommeliers Sarah Trubnick and Carolyn Johnson, a woman-owned wine bar with a deep focus on small American producers you rarely see by the glass. The spac
Divisadero / NoPa
Locals love The Independent for its sightlines and sound in a room that holds only a few hundred people, so even bigger touring acts feel intimate. The calendar swings from indie rock and hip-hop to e
North Beach
Billed as the oldest bar in San Francisco, The Saloon is a cash-friendly North Beach dive that has been pouring since the Barbary Coast days and still books live blues and jazz seven days a week. It i
Twin Peaks
At roughly 900 feet up, Twin Peaks gives you the whole city laid out in one sweep, from downtown to the bay and out to the ocean on clear days. Locals come for sunset and, if they’re lucky, a break in
Downtown, Mission & citywide
Why it matters: Wild SF Tours is an artist- and activist-led company co-founded by Wes Leslie and J. Jo, built around telling ‘the people’s history’ and centering women, queer folks, people of color a