Things to See and Do
Record Shops
Ameoba Records — Haight at Stanyan — The largest Bay Area record shop occupies a huge space in an old bowling alley at the end of Haight Street. Be warned: You'll probably spend lots of money here. See also the Haight neighborhood.
Aquarius Records — Valencia & 21st St. — Aquarius is the Ameoba's polar opposite, a small record store staffed by music obsessives and stocked with music they like with hand-written reviews taped to the CDs in the bin. See also the Mission neighborhood.
Mod Lang Records — 2136 University Ave. at Shattuck Ave in Berkeley — The Bay Area's best import shop is on the other side of the Bay, but it's easy to get to on BART. Hop BART to the Berkeley station and walk north on Shattuck (turn right when stepping out of the station) for a few blocks. Take a right again at University Ave. It's on the last block of University Ave before the University. Stop by the comic stop next store too; it's pretty good.
Neighborhoods
The Mission — is your guide-writer's favorite part of town. Most of the fun stuff is on Valencia and Mission St between 16th St. and 24th St.
While you're in the Mission, you might want to:
- Have a burrito
- Visit Aquarius Records
- Visit San Francisco's only pirate store at 826 Valencia and the bizarre Victorian-taxidermy-art of Paxton Gate right next door
- Visit Otsu, San Francisco's vegan fashion boutique (which is on 16th St near Guerrero)
- Have some Indian pizza at Zante Pizza on Mission St. near Cortland Ave (which is just south of 30th St)
The Haight (or the Upper Haight, or the Haight-Ashbury) — stretches along Haight St from Buena Vista Park to Golden Gate Park and needs no introduction. There's a dozen shoe boutiques and a few head shops. Also of note:
- Ameoba Records, of course
- Around the corner from Ameoba, on Shrader St, the Giant Robot store.
- For more robots (vinyl miniatures, actually), stop at Kid Robot on Haight near Ashbury
Chinatown — which is a beautiful chaotic clog of people. You may want to check out:
- Chinatown Kites at 717 Grant Ave. near Sacramento St. Strike up a conversation with the shop owners! They have much kite-wisdom to share.
- Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company in Ross Ally near Grant & Jackson. Also check out all the famous people who got their hair cut at Jun Yu's barber shop next door.
- Get your MSG at Sam Wo's at 813 Washington St near Grant. The kitchen's on the bottom floor and the food comes up on a dumb waiter, which is pretty cool.
- Have a maitai with a great view of Coit Tower at the Empress of China at 838 Grant near Washington. Also look at all the famous people who used to come here in the 70's and 80's. The food's not so good anymore, which is probably why famous people stopped coming.
Near the Rickshaw (also known as the Tenderloin) — is no one's favorite part of town. But there's some good stuff not too far away:
- Canto Do Brazil at 41 Franklin near Market St. is a tasty Brazilian restaurant
- Saigon Sandwiches at 560 Larkin near Eddy St is a bit of a walk from the Rickshaw (and it isn't open late) but their Vietnamese sandwiches are incredible and only cost a couple of dollars. The best food deal in the city.
Random
Burritos — We really think you should have a burrito in the Mission while you're here. The best burrito in the Mission is debated fiercely, but here are some top picks: Cancun on Mission St & 19th St, La Taqueria on Mission @ 25th St, El Farolito on Mission @ 24th St.
The Ocean — No one goes to the ocean in San Francisco. It's too cold and foggy in the summer. But if you want to go anyway, catch the N-Judah line out to Ocean Beach.
Isotope Comics — Your guide-writer, truth be told, isn't much of a comic geek. But people who are recommend Isotope Comics, which is inconveniently located in the Outer Sunset on Noriega near 24th Ave (which is not 24th St). Take the N-Judah line towards the ocean and walk down 24th Ave to get here.
RobotSpeak — an awesome computer music store tucked in the basement of a Victorian in the Lower Haight (Haight @ Steiner)