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Madrone Art Bar
Art Gallery / Bar / Club / Lounge
With its Burberry-plaid and gold-plated AK-47 over the bar and a mirror-covered bomb standing in for a disco ball, Madrone Art Bar already eschews the typical club look. Add to this a jumbled hodgepodge of paintings, sculptures, and video displays, a few snaking wooden chandeliers, and wildly varied music, and it’s no wonder so many people love to get down at this multi-faceted medium of merrymaking.
Mismatched chairs surround the tiled dance floor, while a movie screen and a DJ booth bookend the always changing exhibits of new local art – although the mounted buck with machine gun antlers and the beat-up piano are there to stay.
Neighborhood artists, casual hipsters, and blue-collar types all drop in for daily Happy Hour specials, creating a mellow early evening scene that serves as the perfect backdrop for the inevitable college kids plinking away on their laptops and the hoodie-clad intellectuals dissecting the latest abstract display.
The need for a dance floor is obvious by 9pm, however, as live bands, DJs, jazz sessions, dance lessons, and even a piano man consistently pack the…
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The Monk's Kettle
Bar / Gastropub
Though it’s named in honor of Trappist monks who brew some of the finest craft beers in the world, The Monk’s Kettle is far too busy to pass for a monastery.
The cozy gastropub’s carved hardwood bar, Beaux-Arts booths, and vintage lighting give it more of a classy European café vibe, setting it apart from the dives that dominate the block.
Steins and chalices lie ready on the racks behind the bar, as is befitting an establishment whose beer menu runs several pages, while detailed food specials are scrawled across large chalkboards above the open kitchen.
Given the venue’s size, regulars expect the place to be busy, and patrons often wait an hour before they can tuck behind the marble dividers that separate the window booths from the bar.
Rabble-rousing party types tend to eschew the joint, especially since nothing harder than champagne is available, making it an ideal stop for refined foodies and cultured groups of hip but low-key friends.
Menu items include everything from higher-end snacks like fried oysters to full entrées like braised short ribs, each paired…
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Twin Peaks
Landmark / Outdoor Activity
The pair of hills that make up Twin Peaks aren’t the tallest in San Francisco, but they easily offer the most expansive city views.
Bikers and die-hard joggers are usually the first to wind past the last few houses on Twin Peaks Boulevard, where they enjoy sixty-four acres of largely undeveloped natural space.
As the afternoon sun dissipates the fog, busloads of tourists spill onto Christmas Tree Point near the summits with cameras in hand, ready to snap the postcard vistas of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, the panoramic ring of mountains surrounding the bay, and the glistening Downtown skyline.
Dedicated photographers scramble up the nearby summits to eke out a view of the Peninsula to the south or the hazy horizon of the Pacific Ocean, or simply to stare up in awe at the spindly Sutro Tower – a giant communications tower that’s almost as iconic to San Francisco as the Golden Gate.
Sightseers tend to remain at the Point, which frees up the rest of the area for hikers and naturalists, and while savvy guests know that…
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The Buena Vista
Historic Bar / Restaurant
There may be a full bar at The Buena Vista, but the endless procession of tourists who pack into this long-standing Fisherman’s Wharf institution usually stick to Irish coffee. The trend began back in the 1950s, when owner Jack Koeppler returned from a vacation to Ireland determined to develop his own version of the stuff.
Nowadays, the drink is so popular that the white-haired and white-coated bartenders just line up a slew of glasses on the bar, spilling coffee and a heavy hand of Irish whiskey into each – and all over the floor – before topping with heavy cream.
The walls are covered in articles touting the health benefits of the signature drink, but neither the middle-aged Midwestern sightseers nor the bleary-eyed European students seem to doubt the claims, seeing as a thousand-plus glasses get ordered on busy weekends.
Sightseers disembarking at the cable car turnaround just outside stop in to take over the worn stools by the bar or the simple tables by the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Bay, while a darker back room provides a quieter…
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Chinatown
Culture / Nightlife Area
Not only is San Francisco’s Chinatown the oldest of its kind in North America, it’s also the largest Chinese neighborhood outside of Asia, and surpasses even the Golden Gate Bridge as one of the city’s top tourist destinations.
Out-of-towners tend to stick to Grant Avenue, entering through the “Dragon Gate” at the intersection of Bush Street, where the sidewalks overflow with visitors buying up fabric, furniture, and trinkets from a seemingly endless array of kitschy shops. Sculpted dragons peer from street posts as patrons pile in to Asian Renaissance for kimonos or Asian Image for sushi-shaped candles, while China Station satiates everyone’s need for a plastic Buddha.
Further up Grant, kite stores share blocks with antique importers like Old Shanghai, where wealthy types on a decorating kick snag hand-painted cabinets and bronze incense burners that cost more than the average car.
Those craving authentic cuisine head over to Stockton Street, stopping in first at the myriad temples on Waverly Place before stumbling onto a sea of markets peddling live animals – and not for pets, either. If cooking their own…
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Baker Beach
Beach / Outdoor Activity
Incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge are undoubtedly the main draw for tourists, but postcard vistas aren’t the only reason to go to Baker Beach. A nude section, hiking trails, dense coastal forest, and a varied history all help visitors feel like they’ve escaped the bustle of the urban landscape, while the beach’s northern position on the peninsula largely protects it from high winds and crashing surf.
Tucked along the edge of the Presidio – San Francisco’s historic military compound-turned-park – the hills above Baker were army lookout posts dating back before the Civil War, and massive decommissioned artillery guns still attract history buffs.
Sunny days during the week see the area loosely populated with beach bums and families relaxing on the sand, while hikers and hardcore joggers charge up the myriad trails that run along the jagged cliffs above.
A quick walk from the main parking lot leads to the north end of the beach – the original site of the famous Burning Man festival – where Baker’s visitors are known to be a little free-spirited and a…
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San Francisco Bars, Restaurants, Clubs, Nightlife, and Events
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Explore San Francisco by neighborhood
Mission
Like many of San Francisco’s neighborhoods, The Mission has undergone considerable changes over the last several decades. The 1940s saw waves of Mexican immigrants moving in and waves of Irish and German inhabitants moving out, while the 70s marked an explosion of punk-themed establishments setting up shop. As the dot-com Internet bubble enveloped the city a few decades later, an influx of young professionals with hefty pocketbooks and demanding tastes
