The Best Places in San Francisco

La Espiga de Oro is a Mission District mash-up of butcher counter, bakery, and Mexican restaurant, open early enough that the neighborhood is still deciding about coffee. The breakfast burrito is mostly chorizo, with the eggs and cheese showing up like guests who weren't sure they were invited. It's a few dollars, it's counter service, and it works as a full week's worth of protein, so plan the rest of your day around it.

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Montesacro is a casual Roman pizzeria that bakes its pies in ovals, which is less a gimmick than a reminder that circles are not the only legal shape. The crust runs crisp, bubbly, and light, and the menu is long enough that nobody at the table gets stuck with a compromise. Service moves fast and the room swallows groups easily, which suits the pre-show crowd heading to the Orpheum.

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A rotisserie truck that parks at the Ferry Building farmers market a few days a week, where chickens spin overhead and the potatoes below get basted in whatever drips down. The line is long and orderly, mostly people who've already decided what they're getting. The porchetta sandwich arrives on a soft Acme bun with crackling skin, and the rosemary sea salt is there for the asking.

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San Tung is a Chinese spot on Irving Street where the fried chicken wings, sticky and sweet and shatteringly crisp, show up on nearly every table in a dining room that's always full. The noise level forgives toddlers and tired grown-ups alike. Order a few plates of wings up front, since one round never survives a family-sized table, and expect to wait for a seat.

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Square Pie Guys is a casual Detroit-style pizzeria in SoMa where the pies come rectangular, with a crust that's thick but somehow light and a cheddar edge baked to a crunch. The pepperoni curls into little cups, and the hot honey gets placed with the care of someone hanging a museum show. It's counter-service, with wings, beer, and canned cocktails, and the takeout side runs like a pit crew.

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A Beaux-Arts building that used to be the city's main library now holds one of the largest Asian art collections in the Western hemisphere, spanning India, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and beyond. Pottery, weapons, calligraphy, snuff bottles, and a fully reconstructed Japanese tearoom share space with a standout Chinese bronze collection. The redesigned galleries organize the sprawl around 15 anchor masterpieces, which helps considerably.

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A neighborhood shop in the Sunset that stocks handmade home goods, locally printed graphic tees, and vintage finds sourced from local makers and the occasional road trip. It has the feel of a very good flea market find without requiring you to actually dig through one. The shirts are designed and printed in San Francisco on US-made blanks, which is either a detail you care about deeply or proof that you do now.

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The shelves at this Eastern European deli and market run floor to ceiling with imported snacks, spices, and things you won't find at a regular grocery store. Grab a piroshki from the deli counter, a yeasted hand pie stuffed with beef and cheese, and ask them to warm it. The samsas and chebureki are worth the indecision. A courtyard out front makes it easy to eat standing up, which is probably for the best given the portions.

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A long strip of sand tucked beneath the Presidio's bluffs, with the Golden Gate close enough to feel like a backdrop someone forgot to take down. The surf looks inviting and is genuinely dangerous, so most people stay on dry land and enjoy the view, which is the point anyway. Fog rolls in more often than sun, so dress for it. The Sand Ladder at the north end connects to trails along the bluffs for anyone who wants to turn a beach walk into a hike.

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Fluted columns, plush banquettes, and a hand-painted dance-hall mural above a mahogany bar: Bix has been doing Great Gatsby glamour in a Gold Street alley since forever, and it has no interest in updating the brief. The cocktail menu plays it classic, which suits the room, since no one comes here for novelty. The crowd tends to dress for the occasion without being asked, which tells you most of what you need to know.

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The ferry to Sausalito leaves from Fisherman's Wharf, which means you start in the loudest possible version of San Francisco before the engine kicks in and the city quietly peels away behind you. Blue & Gold Fleet is the bay's main ferry operator, running routes to Sausalito, Oracle Park, and Chase Center. The crossing itself is the point: Coit Tower shrinking, the water coming up over the bow, the skyline doing its slow goodbye.

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Bodega is a North Beach wine bar that spends most of the week doing wine bar things and then, on Saturdays at 9am, abruptly becomes a burrito stand. The breakfast burrito comes stuffed with chorizo, eggs, avocado, and potatoes crisp enough to hear across Washington Square, and it sells out, so the alarm clock is part of the order. Sleep through it and their Cow Hollow sister bar, Celeste, serves the same thing on Sundays.

1. The Infatuation The 13 Best Breakfast Burritos In SF

This Mission counter spot is built around the breakfast burrito, a foil-wrapped brick with tater tots folded in alongside the eggs. There are five versions, and the Tia Maria swaps in fried plantains and queso fresco, which is a lot of sweetness for a burrito and somehow gets away with it. Order at the window, eat among the Mexican folk art, or carry it up toward Dolores Park and unwrap it on the grass.

1. The Infatuation The 13 Best Breakfast Burritos In SF

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Old-timey bulbs hang over leather booths inside this rock-and-roll burger joint, where the menu leans loud and the vibe leans louder. The Johnny Cash Burger piles on bacon, crisp onions, peppers, and barbecue sauce in a way that manages to feel both retro and inevitable. A lamb burger with goat cheese is there for anyone who wants to go funkier. Most people pair either with a cold beer from the full bar.

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A Korean BBQ restaurant on Geary in the Richmond where the grills burn real charcoal instead of gas, so the meat picks up smoke in the few seconds between grate and mouth. You can order a la carte or hand the decision to the two-, four-, and six-person sets, a kindness on a day your judgment has clocked out. The banchan keeps coming, and so do the japchae and soondubu, in case you thought the grill was the whole show.

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Cafe Isabella is a counter-service Mexican cafe on Taylor Street where the griddled breakfast burrito does most of the talking. Carnitas, eggs, and cheese come tightly wrapped, and adding avocado and sour cream is the polite way to make it heavier. A few sidewalk tables exist for the impatient, though the thing travels fine, which suits the Nob Hill locals who climb down from their Victorians still recovering from the night before.

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Renzo Piano gave this natural history museum and aquarium a living roof planted entirely in native California greenery, which feels appropriate for a place that houses a rainforest, a planetarium, and a penguin colony under one roof. Kids can sleep over beneath the stars and wake up next to the fish tanks. Adults get Thursday NightLife events with DJ sets and full run of the exhibits, which is a more interesting Thursday than most.

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The spaghetti arrives buried under shredded cheese that stays stubbornly unmelted, swimming in sweet sauce you'd never mistake for Italian. Chibog is a Filipino homestyle restaurant in Daly City where weekends mean families crowded around platters of crispy pata and lechon kawali. Solo diners can work through silog-style meal sets without feeling lost. The San Francisco Chronicle named it among the best restaurants on the Peninsula and South Bay.

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The oldest Chinatown in North America sprawls across 30 dense blocks, and it rewards wandering on foot more than any map can promise. Tin How Temple sits quietly on a third-floor walkup, incense thick in the air while neighbors light candles and pray. A few streets over, the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory folds cookies by hand amid whirring machinery. The lanterns and neon signs are as good as advertised, which almost never happens.

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A Chinatown noodle shop where the namesake bowl, listed plainly as "Chongqing hot numbing spicy noodles," does exactly what it promises with Sichuan pepper and red chile oil doing most of the talking. The menu is narrow by design, each strand matched to a mood, and the tan tan noodle soup goes richer and heartier for anyone who needs a reason to stay. Prices are firmly in the single digits, which explains why the stools fill fast.

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The Poetry Room upstairs has a sign inviting you to sit on the floor, which tells you everything about the kind of bookstore this is. City Lights has been a Beat landmark forever, the place that published Ginsberg's "Howl" and survived the obscenity trial that followed. Today it still publishes its own titles, leaning toward poetry and politics, alongside a well-stocked general floor that rewards serious browsing.

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Beach Blanket Babylon ran here for 45 years, which is a long shadow to step out of. Club Fugazi has done it by turning the room into something acrobatic and immersive, with tiered table seating that keeps things intimate even when the energy runs high. The bones of a grand old North Beach theater are still very much there; the production just doesn't treat them like a museum exhibit. Good date night, good out-of-towner night, good "I forgot San Francisco is fun" night.

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1. The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops In SF

The mahogany bar dates to 1906, which means it survived the earthquake and a few other things San Francisco would rather not discuss. Comstock is an old-school cocktail bar in North Beach, all wicker ceiling fans shaped like steamboat paddles, vintage drink signs, and a piano someone actually winched up to the balcony so the music drifts down. Pickled eggs and rye toast handle the eating. The martinis have a following.

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Cracked & Battered is a halal breakfast and lunch counter where the menu wanders from chicken and waffles to fried chicken benedict to nasi goreng wearing a fried egg like a hat. Order at the counter, and expect a sandwich with lemony slaw and a tangy house sauce, plus fries that don't feel like an afterthought. It's a casual, inexpensive daytime stop, and The Infatuation lists it among SF's best fried chicken sandwiches.

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A walking food tour that threads through Japantown for a couple of hours, stopping at restaurants, grocery stores, and family-run shops that most visitors walk right past. Small groups eat, drink, and hear the neighborhood's stories from guides who are plainly obsessed with the place. Japantown reads quiet from the outside, but that changes fast once you're in.

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1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Burritos In San Francisco

The spiral-tailed monkey painted on one wall gives the place its name and its vibe: a cheerful Peruvian restaurant with wood accents and geometric light fixtures that somehow feels both casual and considered. The antojitos trio is a good way in, landing beef hearts, jumbo corn, and causa on the table before you've made any real decisions. The San Francisco Chronicle named it one of Berkeley's best restaurants.

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A one-person takeout operation in Berkeley where the pre-orders open at 9 a.m. sharp and are often gone before the place does. The pies are 18-inch, NY-style, with charred and pillowy crusts, and you have to plan around them rather than the other way around. The San Francisco Chronicle named it among the best Berkeley restaurants, which feels about right for something this inconvenient to obtain.

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Turquoise glazed tiles, dramatic florals, and a sixth-floor view over Chinatown and Telegraph Hill set the tone before you've touched a menu. This is a tasting-menu Cantonese restaurant from the chef behind Hakkasan, and it carries that same instinct for precise, composed presentations of classic dishes. Come for cocktails if the full commitment feels like a lot; the view alone justifies the elevator ride.

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Fort Point Valencia is the Mission taproom for people who came for the beer and stayed for the cheeseburger. It's a thin-patty, double-american-cheese affair on a buttered sesame bun, with enough shredded lettuce to technically cover your vegetables for the day. Grab a table outside on a sunny Saturday, order a lager, and take the pace of the afternoon as seriously as the pint in your hand.

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A roadhouse that means it when it says farm-to-table Italian, Giaco's sits a five-minute drive from Samuel P. Taylor State Park, which matters more than you'd think by night two of camping. There's a bar up front, a cozy dining room in back, and a patio when the weather cooperates. The wood-fired pizzas run a little bready, but creative toppings carry them, and the saffron arancini with Point Reyes truffle cheese earns its place on the menu.

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1. The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco

The International Orange paint, chosen partly because it makes the bridge visible through San Francisco's famous fog, is the first thing you learn at the Welcome Center before walking across. You can drive it, walk it, or rent a bike and pedal over to Sausalito for lunch. San Francisco City Guides runs free walking tours if you want the engineering backstory delivered by someone who finds suspension cables genuinely thrilling.

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A drum circle can materialize next to a serene Japanese garden on the same afternoon you pedal a boat past ducks on Blue Heron Lake, which is more or less how Golden Gate Park operates. The California Academy of Sciences anchors the cultural end, with a living rainforest and an albino alligator named Claude. The 1914 carousel still spins its painted lions and dragons to carnival music, and the park band has been playing free summer concerts here since forever.

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A no-frills Vietnamese lunch spot on the edge of Portsmouth Square, where the best move on a sunny day is to grab takeout and eat in the park while retired neighbors argue card games at the tables nearby. Pho, grilled meats, rice plates, and vermicelli salads are the whole program, exactly as advertised. The spring rolls, fried in rice paper, come out blistered and genuinely airy in a way that's hard to explain until you've had one.

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The garlic fries alone have launched a thousand detours off the freeway. Gott's is a California roadside grill doing burgers and shakes with Niman Ranch beef and seafood sourced with the same seriousness, which is more than most places in this price range bother with. The classic cheeseburger hits the produce-and-seared-beef formula cleanly, and when the soft-shell crab sandwich is on the menu, it's the move. Plenty of outdoor tables if the sun cooperates.

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The Gothic Revival cathedral atop Nob Hill has two labyrinths, a 7,466-pipe organ, and behind-the-scenes tours that venture into spaces most visitors never see (the fine print notes heights and tight passages, which is either a warning or a selling point). Soaring arches and enormous stained glass windows do the heavy lifting architecturally, while a packed calendar of music and community events keeps the place feeling lived-in rather than merely visited.

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