What to do and see in San Francisco?

Hey guys,

Planning on going to San Francisco in a couple of months with my girlfriend.

What should we do, see, eat, and drink in SF? Recommendations that are not too touristy are more than welcome as we like to avoid the things that nearly everyone sees when they go on vacation somewhere.

(ps. I love coffee so if you know of any great coffee places then please let me know)

Eat a mission burrito. Then go home.

I hear the golden gate bridge offers a nice backdrop for popping the question. Throw in a little fog, add a sunset.

;-p

The Presidio millitary base at the end of the Golden Gate bridge is a pretty chill place.

The sunset there is worthy of marriage talk:

I lived there on and off the last few years

the mission district is cool to walk around, its got philz coffee =damn good coffee, small bars with live music, public works venue usually has good music & vibe, shops and curios (aquarius records, borderlands books, some posh witchy shops), and good food

upper haight street is pretty shit

If the weather is nice, there's the land's end trail on the coast, north of ocean beach, great views of the shoreline & golden gate bridge, paths down to secluded beaches, not packed with tourists

at the start of land's end trail there's also Sutro Baths, ruins of an old victorian bathouse half in the sea, quite magical

lived there for 6 years.

i reccomend spending most of your time in the mission...

eat a burrito at taqueria cancun

eat a scone at arizmendi bakery

capuccino at ritual coffee

get pints of pliny the elder at bender's (van ness and 19)

other good bars are: latin american club, el rio, and lone palm, although i understand sf has changed a lot since i left 3 years ago.

de young museum is v good

amoeba records on haight is AWESOME.

i used to live in san francisco. he's what you should do:

hit up the moma or legion of honor

walk around market street (you'll find lots of mom & pops type coffee shops here)

if you like cajun/new orleans type food, the best restaurant in san francisco is hard knox. unfortunately, it's far from everything that's interesting (meaning it's close to the baseball stadium- i think?)

behind the presidio, right across from the golden gate bridge there are some old bunkers (you'll know when you see them. i think they're from world war 2). right below that is a nude beach. go there and let yourself go. right across from that is small town (little bit away but phenomenal view driving there- more coffee places a very upscale. forget the name- david lynch and george lucas had coffee there discussing return of the jedi).

return to the city and go to haight ashbury.

now go like the wind

Dim Sum and get drunk at the Exploratorium!

  On 11/8/2014 at 9:41 PM, cloud capture said:

The Presidio millitary base at the end of the Golden Gate bridge is a pretty chill place.

 

The sunset there is worthy of marriage talk:

  On 11/8/2014 at 10:08 PM, Nebraska said:

behind the presidio, right across from the golden gate bridge there are some old bunkers (you'll know when you see them. i think they're from world war 2).

this is what i meant. sorry i didn't see this earlier. also you can get there by walking through the national cemetery (there is a gate at the back that leads down a path that connects to the base).

btw: alcatraz. why not right?

http://youtu.be/_tLY1s9p8VU

  On 11/8/2014 at 10:08 PM, Nebraska said:

i used to live in san francisco. he's what you should do:

 

hit up the moma or legion of honor

walk around market street (you'll find lots of mom & pops type coffee shops here)

if you like cajun/new orleans type food, the best restaurant in san francisco is hard knox. unfortunately, it's far from everything that's interesting (meaning it's close to the baseball stadium- i think?)

 

behind the presidio, right across from the golden gate bridge there are some old bunkers (you'll know when you see them. i think they're from world war 2). right below that is a nude beach. go there and let yourself go. right across from that is small town (little bit away but phenomenal view driving there- more coffee places a very upscale. forget the name- david lynch and george lucas had coffee there discussing return of the jedi).

 

return to the city and go to haight ashbury.

 

now go like the wind

The moma is currently under construction/remodelling. Don't know when they're going to finish. Def check out De young (and i believe Legion of Honor is within walking distance of De young)

Amoeba Records

definitely check the out the exploratorium if you plan to go to any museums. If you feel like going to something naturey, go to the secret/nude part of Baker beach that has the iconic view of the golden gate bridge (wear good shoes, its not super easy to get up and down the hill) . Or if you have a car while there go check out Muir woods about 20-30 minutes out of SF to the north, it's where they filmed a bunch of Return of the Jedi, some of the largest trees you'll ever see. Probably the most stress free scenic sightseeing is at Sutro tower in SF, beautiful views of the entire city (and larger bay area) if you happen to go on a clear day.

if feeling like going to music events check out the show listings for GAFTA (grey area foundation for the arts: arguably the best loudest and cleanest sounding sound for electronic music), Public Works, 1015 folsom ( i hate the club but many of the bigger good electronic acts play here like OPN and Tim Hecker), and if interested in going to some lower key more intimate electronic nights check out what's happening at SF underground or F8, or even Monarch but that place gets too yuppy got me (dopplereffekt played there last year)

edit:
other options:
- gear shopping/gawking at Robot Speak on Haight (modular synth, keyboard synths & electronic musical equipment store)
- walking the golden gate bridge (it has a pedestrian bike-lane or walking path from one side to the other)
- Aquarius Records, a legendary store that's been around forever but the used selection if majorly lacking and is on the small side
- Rock Clubs: Bottom of the Hill, Slims, The Independent
- Sony Metreon Imax theatre (def the nicest Imax/sound theatre I've ever been to)
- Japan Town, a 2 x sprawling indoor shopping mall of strictly japanese food and merchandise
- i'll try to think of more

Frisco or San Fran?

if you want to check out the crackhead/prostitute scene, then go to the tenderloin at night.

be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Good/interesting Coffee spots:

Four Barrel
Blue Bottle

Philz

Sightglass Coffee

You guys like your coffee spots, they're gonna have yellow teeth and hyper tension by the end of it.

Definitely Philz for coffee.

Also, if you feel like meeting up on the weekend, send me a message!

i can't remember the place, but holy SHIT. San Francisco has some of the best "Friend Chicken and Mashed Potatoes" places ever.

The place had like a triangle roof with a gorilla "mascot" on the front door and I'm pretty sure it was located right beside a trash dump. IDK but the chicken was greasy and the potatoes were creamy. best of luck to you.

also check out a couple of the sword shops. some pretty dope war relics and vintage katanas around ye ol San Fran

These are all GREAT recommendations! Seriously! Thanks, guys!

I think we have the coffee places locked down now unless you think of more places we should visit :)

Also, I love really great food (especially thai and vietnamese) so please feel free to recommend us great places to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, places where we can buy awesome snacks etc. I've heard a lot of people from San Francisco are crazy about the burritos so I'll definitely keep that in mind when I get hungry for lunch #2.

Also, we have no idea where anything in located in SF so we're not sure if where we plan on living is too far away from anything. We plan on living south of Twin Peaks. Would that be completely idiotic and too far away from anything fun or would that be ok? I think the BART stops right outside our place...?

By the way,

PS. We'll definitely go to Alcatraz.

PPS. More Star Wars-stuff please ;D

PPPS. Kcinsu, I'll PM you ;)

My girlfriend just asked me to ask you guys for recommendations for flea markets, art museums, design museums etc.

South of Twin Peaks is a bit out of the way. Not totally inaccessible but it'll frame how late you stay out etc. Are you getting a hotel/hostel/airBNB?

These might help.

http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/1958-moving-to-san-francisco

http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/2138-moving-to-san-francisco-part-2

Pearl's burgers. Amoeba