Gloria H: Fill & Download for Free

SF has a lot of the great things (food, museums, nature, etc) that other cities offer. I'll get to those shortly. The most unique type of thing that SF has are street festivals/events made possible by its weird, fun-loving residents. These are not your typical arts & crafts fairs with middle-aged former hippies selling paintings and jewelry (although those also exist all over the Bay Area, typically in sleepy surburban towns like Menlo Park).EventsBay to Breakers [1] in May is a classic. It's a 7-mile race spanning the width of San Francisco, starting from the Embarcadero and ending in Ocean Beach on the west side of Golden Gate Park. It makes you appreciate just how small SF is. The minority of real athletes get up at 6 am and run seriously with long-distance Kenyan champions. Pretty much everyone else wears silly costumes and doesn't register for the official race. There are fun traditions like tossing flour tortillas in the air at the start line, getting super drunk (frequently lugging your own keg), and high-fiving the "salmon" (people who run the route backward, from Ocean Beach to the Embarcadero). Despite the nudity, B2B is relatively wholesome, so I'd feel comfortable bringing families and more conservative types. Even if you don't want to walk/run/stumble, tons of people set up lawn chairs or sit on the stoops of their house along the way. The entire city comes out to party.Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW) [2] [3] is a smaller event that takes place on Easter. People wear wacky, colorful costumes and ride things with 3 wheels (sometimes a tricycle, often homemade contraptions) down a crooked and steep street in Potrero Hill: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.75873,-122.403756&spn=0.002693,0.004914&z=18.LovEvolution [4], formerly LoveFest, is a mini-version of Germany's LoveParade. It's one of the largest US outdoor electronic dance festivals. It was canceled in 2010 because the organizers couldn't secure a venue that city officials deemed safe enough (earlier that year, 21 people at Germany's LoveParade died in a crowd rush). Everyone was sad.Hardly Strictly Bluegrass [5] is a folk music festival held in Golden Gate Park in October. It's funded by VC and bluegrass-lover Warren Hellman [6]. Yay, capitalism.Outside Lands [7] is held in Golden Gate Park in August. It's SF's (smaller) answer to Coachella, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, etc. It's beautiful and crowded. Some would argue that the lineup is not as good as at the aforementioned larger festivals.Maker Faire [8] is technically in San Mateo (about 30 min from SF) but it's one of the coolest things in the Bay Area. A bunch of hackers, inventors, and geeks get together to display the cool shit they've made. I've seen motorized cupcakes, flame-throwing metal dragons, wearable electronic fashion, robotic warship battles [9], and more. Everyone is very friendly and there are a ton of kid-friendly workshops and projects.Halloween in the Castro [10] is a self-explanatory block party. While still famous, it gets less crazy every year.How Weird Street Faire [11] is held in SOMA in May. It's not really a street fair, it's more like a small Burner-y party with electronic music.Renegade Craft Fair [12] is a big homemade crafts fair with diverse, hip vendors. Think Etsy in real life, not Palo Alto mom-turned-watercolor-artist. Bazaar Bizarre happens before the winter holidays as well.Stern Grove Festival (www.sterngrove.org) is a series of free concerts in a beautiful setting, almost every Sunday afternoon in the summer. 2011's lineup included Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, the SF Symphony, SF Ballet, SF Opera, Neko Case, and The Dodos.Nature & WalksMy favorite is Lands End Park because it has both pretty water and nice mountains. It's a short hike, just over a mile. Lands End is in the northwest corner of the city in the Seacliff neighborhood (also, cool houses to look at nearby that are not Victorians).Golden Gate Park has many cool little mini-parks inside. I like the Conservatory of Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden, the windmill, and the De Young Museum and the CA Academy of Sciences. Great place to take older people, or if you're on a exploratory journey through consciousness.Breathtaking views of the city can be easily had from Corona Heights, Bernal Hill, or Buena Vista Park. All are fairly accessible with a short walk, and dog-friendly. Twin Peaks is higher in elevation than all of these, but I don't prefer it because 1) you pretty much have to drive up and 2) every time I've been, it's foggy. Mount Sutro is also a great hike (h/t Amity Bacon).Go on urban hikes! Exploring the Victorians from Castro to the Western Division and Hayes Valley (h/t Sheridan Tatsuno) is fun; the famous Full House houses are in Alamo Square, and my favorite ones to gawk at are in the Haight. Join a San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour or one of the many San Francisco Neighborhood Walking Tours.Learn about the many edible plants in the Bay Area on a Forage SF Wild Food Walk. These folks are knowledgeable, patient, and will teach you the difference between a fennel plant & a toxic lookalike, and much more. There's a longer class identifying wild mushrooms in the Sierras, too.Museums & CultureThough not technically a museum, the Exploratorium [13] is a really cool place to get hands-on with science. It's a great place to take kids for a day, but lots of adults enjoy going there. The new-ish location is at Pier 15, no longer next to the Palace of Fine Arts.The De Young museum sometimes has cool stuff. I've enjoyed exhibits there on Dale Chihuly, the Renaissance, and Balenciaga.The California Academy of Sciences is another cool place inside Golden Gate Park. Thursday nights they have Nightlife, great place to take a date.I love going to the Castro Theater for singalongs schedule here). Singalongs certainly aren't unique to San Francisco, but I always enjoy how enthusiastic everyone gets about the costume contest, the full use of props throughout the movie, and of course the singing.FoodTartine Bakery: Legendary bread from Chad Robertson. The country loaf goes through a multiday, labor-intensive process and has turned many a sourdough hater into true believer. Bread comes out every day around 5 pm, and on super busy Thurs/Fri/Sat they do a second baking that comes out around 6:30 pm. You can reserve a loaf three days in advance, but your best bet is just showing up around 5.Burma Superstar or B*Star: The most-reviewed place on Yelp last time I checked. Get the tea salad. But actually, I think Mandalay in the Inner Richmond is even better. It's still very popular but not as crazy as the first two, I think because it doesn't have hipster-attracting ambience.Food trucks: There's almost an endless list, and they're all on Twitter so you should be able to find them easily. Check out Hapa Ramen, Chairman Bao, or del Popolo. You'll find a solid rotation of food trucks at SOMA StreatFood Park (permanent) or Off the Grid (www.offthegridsf.com, various locations & times). These get crowded, go early.Koi Palace: Technically it's in Daly City, not San Francisco, but I still believe it's the best dim sum in the Bay. It won't compare to Asia, but if you don't usually have access to good Chinese food, definitely come here. Order the staple har gow, shu mai, etc, and also try some of their unique dishes: lobster garlic noodles, and tofu with dipping sauce.Tacos from La Taqueria: My favorite place for tacos. Small, tasty, uber satisfying. Also the El Tonayense taco truck is pretty great.Burrito from El Farolito: If you poll 10 people from San Francisco for their favorite burrito you'll probably get 10 different answers, but this is my favorite. El Buen Sabor is pretty great too (and closer to where I live, so this probably unfairly tips the scale in their favor).If you are vegetarian, I'd say the best burrito is from El Metate, where they actually add delicious grilled vegetables instead of just removing the meat and giving you a sad lettuce-cheese-wrap-thing.Mission Chinese Food almost needs no introduction. You'll find a long line in front of it at its now-permanent takeover of what used to be Longshan Restaurant.Samovar: A Zen place with good tea and healthy food, and 3 locations in the city: Hayes Valley by the Zen Center, SOMA near Yerba Buena, and the Castro. Om Shan Tea had a more down-home, hippie traveler vibe, but is no longer open due to its owner being imprisoned :(For great Vietnamese food that's not just pho, try Bodega Bistro or Pagolac in the Tenderloin. Try the seven-course beef at Pagolac.Beretta and Delfina are both nice-but-not-too-fancy Italian restaurants in the Mission. There's an eternal line to get in, so be sure to make a reservation. Great ambiance. And Beretta has fantastic mixed drinks.Coffee: San Francisco is full of coffee snobs. I'm not one of them, but I do hear that Fourbarrel, Philz, Blue Bottle, and Ritual are the best.Popular places for sushi are Tataki (sustainable, fresh fish) and Zushi Puzzle. I've heard great things about Ichi, Maruya, and Kusakabe as well.Gourmet ice cream: Top places in the city are Smitten Ice Cream in Hayes Valley (made with liquid nitrogen), Bi-Rite in the Mission (longest line, purest flavors and my personal favorite), and Humphrey Slocombe in the lower Mission (tasty inventions like Secret Breakfast [whiskey and cornflakes], Blue Bottle Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Olive Oil).Cafe Gratitude might be the most "SF" restaurant I can think of. Everything is raw and vegan and comes with names like "I am Bountiful" and "I am Fabulous" so you have to repeat these mantras to hip vegan waitresses with great skin as you're ordering. I'm personally not a big fan, but I take out-of-town friends here. They have a sister Mexican restaurant in the Mission, Gracias Madre. [Update: Cafe Gratitude's SF location closed but is still available in Berkeley and Santa Cruz.]NightlifeYou couldn't throw a shoe in SF without hitting a good dive bar, so you will have no problem here. My favorites are El Toronado in the Haight for large beer selection, Noc Noc which is near El Toronado, and 500 Club in the Mission.Monk's Kettle (16th & Mission) has a grand beer selection and the rare bar kitchen serving good food. I like The Residence in the Castro for no other reason than I always have a good time here, and they once tracked me down to return a misplaced wallet. Lime in the Castro has cheap bottomless mimosas and loud music, and is an eternal favorite (not sure if it's still open though).Suppenkuche's sister Biergarten is an obviously German beer garden in Hayes Valley. Zeitgeist is a more dive-y place for outdoor drinking. The Vestry (the eatery attached to The Chapel) has an outdoor beer / food seating area too. Outdoor drinking = awesome, so all places get super crowded on nights & weekends.For excellent mixed drinks, check out Beretta mentioned above, 15 Romolo in North Beach, or Bourbon & Branch in downtown.Nihon Whiskey Lounge in the upper Mission if you like whiskey. And you should like whiskey.You should probably try to go somewhere in the underground / warehouse scene (mostly in SOMA / Mission) instead of a club.Great American Music Hall and The Fillmore are my favorite concert venues. Fox Theater in nearby Oakland is pretty sweet, too. Intimate-feeling and good lineup.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_to_Breakers[2] http://sfist.com/2011/04/25/photos_bring_your_own_big_wheel_201.php[3] http://www.yelp.com/biz/byobw-bring-your-own-big-wheel-race-san-francisco[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_LovEvolution[5] http://www.yelp.com/biz/hardly-strictly-bluegrass-festival-san-francisco[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Hellman[7] http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/[8] http://makerfaire.com/[9] http://makerfaire.com/pub/e/4953[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_in_the_Castro[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Weird_Street_Faire[12] http://www.renegadecraft.com/[13] http://www.exploratorium.edu/[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Fine_Arts

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