Welcome to San Francisco Logue, your one-stop San Francisco travel guide. Whatever you need for your upcoming trip to San Francisco, you will find it here, along with tidbits about San Francisco food and wine, the San Francisco language, and what makes San Francisco culture so special. We have information about how to find cheap flights to San Francisco, where to stay once you get there, and what to do with your vacation time. This is the guide for both travelers to San Francisco and San Francisco enthusiasts!
Leave it to San Francisco to have a gourmet food court.
A few years ago, the famous Emporium building, which houses a beautiful dome (that may or may not have survived the 1906 quake), was reopened as the Westfield, anchored by San Francisco’s first Bloomingdale’s. It also houses the most extensive number of food options I’ve ever seen at a mall this size.
The main court is found at the bottom of the mall, and is called “The Emporium.” There, you can find Out the Door, the to-go option for the lauded Slanted Door restaurant (Vietnamese). Straight ahead of that, you’ll see Beard Papa, which serves popular cream puffs. Continue down the line and you’ll find all sorts of cuisine: Thai, gelato, pasta, Mexican, a steakhouse, an outlet of the local Bistro Burger, and Askew Grill, another local favorite. Right outside of Bloomies is ‘Wichcraft, the San Francisco location of the famous Bryant Park sandwich shop. There is also a Bristol Farms supermarket, which has a wide variety of freshly prepared food, including sandwiches, soups, a salad bar, sushi…you get the picture.
What won’t you see? In the Emporium, you won’t find the typical chain stores you see in many food courts (i.e. Hot Dog on a Stick, Sbarro). If you can’t live without these, the basement of the old section of the mall, right next door, has Panda Express, Rubio’s, and a Wetzel’s Pretzels.
If you’re craving something a little more upscale, head to the top floor, where you’ll find several sit-down restaurants. Again, these are not what you usually find in malls…All of the restaurants on the top floor are those you would visit to start your date night, or nice night out on the town.
Westfield is located on Market Street and Powell, across the street from the Cable Car turnaround.
Hidden behind the fog of this picture is San Francisco’s Twin Peaks, a true high point of the City.
Twin Peaks rises in the middle of the City, above the Castro, Noe Valley, and its namesake area. From afar, there seems to be a huge tower on the Peaks — Sutro Tower — an antenna built for television reception in the early 70s. (which, the tower itself is a useful landmark, as it is a dominant figure in our skyline.) This is not actually on Twin Peaks, but right nearby.
Twin Peaks itself offers …
[more]Taking a look at their website, it seems Flight 001 is in more places than just San Francisco. Nevertheless, this cool little travel store is well worth a visit.
Nestled in Hayes Valley, this little store is full of everything you didn’t know you needed for your trip. And then some. On a recent trip to the store, my shopping companion found a very useful all-in-one converter outlet thing, as well as a pill shaped pill box that she just had to have. I personally love their little dental hygiene kits, which are small enough to fit into a …
[more]When you think of San Francisco, you don’t automatically think of beaches. And, with some good reason…there are very few beach-type days here, at least not in the stereotypical sense.
But you would be remiss to not check out Ocean Beach. It is a huge strand of a beach; I’m focusing on my favorite part — north of Lincoln Drive. From this beach, even on foggy days it feels like you could see out to Hawaii.
If you approach Ocean Beach from the top, you’ll first see the historic Cliff House. This site has now housed 4 Cliff Houses, I think. A …
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Anchor Brewing is a local institution, founded in 1896. They brew seven types of beer right here in the City, the most popular (at least among locals) being Anchor Steam.
Anchor Brewery inherited a long tradition of brewing what had come to be known as steam beer, one of the quaint old nicknames for beer brewed along the West Coast under primitive conditions and without ice. Today “steam” is a trademark of Anchor Brewing. From Anchor Brewery site
Learn more about Anchor Brewing by taking a tour. Offered each weekday, the tour …
[more]San Francisco is hilly, there is no doubt about it.
But the hills don’t cover the entire city. There are some areas that are perfectly flat, providing an easy walking path and a good rest for your calves.
So where is the walking easy, and where might you want to watch out? Designer Lee Byron recently made a block-by-block walking map of San Francisco. He shows through color mapping where you can find the most walkable areas, and where you might want to hold back a bit (or, if you’re up to it, challenge those hills!). His whole methodology …
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