In the 70's, when I was in the service, stationed in Sacramento, I often drove down to San…read moreFrancisco for the weekend, staying for about $10 per night in the Montgomery Street Barracks which are set alongside the parade grounds, which have since been converted to The Lodge at the Presidio. I spent many of those days in North Beach, regularly visiting City Lights, where the staff taught me how to choose from amidst the mass of books they offered. RIP founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who managed to squeeze charm and pleasantness into the few minutes we spoke, the one time we met. I'd pick one or two books, then head over to Caffe Trieste, where, in my late teens, I tasted my first espresso and first heard operatic music performed live. I'd spend hours, reading and watching people. Later, when I'd get hungry, I'd walk down to Mario's Cigar Shop for a sandwich, or to Stella Pastry for a sfogliatella or (well, plus) a slice of sacripantina cake. Other times, I'd wander the city, learning about architecture and Chinese food and latter-day hippie culture, but when I was on Columbus Avenue, I stayed put. It was home base, and, for me, a comfort zone.

Met here for a networking dinner. Staff was welcoming and polite. Food was delicious and…read moresatisfying. Yummy Gorgonzola and pear salad. Handmade raviolis with amazing bolognese sauce. The waiter said the chef is known for his sauce! The entire entree was superb

This place is AMAZING!!!…read more Sooo many places to eat under one roof. From cookies and milk to burgers, steaks, desserts etc.. the choices are endless. During my visit, the entire large building was very crowded as this is a very popular place. Located along the San Francisco Bay a mere feet from this beautiful building, stepping outside offers amazing views of the bay, boats and the surrounding area. This is is MUST see when visiting San Francisco

Duplicate Charge That No One Will Fix…read more I noticed that I had been overcharged for parking and called the hotel. A front desk staff member acknowledged the mistake and transferred me to accounting, but no one answered, so I left a voicemail. I also emailed the address listed on my receipt, but after a full day I received no response. When I called again the next morning, the front desk tried to transfer me to accounting a second time. After I requested the manager on duty, I was sent to the manager's voicemail and left another message. I still have not received any response. This is a simple billing correction, and other hotels resolve such issues immediately and provide updated receipts without difficulty. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience here.

It's a generous 4 star cause this neighborhood isn't for everyone. I think if you live here you…read morelove it. I mostly drive through on my way to the 5 star ocean. The streets are wide, flat or hilly. The houses look the same, nice 40s architecture all the way to brutalist apartment boxes with flat dirty facades & aluminum trimmed windows. Extra points for diversity. Russian, Middle East, Asian, etc. businesses Retail pretty sad here, like a suburb that time forgot. Parking pretty tight. Because I'm a photographer this area is a wonderland of quirk & intrigue.

Mellow beach town in San Francisco…read more The neighborhood of Outer Richmond in San Francisco is close to the coast with lots of bars, restaurants, coffee shops and parks. When we are in the Outer Richmond area I know we are close to the beach and Golden Gate Park! Residents who enjoy hiking are in for a treat with all the hiking trails nearby. I have yet to try the amazing restaurants along Geary and Clement Streets but that will have to wait when they are open for dining in. I have enjoyed visiting landmark places in the Outer Richmond area including: Sutro Bath ruins and Sea Rock at the Lands End Lookout. The Historic Cliff House restaurant is here too (permanently closed). There are coastal trails along the ocean. We've stopped by the Holocaust Memorial at California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park at the Golden Gate Park. Lots to do and places to eat in the Outer Richmond area. Review #2075

Francisco Steps has 85 steps that go from the Fisherman's Wharf area to Francisco Street. This is…read moremore of a neighborhood thoroughfare yet if someone is doing something at Pier 39 and walking to North Beach it could be a little excursion. Caffe Capriccio and Café Francisco are a few blocks away. For a mile walk of Telegraph Hill you could also incorporate the nearby Greenwich, Filbert, and Vallejo Street steps.

As much as I hate exercise, dear husband got excited when he saw this was 'a thing.' It's out of…read morethe way so you have to purposely be looking for the entrance at the top. Really worth seeing the old houses when walking to the entrance. The stairs are wooden, but have guardrails and taped edged for safety, and every though it was winter-the views and foliage were gorgeous! Just a few hundred yards across the street and you're down at the wharf at the Embarcadero end. 100% worth the fun little jaunt to do them.

Some nice favorite gems at the Inner Sunset [San Francisco]…read more I don't come to the Inner Sunset often except for one thing... mainly FOOD. Inner Sunset is located south of Golden Gate Park next to the UCSF campus. Many of the businesses are clustered on Irving Street and 9th Avenue... there are a lot of amazing places to eat at the Inner Sunset, maybe not as hoity-toity as the Marina District but the following are some of the places we've enjoyed and visited: * Tartine Inner Sunset [Irving Street] - this Tartine location is open for delivery and takeout only. Online ordering was easy and my bag of goodies was ready in 30 minutes (notifying me by text). My daughter enjoyed both the Lemon Cream Tart and the Lemon Cranberry Pistachio Teacake. I was also happy to see the Pain Au Chocolat Croissant available. Fresh and yummy... but pricey. * Mahalo [9th Avenue] - we ordered the Hawaiian macaroni salad. It's a favorite in our household. Delicious and authentic! * 16th Avenue Tiled Steps - we stopped by this beautiful tiled steps just west of Grand View Park. This popular steps is popular among tourists. There are 163 steps... heading up has a nice view of stars and sea design. There are a few landings in between sections (to catch your breath). The plants alongside the steps are well maintained by the community. Street parking. * Hidden Garden Steps - beautifully tiled stairway. The stairway is between a Kirkham and Lawton Streets. It's easy to miss these steps because the stairs are narrow and very steep. We got lucky at the time... no tourists! I love these steps! The ceramic tiles are colorful with beautiful designs and once we reached the midpoint of the steps there were some great views to be seen of the city. Truly a hidden gem. Next on my list to visit (not necessarily in this order): Arizmendi Bakery Hometown Creamery San Tung "Jobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul." - Jaime Lyn Review #2061

When I moved to San Francisco, I spent a good month looking for a place to live. I knew where in…read morethe city I wanted to live (where I eventually ended up living), but more importantly, I knew where I didn't want to live. Or at least I thought I did. There were also plenty of places that I would live if I had to, but they weren't high up on my list of places to check out. One of those places was the Inner Sunset. At the time, I was generally a Richmond boy, if only because my brother had mostly lived there, except for when he first moved to San Francisco and lived in the Outer Sunset near Polly Ann's (https://www.yelp.com/biz/polly-ann-ice-cream-san-francisco). In my mind, if I were going to live in the Sunset, I needed to be closer to Polly Ann's, so the Inner Sunset didn't do anything for me. Well, I was wrong. So so so so very wrong. So wrong, in fact, that when I had to start apartment-hunting again this past winter and into spring because my San Francisco home of almost 20 years burned down, the Inner Sunset was a preferred neighborhood, not just one that I would put up with living in. Ninth Avenue by itself is worth everything. But there's so much more, and sometime between my moving to San Francisco and my flat burning down, my brother had moved to the Inner Sunset, and then he moved even innerer into the Inner Sunset. The one place I was interested in seeing during my 2003 housing search was on Irving Street, between either 9th and 10th, or 10th and 11th. This was back when photos on Craig's List either weren't allowed or were few and far between, so all I had to go by was the potential future roommates' descriptions of themselves and the apartment. It sounded wonderful, as did they. But when I showed up for my appointment five minutes early, no one was home. I dutifully called and waited 20 minutes outside, and then called again, but no one ever got back to me. This might seem like par for the course now, but it was the first time, I believe, I had ever been ghosted. I'd been stood up before, of course, but there had been subsequent fake apologies or whatever. This time? Nope, neither of the potential roommates ever called or emailed me or responded to my polite email asking whether they need to reschedule. Ghosted. In 2003. By people I'd never met in person but had had a nice phone conversation with. It bothers me to this day, and sadly, I think I've held that aggravating experience against the neighborhood, if only a little bit. But you know what? Even if Canvas Gallery is long gone (and that's OK, because I really used to like Pacific Catch before it got so corporate), there's still Gordo and Green Apple and Arizmendi and Hometown Creamery and Sunflower Garden and the gelato place and so many other favorites, and again, that's just on a three-block stretch of 9th Avenue. I also love Hugo Street. And here's an important San Francisco-locals-only question for you: Is Hugo the "H" street of the Avenues, or is Hayes? Or maybe it's Haight? I have serious history with Hayes, but despite that, I vote for Hugo. What do you say? Compliment or message me with your true and final answer.

After our indulgent snacks, we decided to walk off some of the food, so upon leaving the Ferry…read moreBuilding, I made an executive decision and had us walked toward the direction of Pier 39. Shortly after, we encountered lots of street vendors selling hot dogs which is something new (for me). I mean, one or two here and there, I get it. But there were like rows of 10 all selling the same thing--grilled hot dogs. Bizarro! (Edit: My friend reminded me that some of them were selling drinks and they have alcohol. Not judging and I'm not the prohibition police, but Wow, this just continues to surprise!) And then we saw a bunch of people gathered for a labor strike. So maybe they were there to feed them? By this point, my friend was looking for a public bathroom. We found one but it was locked so we continued on towards Pier 39. Mission to find a bathroom aside, it was a great day for a nice walk on this historic path that used to be where all the ships were docked back in the Wild, Wild West Days. A lot of San Francisco was built on top of sand dunes and crumbling rocks, so you can really feel the history here, but the actual walkway is very paved and even so no worries. I used to work nearby and saw some skeletons of buried ships when they had excavation done when a new building goes up, and usually they just document and leave the ship buried and built on top of it. It's pretty cool and definitely part of SF history. And if you don't want to walk or can't, there are a lot of what I would call peddling tuk tuk (pedicab) offering rides for a price. Or you can take the F street car that goes from Market Street all the way down to Pier 39.

As a local, I walk down here on a daily basis. I love doing my evening walks. Although I must admit…read moreit does it busy during "tourist season". It's a long haul but I think it's a beautiful way to see quite a lot of the city. I do have a difficult time dealing with bikes riding on the sidewalk instead of being on the designated bike lanes.

This is a very unexpected path from Noe/Castro to Twin Peaks/Eureka Valley! I found this spot on…read moreaccident while on a hot girl walk! If you're trying to get steps in with elevation, visit these stairs and get a great view of the neighborhoods. Exploring the different stairs in SF is actually really fun, a great way to explore new neighborhoods!

This is a sweet neighborhood stairway between Collinwood and Diamond streets. There are 2 branches…read moreof the staircase, one with 72 stairs and the other with an impressive 191 stairs which is shaded. The staircase intersects an embankment that the neighbors tend to with native plants and many succulents. I wouldn't come out of my way for this staircase, but I use it to incorporate with an urban stair walk of this neighborhood towards the Castro which is about a half mile away. There are a few other staircases around (Sanchez, Cumberland, Liberty) and 22nd street at Church and Vicksburg is the second steepest city block in SF at a 31.5% grade. 24th street's bustling shops are 4 blocks away, so nice to take a walk after dinner.

A way to have fun and get a workout! The best part...the Esmeralda slides at the top. I wish the…read moreslides would go all the way down... now that would be a blast.

I usually always take the Esmerelda stairs whenever I go hiking at Bernal Heights Park since the…read moretrails there aren't that long or rigorous. These stairs have 162 steps spread out among 3 different legs. The first leg starts at Coleridge Street and the last leg takes you into Bernal Heights Park. There are actually a lot of staircases in this neighborhood but this one stands out because it has a really cool long slide.