Ultimately, it couldn't be lower than four stars because of Polly Ann. I've found other gems here, some of which I am not yet prepared to reveal. It's so big and unconfusing! It doesn't have enough bus lines! It doesn't have any of the quirky charm of the Richmond, whether Inner or Outer (or Central?--I don't believe in Central Richmonds; I just believe in me). It has lots of places to eat and shop, but mile-for-mile, it pales in comparison to its tiny but powerful sister the Inner Sunset. But it dominates in a way with its repetitive blocks and downhill-to-the-ocean game. The only real question I have is Is Parkside part of the Outer Sunset, or are they two separate neighborhoods? I used to be heavily on the former side, but I may be persuadable to the dark side. Give me your best arguments. And astounding Safeway parking lots; and hardware stores that could (and couldn't); and disgraced former, current, and would-be supervisors. It's also sad and not cool that Bradley Nowell died here. (I don't know why it still makes me so sad.) read more

It is what it is, a vast expanse of American suburban architecture. Block after block of rows after rows of mostly pastel stucco houses, some fabulous deco & "unique" landscaping. Every neighborhood has their own style of personal expression. No lawn? Paint the concrete green. Sculpt those bushes into soft serve spirals. Built over lots of sand, the planners gave the hood wide streets, and an exceptional tangle of overhead utility wires. Note: wealthy PAC Heights has all their wires underground. But that's the beauty of the Outer Sunset. Completely unpretentious, Pacific Ocean adjacent, 59 degree foggy summers. read more

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Neighborhood in San Francisco I get confused where Outer Sunset begins. I guess West of 19th Avenue is considered Outer Sunset (and the East of that is Inner Sunset)... is there a Central Sunset? Anyway, it seems to be a mix of urban suburban residents in the Outer Sunset area. Lots of coffee shops, restaurants, bars... and parks! On a clear day residents here enjoy views of the Pacific Ocean... but you have to be a fan of the fog to live here because this area gets a lot of it LoL! since it's close to the coast. When the fog is thick I imagine it can be a surreal experience jogging out there. When in San Francisco all I can think of most of the time is where to eat. Some of the best food places my hubby has taken me are located here in the Outer Sunset in the Sunset District. Last year (during the pandemic) we passed by this blue painted building and there was a long line right outside. Has anyone heard of Devil's Teeth Baking Company on Noriega Street? They have the most delicious breakfast sandwich I've ever tasted. Twisted Donuts and Coffee is also one of the good donut shops in the Outer Sunset. I'm drooling now just thinking about them so I'll end my review now. Review #2449 read more

Went to the Outer Sunset market and it was really nice to go outside, socially distance, and have a little farmer's market for the local community. They had fruits, pictures, and some toys that we bought out here. People were really friendly, although it was a little small, it was still good to get out. read more

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The Outer Sunset is quiet, but you will find warnings of petty crimes and misdemeanors on Nextdoor.com. They might say that somebody robbed them, there's a drug house that needs to be evacuated. It's a huge area and there's bound to be something happening. Some people own homes because it's affordable or their family has been here for generations. Some people rent with friends. The Outer Sunset is a simple part of the city with no frills, but I like it because I find my Chinese and Asian eateries like Toyose. I find my beachy, hipster eateries like Judahlicious and Devil's Teeth. Since I am beachy and Chinese, the Outer Sunset works for me. I've been around this part for like 10 years now. People do surf Ocean Beach, but it's difficult for the average person. There are riptides to watch out for. This is not a beach to relax at because it's too cold and foggy. But it's nice to go for a walk. You can bring a date to the beach. The Outer Sunset involves tracks of houses, and they are not inexpensive these days. Much of the city was to be accessible by the working class, but it's really more than the middle class to afford these properties these days. The Chinese from overseas will bid on these Sunset homes before you can. I am on the T Taraval or N Judah line. I am eating Shanghai dumplings or having my cinnamon toast at Trouble Coffee. I am at Outerlands with a date. Also, Golden Gate Park is very close. People will like, love, or dislike the Outer Sunset, but people will keep living in this part of town for better or worse. read more

#83/2016 Outer Sunset, you're a sly siren. Just when I'm withdrawing my affection, you lure me back in. Rows of almost identical houses line the streets on what used to be sand dunes. Streets are a little dirty, businesses are almost strictly mom 'n' pop, you see lots of hand-me-down little kids' bicycles tipped over in driveways in this family neighborhood, maybe (maybe?) one of the last semi-affordable areas of the city. Life seems a little harder in this part of the city. No one here was born with a silver spoon in his mouth; most residents are two or four generations away from immigrants who helped build our great cities, drummed into their children the importance of education, hard work and dogged determination. If you live in the Outer Sunset, you must like fog. Not the romantic fog from postcards with the Golden Gate Bridge seemingly suspended in mid-air. No, Karl the Fog whose damp, wet presence hangs over this neighborhood like a soggy sweater that needs to be wrung out, prematurely rusting cars and Juliet iron balconies on buildings. Some of the best schools in the city are here (Wah Mei, SI to name just two); dumpling heaven for those like me ducking into small family-run shops & restaurants in search of the best dim sum (that doesn't cost an arm/leg), especially XLB. (And baked pork buns: The verdict is out again on who's making the better ones.) I see the yellow signs warning this entire swath of the city is a tsunami risk zone and to obey the flashing lights alerting when the Great Highway's closed, temporarily washed out by the ocean. Then I duck into Kingdom of Dumpling, pop open a freezer and grab a couple bags of ready-made, frozen dim sum and I find I'm just a little bit more in love with this neighborhood. read more

This is pretty much my favorite neighborhood in SF. I also live here. If you like chill vibes, nice people, low noise, and beautiful scenery then make your way to the Outer Sunset. So many people act like it is "SOOO FARR" but in reality it takes me 20 minutes to drive from my downtown office to my place on Ocean Beach. I have the ocean as my backyard view, Devil's Teeth baking company around the corner, and host of other great shops and restaurants (Outerlands, Trouble coffee, Toyose, TJ cups, Polly Ann Ice cream, Good Mong Kok Dim Sum... I could go on) What we don't have out here is all the city noise, crime, and trash filled streets. Just fresh ocean air, and a nice breeze. Golden Gate park, Land's end, Fort Funston are all easily accessible. So perfect if you enjoy the outdoors. read more

What I'm looking at in Sunset Blvd strip has few of the exercise equipments being placed in some cross streets, starting with the first one at Taraval avenue. They're a lot better than being in any gym, which cost at least $20 for a 45-minute workout. Will definitely come back to burn some time and energy during shine days! read more

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I grew up in the Inner Mission so I wanted to move to an area that's relatively more quiet. The Outer Sunset fits the bill quite nicely. The hipsters and yuppies haven't invaded this neighborhood yet. Plenty of restaurants and coffee shops nearby (check out Noriega Street and Taraval Street) but without the too much hustle and bustle that you find in the Inner Sunset on Irving/Clement Street or the Inner Mission on Valencia St. The weather here can be very cold at night with fog in the morning, but I don't mind that. I know it's going to be a hot day if the mornings start out warm and sunny in the Sunset. It's really easy walking my dog around the neighborhood as I don't run into too many things that might distract my dog and it's hilly enough that I can job/run for a mile or 3. I don't have to shell out money for a parking permit since parking here is free (well at least the further away you get from 19th Avenue) which is a big in San Francisco. Parking is easy to find and gets even easier the close you get to Ocean Beach. You just have to watch the signs as it might be street cleaning every 2nd and 4th Mondays on one street, but 3 blocks up it's street cleaning on Thursday. read more

It makes me laugh a bit to see signs claiming Irving between 19th & 27th Avenues is the Outer Sunset. The Outer Sunset is so much bigger than that! But there are fun shops and restaurants on that stretch of Irving. And on parts of Noriega. And on Taraval. There are probably so many other streets I'm missing. Oh, well. If it brings people out the the western part of the City below Golden Gate Park, I guess it can't be bad. read more

The Outer Sunset - Local Flavor Near Me

I love living in the Outer Sunset, but it can take time to appreciate its charms and it may not appeal to many Yelp readers immediately the way some other SF neighborhoods will. That means I'm giving the 'Set three stars but invite you to learn more about the treasures of this overlooked 'hood. You may have seen the Sunset on the map. You may have driven down 19th Ave when returning to the city via 280. You may have been put off by the weather or the distance from downtown. Ok, it's true that a ride on the L streetcar to Powell station takes 40 min. and that when the fog rolls off the Pacific it hits this hood first. But that said, this neighborhood is ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN. How cool is that? And true to it's name, you can see the most beautiful sunsets out here (that is, when you can see it, as the joke goes. . .) I know how you feel. When my parents told us that we were moving out of our edwardian in the Richmond to the Sunset, my brother's famous reply was, "the Sunset? there's no culture out there." Pretty big statement coming from a snot-nosed 7th grader who excelled in packing spit balls. But I knew what he meant. The west side of the city was practically the midwest as far as I was concerned -- tract housing, and malls. But 10 years later after I've gotten to know the bigger world a bit while always having the outer 'set as my base, I've gotten past all the superficialities that made me once dislike this hood. What I love about the Outer Sunset now is that it's one of the last true family neighborhoods left in San Francisco. I've learned that the neighborhood came to be when developers paved over "the Dunes" (it's literally sand under the sidewalk here) in the late 40's and 50's to accommodate the post war Baby Boom with miles of modest two story homes. The Sunset doesn't have the density of other SF neighborhoods -- like an LA neighborhood the place is built for your car (but I wouldn't call it sprawl) and since everyone's got a garage, the parking isn't too bad. Mostly middle class families live in the Sunset, and although reminiscent of suburbia, it's not the kind of place where kids are roaming all around (usually too cold.) It's the kind of place where there's a car in every driveway and the glow of the TV or the red lights from a New Year's shrine pour into the streets. It would be the perfect hood for front lawns and picket fences, but with this climate, it can be a full time job getting the grass to grow. Many have opted to pave over and paint the sidewalk green. So I love the Sunset, because it's real. Because it's not a yuppy playground or a gentrified barrio. It's American families trying to get by. It's parents helping their kids study so they get into the local magnate, Lowell High (which has affirmative action for white kids, since too many asian students qualify.) It's full of Mah-jong games and poker nights. Of kids, sneaking their first beers in the backyard while dad's watching the Giants upstairs. It's people rolling through stop signs, cause no one's checking and you've got just 12 more till your driveway. It's surfers washing themselves in buckets out of their cars on the Great Highway. It's full of surprises, like a Jehovah's witness temple in the middle of the block on 46th avenue and a restaurant worthy of valet parking near the N-Judah turnaround (Thanh Long). It's very much alive and wanting places to congregate (the few joints we do have -- Java Beach or the Bashfull Bull Too -- are packed at any hour.) In the next few years, more people will discover the Sunset. It's safe, it's affordable, and living on the Pacific is really beautiful. People have already noticed on the outer end of Judah (have you seen the hippy place where you name the price for your meal?) And there's already an Organic Co-op and a refurbished Polly Ann's Ice Cream Parlor on Noriega. Taraval is next, for a facelift I'm sure. I think the changes can only be good for the culture out here. But secretly I hope the underlying fabric of this neighborhood doesn't change that much and that people who grew up out here can still find a place to raise their kids and tell them about the neighborhood way back when. So if you're looking to settle down in the Bay Area, and you find yourself saying, "We love SF, but all we can only afford to buy in the Sunset and there's nothing out there," I can't tell you the benefits of growing up in the city itself as opposed to my friends who grew up in Burlingame and San Mateo. So spend some time out here and give it a second thought. I save that advice for the end, because if you've stayed with me this long, you probably realize this is a five star review. You're welcome to check out the Sunset, but it still gets three stars from me, cause I just dont want to give the secret about the Sunset away just yet. read more

The Outer Sunset - They really have sunsets here. - Local Flavor Near Me

When I moved here 10 years ago, I was sort of put off by the lack of "San Francisco-ness" about this area. No hipster dive bars, no boutique stores, no lounges, no nightclubs, no excitement. Now that I've been here this long, I kind of see this neighborhood as an oasis of calm away from all that stuff, which is really only a half hour away by bike or car (an hour by Muni). And I also have come to realize that my previous image of SF was a little bit skewed and distorted. You can park your car pretty easily here. People have space to stretch out here. The rents are (relatively-speaking) cheap. The axis of GG Park and Ocean Beach creates a sort of pseudo-naturalistic backdrop that can be fascinating to observe over the course of the year. The number of nouveau-rustic eateries and boutique stores has slowly started to tick upwards in recent years, although there still aren't really any hipster dive bars. Instead, there are actual dive bars, like The Silver Spur or Pittsburgh's Pub. I still get a little bit frustrated at the lack of "walkability" that applies to most of this neighborhood, but I've resigned myself to exploring it mostly by bike these days, which isn't so bad. There are still little secret spots nestled quietly away in these avenues that I have yet to find. The fog doesn't really bother me at all anymore, either. I think I might stick around a while longer. read more