Chinatown/North Beach

Though Chinatown and North Beach border each other, these neighborhoods feel worlds apart. Located a quick jaunt from Downtown and Union Square, San Francisco's Chinatown—America's largest, in fact—beckons visitors with its intricate dragon gates, exotic groceries, acupuncturists, and delicious dim sum. Stockton Street and Grant Avenue are lined with all of the above, plus tons of knick-knack and art shops, ranging from the kitschy to the elegant. You can delve into over a century of local history on a guided walking tour via the Chinese Historical Center of America, which also offers traditional arts and crafts workshops such as brush painting. Be sure to satiate your sweet tooth with a side of sage wisdom at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

North of Chinatown, North Beach offers visitors a peek into the city's Italian heritage and Beatnik past. While the area has Italian restaurants aplenty, we recommend sipping on a cappuccino at Caffe Trieste, grabbing an antipasto picnic or salami sandwich at Molinari's Delicatessen (to be enjoyed on the grass at Washington Square Park, of course), and indulging in fresh pastry at one of the area's Italian bakeries. When you're ready to burn off all those calories, stroll on Grant Avenue for great fashion and antique window-shopping and then trek up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, where you can enjoy lovely city and bay views as well as an interior mural detailing scenes of California industries in the early 20th century. Lit lovers shouldn't miss the Beat Museum, City Lights Bookstore--where many of the Beat Poets' works were first published and performed at bongo- and wine-infused gatherings--and the adjacent Vesuvio, formerly Jack Kerouac's favorite watering hole and still a hotspot today. If you're up for more strolling, the city's famous Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf are within walking distance.

Nightlife

Vital Tea Leaf

Red's Place

Far East Cafe

Cho-Cho

Bigfoot Lodge

R & G Lounge

Delancey Screening Room (The)

Four Seasons Restaurant and Cocktails

Regency Center

Fifth Floor Restaurant

B44

Empress of China

Cigar Bar and Grill

Li Po's

Mr. Bing's

Sip Bar & Lounge

Palio Paninoteca

Sutra

Chef Jia's


Attractions

The Wok Shop

Ming Kee Game Birds Inc.

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Vaillancourt Fountain

Norras Temple

Ross Alley

Dreaming Room

Chinatown

Chinatown and North Beach Night Walking Tour

Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company

Chinatown Gate

Mee Mee Bakery

North Beach and Chinatown San Francisco MP3 Walking Tour

The Canton Bazaar

The Chinatown Kite Shop

Stonehouse California Olive Oil

Market & Second Street

Le Trianon Gallery

Enchanted House

Sarah Stocking Vintage Posters

Bow Wow Meow

Buddha's Universal Church

Tin How Temple


Restaurants

House of Nanking

El Gran Taco

Great Eastern

Far East Café

Hunan Home's

Four Seasons Restaurant and Cocktails

Grand Palace Restaurant

Henry's Hunan Restaurant

Dol Ho

Tommaso's

Pearl City Seafood Restaurant

Mel's Drive-in on Van Ness

Empress of China

Pot Sticker (The)

Cho-Cho

Janmae Guey

Wa-Ha-Ka!

Hing Lung

My Canh

Bow Hon

Palio Paninoteca

Nook

Vietnam Restaurant

Imperial Palace

Sam Wo

R&G Lounge

Golden Flower

Sellers Markets

Yank Sing

Chef Jia's

850 Cigar Bar & Grill

City View Restaurant

Tachibana

Oriental Pearl

New Fortune Dim Sum and Cafe


Hotels

Royal Pacific Motorway Inn

SW Hotel

Pacific Tradewinds Hostel

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