San Francisco Bay Area 🇺🇸🏡🌁

EAST BAY (Berkeley/Oakland)

Food & Drink

• Shan Dong 🥢 (site; map) in Downtown Oakland is the definition of home. This is my favorite restaurant in America. They are known for their hand-pulled noodles, so whatever you get with noodles, make sure to pay the $1 extra for hand-pulled. (You should get the sesame noodles.) This place is very popular, so if you come at 6pm on a Friday you will probably have a long wait for a table.
• East Ocean Seafood 🥢 (site; map) in Alameda, or more easily transit-accessible, Peony Seafood Restaurant 🥢 (site; map) are both very, very good for dim sum.
• Cheeseboard Pizza 🍕 (site; map) (A pre-emptive “calm down!” to the New Yorkers out there. It’s not deep dish, and it’s not New York, and that’s ok.) Cheeseboard does only one type of pizza per day, and it’s always vegetarian, and very good. Check the website in advance to see the flavor that day. Closed on Sundays & Mondays, which is always when you’ll want it.
• Zachary’s Pizza 🍕 (site; map) is the deep dish pizza of my childhood. This is the pizza we pick up on the way back home from the Cal Bears losing the football game.
• Taqueria Sinaloa 🌮 (site; map) is my favorite taco truck. There’s also a location now on Telegraph Avenue near campus in Berkeley, but the original truck in Oakland is the full experience.
• Comal 🍸🌮 (site; map) in Downtown Berkeley is a beautiful place to grab a drink at the bar in the back and sit outside. If you can manage to get a table, the food is excellent as well!
• Mezzo 🥗 (site; map) is the reincarnation of Café Intermezzo, which burned down while I was in undergrad. The Veggie Delight with poppy seed dressing is the main attraction here, and it is so, so good. Count on splitting this salad between two people. It is attached to Drake’s, the reincarnation of the much beloved bar, and the new space has a beautiful outdoor area in the back!
• Vik’s Chaat Corner 🍛🌶 (site; map) in West Berkeley is an great place to try chaat, Indian street snacks. My favorites are bhel puri and cholle bhature. This is right by the Bay Trail!
• Caffè Strada ☕ (site; map) — sit outside on a warm afternoon, watching the setting sun turning campus and the hills a golden color, and pretend you’re procrastinating on putting together your annotated bibliography.
• Cole Coffee ☕🍩 (site; map) is my favorite coffee shop in my old neighborhood. You can choose from over a dozen roasts of coffee — I love the Peruvian and the Mexican. If you’re lucky, one of the Donut Farm (formerly Pepple’s Farm) vegan blueberry donuts will be there! (If not, you can check across the street at Philz or go to Donut Farm’s main location). One block up from Cole Cofffee, check out La Farine bakery, or Southie if you want a casual but delicious sandwich.
• Cafe Colucci 🇪🇹 (site; map) is my favorite Ethiopian food in the Bay! Get the veggie combo (seriously) plus whatever else looks good to you.
• Fenton’s Creamery 🍨 (site; map) is a classic ice cream parlor. You may have seen a shout-out to it from Pixar in Up!
• Lost & Found Beer Garden 🍺 (site; map) has a great selection of beers, and is one of my favorite bars in Downtown Oakland. Cafe Van Kleef 🍸 (site; map) nearby is the place to go if you want a greyhound with fresh-squeezed grapefruit.
• Rare Barrel 🍺 (site; map) is an awesome brewery to try a bunch of sour beers!
• Thai Temple (Wat Mongkolratanaram) 🍛 (site; map) is a Sundays-only food event (as of current writing, 10am-1pm)! Here’s a good article about it. It’s vegetarian-friendly, and everything is delicious. Don’t miss the delicious mango sticky rice and the kanom krok coconut-rice pancakes!

Activities

• UC Berkeley 🏫📚 (site; map) Go Bears! Free campus tours are offered almost every day of the year. Walk around the beautiful campus, and peek into (or sit down and enjoy a book at!) one of the beautiful libraries, such as the North Reading Room (upstairs in Doe Library) or the Music Library. Up in the hills above campus, explore the Lawrence Hall of Science and Botanical Gardens up in the hills above campus, hike the fire trails, and walk up and down the blocks of Telegraph Avenue just south of campus. Don’t forget a trip to the top of the Campanile!
• San Francisco Bay Trail 🌳🚲(site; map) is a 500-mile trail around the Bay, and I like biking the stretch in West Berkeley.
• Explore the neighborhoods of Oakland and Berkeley. Walk along College Avenue in Rockridge and Elmwood, along Telegraph Avenue in Temescal, on Broadway and Telegraph in Uptown, and on Lakeshore and Grand in Lakeshore.
• Lake Merritt 🌳☀ (map) is the place to be on a sunny weekend day in Oakland. The Oakland-Grand Lake Farmer’s Market (site; map) on Saturdays is one of the very best in the Bay.
• Oakland Museum of California 🎨 (site; map) is a wonderful museum! They always have interesting exhibitions coming through, and have wonderful permanent collections.
• Tilden Regional Park 🌳 (site; map) in the Berkeley-Oakland hills has lots of hiking and beautiful views. If you’re traveling with children, make sure to visit the steam trains!

SAN FRANCISCO

Food & Drink

There are so many good options in San Francisco, and Yelp/Foursquare will guide you well, but these are some of my favorites.

• Arizmendi Bakery 🍞🍕 (site; map) single-handedly made me gain 15 pounds. Every location of this co-op bakery is slightly different — my favorite is the location at Valencia & 24th in the Mission. Get the X-roll (sourdough cheese roll with the vegetables of the day in it) or the Chocolate Thing (chocolate brioche), or whatever looks good to you. The [always vegetarian] pizza of the day is always good too.
• The Mill 🍞🍕 (site; map) The Bay Area clearly has a lot of places that are good at pizza and breads. The parmesan pepper roll is my favorite here, and the [always vegetarian] pizza of the day. This is also the home of the famous “$4 toast,” though it costs more than $4 now.
• Souvla 🥗🍷 (site; map) is a Greek restaurant with three locations (Hayes Valley, Western Addition/NoPa, and Mission) and a simple but great menu. Choose your protein, and choose whether you want it as a wrap or salad. Get it “Greek style” (fries on top!). The rosé is great, too.
• Taqueria San Jose 🌮 (site; map) is one of the many great places for tacos in then Mission. La Taqueria 🌮🌯 (site; map) just down the street has been awarded “best burrito” many times, and Papalote 🌯 (site; map) nearby is also great, especially if you want to try their fusion Mexican-Filipino burrito with chicken adobo! Papalote’s salsa is crazy good.
• Cala 🌮🍽 (site; map) has a casual taco place at lunch time at their alley back entrance on Hickory Street, and an upscale sit-down dinner in the evening on Fell Street. Their lunch tacos are so, so good.
• Nopalito 🌮 (site; map) has a really creative menu of Mexican dishes, and is so delicious. You can call ahead to place your name on the waitlist for a table.
• Good Luck Dim Sum 🥟 (site; map) is my favorite dim sum to go place. You will be full for $5.
• Sichuan Home 🥢🌶 (site; map) is delicious for spicy Sichuanese food.
• Little Star Pizza 🍕 (site; map) is my favorite of the deep dish pizzas in San Francisco, and the rest of their menu is good, too. They’ve got three locations, including one in the East Bay in Albany!

Activities

• The Ferry Building (map) is popular with both tourists and San Franciscans. There are so many great food vendors here, and there’s a farmer’s market a few days a week.
• Parks 🌳 (site; list) There are so many beautiful parks in San Francisco!  As a short list, check out Golden Gate Park which is enormous and has the De Young Museum, California Academy of Science, Conservatory of Flowers, Botanical Gardens, Stow Lake, and Dutch Windmills, among many other sights to see. Hike to the top of Buena Vista Park when you are visiting the Haight! And go to Alamo Square for the classic view of the Full House house. Hang out at Mission Dolores Park with seemingly every young person in the city on a sunny weekend afternoon.
• The Mission is a great neighborhood to wander around, especially up and down 24th Street, and up and down Valencia.
• The Castro 🌈 is just a short walk west of the Mission. Catch a movie or performance at the Castro Theatre 🎟 (site; map), or go into any bar when it’s RuPaul night. My favorite bar to sit, relax, and look out the windows is Twin Peaks Tavern (site; map) at the corner of Castro and 17th/Market.
• The San Francisco Symphony 🎼🎻 (site; map) is world class. See if something you’re interested in is playing while you’re in town. The ballet and opera are just next door.
• ACT 🎭 (site) or Ray of Light Theatre 🎭 (site) are just two of the great theatre companies to catch a show at!
• The Exploratorium 👩‍🔬🔮 (site; map) is an interactive science museum for children of all ages. You will learn a lot and have fun! It’s also on the Embarcadero in SF, so at the end of the day you’ll have a good view of the Bay Lights display on the Bay Bridge.

FURTHER AFIELD

Monterey/Carmel is where my family went on vacation every summer when I was growing up.

• Monterey Bay Aquarium 🐠🐟 (site; map) is my favorite aquarium anywhere — say hello to the sea otters!
• Happy Girl Kitchen 🍓🥒🥪 (site; map) is just a few blocks from the aquarium. These are the folks who taught me how to make jam and pickles!
• Passionfish 🍤 (site; map) has the best seafood you’ve ever had. Make reservations in advance!
• The Tuckbox 🍵 (site; map) in Carmel-by-the-Sea is an exceedingly cute cottage where you can get tea and delicious, buttery scones. Their hours can be strange. I would suggest showing up before 3pm.
• Cottage of Sweets 🍭🍫 (site; map) is just around the corner from the Tuck Box, and is a cottage chock full of an array of imported British candies.
• Point Lobos State Reserve 🌳👣 (site; map) has easy hikes with stunning scenery, and even tide pools. You can also go a bit further down the coast and explore Big Sur.

Wine Country is also great! I love visiting wineries in Sonoma County in general, and also particularly along the Gravenstein Highway in Sebastopol, or near Healdsburg along Dry Creek Road and Alexander Valley stretching toward Napa Valley. Stop in Healdsburg on your way for lots of great restaurants and coffee from Flying Goat. Some particular places I enjoy in the North Bay (mostly Sonoma & Marin County):

• Merry Edwards Winery 🍷 (site; map) is one of my favorites! They have an incredible Sauvignon Blanc, and are known for their Pinot Noirs. Merry Edwards is a pioneering woman in the wine industry. The wine is amazing, and the vineyard is beautiful!
• Iron Horse Vineyards 🥂🍷 (site; map) is known for its sparkling wines. Make a reservation for a tasting! Call ahead and see if they are having live music or oysters on a day you might be able to go.
• Truett-Hurst Vineyards 🍷 (site; map) is along Dry Creek, which is a habitat for steelhead and salmon in the winter months. It’s a beautiful place to have a good Zinfandel.
• Vella Cheese Company 🧀 (site; map) is in Sonoma (city) and has … delicious cheese! A great place to pick some up to enjoy at…
• Cline Cellars 🍷🥖 (site; map) in Sonoma just south of the city center is a nice vineyard to have a picnic at!
• Wild Flour Bread 🥖🥐 (site; map) is wow, outrageously good. Very popular, incredible breads and pastries. A little removed from other stuff, but it’s a beautiful drive.
• Sol Food Puerto Rican Cuisine 🍴🇵🇷 (site; map) is delicious and a good stop on your way back toward SF/Oakland. Just beware there can be a very long line!