San Francisco/Haight District

From World travel guide

Jump to: navigation, search

The Haight, a district of San Francisco, is commonly divided into two areas: Upper Haight (sometimes known as "Haight-Ashbury"), and Lower Haight.

Geographically, Upper Haight is between Buena Vista Park and Golden Gate park. Lower Haight, more towards downtown, is bounded by Webster St. on the east, and Divisadero St. on the west. The top of Buena Vista Park is 575' high, with some nice views through the trees, but easily circumnavigated by non-enthusiasts. The block between Fillmore and Steiner has the largest concentration of activity in the Lower Haight.

Contents

[edit]

Get Around

If you are walking really fast, it will take about 20 minutes to walk from the Lower to the Upper Haight- and it will be good exercise even if you don't make it to the top of Buena Vista Park.

Several buses (7, 71, plus the 6 east of Masonic) run the length of Haight St., as well as streets running parallel such as Fulton and Hayes.

The N-Judah muni line also runs parallel to Haight St. several blocks to the south. An easy way to access (Upper) Haight St. from downtown is to take the N-Judah outbound to Cole St., then go right. It runs under the hill.

[edit]

Eat

[edit]

Upper Haight

  • All You Knead, 1466 Haight Street (one block west of Masonic), 552-4550. 8AM-11PM every day. A cavernous space filled with fishtanks and comfortable booths, All You Knead serves up huge and hearty brunches as well as casual diner-style dinner meals. Eggs benedict and variations thereof are a specialty. $5-15.
  • Cha-Cha-Cha. Popular Cuban tapas place. Good sangria. Typical wait is 1-2 hours on weekends, and they don't take reservations. Great bar, always crowded with a fun 'artsy' crowd. Watch out for the Sanngria! http://www.cha3.com/
  • Citrus Club, 1790 Haight Street (at Shrader), 387-6366. Su-Th 11:30AM-10PM, F-Sa 11:30AM-11PM. This is an excellent noodle house with dishes chosen from all Asian traditional cuisines. Portions are generous in the extreme, with an emphasis on flavor over presentation. Decent prices and an unpretentious decor and a hip clientele make for a pleasurable group meal. $8-$15.
  • Kan Zaman, 1793 Haight Street (at Shrader), 751-9656. M-Th 5PM-12AM, Sa 11:30AM-2AM, Su 11:30AM-12AM. A popular Middle Eastern restaurant, success has made Kan Zaman a difficult restaurant. Reservations are practically mandatory, with wait times up to 2 hours on weekends. The hazards come with a payoff: Kan Zaman has fine food at reasonable prices, of course, but the atmosphere is raucous and exciting. Belly dancers perform nightly, and a postprandial hookah pipe shared around a table is de rigueur. Definitely a night on the town. $15-20.
  • Squat and Gobble. popular for breakfast and lunch, crowded on weekends. Great crepes, and outdoor dining on the back patio when the weather is nice.
  • Pork Store Cafe extremely popular breakfast spot. Always a line on the weekends. Very inexpensive, and friendly diner atmosphere and food.
[edit]

Lower Haight

  • RNM. Haight at Steiner. The most upscale (and expensive) restaurant in the neighborhood. The small plates of comfort food will warm you up. http://www.rnmrestaurant.com/
  • India Oven. 233 Fillmore St. This Indian restaurant is on the expensive side, although it is pretty good. Expect a wait any day of the week.
  • Thep Phenom. 400 Waller Street. Sometimes called the best Thai in San Francisco, call ahead as this restaurant can be very busy. Or walk in with a small party and have a Singha in the back while you wait to be seated at a family-style table.
  • Kate's Kitchen. Breakfast - southern style.
  • Rosamunde Sausage Grill. Every type of sausage under the sun. Now with a vegan choice! Get your beer next door from Toronado.
  • Bean There. Steiner at Waller. Good coffees with a nice selection of pastries, bagels, and focaccia bread. Great place to hang out and read a book. Outdoor seating.
  • Axum Cafe. 698 Haight St at Pierce, This Ethiopian restaurant is very affordable. Try the vegetarian sampler. If you are hungry, order for two. Wash it down with an Ethiopian beer (2 kinds).
  • Rotee. A casual, inexpensive Indian restaurant with modern decor and excellent food. No alcohol license, but patrons can bring their own beer from the liquor store across the street. http://www.roteesf.com/
  • Hanabi. Haight at Fillmore (next to Whole Foods, across from Cafe International). Decent sushi, good hot food. The excellent music is the biggest draw.
  • Horseshoe. Haight near Steiner. Coffee shop with sweets, net access, and a rotating band of political campaigns next door. Doors have been closed since 5/2005.
  • The Grind. Haight near Pierce. Coffee shop with breakfast, lunch, and an amazing array of desserts, pastries, and munchies. Indoor and patio seating. local google result
  • Cafe International. Haight at Fillmore (across from Hanabi). Offers net access, live music , food, and a variety of beverages, from coffee, tea, beer, wine to fresh squeezed juices. Good desserts.
  • Love 'n Haight. Often overlooked, but a neighborhood favorite. A family-owned sandwich joint with an Asian flair. Meat and fake meat sandwiches made to order. Try the "veg" duck.
[edit]

Buy

Upper Haight has more shopping and variety of shops than Lower Haight, with a great record store Amoeba, book stores, fabric stores, shoe stores, with several free clinics, holdovers from the '60's.

There are several places that locals frequent including

Amoeba: The best place in San Francisico to buy vinyl and CDs, with an emphasis on indie music. It has one of the largest selections for an indie music store in the country.

Villians: A trendy clothing store that is mirrored across the street by its sister store Villians Vault. While clothing is expensive, it is on the cusp of indie fashion.

[edit]

Drink

Lower Haight has a higher concentration of bars

  • An Bodhran: Irish pub. Pronounced "an bo an".
  • Mad Dog in the Fog, 530 Haight St., This is an English pub where you can come to watch soccer on TV or go out back where you can smoke. Occasionally live music at night. The hotline for when matches are being played is 1-415-442-7994. Since they open for live matches from England as early as 6am, its the best place to get a beer before noon in the area on the weekend.
  • Toronado, 547 Haight St. This bar has forty-six beers on tap and a bottled beer menu which covers two whole pages. They serve many microbrews and imports from Germany, Belgium, and Japan. Come through the dutch door and if there is no room in the front bar, there is a back room with tables. No food is served, but you may bring food in from any of the many restaurants nearby. http://www.toronado.com
  • Noc-Noc. 557 Haight St. A very artsy atmosphere. You can get many Trappist monk beers here. Live DJ nightly. Tarot readings Mondays 6-9 pm. Beer, wine and sake (no hard liquor). Alas for smokers: Big Brother finally put down the rebellion and smoking is now relegated to the sidewalk in front. http://www.idiom.com/~cxarli/nocnoc/
  • Molotov's. Leans towards rockabilly crowd. Dog and food friendly.
  • Underground SF, 424 Haight St. at Webster. Dance club and bar, formerly called The Top, which features different theme nights, some of which are geared to queer folks and their friends. http://www.undergroundsf.com/
  • Nickie's, Dance club and bar - Grateful Dead night every Monday, and popular dub and funk nights during the week as well. http://www.nickies.com/
  • Movida, 200 Fillmore. Beer, Sake, people, music Closed, to replaced by Le Café du Soleil, which will most likely be an eatery.
[edit]

Sleep

  • 555 Haight Guesthouse, 555 Haight Street. ph 415 551 2555. This hostel-style guesthouse has 4 person dorm rooms, and a smaller number of double rooms. The staff are very friendly, and the rooms clean, although the bathrooms are basic. Located directly above a bar, and with many of the rooms looking down onto Haight Street, it can be noisy at night. Children and pets sometimes allowed at the discretion of management. Beds $20 (bed in dorm) -$44 (double bed, private room). http://555haight.net/
  • Metro Hotel, 319 Divisadero St. ph 415 861 5364. A reasonably priced hotel at the corner of Page St. and Divisadero St., one block north of Haight St. The rooms are quite basic, but functional, clean, and quite inexpensive for the central city. There is an excellent French restaurant downstairs, with outdoor dining and weekend brunch. Rooms directly over Divisadero St. can be quite loud on the weekends.
  • Red Victorian Bed & Breakfast 1665 Haight Street ph 415 864 1978 A throwback to the Haight Ashbury's glory days during the 1960s, this peace and love themed B&B has several eclecticly themed rooms and suites, as well as a cafe downstairs. Rooms start at under $90, and range up to over $200 for some suites. http://www.redvic.com/
[edit]

Stay safe

Lower Haight can be dangerous late at night after the bars close.

This article is still a stub and needs your attention. Plunge forward and help it grow!

Retrieved from "http://www.world-travel-guide.net/Travel/San_Francisco/Haight_District"
Personal tools
Destinations

Toolbox