Bay Area
We hope your visit allows you to explore this sun-drenched, food-filled microcosm known as the Bay Area. Here are our favorite places to eat, wander, shop, and relax.
Oakland + other East Bay haunts
If caffeine is the only way to start your morning, you’re in good hands: Oakland is home to the best third wave coffee shops in the Bay Area. Hit up Blue Bottle in the W.C. Morse Building, sip on a honey lavender cappuccino from Red Bay, or head to Third Culture Bakery for freshly whisked matcha (and a mochi muffin or three).
For more substantial morning bites, we can fully vouch for Montclair Egg Shop, La Farine Bakery, Neptune’s, and Home Skillet.
To burn off breakfast, hike through Redwood Regional Park, check-out Piedmont Avenue, College Avenue, and Elmwood District for one-of-a-kind bookstores, stationery shops, and boutiques, or head to downtown Walnut Creek for serious retail therapy.
If catching a movie is more your scene, the historic Grand Lake Theater in Oakland boasts a gorgeous venue. Viewers are treated to a live organ piano music before each show.
It’s all about baseball in September! Rep the A’s at the Oakland / Alameda Coliseum (or cheer on the SF Giants at AT&T Park).
Immerse yourself in culture, and learn a thing or two at the Oakland Museum, USS Hornet, Lawrence Hall of Science, and Pinball Museum.
Here are some lunch and dinner options: Emeryville’s Bay Street has got you covered if you’re looking for nationwide chains. Fentons Creamery is known for their ice cream, but they also offer straightforward salads and sandwiches. Other favorites include the tea leaf salad at Burma Superstar, cheesesteak sandwiches at Clove & Hoof, deep dish pizza at Star on Grand or Zachary’s, pastrami sandwiches at Saul’s Deli, street-style tacos at Cholita Linda, and pretty much everything at Drake’s Dealership.
If you’re looking for fancier options, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse (where the farm-to-table movement originated) and Commis (the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Oakland) marks the top of our list.
For dessert-time moves, the small batch ice cream shop, Ici, has impressive, well-rounded flavors, or try the “secret breakfast” ice cream at Humphrey Slocombe! If boba is your after-dinner-drink of choice, head to Asha for matcha and hojicha lattes.
The East Bay’s Bar Game is pretty strong, and these watering holes will not disappoint: Degrees Plato, Temescal Brewing, Mikkeller Tasting Room, and Forbidden Island.
San Francisco
For a relaxing trip to SF, take the Jack London ferry to San Francisco. The voyage is approximately 40 mellow minutes. The ferry docks at the San Francisco Ferry Building, a food-hall mecca offering artisanal goods which expands into a full-fledged Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. Stroll, browse, taste, drink. Repeat!
Here are some more SF eats that are not to be missed:
- Pizzeria Delfina
- Tartine
- San Tung (order the wings, and thank us later)
- Piccino (SF takes brunch pretty seriously)
- Absinthe
- Foreign Cinema
- Nopa
- The Mill
- Dynamo Donuts
- Ritual Coffee / Smitten Ice Cream
To get your sweat on, hike through Lands End, Golden Gate Park, or The Presidio, traipse around Ocean Beach, visit the secret slides, or walk-up some cool steps.
If shopping is on your agenda, head to Union Square for big box stores, luxury goods, and a wide variety of shops. The Fillmore neighborhood offers a more curated shopping experience, and the Hayes Valley neighborhood is a charming area littered with small boutiques.
If you have room for one museum, visit the Cal Academy’s impressive exhibits, living roof, and Claude, the albino crocodile.
If this is your first time in the city: