In the Mission, now as terminally hip as it was formally poor, the St Francis is a greasy good time since 1918. Stuck beautifully in the 50's both aesthetically and menu wise it's Americana in a bun. Dig in.

Many galleries and events and a restaurant

Start the day with a well-balanced overpriced coffee in an industrial setting.

This one’s easy to miss because it’s dwarfed by one of the many loud discount stores on Mission selling Day-Glo flowers and phone chargers. When you find it, the inside is tiny; there’s just enough room for you, an espresso machine, and a guy or two playing great music every time. And they have egg creams!

One day when I was walking around in the hills behind my house, I happened upon this bizarre street. It was as though someone had taken postmodernism and tried to make it into a block of houses. Each one has its own internally complete theme, involving strange colors and sculptural elements attached to the outside walls (gold eggs, wisps of wrought iron). This led me on subsequent walks to name them: the Corbusier House, the Barn, the Preschool Blocks house, the House of Wicca… and so on.