If you can get past the bourgie factor and/or you work down the street like I do, you will come to love this place. It has some of the best food in the city, a Blue Bottle coffee, and an observation deck from which you can watch the ferries come and go, emitting their weird beeps and disgorging tourists. The people who work here are great too (whether or not I dated a baker from the Acme Bread kiosk because of a Craigslist missed connection will be left to history).

Here is another place packed with visual stimuli, along with weird smells and busy sidewalks. I love roaming through all the shops, venturing deep down the aisles to hunting for all things odd and unknown. So much to see, I wish I had extra eyes!

Many galleries and events and a restaurant

I love visiting Land's End early in the morning when the light is new and the city is waking up. There's a spectacular view of the bridge and the north bay. Makes me grateful to live in San Francisco.

Shopping area in Japantown connected by an outdoor plaza with a Japanese Pagoda. The malls feature some good food spots and as well as Kinokuniya Bookstore.