#1 in the city for old book smell and creaky wooden floors. Too small to find anything specific you’re looking for, good enough that you’ll find something else instead.

Stout would go around the world and bring back rare books and that's how the store was born.

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.

This hole-in-the wall noodle shop reminds me a lot of Taipei, an unassuming place that pleasantly surprises the taste buds. San Francisco has endless amounts of amazing food, but this place stands out because of it's size, taste, and prices. There are only about 9 seats in the place but if it's packed, it's worth the wait. While you wait for your noodles or curry, they'll chop open a fresh coconut so you can hydrate yourself before downing a bowl of pure, salty goodness.

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!