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.

One of the best bookstore i've been. Good selection of design / art book as well. The staff is super nice and knowledgeable. A must.

Worker-owned, hole in the wall bakery worth waiting in line for.

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).

This place makes my heart sing. I’m so happy it’s only 2 blocks away. This teeny tiny little Cuban restaurant/bar is always warm, welcoming, and vibrating with visual over-stimuli. Surreal toy sculptures cover every square inch, and I always find something I’ve never seen before while slurping down my sangria.