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!

Murals! where? everywhere! walls, streets, signs, windows. keep your eyes peeled. I walk a lot in San Francisco and always seem to find new murals in the least expected places. They are a constant source of inspiration, and make me wish I could paint worth a damn.

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).

Gorgeous view of the city in this park/permanent festival! Any beautiful day of the week you will find so many picnickers, hula hoopers, cute dogs, gay boys in their skivvies, ganja cookie salespeople, crazy weirdos and can collectors, it feels like a neighborhood concert is going on! My kind of place, for sure.

Reliably divey, with an ample back patio, ill-advertised punk shows and the occasional appearance of dollar oysters.