San Francisco is seen by many as a liberal urban retreat, famous for its history as a counterculture epicenter. While the Summer of Love’s legacy is still apparent in San Fran’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, the city’s more modern achievements fuel a new zeitgeist.
I recently had a chance visit family in Bernal Heights, a quiet, inviting community atop a steep hill just south of San Francisco’s Mission Valley. A quick walk up thickly settled Banks St. put me on Cortland Avenue, the neighborhood’s center of commerce and activity.
A stop into the Good Life Grocery, a community cornerstone, was perfect for grabbing a quick breakfast-to-go before an invigorating jog up to Bernal Hill Park. A run along Bernal Heights Boulevard, a part paved-part dirt path atop the hill, provides epic views of the Mission District and bay below.
Although Bernal Heights’ progressive charm is undeniable, it didn’t take me long to wander into “The Mission,” another densely populated neighborhood home to working class Mexicans and hipsters alike.
Anchoring the area’s Mexican restaurant scene is the Pancho Villa Taqueria, where my short wait in line was rewarded by A Super Burrito (easily the one of the best I’ve ever had) topped with all that I could handle from the fresh salsa bar. Though Pancho Villa offers dine-in seating, I chose to unwind with my mammoth meal in nearby Mission Dolores Park, offering great views of Downtown San Francisco.
Though the Mission District is known for introducing Mexican food to Americans, locals praise the area for its wide variety of ethnic cuisine, including Peruvian, Salvadorean, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan eateries.
My favorite was Limon, a Peruvian concept near the corner of 16th street and Valencia. The Anticucho de Pollo, a generous plate of chicken skewers with delicious aji amarill-huacatay sauce surpassed my expectations.
When it comes time to burn some calories, there are few activities more “authentic San Francisco” than a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. The internationally recognized bridge draws an immense tourist crowd, which can be overwhelming on a nice summer day.
If you plan to bike over the bridge, ride down to Sausalito and take the ferry back, know that you will have some company.
The ferry is often packed with up to 200 bikes, and after completing the trip back, you’ll have to drag your two-wheeler up a flight of stairs on the boat. I wasn’t interested in this crowded adventure and chose to bike across the bridge and down to Fort Point, a military defense position built below the bridge to protect San Francisco harbor during and after the U.S. Civil War.
I also enjoyed San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, an area once known as the home of the Beat Generation. Many locals say the area is now so overrun by tourists that it lacks the unique, rebellious feel it was once known for.
Historic attractions like the City Lights Bookstore were indeed crowded, though I found a gem of a restaurant in Café Zoetrope, a Francis Coppola owned European-style café with authentic Italian fare.
After dinner, I headed to nearby Spec’s, a darkly lit, watering hole founded in 1968. Once in Spec’s, I was able to absorb the bohemian vibes that once made this neighborhood the epicenter of the beatnik subculture.
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