January 21, 2025
There are those who veer toward excess for the sake of excess — the Action Bronson-esque gourmands of the world — but, in a city as expensive as San Francisco, finding cheap meals and affordable sandwiches is just plain smart. Believe it or not, San Francisco is stuffed with financially accessible restaurants, cafes, and bars. Inexpensive sandwiches and noodles in the Financial District are here to prove the point for the naysayers in the back: this city can be affordable if you search for it. Try any of these 15 businesses to confirm the possibly shocking news for yourself.
January 21, 2025
Sungho does what they’re calling “Korean soul food” in the Tenderloin. It’s an option in the area for comfort dishes like kimchi pancakes, 24-hour simmered pork bone soup, and spicy marinated crab.
January 9, 2025
New San Francisco hotel, an urban retreat
The new Timbri Hotel San Francisco just opened its doors in the city’s Mid-Market neighborhood, providing a “sanctuary” vibe in the heart of a bustling city. The hotel, San Francisco’s first Curio Collection by Hilton property, offers 236 modern yet cozy rooms, a rooftop solarium with a bar and panoramic city views, a fitness center, and several onsite eateries.
January 7, 2025
Hilton’s Curio Collection has added the Timbri Hotel San Francisco, a new 236-room property in San Francisco’s Mid-Market district. The Timbri opened on Jan. 3. Accommodations feature floor-to-ceiling windows as well as amenities like deep soaking tubs and minibars showcasing locally made products.
January 3, 2025
For standout bánh mì, ramen, pupusas, and more, head to these spots. In these nearly half a square mile of city blocks, you’ll find our very own Little Saigon, vibrant farmers markets, and some of SF’s best restaurants—everything from family-run phở joints and slice shops to fancy tasting menu spots ideal for a special occasion. Here are the top places to eat in the Tenderloin.
December 26, 2024
You’d think you should prioritize ordering a kebab at Yemeni Kebab & Mediterranean, which opened a couple of months ago in the Tenderloin right across from The Warfield Theater.
December 4, 2024
For a recent show about China’s Bronze Age, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco invited a group of Bay Area content creators who specialise in textile and costume design for a private tour with the exhibition’s curator.
November 25, 2024
This Turkish spot in the Tenderloin is big enough to do a Biles II in, so you can always count on it for a last-minute group dinner.
November 12, 2024
It’s a Thursday night at Chapeau on Clement Street, and the scene is so familial and wholesome, it almost seems like you’re a guest at someone’s house. Owner and executive chef Philippe Gardelle is standing at the door welcoming regular customers with hugs. “Do you want your usual table?” he asks in a thick French accent.
October 21, 2024
“When I started working here, we had one bartender who was a former empress of the Imperial Council of San Francisco named Mae,” Joe Mattheisen, manager of Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, tells me. “She had a glass eye, and she’d roll it down the bar saying, ‘looking at you’, or drop it in somebody’s drink.”
October 18, 2024
The location of this Malaysian restaurant in the heart of the Tenderloin neighborhood is no accident. James Beard Award-recognized chef Azalina Eusope has been bringing her food and culture to this corner of the city for decades, first selling at the farmers market and later at a stall inside the Twitter building.
October 7, 2024
Don’t think K-pop, K-dramas or K-anything is for you? Curators of a just-opened exhibit at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum aim to prove otherwise.
October 3, 2024
For Estrella Gonzalez and her mother, Maria del Carmen Flores, the opening of their restaurant in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood is the realization of a long-held dream.
September 11, 2024
The best things in life are uncomplicated. A capsule closet. Slip-on sneakers. The chords to “I’m Yours.” And, of course, Outta Sight Pizza.
September 6, 2024
During this week’s First Thursday Art Walk in San Francisco’s Tenderloin Museum, neighbors and guests celebrated “Tenderloin Blackness,” an upbeat exhibition about the notable personalities who made the area a hub for Black people.
July 27, 2024
A dozen kids sat at the edge of the Phoenix Hotel swimming pool in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood on a recent Wednesday, dangling their legs in the water, unsure about going any farther. But standing in the shallow end to coax them in were two instructors from Tankproof, a national nonprofit with a mandate to teach beginners how to swim.
July 25, 2024
What started more than 90 years ago as the Gaylord Hotel is now more than a decade into its new life as a collection of bars and an event space near the theater district, and it’s become a citywide favorite.
July 17, 2024
A longstanding La Cocina food-hall vendor is back with her own brick-and-mortar restaurant nearby almost a year after the marketplace closed.
June 27, 2024
Mộng Thu Vietnamese Cafe in San Francisco is family-run oasis for bánh mi and noodles in the Tenderloin.
June 17, 2024
This Tenderloin spot is perhaps the best known Turkish restaurant in the city, and for good reason. The menu is fresh and full of authentic dishes that are often made by hand, including pide, the popular Turkish pizza equivalent. Their lentil soup, served with homemade bread, is a menu standout.
May 15, 2024
Grab a group of friends and head to one of these spots serving bottomless mimosas (or at least big batches) of all colors and flavors to keep the good times pouring at brunch.
April 17, 2024
Skateboarders do not look at the city — any city — the same way that non-skaters do.Skateboarders have brains that make instant calculations using principles of geometry and physics, and are hardwired to evaluate ways around obstacles and over gaps.
March 4, 2024
Traversing San Francisco’s Tenderloin and neighboring Polk Gulch hoods today and remembering the once-vibrant queer community that existed there only two decades before makes one want to cry out “Rosebud,” like the titular character in Orson Welle’s Citizen Kane.
September 7, 2023
The Tenderloin reminds me of New York in the 1980s, unkempt, unsanitized, the intersection of Bleecker and the Bowery. There are stretches of sidewalk in the Tenderloin where you have to hold your breath — and close your eyes.
September 7, 2023
Queer-run Brenda’s French Soul Food has been our best, authentic New Orleans restaurant. Partners in business and life, Brenda Buenviaje and Libby Truesdell, opened the equally great Brenda’s Meat & Three in 2014 on Divisadero.