Last month we spent a few days in San Francisco, exploring the city.  We’ve been wanting to share this post for a while now, but we took hundreds of photos on our trip, so it took longer than usual to get them all here. 🙂 Our San Francisco trip flew by, but we had the best time celebrating our anniversary, hanging with friends, and walking waaaay too much all over the city.  We have been talking about taking a trip to San Francisco for years.  It’s one of those cities that when you tell people you haven’t visited yet, they look at you like you did something terribly wrong and then begin telling you the million reasons why you should have already been there.  We’re not sure why it took us this long, but we are so happy we finally made it happen.

What a charming place!  For a city that really isn’t very big, they really found a way to pack all the good stuff in.  Even the touristy things were cool.  The cable cars, the Painted Ladies, the Golden Gate bridge…it felt like someone made this place up.  We stayed at the cutest Best Western boutique hotel in the North Beach area.  If you follow along with us on Instagram or Snapchat you might have seen some of our breakfasts in bed which we got way too used to doing while staying there.  We love to cook, but sometimes you just can’t beat a buttered croissant and a bowl of fruit that someone else lovingly prepared for you ;).  We spent many afternoons walking from the hotel into Little Italy for our pizza fix (and some of the best gnocchi we ever had, but more on that in a bit).  Lucky for us it wasn’t a far walk!  Huge thanks to the Best Western team for making our stay so enjoyable and to Nelson at the front desk for always saying “hey guys!” when we would either come or go.  We loved it!

We couldn’t have been more excited or more grateful to have our friend, Vincent, visiting San Fran around the same time as us.  He introduced us to some of his friends from back in the day, and we all instantly hit it off…cracking jokes, bonding over our hat obsessions, and driving all around to the long list of the places we had been wanting to try out. We couldn’t have asked for a better travel crew. Sometimes (and unfortunately) it can be hard to find good people to surround yourself with, and this trip was full of nothing but positivity and laughter. We couldn’t remember the last time we laughed that hard or that much. Joshua and Jordan, thank you for welcoming us, teaching us how to use chopsticks, catching the sunset at Sutro Baths (even when it was completely freezing!), and driving all over the city together. We’re really looking forward to another trip, real soon!

Below we rounded up some of our must-see places in San Francisco, with everything from coffee to sightseeing.  There’s a few places we didn’t get to check out and like our Uber driver said, “so many hidden places in the city”, but at least this will get you started if you’re planning to visit SF anytime soon. 🙂

COFFEE:

Sightglass Coffee – Came here feeling pretty sleepy in need of a pick-me-up.  Sightglass did not disappoint.  One of the best we had while visiting SF.

Saint Frank – If our apartment was a coffee shop it would be Saint Frank.  White walls…wooden tables…Yes!  We loved the natural light pouring into the space.  Great coffee…friendly, chatty staff.  Try it!

Hollow – This place was perfect for our anniversary morning coffee.  Such a charming, very very tiny place, but perfect ambiance.  Loved the Dizzy Gillespie coming through the speakers as we planned out our day in SF.

The Mill – We actually came here twice while in SF.  We couldn’t resist.  They serve Four Barrel coffee and super tasty ($4) toast.  Come here either before or after checking out the Painted Ladies over at Alamo Square.

Four Barrel Coffee – Came here twice too! Something about that Four Barrel coffee that we just can’t get enough of.  The staff here is just sooooo nice.  The Pixies were playing on vinyl.  Can’t recommend this place enough.  Perfect vibe.
Blue Bottle – No introduction needed.  If you haven’t tried it yet…you’re missing out!

FOOD:
Coqueta – Spanish tapas, that were perfect for our anniversary dinner.  Our favorites were the Croquetas de Pollo and the Grilled Octopus.
Fiorella – We had a great dinner here with our friends Vincent and Libby.  Such a cute spot!  Highly recommend the Cacio y Pepe.
Pizzeria Delfina – Breadsticks, arancini, and thin crust pizza. Get the funghi — it was our favorite!
Outerlands – Head there for brunch, put your name on the list and head over to General Store to shop around!  It will be worth it when your wait is over.  We actually went for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the veggie sandwich.
Craftsman and Wolves – Great for breakfast, lunch and pastries.  You’ll be drooling on the way in and have a full belly on your way out!
Tartine Bakery – Best bakery in SF!
Plow – Long…long…long wait.  Make sure you give yourself time if you want to try this place.  We loved the lemon ricotta pancakes and some darn good crispy potatoes. Mmm!
Frances – Grilled Calamari and Lumberjack cake.  We’ll leave it at that!
The Italian Homemade Company – This place was walking distance from our Best Western.  Definitely fulfilled our pasta craving. We loved looking at all the old family photographs on the wall while enjoying some tasty gnocchi.

 SHOPPING:
Anomie – lovely selection of clothing, accessories, home goods, and beauty products. Loved the minimal, clean space and selection of some of our favorite brands.
City Lights Bookstore – historic landmark in SF founded in 1953. Three floors of books! Well known for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and propelling the Beat generation into the spotlight.  Head up to the poetry room, sit on the rocking chair, read some Kerouac, and enjoy!
Taylor Stitch – Loved this shop.  Great quality mens clothes for any occasion.
Ampersand – FLOWERS! EVERYWHERE! Lovely floral arrangements fill the entire studio.  We loved chatting with the owner and staff about how they got started and we may have taken about a hundred photos 😉
Reliquary – Indigo everything! This small shop (located in Hayes Valley) is a great place to find new and vintage clothing, jewelry and basics.
Voyager – Very friendly and helpful staff. A little bit of everything…clothing, accessories, home goods, stationary, and even some bins of vinyl.
NO Shop – We usually have terrible luck when shopping for vintage pieces, but this place is so well organized.  It’s a perfect size shop and its curated selection of vintage is so well priced.  We left with some great mens and womens pieces for the road.
Amoeba Records – HUUUUUGE record shop with a great selection.  You definitely won’t leave this place empty handed.  We snagged some great Jazz records here.
General Store – We’ve ordered online many times from General store, but man oh man, we were so excited to finally see the place in person.  Wish we could’ve taken home one of everything from this shop.  Check out the lovely garden area out back!

Until next time, SF!