First Time In San Francisco
My family said they’re going to San Francisco, naturally I booked a flight and met them at SFO. This was my first time visiting SF and was it ever a rude wakening… Typically when anyone in my family arrives to Calfiornia, the first thing they want is Chick-Fil-A. I landed before they did, so I started searching, come to find out, there are only two, yes TWO Chick-Fil-A’s in the entire surrounding area and they aren’t even close. So, we skip the Chick-Fil-A and find something else to eat and start exploring the city. Very cool city architecture wise, amazing downhill walks, cause no way are we walking back uphill lol. I didn’t pack workout shoes, so later in the evening I get a bright idea to go buy some shoes, come to find out, everything closes early. Even fricken Target, 6pm!! WHAT?! CVS type of store close between 6-8pm. Someone send help! LOL. The first night was rough, in a first word problems type of way. So, if you’re planning a trip to SF, plan ahead and make sure you check closing times for things and plan your days around that.
If you’re a larger group, also plan ahead. There was 6 of us and anytime we would try to walk-in somewhere for a table to eat, the restaurant staff would look at us confused. Not knowing what to do with us. Majority of restaurants have setups for 2-4 people only. We were literally like a birthday party walking in with 6 people.
We did manage to have some good food and take in some great views that I will highlight below.
Noteworthy meals while in San Francisco.
Boudin Bakery — A solid place to have a quick and easy lunch. You can do cafeteria style or seated dinning. Menus are slightly different. We did seated dinning. Boudin Bakery is the oldest operational business in San Francisco, they are known for their sourdough bread and it is some stellar bread.
Bottega — A really good modern Italian restaurant. Warning, a lot of their food is very rich. I suggest sharing or ordering something to balance out the richness. My aunt and I ordered dishes with red sauces and we both felt kind of sick after. Like not sick sick, just that feeling when you have too much of something that is too rich. Everyone that has a white sauce felt fine. Our dishes were amazing, just too rich, would need to scale back next time.
Son & Garden — A really good and cool experience breakfast/brunch restaurant. Their presentation is top notch and the food is very good. Just be prepared for exotic flavors, the butter is lavender, there is only one type of jam/jelly, apricot. This isn’t to complain, just a what to expect. Your coffee and matcha is served in upside down bear cups, so cute!
Mastro’s — If you know me, you know how I feel about them due to an experience at the Beverly Hills location. Everyone wanted to eat here, so I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised. The San Francisco location is actually very diverse and very welcoming. Beverly Hills and Arizona could take some notes… Their portions are huge, much bigger than other steakhouses, like shareable with left overs huge. Probably the best meal on the entire trip and that dessert!! OMG, you HAVE to get the butter cake, even if you dont have room for dessert, order it lol.
All About Desserts
The Baked Bear — This ice cream looks really good, but in all honesty I personally have had better. We ordered an ice cream sandwich and a cup with one of their signature premade flavors. I don’t know it just wasn’t doing it for me, like it was ice cream, that’s about it. The sandwich was so hard to eat, you couldn’t pick it up, you couldn’t cut through the cookie easily. Literally felt like I was going to break the spoon. So we just kind of ate the ice cream mostly.
Sift Dessert Bar — A popular cupcake spot that also has other desserts, such a macaroons, cookies etc. They are known for the Pink Champagne cupcake, it was on cupcake wars and was the reason they were able to open a storefront. Its a solid cupcake, but my favorite was the Berry Good Cheesecake. They also have a vegan option, its called O.G. which is basically an Oreo cupcake, it was good couldn’t even tell it was vegan.
Bobs Donuts — Mid at best lol, I’m sorry this was not it, definitely have had much better doughnuts elsewhere. We got half a dozen, so a good mixture of flavors and they all pretty much tasted like Safeway doughnuts. The best one was the maple dipped one. They are open 24/7, so it can do the job when needed late night. Honestly, everyone in line with the exception of us, was drunk. Maybe they taste better when you’re drunk? 🤣
Mastro’s — We were so full, but our waitress was very persuasive and had us try the Butter Cake. AMAZING!!!
Ghirardelli — This place is large, I have never seen so many Ghirardelli signs/stores in one place before. SF is where Ghirardelli started. If you have never had their ice cream sundaes, you have to go to Ghirardelli Square and try one.
Things To See/Do
Golden Gate Bridge — The drive up to the lookout was very narrow, we went through a single lane tunnel, there was a lot of greenery in the distance. The actual lookout area was super windy and cold. Nearly impossible for me to take decent pictures of myself.
The Bay Bridge — This bridge in my opinion is prettier, it lights up at night and is a stacked bridge with the bottom leaving SF and the top entering SF.
Fisherman's Wharf — This was the most touristy area we went to, definitely crowded, full of seafood restaurants (obviously), gift shops, Ripley’s, Madam Tussaud’s, street vendors etc. This is where Boudin Bakery is located and you can see Alcatraz and The Golden Gate Bridge from this area.
Tonga Room — A tiki themed, kid friendly bar/club, it’s a restaurant with a full bar area and an open space that basically turns into a dance floor as the night goes on. There is a boat in the middle and it rains, there is live music going on, on the boat. The Tonga room has been open since 1945, inside the Fairmont Hotel, the live music on what they call the lagoon was actually the indoor swimming pool for the Fairmont. Which is why the Fairmont no longer has a swimming pool. The Tonga Room is only open Wednesday - Saturday.
Shopping — Pretty similar to Los Angeles, however, I was shocked to see that the stores there are just sitting on inventory when it comes to popular brands that sell out in minutes in LA.
Google Headquarters — The drive to Google was soooo nice, so much greenery and open water that was actually very clean because well, no one is allowed to go into the water. The actual headquarters is massive and they’re just building more and more. They have onsite bikes for employees to just grab and go to get across the entire campus.
Apple Park — The absolute best part of sight seeing, for me. Like I only ever see this on TV and now I was there!! Their entire design and aesthetic is just perfection. They don’t let you get anywhere near the loop, but you are able to explore it inside the visitor center. There is a decently large size model of the headquarters that you can explore and view from different times of the day via an iPad that you point at the model design. You can buy all their products, including exclusive merchandise, I had to get something! There is even a cafe, called Mac’s Cafe. A rooftop where you can sit and take in the views and get a little better peak of the loop office.
Meta (Facebook) — They have two large locations in a very small radius. It was cool to see, but nothing that made me go WOW. We opt’d not to get out at Facebook because well, we may have gotten escorted off of property because you know, I always have a bone to pick with them due to the literal hell they put me through when managing ads for clients.
Standford University — My aunt insisted we go checked out the campus and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a very beautiful campus. But can we talk about the shopping! I wouldn’t be able to focus on school when there is every store imaginable, so close to the campus. The entire surrounding area is very nice, super clean and just a calm vibe.
The Painted Ladies — We didn’t even get out of the vehicle. All of the the photos we see of them are so saturated and edited to the max to make them look all bright and pretty. In-person they are dull and underwhelming.
Stay - Fairmont San Francisco
We stayed at the historic Fairmont, it is 115 years old, yeah I was wondering too 👻… It is the first ever Fairmont hotel to ever exist. The morning the hotel was supposed to open the earthquake struck and then the fire the very next day on Nob Hill, which burned the entire thing in 15 minutes.
There are multiple ball rooms, huge pillars with so many details even up to the ceilings, it feels royal when you walk in the front doors of the hotel. This very hotel played a role in the inaugural United Nations formation meetings. They are also the only hotel that booked black musicians to play in their club and actually allowed them to stay at the hotel, whereas other hotels would not allow them to stay where they were performing.
If you’re interested in learning more of its history, watch the video below.
