Going to San Francisco for a week. Need suggestions.

Leaving out early Tuesday morning to spend my birthday in San Francisco. I'm lazy and still haven't charted out everything I wanted to do. Wanted to come here for some suggestions. Plus anything not beer related that's a must see would help a lot, too.

Thanks.

You'd feel right at home in the Castro, I bet

Monk's Kettle

The Exploratorium! OOAK....
Outerlands. Kinda out there, but it's right on (N (line)) Judah.
The Alembic.
Toronado (and Rosamunde!).
Gordon Biersch.

So what's the best/cheapest way to get around? We're staying in the Mission Area, one block away from the 16th Street Mission BART. I've also seen the Muni system.

You're staying a block from the 16th street BART?!?!? Are you bringing a gun?

BART is fine for getting around the bay area, but not specifically San Francisco. It only has one line through the city. If you're headed towards civic center, Union Square or the financial district it works fine. Chinatown and North Beach are both easily walkable from the BART. Muni works okay, but, San Francisco is actually a very walkable city. From where you're at the Castro, it is worth visiting, and the lower and upper Haight can both be walked to in less than an hour.

chefchris said:

So what's the best/cheapest way to get around? We're staying in the Mission Area, one block away from the 16th Street Mission BART. I've also seen the Muni system.

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A gun and body armor who made these rezzies for you? jk, you should be ok, just be aware of your surroundings. Hang out at City Beer a bit, not too far from where you are staying. Huge bottle selection you can get poured and a rotating selection of casks as well. Lots of us beer geeks hang there. The public transportation system is great in SF so you shouldn't have a problem getting around.

Muni's pretty easy. And as Shooter says, if you're willing to climb some hills, the city's actually very walkable. SF is a small city, so you can get to wherever you want to go without much hassle.

For beer things:
Monk's Kettle is literally 2 blocks from where you're staying. They have a pretty nice selection. Toronado's about a 20 min walk. I also love Magnolia, in upper Haight, which is about 10-15 min from Toronado.

Non-beer things:
There are non-beer things?! Ok, kidding - I second the Exploratorium. It's a one-of-a-kind place. It's also pretty close to Chrissy Field, which is a great place to walk and will take you right under the GG Bridge. Definitely walk around Chinatown (and get lunch or dinner at House of Nanking! Don't order off the menu, just ask them to bring you stuff!) and North Beach. Go up to Twin Peaks and admire the view. Walk down 24th st in the Mission. Grab a burrito and look for Balmy Street - it's a little alley off of 24th where people have been painting awesome murals for years and years. Try to get some Blue Bottle coffee, or, if you don't have time, Ritual Coffee (which is very close to where you'll be staying).

If you really want something special, take a day and hike around the Marin Headlands. Make sure you hang out until late afternoon, then find a place to sit and watch the fog come in over the GG Bridge. It's amazing.

Palefire said:

Monk's Kettle is literally 2 blocks from where you're staying. They have a pretty nice selection. Toronado's about a 20 min walk. I also love Magnolia, in upper Haight, which is about 10-15 min from Toronado.

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You're also not too far from Amnesia on Valencia, between 19th and 20th. Used to be my normal, every Saturday night, hang out when I lived in the city and it was only a five minute stumble back to our apartment from there!

Speakeasy Brewery !
fridays it is open to the public from 4-8pm. fyi it is in a crummy part of town & i'd leave before dark -- but I'm female (+ buncha hoodlums broke into a # of our cars when I was at the nearby soccer field).

http://www.yelp.com/biz/speakeasy-ales-and-lagers-san-francisco

thanks for all the tips! had a blast. oh, and if you listen to the most recent BN and you hear about Chris and Sarah, that was us. We hung out with them for two days.

Glad you enjoyed it, we should have gotten an HBT meet up scheduled. Maybe next time!

Too late for this year but if you come back I would recommend Speakeasy, The Beach Chalet in Golden Gate Park and If you like your Beer and lots of it Do not miss the tour at Anchor Steam (FREE, but reserve ahead as it can be several weeks wait during the summer.) with Full glass Samples of every kind on tap and refills!! MMMMMMMMuuummmm BEER

awesome, looks like you had a good time!

while not many people seem to like it a ton, 21st amendment is one of my favorite brewpubs. great food and good beer. check em out next time you're in town, the hop crisis double IPA is killer and their biere de garde is pretty good too. rogue ales is in north beach too, and definitely try to get on a tour of anchor next time as well.

almost forgot about thirsty bear. all organic brewpub that serves tapas as well.