Today at SFist we kick off a series of well informed guides to the city's neighborhoods. You may think you know this town, but do you really? Do you know everywhere that's good to eat in the Sunset? Or the Bayview? We may even take this to Oakland at some point.
To start things off, we're taking a dive into a neighborhood many of you probably consider yourselves pretty familiar with: Hayes Valley.
Newcomers to SF may not realize that the retail mecca you now know as Hayes Valley looked nothing like it does a couple decades back, owing to the fact that it was cut through by the overpass of the Central Freeway which used to run up Octavia with off- and on-ramps at Fell Street near Laguna and at Franklin and Golden Gate. Fights over the city's freeways raged in the 1960's, successfully killing a plan that would have extended the freeway all the way through the Panhandle and into Golden Gate Park, connecting to a complementary proposed Golden Gate Freeway vaguely where 19th Avenue serves the purpose now. (Hoodline has a lengthy piece on the history here.)
The blight that came with the Central Freeway, along with the redevelopment of the Western Addition beginning in the 1940's and the construction of public housing projects in the area, meant that Hayes Street was a far less desirable or expensive place to live or open a business. That all changed when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake finished off the Central Freeway, and the subsequent Octavia Boulevard plan did away with the final pieces in the early 2000's, opening up Octavia for foot traffic and multiple new lots for residential development.
The area is now one of the most established and walkable retail nodes and food and drink destinations in the city, made even more attractive to shoppers by the fact that many of the retailers are small, locally owned businesses and a formula retail ban here has kept most big brands out, though a few smaller chains like Steven Alan and Gant still made the cut.
Specialty stores like True Sake, Christopher Elbow Chocolates, Arlequin Wine Merchant, and luggage boutique Flight 001 bring some special character to the neighborhood, as do high-end furniture spots Propeller and Maker & Moss, and clothiers like Welcome Stranger and Acoté offer stylish, well curated apparel options. And Lava 9 is a standout featuring handmade artisan jewelry at reasonable prices as well as unique women's accessories where I've personally bought more than one Christmas gift for Mom.
Hayes Valley is also a place where people come from all over the Bay Area just to eat and drink. Weekend crowds flock to spots like Suppenkuche, for German food and a very European beer-bar vibe; their sister spot, Biergarten; New Orleans-inspired Boxing Room; Patxi's Pizza; Little Gem for healthy but delicious, allergy-sensitive all-day menus; and Dobbs Ferry, with its next-door bar as well.
The area is home to one of the city's most iconic and long-lived destination restaurants, Zuni Cafe, made famous by the late Judy Rodgers and her Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Add to that several other highly regarded restaurants, including Rich Table, Absinthe, Monsieur Benjamin, Jardiniere, and Petit Crenn, and the proximity of the opera, symphony, ballet, and SFJAZZ, and Hayes Valley represents some of the hottest real estate in SF evidenced further by the building boom that has brought many hundreds of new housing units to the 'hood in the last several years, many of them quite pricey.
Retail Highlights: Propeller for rad if expensive home furnishings; Lava 9 for reasonably priced women's accessories and handmade jewelry; Steven Alan for preppy-hip fashions for men and woman; Arlequin Wine Merchant for a broad selection of European and California wines, and one of the prettiest patios in the city; Flight 001 for the latest in bags, luggage, and travel gear; Marine Layer for comfy local fashion; and Gimme Shoes for great service and a great selection of designer footwear.
Food Musts: Biergarten on any sunny afternoon; Zuni Cafe on any special occasion, or just for weekend brunch, with the roast chicken for two (at dinner) being the single must-try dish; for coffee tourists, the OG location of Blue Bottle Coffee, which is just a kiosk on Linden Street; 20th Century Cafe for Viennese-style pastry amazingness; Fig & Thistle or Hotel Biron for cozy wine bar experiences; Two Sisters Bar & Books for any first or second date; Smuggler's Cove for excellent Tiki cocktails in a fantastically kitschy space; and Petit Crenn for divinely comforting French fare, centering on Normandy-style roasted fish, in a bright and welcoming space.
Semi-Hidden Gems: Birba (458 Grove Street) is an awesome spot for weekday lunch or weekend wine sipping, with plenty of interesting Euro wines try. MINE (227 Fell Street) is a hip vintage clothing store with a well curated selection of new and artisan jewelry and accessories. And Raxakoul Wine & Cheese (141 Gough Street), a European-owned shop formerly known as Gourmet & More, is a chefs' and cheesehound's favorite haunt for hard-to-find fromage.