San Francisco Event & Entertainment Guide
San Francisco fits an absurd amount of personality into 49 square miles. Every neighborhood is its own little universe, the fog has a name (Karl, obviously), and people will give you unsolicited opinions about sourdough.
Get Down
The Fillmore is a genuinely legendary music venue - Hendrix, the Dead, Janis Joplin all played here, and they still hand out free concert posters at the end of every show. The Independent in the Western Addition books indie and electronic acts in a room that feels like someone's very cool living room. Great American Music Hall has chandeliers, balconies, and sound that punches way above its size.
Golden Gate Theatre handles touring Broadway, and Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park every August is the city's big festival moment - the food and wine lineup rivals the actual music.
Game Day
Oracle Park for Giants baseball might be the best stadium setting in America. McCovey Cove behind right field, the Bay Bridge lit up, garlic fries in hand - it's perfect. Niners games are down in Santa Clara now (locals are still salty about it), but the tailgates are massive. Warriors games at Chase Center in Mission Bay bring the tech money energy, and the arena is gorgeous.
Eat Up
The Ferry Building on a Saturday morning is the move. Blue Bottle for coffee, Cowgirl Creamery for cheese, Prather Ranch for a burger you'll still be talking about. In the Mission, La Taqueria does a burrito that won a James Beard award - get the carnitas, no rice (trust the process).
Foreign Cinema in the Mission does California cuisine with movies projected on the courtyard wall. It's exactly as cool as it sounds. Nopa in the Lower Haight does wood-fired pork chops and cocktails until 1 AM on a street that's blissfully off the tourist radar.
After Dark
The Mission is bar-crawl central - start at Trick Dog for inventive cocktails, hit ABV for natural wine, end at the Make-Out Room for whatever band is playing. The Castro around Lark and Barracuda does bottomless mimosa brunches that turn into full afternoons. North Beach still has the old-school Italian bars where you drink Fernet and pretend you're in a Coppola movie.
Between the Fillmore, Outside Lands, and Giants games, Evil Tickets keeps this 7x7 city well-stocked with reasons to leave the house. Dress in layers. Karl doesn't care about your outfit.
When to Go
August is the big month - Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park is when the whole city turns into a festival. October brings Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to the park - it's free, it's huge, and it's one of the best music events in the country. Giants baseball season runs April through October. Winter fog season (Karl is at his most dramatic) is the off-peak window - cheaper hotels, smaller crowds, same great venues.
