This was published 7 years ago
Six of the best: San Francisco offbeat food haunts
THE MYRIAD
The newest marketplace to hit San Francisco, The Myriad is a 4000-square-foot market retail space in The Forest City building of the trendy Castro district. With a planned slow roll out of new businesses soon to join the space, the concept is more in keeping with convivial European food markets or New York's Chelsea Market as opposed to just another over-hyped food court. Decked out in a cutting edge industrial-chic style, Myriad will see coffee roasters, slick cocktail bars and anything from butcher shops to crepe stalls come together in an achingly hip environment. See themyriad.com
SoMa StrEat FOOD PARK
Japantown, San Francisco.Credit: Alamy
Featuring a rotating line up of the city's hottest food trucks, SoMa StrEat Food Park is a social scene and among the best places to sample a cross-section of cuisine from around the world. The trucks specialise in anything from gourmet burgers and sumptuous lobster rolls to chicken and waffles and much more. With carnival games, live music and DJs, heat lamps for cold nights and flat-screen TVs for sports events, the space feels something like a chilled-out beer garden, where people come not only to hang out, but pig out. See somastreatfoodpark.com
JAPANTOWN
Most people will be familiar with San Francisco's Chinatown – the largest outside of Asia and the oldest in North America – but fewer international travellers know about Japantown. Formerly referred to as Nihonjin Machi, many Japanese Americans moved to the area in the wake of the 1906 earthquake but most were ordered to leave following the outbreak of World War II. Since the 1960s, however, the area has undergone substantial renovation and today you'll find a selection of some of the best Japanese and Korean restaurants in town. Highlights include Isobune, O Izakaya Lounge and Takara. See sfjapantown.org
Head to Aslam's Rasoi in Valencia Street for a killer north Indian curry.
VALENCIA STREET
The Mission District is San Francisco's oldest neighbourhood and, though parts of it are still a little rough around the edges, if you head to Valencia Street, just one street parallel, you'll find a very different scene. Since undergoing an undeniable hipsterfication, the street is home to a plethora of great restaurants and little independent stores selling anything from quality denim to the coolest homewares known to man (Paxton Gate). For sublime, (and refreshingly cheap) tacos, head to Taquerias el Farolito or grab a cocktail and bar snack at Locanda or Range before heading on to Aslam's Rasoi for a killer north Indian curry. But part of the fun on Valencia is simply to stroll and see what catches your eye. See sanfrancisco.travel
OUTER RICHMOND
Spanning the northern borders of Golden Gate Park out to the Pacific, the Richmond District reflects San Francisco's melting pot culture with a heavy immigrant population. As a result, you'll find some of the best food haunts around and, though Inner Richmond has traditionally been more readily associated with a food scene, an increasing number of great places are springing up further west throughout foggy Outer Richmond. Not to be missed are Marla Bakery, where fresh goods are baked in a wood burning oven, Purple Kow for delicious Asian style sweets and Kim Son, an unassuming Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall-type joint serving sublime traditional Vietnamese dishes. See sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/outerrichmond
THE DOGPATCH
The former gritty, industrial neighourhood on the city's eastern side is the latest to undergo a significant transformation with many of the warehouses and former factories being converted into artist studios, bars and restaurants. An increasing number of foodies are coming here and it's easy to see why. For an Italian-inspired lunch head to Piccino, housed inside a fetching yellow Victorian; there's an onsite coffee shop and innovative wine program, or for brunch, head to Serpentine or Hard Knox Cafe, the latter specialising in southern comfort food in a fun, tin-shed-style setting. Head to Smokestack (Magnolia's second outfit) for smoked barbecue and a dreamy beer list. See sanfranciscodays.com/dogpatch
Guy Wilkinson travelled at his own expense.
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