Jason762

Okay so we've all heard of San Francisco.

Maybe some of us have heard of it from other people. Or read about it. Maybe you've seen the little dot on the map.

Perhaps you've been there or even live there.

Whatever you know about it, I'm asking for your help.

I'm looking for "mini-cities". A lot of us know about Chinatown (been through some of it).

There's also Japan town (going there this Wednesday), and some little Italy town (I think It's right behind Chinatown and the light poles are marked with the Italian flag colors - red, white, and green).

So list some more "ethnic cities" (okay weird wording, I know), and the must see stores/restaurants/etc.

I'll start with one really cool art/stones shop.

Kee Fung Ne Gallery, 757 Grant Avenue San Francisco CA 94108 Tele: (415) 434-1844

This place has all kinds of cool paintings (I saw a 5' painting of a... something like a cool voo-doo warrior) and neat stones (include a Jade hash pipe - I don't smoke hash or anything for that matter, but it was really neat) for really good prices.

I'm hoping to hear about a "Thailand town" or a predominantly Thai part of San Francisco.

Elphaba

The Castro District and a walk down Broadway at night.

Frosstbyte

Chinatown, North Beach (Italian), J-Town and the Mission are the big "ethnic" neighborhoods in San Francisco.

If you like SE Asian food and are willing to splurge, The Slanted Door in the Ferry Building is well worth the money. Great food, great drinks, view of the bay. It's hard to beat. It's also hard to get a table and it's expensive, but if those two things aren't problems, definitely hit it up.

As indicated, Broadway is pretty much the nightlife hotspot. I'm sure you can find literally whatever it is you're looking for there.

Kadath

SF's J-town is a mall!

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Jason762

What do you mean?

I was gonna go there on Wednesday with friends. Should I skip it and visit another part of SF?

Elphaba and Frosstbyte I am not looking for any questionable activity if that is what you're talking about

If you weren't talking about that, then forgive me, I misunderstood this --> "I'm sure you can find literally whatever it is you're looking for there."

snowy

I love North Beach. Good bookstores, good bars, good restaurants.

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Kadath

Well, it's probably too late now, but maybe not. I was sort of kidding -- my buddy lives in the J-town area and we went walking around, but the main area of SF's Japantown is indeed a mall, with Japanese interest stores, including an incredible bookstore. There are other stores and stuff, but it's not nearly as grand and sprawling as Chinatown. Still fun to see if you have time, though.

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it's quiet in here

Frosstbyte

I was being non-specific. There's plenty of more elicit activities that you could get up to if you wanted to, but it's also the location of lots of normal bars and night clubs. As I said, I'm sure you can find what you're looking for there, whatever that may be.. Hope your trip to the foggy city is going well.

Jason762

Well I decided not to go. We just went to San Francisco last Friday so it's still fresh in my mind. We visited Pier 39 and Chinatown.

We'll go sometime next week.

noodle

I walked most of the city when I was there (37 miles in 4 days, yay!). From Pier 39 to SFMOMA and back, all of the Haight, all of Chinatown, most of downtown. There was this Thai barbeque place that I got addicted to, so I ended up back there before hopping the BART back to the hotel every night. Near the Mission Street BART stop, I think. Luckily someone told me to avoid J-town. Did find a nice section of male entertainment facilities on accident between the Pier and downtown. Other than that, I just ended up getting "lost" and exploring really cool areas of town that I never would have found otherwise.

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Rodney

Other mini-cities:

Clement Street, in the Richmond District. From Arguello out to about 19th, it and the surrounding blocks are a second Chinatown (bigger than the "real" one), with some non-Chinese restaurants and hangouts that have hung in from 20+ years ago, like Giorgio's pizzeria. There's a lot happening, but it's more of a real neighborhood than Chinatown -- mainly Chinese, but with a lot of young (ish) Ango office workers, well-to-do types, and elderly Russians. Lots of different kinds of Asian restaurants -- all the flavors of Chinese, big dim sum places, Chinese bakeries, Thai, and more. Past 19th, Clement is still Chinese, but more yup and Russian -- nothing wrong with that. My favorite no-frills Italian restaurant in SF, Ernesto's, is out there around 24th or so.

Inner Sunset -- south of the park, from Stanyan out to about 19th, centered around Irving and Judah Street. It's the UC San Francisco neighborhood, a Chinese neighborhood, and a few other things mixed in.

A good way to explore this western chunk of San Francisco is to head out there on a Sunday when Golden Gate Park is closed to traffic (parking's a bitch, but hey). You can check out one neighborhood, then check out all the street action in the park -- acrobatic skaters, skateboarders, and bikers, with ramps and all set up in the road -- then head over to the other neighborhood. And Ocean Beach is right out there at the west end of the Richmond. There's a lot to see, and it's a part of town many tourists don't know is there.

That's about it for ethnic enclaves that haven't been mentioned. But other cool little neighborhood/minicities, ethnic or otherwise, include Potrero Hill, the Noe Valley (24th Street west of Dolores), Lower 24th (technical part of the Mission, but it's own space -- 24th between Mission and Portrero, lot of cool stuff there including a mural project), Asbury Heights (near the Haight, lots of cool houses), Bernal Heights, West Portal (where the old-timers live, plus more Chinese) and Taraval Street.

There's also Polk Gulch, another gay neighborhood. Originally rawer than the Castro, but now going somewhat upscale. Polk Street from around O'Farrell (by the Mitchell Brothers Theater) up to Broadway.

The thing to remember about SF is that most of the people who move there don't spend their time at the big-name attractions, or even downtown. They stay out in the neighborhoods. Because SF's major beauty has always been that it's a great place just to hang, and the neighborhoods are where that's done. The neighborhoods might stand out to tourists at first glance, but they're full of great places to eat, meet, drink, hang, and shop.