San Francisco Travel Guide

For those of you itching to visit the Golden Gate City, this post is definitely for you. I’m sharing some of the favorite things that we did during our travels to San Francisco.

Places to Eat

Over the last few years, Zach and I have become real foodies. (Does anyone actually ever say that they are not a foodie if they are a millennial? Yeah… didn’t think so.) In advance of our trip, we did a little bit of research to scope out some favorites.

Our first stop was dinner at Central Kitchen in San Francisco’s well-known Mission District. The ambiance was fantastic! Rustic, dimly lit, and absolutely delicious food. I got this recommendation from Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam’s SF “Favorite SF Places to Eat“. It did not disappoint. I got the black pepper and mushroom agnolotti which was probably the best pasta dish I’ve ever had. (This is not an exaggeration!) I also highly recommend the brussels sprouts to start — they were so flaky and melted in your mouth.

The next morning, we brunched at Sweet Maple, which came highly recommended by a friend of Zach’s. As you all know, brunch is a staple in the Enos household. I’ve written about some of our favorite brunch spots in New York previously. And I cannot wait to share with you some of our favorite spots from D.C. in upcoming posts. Sweet Maple rivaled many of our favorite go-to brunch spots even in D.C. They are famous for their millionaire bacon which was phenomenal. I got it as a side to my strawberry and Nutella crepes which were positively delectable.

I’m sure that I’ll be on someone’s bad list for saying this, but a go-to stop anywhere in California is In-and-Out Burger. We weren’t so sure if it was all that it was hyped up to be, but on our way back from the wedding, we decided to give it a try. Zach had never eaten at In-and-Out Burger before, but he loved it. He commented on how simple the menu was, but was shocked to find out when we returned that all the locals know that there is this secret menu with specialty burgers and other items on the menu that make it even better. So be sure to ask about the secret menu if you have the chance to go.

We also really enjoyed hopping around to various coffee shops during our trip. One regret from the trip was that we didn’t get to go to Cafe St. Jorge. But I guess we will have something to look forward to on our next trip.

Things to Do

In my last post, I recommended a visit to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. It is so serene there and worthwhile for the weary traveler who doesn’t want to be around tons of tourists or wants to escape the crowds of downtown San Francisco.

We visited the Japanese Tea Garden as an add-on to our visit to The de Young Museum. The museum was having a beautiful art exhibit that happens only once per year. It’s called Bouquets to Art. The special exhibit meant that there were beautiful bouquets (which were art in and of themselves) that mimicked the color, style, and themes of various pieces of art that the museum wanted to highlight. I’ll share some pictures from these sweet exhibits in my final post about our travels in San Francisco.

If you go to the de Young Museum, be sure to go to the top floor where they have a beautiful enclosed rooftop view of the city of San Francisco. This was one of the first places we visited and we went to the top floor before viewing the art exhibits. This helped us to get an idea of the size and scope of San Francisco, and convinced us that we will need to plan a return visit to the city because there is so much to see and do.

For the shoppers among us, go and visit Hayes Street. There are lots of adorable boutiques including Oak + Fort (which reminded me of boutiques in Korea), Marine Layer (which I just discovered also has a location in Georgetown), and Industry of All Nations (which Zach was very interested in because they dyed all of their clothes naturally and had these awesome sweaters made from alpaca). Hayes Street also has some delicious places to eat, great coffee shops, and all in is just an absolutely adorable neighborhood. More on that in a future post.

Finally, a visit to San Francisco would hardly be complete without a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge. if you only have a short time in San Francisco, be sure to visit the Marin Headlands. We visited there before heading out to do our drive up Route 1. It is the location that most San Francisco natives say you should go to really soak-in the view of the coast and of course the glory of the Golden Gate Bridge. Pro-tip: It’s pretty windy there, so dress appropriately for the chilly weather and unpredictable breeze.

People to See

Friends. No, but really. I feel like San Francisco is a city best enjoyed in the company of close friends and family. We loved eating in the Mission District with our friend Sundar and ending the evening with coffee and dessert in the restaurant of the Fairmont Hotel. And we loved sipping coffee and brunching with Seth and Rachel, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Also, their friends from San Francisco recommended that we grab drinks in the evening at the Marriot Marquis in downtown San Francisco. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge all lit up at night was truly exquisite. But none of these memories would have been as sweet if we didn’t make them with friends and family by our side. Consider SF as a great place to travel to on a girls trip or a reunion trip with friends and family.

Hope you found some of these tips helpful as you consider your own trip to SF.

Cheers loves,

Liv

P.S. Photo credit goes to my sister-in-law, Rachel Enos. If you’re in Colorado Springs area and looking for an incredible photographer, Rachel is phenomenal.

Check out Rachel Enos Photography.