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Area Surrounding Columbus Street at Union Street
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North Beach was at one time a beach, long ago before landfill extended the city. Now it is an Italian neighborhood with tree-lined streets, wonderful Italian restaurants, beautiful Washington Park with the spectacular Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral.
N. Beach is home to the City Lights Book Store where the Beatnik Movement started. This area borders Chinatown & is definitely a must see & enjoy neighborhood. Probably best to fit it into your schedule in the afternoon & evening so that you can have dinner there & enjoy the crowds of people out for a night of fun . Leave a Comment
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North Beach is the Little Italy of the West Coast with a bustling atmosphere from mid-afternoon until late into the night. The mornings are a great time to stop into a café for a strong coffee that will make you wonder how Starbucks got so popular in the first place and don’t be surprised if the language you hear at the next table is Italian. It’s as likely to be that as English in this part of town. Stop by for a cannoli in the afternoon and you can people watch or stroll the shops, whatever your preference. But it’s the nights when the area comes into full swing, with busy bars and jammed packed restaurants serving up Italian fare family style just like mama used to make. Osso buco, mortadella, bada bing bada bang. I’m from Jersey and I was even impressed. Leave a Comment
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Home of the Beat Generation
North Beach is one of my favorite parts of San Francisco. Maybe that is because I am such a fan of all things Italian. But if there is one part of San Francisco that can be said to define what the City is to me this is it. Historically it is an incredibly rich area from Barbary Coast Days to the days when Chinatown (which butts up against North Beach) had opium dens and other unspeakables, to the more recent 60's when the Beats (who still frequent places like Cafe Trieste) and Carol Doda rubbed shoulders (???)... ok maybe some other body parts as well!
Today you can take guided walks or self guided. Great maps to be found at:
http://www.hotelboheme.com/sanfran/tour.html
http://www.sfnorthbeach.org/ Leave a Comment
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North Beach, the traditional Italian neighborhood, is vibrant and teaming with coffee shops in the morning, Italian restaurants in the day, and bars and strip clubs at night. The main thoroughfare, Columbus Avenue, begins at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid and cuts a diagonal across the city to Northpoint and Leavenworth.
It's best known as San Francisco's Little Italy, with its high density of check-clothed ristorantes, caffes and Old World delicatessens. Small boutiques carrying handmade clothing and imported goods dot the streets, particularly on upper Grant Avenue. Though Italian restaurants appear to dominate the dining scene, there are plenty of other good spots to try once you've had your fill of lasagna, with menus featuring Japanese, French and contemporary fusion cuisine.
Since the early days of San Francisco, North Beach establishments were known to have a very open attitude towards sex. Even though the neighborhood is one of the hottest tourist destinations in San Francisco, this sexual freedom still reigns as North Beach has many adult entertainment establishments, including strip clubs (for example, Larry Flint's Hustler Club at 1031 Kearny) and adult bookstores, mixed among the Italian restaurants and coffee shops. Directions: Area Surrounding Columbus St at Union St, San Francisco, CA 94133Website: www.sfnorthbeach.org
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North Beach is a mix of Italian restaurants, hippie coffee shops and yuppie cafes. Some how it all comes together to make a very vibrant and welcoming area. The restaurants and shops are uniquely decorated with lively colors and designs. Murals adorn the sides of buildings thourghout the neihgborhood. Lots of good Italian restaurants. Leave a Comment Directions: Grace Cathedral is a good place to start exploring
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Suddenly you leave China to get into a mix of French and Italian buildings and restaurants.
It seems that is more lively at night, but here we enjoyed a great cappuccino and sandwiches.... with something that made me nostalgic, water with Lemon and ice... a classic at home...
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This was the transition between the Chinatown and the Italian zone. Here you can see the church but also we founded in the park a group of Chinese students playing, old couples sitting on the chairs talking of all races you can imagine…. I just loved that of San Francisco, such a variety!
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Most of the topless clubs that lined Broadway Street in the North Beach section are gone, maybe because of competition from X-rated home videos, maybe just because times change and it became no big deal to watch people dance with approximately no clothes on (except for my favorite LUSTY LADY on 1033 Kearny at Broadway).
North Beach Was Part of the old Barbary Coast, North Beach is steeped in the past -- Grant Avenue itself is the oldest street in San Francisco. In the early days, North Point docks served as a gateway for immigrants from South America, Europe and the Australian penal colonies. It wasn't until the late 1800s that thousands of Italians made the area their stronghold and turned it into the local Latin Quarter
Whether prowling for historic landmarks, sampling house-roasted espressos, shopping, clubbing, or chowing down, you'll find North Beach has plenty to offer for both a leisurely afternoon visit and a night on the town. Take a detour off the main drag of Columbus and you're likely to run across some unexpected treasure of a shop, restaurant or spectacular view. A word to the wise: avoid driving if possible, or plan to use a parking garage, as street parking in the area is notoriously scarce. Instead, try taking one of the three major bus lines (#15, #30 and #45) or two Cable Car lines that pass through the neighborhood. Directions: Area Surrounding Columbus Street at Union Street, San Francisco, CA, 94133:Website: www.sfnorthbeach.org/
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North Beach is known today as the Italian neighbourhood although many immigrant settlers of different ethnic background called this place home before the Italians. North Beach is one of the touristy parts of San Francisco that I visit often, the reason being the joyfull atmosphere and the fact that you can dine outside in numerous places. It's a nice place to stroll and a good place to eat. At one point in time North Beach used to be the bohemian neighbourhood of San Francisco, home for the San Francisco's Beat counterculture so a walking tour of the neighbourhood must include the Vesuvio Caffe, the City Lights Bookstore, the Tosca and Trieste Caffes, all places of gatherings for the "beatniks" like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Another highlight of this area is the Washington Square Park lined on one side by the Saints Peter and Paul Church, a beautiful Gothic Revival church. And finally, no tour of San Francisco will be complete without seeing the Coit Tower, which sits on top of Telegraph Hill.
At night this place becomes even more vibrant, with numerous bars, saloons and lots of jazz clubs. Really nice. And I almost forgot about Broadway Street, also part of North Beach. It's the "adult entertainment" zone. Leave a Comment
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My husband and I loved wandering around the North Beach area. There is so much to see there -- Washington Square, Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower. Also, for fans of Jack Kerouac and "The Beat Generation", there's VesuvioCafe, City Lights Bookstore and their other old haunts. I found the City Lights Bookstore somehow disappointing, perhaps expecting more. I went up to the Poetry Room -- creaky unkept wooden floors and haphazard piles of books--and got no sense of the creativity that once must have thrived there. However, there is a good selection of the "Beats" books. I would recommend City Lights only for diehard literary types.
Lots of cafes and restaurants for hanging out and people watching. Leave a Comment Directions: Take a day and start near the Transamerica Pyramid on Washington St. and head north on Columbus Ave. to Washington Square. Muni buses 15 and 30 go through North Beach.
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