One Day In: San Francisco

by Suraj Rampure

Spending a day in San Francisco? Here are my recommendations on where to eat and what to see. This guide assumes that you want to stay in SF proper, rather than wander to Berkeley or spend time in the South Bay.

Bites 🍴

I haven’t spent that much time in SF – dozens of day trips but very few longer stays – so this will be biased towards where I’ve visited recently.

Arsicault

I’ve only ever been here once (in December 2024), but the blackberry almond croissant is the single best thing I’ve eaten in SF.

There are two locations – one in the Tenderloin and one in Inner Richmond. If you’re safety conscious you’ll want to avoid the Tenderloin location, but according to their menu only the Tenderloin (McAllister) location has the blackberry almond croissant.

Tartine

I was super excited to try Tartine due to the relationship between Tartine and the GOAT, Wayfarer. The pastries were nothing special, but the sourdough was elite! Well worth the line.

Oren’s Hummus

The hummus, pita, fries, and onion wedges are worth a trip, even if you’re used to Michigan/Windsor-area Mediterranean food.

Ippudo, Marufuku, or Mensho

There are a bunch of good ramen places in SF. Mensho (pictured below) is the most recent place I’ve tried. Ippudo and Marufuku are also popular, and are the first two places I really fell in love with ramen.


A few bowls from Mensho.

At all of these places, I like the default, tonkotsu-based broth.


Sights 🌄

Palace of Fine Arts

A nice Bollywood-looking building and surrounding park. It’s at the edge of the Presidio, a nice neighborhood by the water with clear views of the Golden Gate Bridge that, honestly, I haven’t explored enough. I’d spend some time walking around here before moving to the beach mentioned below.

Crissy Field

Walk along the length of Crissy Field for great views of the bridge. You could even walk from the Palace of Fine Arts all the way to the start of the bridge and even walk across it, but it depends on the weather. (In this picture, we got lucky.)

Lombard Street

You’ve likely heard of the “Crooked Street” in SF; that’s Lombard Street. This is more of a “check it off the list”-type destination but still cool to see once.


The view from the top of Lombard Street.
The tower you see in the distance is Coit Tower. You can climb to the top of it, too.

After going here, you could go to Fisherman’s Wharf, the main touristy area in SF, but personally I don’t think there’s anything particularly special about it. Go there if you want to see the barking seals.

Mission Dolores Park

If the weather is good, this place will be packed, and for good reason. Locals come here for picnics and the like. Tartine (mentioned above) is near by, as is Birite Creamery, a known ice cream spot. A lot of the best Mexican food is a short walk away in the Mission District; the place I last tried (El Farolito) was good but didn’t compare to the Mexican food in San Diego…

Lands End

My personal favorite place in SF. Go here for the sunset, specifically to the Sutro Baths. If you get there early enough, you’ll have enough time to climb down the stairs and watch the sunset from the water itself – but be prepared to climb back up!


Sutro Baths at sunset.



Sutro Baths from above during the day.



A hike in the area.

Twin Peaks

If you’re willing to Uber, the view is really cool at night. It’ll be very windy, though!

Union Square

I remember thinking Union Square was cool in undergrad, but the past few times I’ve visited it seemed more run down than I remember. This is the area with all of the luxury stores, the cool Apple Store, etc. but it isn’t the “safest”. In the winter there’s a skating rink and nice tree. If I were to go here again, it’d be just for one reason: to go to The Cheesecake Factory at the top of the Macy’s (pictured below) for the views (and… cheesecake 🍰).

Oracle Park

This is where the SF Giants, the local Major League Baseball team, plays. A baseball game is a large time commitment and they may not even be playing when you’re in town, but if the timing works out, the views from the park are (supposedly) among the best in the league. I say supposedly because I’ve only been to a handful…

Lower Pacific Heights

This is less of a thing to see, and more of a neighborhood to roam around. Lots of good food and stores in the area. Marufuku, one of the ramen spots mentioned above, is here. Some other recommendations in the area:


Sezane, a French women's clothing store on Fillmore.


Other Tips 😄

Take a Waymo, the self-driving taxi! Prices are comparable to Uber/Lyft.

When getting into the city, take the BART.