The Richmond district of San Francisco is very easy to find on a map. It is the area just North of the large east-west swath of greenery that is Golden Gate Park and just south of the park-like Presidio. The Richmond is predominately a residential neighborhood that does not draw the tourist crowds because it is probably not as photogenic as other areas of the city. If I had to describe the Richmond in one word it would not be cute but it might be delicious.

The culinary heart of the Richmond district is Clement Ave which runs east and west just North of Geary street. While Clement may lack the beautiful facade of other neighborhoods like the Filmore it makes up for it with good food at very reasonable prices. As one friend expressed it, “when you live in Clement can’t afford to eat at home”.

I previously reviewed the very popular Burma Super restaurant where you will need to stand in line as much as an hour before the restaurant opens to get a table. But there are mind small restaurants in the Clement where you can get a good meal with less preparation or persistence. Directly across the street from Burma Super you can find Mai which offers inexpensive and good Vietnamese cuisine. We went to Mai on the recommendation of my friend Dan who recommended in particular the imperial rolls and the 5 spice chicken.

We loved the chicken also tried the hot and sour soup which has a very different taste than the chinese hot and sour soup that I am more familiar with. This spicy soup has tofu, pineapple and tomato and has a very fresh taste. Dan also recommended a Vietnamese sandwich place and Yum Soing for more expensive but great dim sum.

After dinner book lovers and browse for new or used books at one of the two Green Apple Book stores nearby (one for fiction and one for non-fiction). Clement and the Richmond may not draw a lot of tour buses but it is easy to see why so many people gladly call it home.

In Travel to San Francisco (episode 159) of the Amateur Traveler I interviewed to Richard Miller of the SparkleTack podcast (about San Francisco history) about San Francisco. Richard guided us in a driving/walking tour from west to east. We started at lands end and ended up near fisherman’s wharf while talking about the sites and history of many of the places in between. This very long blog post is a transcript of that interview.

---

Chris: I’d like to welcome to the show, Richard Miller. Richard comes to us from the Sparkletack Podcast, which happens to be one of my favorite podcasts, it is a podcast about San Francisco history, and he’s come to talk to us about San Francisco. Richard, welcome to the show.

Richard: Thanks, Chris.

Chris: I thought about not having somebody else on a show talking about San Francisco, because I live within an hour’s drive of San Francisco, go up there all the time, and could easily do a show on myself, but I really am glad to have you on the show because you have so much more knowledge, for instance, of the history and such of San Francisco, that I’ve enjoyed in your podcast over the years. Now, we should be honest with people, because you’ve just been honest with the people on your show – you’re now actually an expat San Franciscan.
Richard: That’s true!

Chris: Living a little further north, up in the Pacific Northwest. But I really do appreciate you coming on, and telling us a little bit about ‘your’ – how do we refer to San Francisco now? – your distant home town.

Richard: I just outed myself in my latest podcast by saying I was an expat, as you mentioned, by calling San Francisco my first true and only urban love affair.

Chris: Very good!

Richard: We’ll leave it at that.

Chris: So, when you have a friend who comes with you to San Francisco, where would you take them? First of all, why should somebody come to San Francisco at all?

Richard: Why should somebody come to San Francisco at all? It’s just an unbelievable combination of natural beauty, of a sort of personal and cultural chaos, which I find very interesting in an urban environment, and its – and this is my personal angle – its, the history of the place is so incredibly rich, and not just rich, but obvious in the physical environment, in the built environment, and in what’s left of the natural environment that’s there. It’s just a fascinating place to walk in, and kind of let it wash over you.

Chris: So, when you take somebody to San Francisco, what do you take them to see?

Richard: I tend to just pack them in the back of the car and just almost start out driving in any direction, because there’s something to see wherever you go, but I do find myself attracted – and I think this is a natural human thing – attracted to the edges, and to water, so I tend to always end up out by Lands End and out by the Presidio, just kind of driving around the edge and seeing the sights out in that direction of the far western tip of the city.

View Larger Map

Any time of year is a good time to visit the area around Union Square in San Francisco to go shopping but Christmas in Union Square is particularly enjoyable.

Getting to Union Square

There is a parking garage directly under Union Square which often has space, but I would actually recommend parking in the 5th and Mission Street Garage which I have never seen fill up and is easier to get in and out of.

This neighborhood is also easily accessible from BART via the Powell Street Bart Station which runs down Market street.

Stores

Starting at the 5th and Mission Garage your first stop will be across Mission Street at the Westfield Center which is an upscale shopping center anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.

Our next stop is right down the street from Bloomies and that is Old Navy which is a 3 story version of this popular clothing store.

By this point the shopping has barely started but my son Mike and I are already worn out so we usually get dropped off at the Apple Store (me) and Virgin Records (Mike) as my wife and daughter continue up the street towards Union Square.

Saks 5th Avenue and Neiman Marcus border Union Square but it s Macys that is the real anchor store of this neighborhood. Even with 7 floors of shopping space the men’s department is located across Stockton street in a separate building. In my experience, my wife and daughter can shop here until dinner time.

More upscale shoppers will also find boutique shops like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Versace, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, and Tiffanys.

Places to Eat

This trip is about shopping so we are looking for a fast place to get lunch and I will recommend 3:

• Westfield Center - The upscale food court in the Westfield Center features some surprisingly good food like Andale Mexican Restaurant and Asqew Grill.
• Macys - The food court in the Macy’s basement features Wolfgang Puck Express (try the wood oven fired pizza) as well as a good place for soup in a sour dough bread bowl. (My daughter also says that Tom’s cookies alone is worth a trip to the city).
• Mel’s Drive-In - In the same block as the 5th and Mission Garage is a popular diner which is a throw back to a 1950s diner. The food here is classic diner fare. I recommend the Reuben sandwich.

The Cheesecake factory - On the top floor of Macys is the popular Cheesecake Factory. Split an order with two people because:

• the portions are huge
• you need to leave room for dessert

Allow at least an hour to wait when the area is busy. So when you are an hour from being ready to eat send your version of Mike or I up to the top of Macys to put in your reservation.

If you drive down Clement street in San Francisco (north of Golden Gate park and south of the Presidio) around 4:30 pm on any given day you will see a line gathering out side of the Burma Superstar! Restaurant. This might strike you a little strange if you happened to notice that the restaurant won’t even open up for another half hour.

To say that Burma Superstar! is an unimposing looking restaurant would be an understatement. But the food is not only certainly the best Burmese food in hundreds (thousands?) of miles, but worthy of note for anyone who likes food.

Our favorites on the menu would include:

Read the rest of this entry »