Cover Story
A Million Dollar Tour
of San Francisco for $6
By Graceann Walden
In these weird economic times,
we’re all looking for affordable entertainment. It can be had by ferry
riders for a mere $6. Take your friends, family and visitors on an insider’s
tour of three great San Francisco neighborhoods: Chinatown, nob Hill and
Fishermen’s Wharf.
As a writer specializing in the
Bay Area food scene, I try to keep my readers in the know and when I wear my
other hat, as a tour operator, I like nothing better than taking locals and
visitors on adventures through our terrific neighborhoods.
Here’s an idea for a great way
to spend a self-guided fun and educational afternoon. Leaving the Ferry
Terminal, proceed across the beautiful new plaza that spans the length of the Ferry
Building, now being expanded and retrofitted. If you need a cup of coffee
to fuel your odyssey, there is a Noah’s Bagel shop on Market Street
on the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
![](7_dollar_tour_photo_1.jpg) |
Shot
of start - cable cars - near the foot of California Street |
Board a Van Ness and California
Street cable car in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, at the foot of
California Street and Main. Pay the conductor for an all-day MUNI pass - $6.*
The cable cars run every 15 minutes from 6:22am until 1am, although we don’t
recommend this tour as a late night jaunt.
If you sit on the right side of
the cable car, or hang off that side, you get the better view of our trip up
California Street. Along the way you’ll pass the venerable Tadich Grill,
the rainy day restaurant where the sautéed sand dabs are always a good
choice. Almost directly next door is another restaurant specializing in
seafood, Aqua. One dish that has become a signature there is the mussel
soufflé.
Your trip will take you next
past the buildings that house the leading financial institutions of San
Francisco: the classically designed California Bank of Trust, the beautiful
Merchants Exchange Building and the massive Bank of America building.
Alight from the cable car at
Grant Avenue at California for a stroll through Chinatown. But first
take the time to make a short visit to Old St. Mary’s -the first
Roman Catholic Cathedral in California. Chinese laborers built this gothic
revival church using stone quarried in China and bricks brought around the
horn. The first English-language school for the Chinese community was founded
here.
In contrast to Old St. Mary’s
two buildings, the Sing Chong and Sing Fat buildings built in
1908, flank the north side of California. Both display Chinese architectural
elements, upturned roof edges, pagoda ornamentation and tiling prevalent
throughout Chinatown. The upturned roof edge is not just an element of style,
but meant to dissuade evil spirits from landing on the building.
Across California Street, be
sure to visit St. Mary’s Square, to see the statue of Sun Yat Sen, by San
Francisco’s favorite sculptor, Beniamino Bufano.
Strolling down Grant, in the
first block east of California you’ll find the old-timey Far East Café,
known for its food and even more for its interior featuring high-backed and
curtained booths. In the same block two of the best places to buy inexpensive
all-manner of trinkets, back-scratchers, statues and toys are the Canton
Bazaar and across the street the China Bazaar.
Since Grant Avenue is geared
towards the tourist trade souvenir, linen and jewelry stores, as well as
restaurants dominate the scene. A few places deserve special mention. The Empress
of China restaurant, between Clay and Washington Streets, perches high
above the busy streets below. And, although it is not trendy, serving a menu
of Chinese American fare, it is one of the most pleasant white tablecloth
Chinese restaurants in Chinatown.
![](7_dollar_tour_photo_4.jpg) |
Funeral
procession in Chinatown and the Buddha Bar |
Unlike the cafes that surround
it on the busy streets below, the Empress has a full bar and a spectacular 180
degree view of the Bay. In the lobby, near the elevators, that you must take
to reach the restaurant, you can look at a display of photos of dignitaries,
who have dined at the Empress. You’ll see pics of Lana Turner, Barbara Bush,
Vincent Price and a rare photo of James Beard and Craig Claiborne dining
together.
On Grant between Washington and
Jackson Street, there are several other interesting places. The Buddha Bar
is one of the funkiest and fun bars in Chinatown. Nearby, Chew Chong Tai
& Co. sells kits for brush painting, decorative calligraphy scrolls
and delicate Chinese brush paintings.
One fun thing to do is to have
Mr. Li, who works at Chew Chong Tai, do a scroll on the spot. It makes a
unique birthday gift. The lady behind the counter will look up any name in a
special English to Chinese dictionary and copy the characters for Mr. Li. For
a few dollars, Mr. Li produces a handsome brush painting of the name.
If you’re getting hungry, the Kowloon
Café is next door. An incense-laden Buddha watches over the utilitarian
dining room, where you can get yummy vegetarian dim sum to go, or enjoy their
buffet lunch. Their vegetarian version of sui mai is so good, you won’t miss
the pork.
![](7_dollar_tour_photo_3.jpg) |
All
manner of kitchen tools at Ginn Wall Hardware Co. |
If you want to learn something
about Chinese teas, Ten Ren Tea Co. is a good place to stop. Located
close to Jackson Street, the store has scores of green, black and aged teas. A
new addition to the shop is a "tea bar" serving flavored tea drinks,
hot tea and goopy tapioca drinks – currently all the rage. They’re
flavored-sweetened liquid with balls of tapioca suspended in it. It’s partly
drunk and eaten.
Across the street and down the
block, is the best place in San Francisco to buy implements for Chinese
cooking. Ginn Wall Hardware store has all manner of rice cookers,
cleavers, woks, ginger craters, cookbooks, steamers, pots, pans and of course,
hardware.
At Pacific, turn left from Grant
to walk a hill to Stockton Street. It’s time to return to the California
cable car, but instead of retracing your steps. Let’s explore the
non-touristy part of Chinatown. Stockton Street is where Asians from all over
the Bay Area flock to buy their meats, fresh fish, vegetables, and dry goods.
![](7_dollar_tour_photo_2.jpg) |
Chinese
vegetables on Grant |
At the corner of Pacific and
Stockton, Hop Sang Meat Market carries all manner of beef, pork, lamb
and goat and also makes and packages their own beef or pork jerky. It comes in
either spicy or regular and is $8 for half a pound - a chewy and delicious
snack.
When you reach the Stockton
Street tunnel, climb the stairs one flight to California Street, to re-board
the cable car. Hang on, as the car climbs Nob Hill and get off at Taylor
Street. Once dubbed the "hill of palaces" because of the mansions
built there by the men who made their money in the wild boom days of early San
Francisco, when silver and gold flowed from the mines and the Transcontinental
Railroad linked our east and west coasts.
NEXT
PAGE