Must-see shopping in San Francisco

  • Dog Eared Books

    San Francisco

    For vacation reading that matches the Castro scenery, head into Dog Eared for a wide selection of San Francisco literature, LGBTQ+ memoirs and novels…

  • On the Run

    San Francisco

    If your morning jog leaves your feet or shins hurting, get your gait checked here before you hit Ocean Beach or Golden Gate Park trails. The pros will…

  • Green Apple Books

    San Francisco

    Stagger out of this literary opium den while you still can, laden with remaindered art books, used cookbooks and just-released novels signed by local…

  • Alley Cat Books

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Part bookstore, part community center, with books in the front, and local art shows and art books in the back. Alley Cat is not a hush-hush place but an…

  • Harvest Off Mission

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    This tidy Bernal Heights dispensary is tops for its 'farm-to-feeling' edibles, which include things like animal cookies, Black Ice and Pineapple Love…

  • Exploratorium Store

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Bring home gifts for the kids that you won't find anywhere else. The shop at the Exploratorium – the city's famous art and science museum – carries unique…

  • Ambiance

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    The Union St outpost of this four-store SF-based chain showcases midrange designers, with a good mix of trendy and classic cuts in jeans, dresses, shirts,…

  • Flax Art & Design

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    The city's finest art-supply store carries a dizzying array of ink, paints, pigment, brushes, frames, pens, pencils, markers and glues, plus paper in…

  • SCRAP

    San Francisco

    Renew, recycle and rediscover your creativity with postindustrial arts and crafts materials from SCRAP. Take a workshop for inspiration and make your own…

  • My Roommate's Closet

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    All the half-off bargains and none of the clawing dangers of a sample sale. Stocks constantly change but have included cloud-like Catherine Malandrino…

  • Alemany Farmers Market

    San Francisco

    City-run Alemany is California's first farmers market, offering bargain-priced local and organic produce every Saturday year-round since 1943. There are…

  • Prather Ranch Meat Company

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    For carnivores this is the highest-quality outlet in the Bay Area. Look no further for humanely raised, all-natural, dry-aged, grass-fed organic beef.

  • Giddy

    San Francisco

    All the candy you dreamed about as a kid is here, with a twist: candy-cane malt balls, cookies-and-cream caramels, extra-sour chewy skulls, and an entire…

  • Isaia

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    In 2017 this upscale Italian menswear boutique slid into San Francisco's only Frank Lloyd Wright Building. Originally designed as a VC Morris gift shop in…

  • Mel Rice Ceramica

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Barn doors on the front of Amnesia bar magically open to reveal the ultimate Mission hipster china cupboard. Mel Rice stocks these shelves with her…

  • Kenneth Wingard

    San Francisco

    Give the gift of sass with cheeky accessories for him and home from Kenneth Wingard, San Francisco designer to the stars. He works for Oprah and Martha,…

  • Crossroads

    San Francisco

    Switch up your look without a major investment at the Castro branch of the fashion resale retailer – including SF's best-priced selection of men's…

  • Gather

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    For elusive only-in-SF souvenirs to remind you of this singular city, duck into this trove of locally designed and handcrafted finds. Lower Haight…

  • Wingtip

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    Get the look of an outdoorsy professor who invested early in Apple at this old-school men's store in the handsome 1908 Bank of Italy building. Visiting…

  • General Store

    San Francisco

    Anyone born in the wrong place or time to be a NorCal hippie architect can still look the part, thanks to General Store. Pine-lined walls showcase…

  • Al's Attire

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Hepcats and slick chicks get their handmade threads at Al's, where vintage styles are reinvented in noir-novel twill, dandy high-sheen cotton and mid…

  • Johnson Leathers

    San Francisco

    Looking good in leather since 1979, Johnson Leathers custom-tailors classic cuts to suit all styles and genders. The motorcycle gear is made with quality…

  • Bite Lip Lab

    Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights

    San Francisco prides itself on innovation, but this one's Canadian: custom-blended lipstick, with food-grade essential oils and nontoxic, organic…

  • John Varvatos

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    America's most-wanted men's look is classic California outlaw – and nobody does it better than designer John Varvatos. Western jackets, waxed jeans and…

  • Sparc

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    The reception area looks more like a doctor's office than a Haight hippie den, because Sparc has been a medical marijuana pioneer since 1998 – and to be…

  • Crossroads Trading

    Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights

    Hey bargain hunters: see those upscale design boutiques lining Fillmore St? You can probably score their recent designs for less at Crossroads, thanks to…

  • Dog Eared Books

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Action-packed shelves of novels and graphic novels keep Missionistas well read, and trusty staff picks ensure you don't miss out on key local authors and…

  • San Francycle

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Keep those muscles warm and show local cyclist pride as you whip through downtown streets wearing San Francycle's California-bear-on-a-bicycle tee and SF…

  • Last Straw

    San Francisco

    Gifts come from the heart inside this front-parlor gift shop, packed with outer-avenues necessities: flax clothing, indigo beach totes and fisherman's…

  • Paper Tree

    Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights

    Hang a left at Ruth Asawa's bronze Origami Fountains and discover worlds of possibility. Family-run since 1968, this paper-craft emporium is fueling a…

  • Macy's

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    Seven floors of name brands spanning a city block and the historic marble I Magnin building offer charming old-school amenities – including actual powder…

  • Cris Consignment

    San Francisco

    Nob Hill socialites share a secret that's hiding in plain sight on Polk St: hot-off-the-runway high-end fashion for men and women, bought and sold on…

  • Tina Frey

    San Francisco

    Popsicles, tide pools, stained glass: Tina Frey's hand-cast vessels light up rooms and fire up neurons with their hypnotic, translucent color. If the urge…

  • Lyle Tuttle Tattoo Art Museum & Shop

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Tattooed ladies are the life's work of icon Lyle Tuttle, who inked women across seven continents – including Janis Joplin, Cher and Joan Baez. Since the…

  • The Magazine

    Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa

    The mother lode of magazines since 1973. The Magazine's old wooden shelves barely contain all the 1940s pinup mags, 1950s Vogue, trippy 1960s underground…

  • Fatted Calf

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Host gifts that earn return invitations to SF dinner parties come from Fatted Calf. This Bay Area salumi maker's showcase is a one-stop shop for…

  • Artist & Craftsman Supply

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Ditch your day job and take up painting at this employee-owned art-supply store, housed in the former Hippodrome burlesque theater. This Barbary Coast hot…

  • Kim + Ono

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Hollywood pinups borrowed their slinky silk-robe style from Chinatown burlesque stars back in the '30s – and now you can rock that retro hottie look in…

  • Distractions

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Strap on goggles and hang onto your top hat: with steampunk styling from Distractions, tonight you're gonna party like it's 1899. This gold-rush mad…

  • Asmbly Hall

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Get geared up in San Francisco–designed styles to suit every local weather condition: arctic Alamo Square winds require minimalist Golden Gate hoodies,…

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