The Progress

Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights


The sister bistro of State Bird Provisions seems laid-back – the wabi-sabi wooden decor resembles a weatherbeaten boat and Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski's Pacific coastal menu is quintessentially Californian. But surf-meets-turf fare reveals James Beard Award–winning flair – sustainable California sturgeon caviar drifts across potato clouds, while briny Manila clams and earthy roast maitake mushrooms bond over squash soup dumplings. Dessert is an afterthought; enjoy more vegetables.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights attractions

1. Fillmore Center Waterfall & Plaza

0.12 MILES

This patch of green flanked by apartment towers is open to the public and a welcome break from Fillmore sidewalks. Walk past the fountain at O'Farrell…

2. Peace Pagoda

0.19 MILES

The spiritual center of Japantown's commercial district is minimalist master Yoshiro Taniguchi's Peace Pagoda. It was donated by San Francisco's sister…

3. Cottage Row

0.21 MILES

Detour to days of yore, when this neighborhood was a sleepy seaside village – before lumber barons arrived with bombastic Victorian fanfare. Serene…

4. Japan Center

0.21 MILES

Time-travel to 1968 as you cross Japan Center's indoor wooden bridges, with noren (curtains) and maneki-neko (cat figurines) waving welcomes from…

5. Ruth Asawa Fountains

0.24 MILES

During drought years you'll have to imagine how they look with water flowing, but even without they're a sight to behold. Celebrated sculptor and former…

6. Konko Church

0.36 MILES

Inside this low-roofed, high-modernist church a blond-wood sanctuary welcomes all faiths. Kindly Reverend Joanne Tolosa will answer questions about…

7. Alamo Square Park

0.53 MILES

Hippie communes and Victorian bordellos, jazz greats and opera stars, earthquakes and Church of Satan services: these genteel 'Painted Lady' Victorian…

8. St John Coltrane Church

0.66 MILES

When the bass thumbs out the opening notes to 'A Love Supreme,' you'll know the Sunday liturgy has begun at San Francisco's legendary Church of St John…