What's going on in San Francisco / Bay Area

Wait, you haven't been there yet? Go! The suits have had it to themselves for too long. Take the elevator to the top floor for a view that mashes up Market Street's strong diagonal with a bajillion other intersecting planes. San Francisco looks ut...

Sharon Ardiana didn't launch the artisanal pizza boom of the Naughts, but she was there by the time the booster rockets fell away. Ever since the Glen Park shop opened in 2007, her pies -- and more specifically, that crust, one long air bubble enc...

Too poor to get into the City Club? Too female to join the Bohemian? Eighty dollars a year buys you easy access to SFMOMA's rooftop garden and cafe, one of the city's most private public spaces. On weekends, the sculpture garden is crawling with 4...

Four Barrel arguably roasts the best coffee beans in town. We credit this to the roasters, because other shops have equally interesting single-estate sources, but Four Barrel usually comes out ahead. The cafe is a striking room with mounted boar's...

Rain or shine, dinner reservations are a must at Le P'tit Laurent, a quaint little restaurant just a block from Glen Park BART station. Neighborhood residents flock to enjoy traditional French fare like moules frites or cassoulet in an intimate se...

In December 2008, San Francisco's longest-lived purveyor of supergay clothing finally closed its doors. All-American Boy typified the Castro aesthetic for more than 30 years, offering enough bikini briefs and square-cut swimsuits to supply a lifet...

At Ame, owners Hiro Sone and Lisa Doumani say their personal cuisine blends local ingredients with the flavors of southern France and northern Italy and Sone's Japanese sensibilities, resulting in meals that give fusion cooking a good name. Other ...

Whenever wine, liquor, or beer companies change their label colors or bottle shapes, distributors know who wants their suddenly outmoded merchandise: Suhail Saba, the owner of the Parkview Market. "I buy it all, I buy everything," he says with a l...

Dennis Leary, not content with personally cooking every dish that feeds his clientele at Canteen, has opened an adorable little takeout-only place downtown in what was once a cigar stand. The daily-changing, seasonal menu (check the Web site) fea...

Sweet Maple has attracted its crowds by taking good old-fashioned American breakfast fare to the next level. The huge menu is full of standard staples, from Benedicts and two-egg breakfasts to morning sandwiches and French toast -- there's nothing...

It's the nature of thrift and vintage shopping to be hit-or-miss, but Wasteland is the only thrift store I've found in San Francisco that always delivers. I can't go in there without spending money, and I recently noticed it's keeping a separate r...

Simple and seasonal with a flair for the decadent, NOPA brunch is worth the scramble to land a reservation or wait for a table. Flavors are rich, but always inventive and well balanced; butter-basted farm eggs pair with sweet-tart caponata, and ch...