What's going on in San Francisco / Bay Area

There is something exhilarating about zooming down a giant slide so fast that you land - boom - on your ass. Given our current rash of innocuous swirly slides, most playgrounds don't exactly offer adults and daredevils a spontaneous whoosh of exci...

River rocks embedded in concrete, a fountain sculpture, a moat, and cherry, willow and pine trees make One Bush Street one of our favorites. Built in 1953, the urban garden surrounds the first post-war high-rise building, but sadly there is no sea...

If crossing Cesar Chavez is going south of the border, this Excelsior hangout would be exotic enough for the laptop-music crowd. Grooving to corridos music between shots, you'll find there's no better place in San Francisco than this converted for...

Yeah, we're giving this Johnny-come-lately on the SF patio drinking scene a spot in the Top 3. There's just little to find fault with at the Hayes Valley urban oasis. Sure, it's a little pricey, but you're getting massive German beers and pub food...

When you're jonesing for a little bound-and-glossy action and Time, Newsweek, and Tiger Beat just don't do it for you anymore, head to the city's premier Parisian bistro and take in the dazzling selection of high-end magazines from around the glob...

It's the best of both worlds: city living and growing your own garden. Living Wall Panels from PlantsOnWalls contain all hardware needed to start an outdoor vertical garden of strawberries, basil, or whatever you choose, ranging in size from one t...

Though it'll stir up lots of tsuris to place the best Jewish deli outside of San Francisco, Saul's beats any of the city's lesser efforts by a mile. Sure, you can get an overpriced bowl of matzo ball soup at David's downtown or a chewy corned beef...

Stephanie Weisman, the founder and artistic director of The Marsh theater, spent a few months living on a house on stilts in a marsh, watching the flora and fauna thrive in its landscape. That's why she called her theater "The Marsh." She thinks o...

A haven for new parents and nannies of teeny tots, Urban Recess provides a safe, contained and well-padded play space for children any age under four. A membership provides priority access in the mornings and on rainy days, in addition to guided p...

Deep in the bowels of this San Francisco nightlife smorgasbord lives a strange and magical blue zebra-bunny. He wears a beard and stiletto heels, and if you ask him the cross-streets of his own establishment, he might just say, "It's the corner of...

Here's something purportedly fun: going to the movies. Here's something that's actually fun: skipping the exhausting, soul-sucking multiplex, and heading for the Balboa, an independent theater that's been around since 1926. At the Balboa, recent o...

This gorgeous neoclassical movie house in Oakland is home to the very best/most liberal marquee in the world. The owners of the Grand Lake like to BREAK. IT. DOWN. Also, each individual theater is unique, with our favorites being the small Egyptia...