San Francisco invented the Mission burrito, the Irish coffee, cioppino and fortune cookies as we know them. Three days here run from 6am fisherman's crab pots at the Wharf to Ferry Building oysters, Mission taquerias and Chinatown dim sum carts.
The Bay Area's flagship market runs Sat 8:00–14:00 (also Tue & Thu 10:00–14:00) along the Embarcadero. Inside: Cowgirl Creamery cheese, Acme Bread, Hog Island Oyster Co. (a dozen ~$42), Boccalone salumi and Blue Bottle coffee at $5–7.
James Beard-recognised taqueria open since 1973, famous for burritos made without rice — just carnitas or carne asada, beans, cheese, salsa and crema. Super burrito with avocado runs $14–17. Cash and card, no reservations, queue out the door at lunch.
Three blocks of Valencia and Guerrero hold Tartine's morning bun ($6.50), Bi-Rite Creamery's salted caramel scoop ($6) and Dandelion Chocolate on Valencia, where single-origin bars are roasted on-site and factory tours run daily.
On Ross Alley, workers have folded fortune cookies by hand on rotating griddles since 1962 — bags cost $6–8, and photographing costs $1. Surrounding Stockton Street markets sell live crab, roast duck and barbecue pork by the pound until around 18:00.
Baking since 1849 with a mother dough carried through the 1906 earthquake. The Jefferson Street flagship has a 9-metre glass-walled bakery catwalk; sourdough clam chowder in a bread bowl costs $15–18. Bakery opens 08:00, museum tour $5.
A 1912 marble counter with 18 stools, run by the Sancimino family. No tables, no reservations, cash preferred, closed Sundays and shuts by 17:30. Half a Dungeness crab, Sicilian sashimi and Anchor Steam are the standing order; expect a 60–90 minute queue.
One of only three remaining Japantowns in the US. The Buchanan Mall malls hold Marufuku Ramen (Hakata tonkotsu, $18–22), Benkyodo-style mochi shops and Nijiya Market for bento, sake and Japanese produce. The Peace Pagoda plaza anchors the block.
North Beach's Italian-American seafood room, where cioppino — the tomato-and-wine shellfish stew invented by SF's Genoese fishermen — arrives in a pot for two at $60–70, crab, clams, mussels and prawns in the shell. Small, loud, no reservations for parties under six.
Good Mong Kok on Stockton is a takeaway counter with no seats — shrimp har gow, char siu bao and sticky rice run $3–6 per order, cash only, queue from 08:00. Carry the bag two blocks to Portsmouth Square and eat among the morning tai chi groups.
A permanent food truck lot with 6–10 rotating trucks daily, a heated beer garden and picnic seating under cover — useful in SF's summer fog. Rotations cover Filipino lumpia, Salvadoran pupusas, Korean tacos and Bay Area barbecue at $12–18 per plate.
Potrero Hill and Dogpatch hold SF's brewing cluster — Harmonic Brewing on 22nd Street, Triple Voodoo and Seven Stills nearby. Pints run $8–10, flights $12–15. Combine with Neighbor Bakehouse's kouign-amann on 22nd (sold out most days by noon).
Irish coffee was introduced to America here in 1952, when owner Jack Koeppler and travel writer Stanton Delaplane reverse-engineered the Shannon Airport original — the cream float took help from a dairy expert. Around $13; they pour hundreds daily in a rapid ten-glass line.