Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where Are the Painted Ladies?
Not everything was crisped by the quake and fire of 1906. Thanks in part to
the line of dynamited buildings along Van Ness Avenue north of Market
Street, much of Pacific Heights was saved, despite the fact that it was (and
remains) a tinderbox of redwood homes dating mostly from the latter 1800s.
This one-time middle-class enclave is now distinctly for the wealthy, and fol-
lowing a period in which these old handsome houses were disdained as
déclassé, the current owners lavish great attention and resources on their
restoration and maintenance. Walking up and down these civilized streets is
a marvelous way to enjoy San Francisco, its distinct architectural style, and
its rare way of blending urban living with suburban rhythms and ease.
Although you find pockets of Painted Ladies all around town, from the
Mission to the Western Addition to Presidio Heights, perhaps the densest
concentration of the best-maintained and prettiest ones is in the 120
square blocks of Pacific Heights bounded roughly by Sutter Street to the
south, Union Street to the north, Van Ness Avenue to the east, and Scott
Street to the west. Just south of those boundaries, Alamo Square at Hayes
and Scott streets provides that postcard-perfect perspective of a row of
Painted Ladies in foreground of the distant Downtown skyline.
TAKE A BREAK
Your walking tour is over, but your tour
of North Beach can be just beginning, if
you like, for this park is its unofficial
heart, and there are dozens of shops,
bakeries, and restaurants in the blocks
around here.
Columbus Avenue
is
known for its string of sidewalk cafes—
although for me, just sitting on one of
the park benches and watching the char-
acters go by can be like a meal unto
itself. If you have any juice left at all, you
can also head up the stairs on
Filbert
Street
(which runs in front of the
church) to reach the stellar city view of
Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower (p. 111).
Following Columbus Avenue north,
away from the direction you've come,
will bring you to Fisherman's Wharf in 8
blocks. And a block west of here, at
Mason Street,
you can catch the famed
cable car as it plods the hill back to
Powell and Market Streets.
Eastern Bakery
(720 Grant Ave.)
is a
long-running (since 1924), seriously old-
school bakery good for carb-tastic snacks
that'll get you through the rest of this
walk; you can fill a bag for just a few
bucks. The options are many: radish cake,
mooncake,
tikoy
(a sort of globular rice
cake popular during Chinese New Year),
custard tarts and BBQ pork buns that cost
less than a dollar. This is one of the only
bakeries in town to make
ngow yee daw,
which are thin, crispy, snacky sorts of
chips sold by the $3 bag. Keep pointing
at goodies without worrying much about
the cost, because it won't amount to
much. In about 25 minutes, I'll have you
at a historic beer hall, and then an Italian
cafe for coffee, so don't fill up
too
much—get a to-go bag.
