Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Go straight through to Mission Street.
Turn right.
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Mission Street
When it isn't far from the Civic Center,
the Mission Street of SoMa makes a turn
south and morphs into a Main Street for
the Latin population. This Mission
street can be a real blast to wander down.
Like Broadway in Los Angeles, it may be
litter-strewn and lined with buildings
that haven't seen a new coat of paint in
thirty years, but it also has a carnival fla-
vor. Here, jumbled discount shops, pro-
duce markets, and sidewalk stalls
producing a cheap banquet of pan-Latin
delicacies clamor for your attention. The
energy (and, yes, some of the down-and-
out denizens) may unsettle some visitors
used to more subdued shopping streets,
but give it a few blocks and it'll grow on
you. Mission Street is one of the liveliest
places in the city, and its busy sidewalks
mean that although you might be
uneasy at first here, you'll almost cer-
tainly be safe.
Stroll down it for as far as you like,
soaking up the affordable, low culture.
There are BART stations at both 16th
Street and at 24th Street. The walk to
24th will take you about 15 minutes if
you don't dally; from there, you can just
hop the subway to go downtown. The
Mission is also renowned for its cheap
Latin foods, and it would be a shame to
leave town without trying to stuff one
of the Mission's famously giant burritos
in your belly. So if you can't find any-
thing you like in the multiple greasy
spoons lining the avenue, allow me to
direct you to two hugely popular bur-
rito vendors, La Cumbre (p. 75) and
El Farolito (p. 75), which are described
in the dining chapter. But I encourage
you to nose around and find your own
culinary miracles—despite sometimes
bedraggled appearances, the restaurants
in this part of town are held to the same
health standards as every other estab-
lishment in the city.
I like to take Mission in one direc-
tion of a walk, and then head one long
block west to Valencia Street, which
also runs north-south. Contrasting the
Latin vibe of Mission Street, Valencia
has a young, intentionally hip personal-
ity, giving the Mission neighborhood a
second, parallel life. Over the past
decade or so, thanks to the infusion of
cash generated by the dot-com boom,
Valencia has seen a growth of cafes and
stores. That hasn't overpowered the
Latin blowout a block east, but it
has turned the Mission District into
an important shopping and nightlife
destination.
