North Beach, San Francisco's Little Italy community, is a friendly, urban neighborhood with great restaurants, unique shops, and several tourist attractions. The Little Italy district is full of historic landmarks and was home to famous cultural icons such as Joe DiMaggio and Allen Ginsberg. North Beach has a large Italian identity and provides several things to do for visitors to the lively neighborhood.
The annual North Beach Festival showcases arts and crafts along with live musical entertainment to celebrate the city's Italian roots and Beat history. Celebrity chefs attend for the pizza-throwing contest. Every June, visitors can catch cooking demonstrations, get their animals blessed, and view Italian-style street chalk art. Annually in May, O'Reilly's Irish Pub & Restaurant puts on San Francisco Oyster Fest. Festival attendees can sample Irish oyster recipes and several beers. This event is especially popular among music lovers and is headlined by popular, mainstream chart toppers.
At the heart of Little Italy, Washington Square Park offers visitors the chance to relax and grab lunch from any of the several eateries that surround it. The park is the place to view outdoor movies at night and provides great views of the Saints Peter and Paul Church. Pioneer Park atop Telegraph Hill is another gem, offering spectacular views of the city. This park is home to Coit Tower, where visitors can pay to take the elevator up to the top observation area.
Washington Square Park
Union St. and Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-831-2700
Pioneer Park
1 Telegraph Hill Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-362-0808
The Beat Museum is entirely dedicated to the group of writers that hailed directly from the streets of North Beach. There are several exhibits featuring books, manuscripts, letters, and other paraphernalia of Jack Kerouac and his Beat Generation cohorts. Another interesting museum stop is Lyle Tuttle's Tattoo Museum. Although it is only a small window museum, it displays memorabilia that Lyle Tuttle collected over the years from photographs, tools, historical tattoo items, and flash art.
The Beat Museum
540 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-399-9626
thebeatmuseum.org
Lyle Tuttle's Tattoo Museum
841 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-775-4991
lyletuttletattooing.com
Highly recommended by Frommers, Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano in Little Italy serves some of the best thin-crust, wood-fired, traditional pizzas in the whole city. For non-Italian fare, Mama's on Washington Square was rated "Best Brunch and Breakfast" by "SF Weekly" and "AOL Cityguide." It's a popular San Francisco stop on the weekends, where lines start early for the French toast and omelets.
Tommaso Ristorante Italiano
1042 Kearny St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-398-9696
tommasos.com
Mama's on Washington Square
1701 Stockton St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-362-6421
mamas-sf.com
City Lights is an independent bookstore owned by the famous Beat poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. This book-lover paradise shelves a lot of local literature and hard-to-find special editions. 101 Music carries a massive collection of vintage vinyl. The independent record store is geared toward serious collectors. A. Cavalli & Co. is the place to go for Italian imports. From books to music, cooking tools, recipe ingredients, and souvenirs, this shop sells a lot of authentic, imported Italian goods. It is also a good place to go for cappuccino and cannoli.
City Lights Bookstore
261 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-362-8193
citylights.com
101 Music
1414 Grant Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-392-6369
A. Cavalli & Co.
1441 Stockton St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-421-4219
cavallicafe.com
