City Lights
Cafe Trieste
Coit Tower
North Beach
North Beach is most famous for being the city's Italian neighbourhoood and the
birthplace of San Francisco's native literary movement. Italians mostly from Genoa and Sicily rebuilt the area after the 1906 earthquake
bringing with them much of the city's fishing industry.
Artists and writers were soon to follow, attracted by the area's European feel and
the low rents. The Beat Generation was born when young Americans of the 1950s
reacted to what they saw as a sterile, materialist and conformist postwar America.
Exploring and exposing the hidden underbelly of society filled volumes of poetry and
prose sold in Ferlinghetti's City Lights bookstore and San Francisco became known as
a counterculture capital for the first time.
Later, in the early sixties, comedy clubs such as the Hungry I showcased such
maverick comedians as Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen, and North Beach became home to
the USA's first ever topless bar.
Today you will still find many Italian immigrants in North Beach, and with them the
sounds, smells and flavours of Italy. You can visit City Lights and find a variety of
literature rare anywhere in the world, and soak in the European vibe.
Sights
Coit Tower: Peak of Telegraph Hill (Just look up)
Built in 1933, the tower was a gift to the city from the millionaire eccentric
Lillie Hitchcock Coit. It is said Lillie loved firemen, and the tower resembles a
fire hose nozzle, but the architects always denied that was their intention. Still,
it is one of the most particular of North Beach sights, with a beautiful view of the
city from the top. The murals at the base of the tower were created under the
supervision of the famous socialist artist Diego Rivera, and at the time of their
completion were considered rather subversive.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill:
Nesting upon Telegraph Hill are a famous flock of green parrots descended from
escaped pets. Listen for them, and look to the trees.
Washington Square Park:
When it's sunny in North Beach, everyone lays out a blanket in Washington Square.
Here you'll find old Chinese ladies doing tai chi, people playing with their dogs,
and musicians. Overlooking the park is The Church of St. peter and St. Paul, where
Marilyn Monroe and Joe di Maggio had their wedding photographs taken.
Shopping
City Lights Bookstore: 261 Columbus St. at Broadway
If North Beach was at the center of the Beat movement, then City Lights was the
armpit of American postwar prosperity. You'll find plenty here to read you never
knew was written, stacked in narrow corridors, among pictures of Bob Dylan and many
other pop icons of the 50s 60s.
Eating
Cafe Trieste: 609 Vallejo (At Grant St.)
This is one of San Francisco's great spots. Walking into the place you can feel it
hasn't changed much since the days when the Beat writers spent their time here. The
walls are covered in photographs of famous patrons and the pastries and coffee are
delicious. It is not uncommon to happen upon an impromptu acoustic jam session, and
there is opera on Saturday afternoons. It is said Coppola wrote the screenplay for
The Godfather here.
Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store: 566 Columbus St. (At Union)
There aren't any cigars for sale here, and nor can you smoke them inside, but you
can enjoy a delicious home-baked focaccia sandwich and have a glass of wine or a
beer as you watch the action outside. It is small and it gets busy at lunchtime, but
the people working here are really nice and the food is great.
Drinking
Cafe Vesuvio: 255 Columbus St. at Broadway St.
Right next door to City Lights Books, Vesuvio is famous for being the place the
Beats used to hang out in. It has colourful stained glass windows and is cosy and
comfortable, with seating upstairs that looks down on the bar below. This may be the
place for an intellectual conversation.
The San Francisco Brewing Company: 155 Columbus St. at Pacific St.
They make their own beer here, in an old building with a characteristically San
Franciscan redwood interior. The beer is great, as are the prices. A small glass is
only $1.50 in the afternoons from 4-6pm.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant St. at Columbus St.
This old wreck of a bar is the oldest in San Francisco. It is mostly for the older
crowd, but the live blues in the evenings is worth checking out, as are the $3 well
cocktails. It is the oldest bar in San Francisco after all.
Tony Nik's: 1524 Stockton St. at Green St.
Opened the very day after prohibition was repealed in 1933, Tony Nik's is a cool and
comfortable lounge consisting primarily of a long bar. The mood is warm and classic
50s-60s, and our very good friend Sam may be found working behind the bar. Ask him
for a joke or a story.
Kennedy's: 1040 Columbus St. at Jones
Kennedy's is a bit farther afield from most of the action in North Beach, but once
you're there, it's easy to stay. They serve Indian food on the premises, have plenty
of pool tables and video games and most of all, cheap drinks: Guinness is only
$2.50, and a pitcher of Pabst Blue Ribbon is $7.