The Mission

The Latinx soul of San Francisco with Dolores Park to keep it weird.

There are many complaints about the Mission being gentrified by the Techies, but a stroll down Mission Street shows very little evidence of that. Sure, behind the scenes landlords may prefer the kids with the Restricted Stock Units, but the store fronts still represent the Latinx culture. A few storefronts are not what they appear with the world famous Mission Chinese restaurant hidden behind the underachieving facade of the Lung Shan restaurant. Look for Foreign Cinema which actually appears to be a movie theater and will require you to cash in those RSUs for a meal, but do it anyway (get the fresh sardines).

For the more humble pocketbook, you can still get amazing Mexican and South American food of every kind. My favorites are La Taqueria (the line moves fast although you may have to take it over to Dolores Park to find seating), Taqueria Cancun (get the carne asada burrito with everything) and La Corneta (get the Super Baby Burrito with salmon. There is one in Glen Park too - both good.). And a reminder to my British friends - do not peel all off the tin foil before you start to eat the burrito - pull it off like a banana peel as you devour. Still messy, but somewhat less so.

I know burritos can cause heated discussions so — fight me.

In the slightly bizarro world of SF, you can walk over to the parallel street of Valencia where you will find the eclectic atmosphere that makes it my favorite street in the city. The hipster vibe just hasn’t crept over the two blocks to Mission Street as feared. Perhaps they can all come to an understanding and keep it that way.

I love the Community Thrift Store with it’s great collection of books, unusual records and the odd used tech collection. The alley right next to it is filled with wonderful art and should definitely be explored. There are just too many great restaurants and bars to mention…

And finally, Dolores Park — pick the right section to hang out or you may find yourself wondering where all these buff, semi-naked men came from while you were stuffing your face full of burrito. Come and watch the carnival pass by. Just keep an open mind and take your trash when you leave!