☀️Dogpatch, SF Neighborhood Guide
☀️Dogpatch, SF Neighborhood Guide
Abby West
Available for hire
I’ll proudly say that Dogpatch is the best neighborhood in SF - and not just because I lived there.
It’s got the sunniest weather, great restaurants, deep arts roots, and the city’s best neighborhood bar, the Dogpatch Saloon.
This is a choose-your-own-adventure for spending a day in my sunny corner of the city. Pick one from each of the following categories to construct your day:
☕️ - Breakfast
⛰ - Outdoors
🍴 - Lunch
🖼 - Art
🥃 - Drinks
🥡 - Dinner
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About
Dogpatch has its roots in the literal bay, growing as a home to the dock-working community. There are many debates about where it gets its name, but my personal favorite is that as it evolved into a meatpacking district, packs of wild dogs hung around waiting for discarded meat. Thus, Dogpatch.
Today, it's home to a growing arts scene and a number of great restaurants and bars. The addition of the Chase Center to nearby Mission Bay has slightly changed the traffic patterns and levels of visitors in the neighborhood, but has also brought some new dining and drinking options.
Places to Eat
Breakfast
☕️ Neighbor Bakehouse
@abby
This is the trendiest place to get breakfast in the Dogpatch and it is really good. They often have a line and it can be too much to deal with to start your day. If you don’t want to deal with a line, you can try their stuff at Linea coffee on Mariposa or on your next stop at Sightglass downtown. If you decide to go for it, I like their savory options so if they have a kimchi or mushroom option, try it! Bring a friend and split a couple options. They also have pre-made sandwiches at lunch but they sell out by about 1p daily.
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☕️ Piccino Coffee Bar & Bakery
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If you’re feeling a little more European and just want a light coffee and pastry, Piccino has the best coffee in the neighborhood. Their baristas are friendly, the line moves quickly, and they have great little treats to go with your drink. I like the ginger scone or the ham sandwich for breakfast (and a chocolate chip cookie if I’m there in the afternoon). Espresso, drip, and cold brew are all good.
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☕️ Daily Driver
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Daily Driver hits a need for bagels in the neighborhood and I do like that they serve Red Bay coffee out of Oakland, and that they’ve got local artist Zai Divecha on their walls. My order is a sesame bagel with veggie cream cheese, arugula, red onion, and tomato - a fresh tasting bite to start the day.
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Bar Piccino
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Lunch
🍴 Wooly Pig
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Hands down the best lunch in the Dogpatch. The staff is incredibly friendly and caring, and their food is unique and excellent. You basically can’t go wrong on the menu, but their veggie bahn mi is phenomenal, as is their fried chicken sandwich. Grab your order to go to eat in Esprit Park or Crane Cove park.
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The Ramp Restaurant
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Super laid back vibe - plastic chairs, mediocre food, but good drinks and great for brunch. Good view of the water, and an old-Dogpatch feel.
They do salsa dancing certain times during the week - check out their website for schedule.
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🍴 Long Bridge Pizza Co.
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One of the true treasures of the San Francisco food scene and tragically underrepresented in all pizza coverage of the city. But the general SF eating public’s loss is the neighborhood’s gain, since you never have to wait too long for a pie or a table.
Get the bacon pie if you eat meat or just the classic margherita if you don’t. Their house salad is fresh, crunchy and excellent. They have a rotating beer selection, but usually something fresh from local brewery Cellarmaker.
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Dinner
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🥡 Moshi Moshi
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Fun, reliable sushi spot with a deep whiskey collection and an even deeper dedication to the neighborhood. The owner, Mitz, has been in the area for decades and lovingly coined the name Industrial Riveria for this part of town. He’s often roaming th restaurant greeting new and old guests like old friends. Order their nigiri and classic rolls mostly, but their fried Futo Krispy roll is also excellent. Special treats include their seared sushi, like the Saba Aburi (seared mackerel).
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Drink
🥃 Besharam
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One of the best parts about the food scene in SF is that you have an opportunity to go beyond the generalized, Americanized menus of many international cuisines. Besharam is shining ecample of that, and a chance to explore the regional cuisine of Gujarat, India.
Besharam’s chef is Heena Patel, a graduate of the food incubator (and Bay Area treasure), La Cocina.
I recommend stopping here for cocktails and appetizers. The cocktail program is unique and delicious, the bar area is fun and well-appointed, and the small plates section of the menu is a thrill.
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🥃 Dogpatch Saloon
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Pillar of the neighborhood with great old school vibes, perfectly ornery bartenders, cozy booths. Good old fashioned and solid beer selection. Dog friendly.
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Things to Do
Arts
Home to several museums and galleries - plus a mix of local makers who have private shops.
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🖼 Minnesota Street Project
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A large, open building houses 15 galleries that feature work from sculpture, to photography, to fine art. Exploring all the galleries provides an exciting tour of contemporary art, of a unique arts district focused on ensuring a lively SF arts scene well into the future. During covid, you may need to make an appointment to visit (they allow 25 people in the building at a time) and individual galleries may require their own appointments.
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🖼 Museum of Craft and Design
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A special, small museum that holds no permanent collection but keeps its fingers on the pulse of modern craft and design and offers frequently changing exhibitions and artist collaborations. It usually has a couple of exhibits at once, which can be explored in about and hour and at the reasonable price of $10. Make sure to leave some time to explore the gift shop. Currently closed due to covid, but they’re running 2 virtual exhibits at their website online. You can also shop their excellent gift shop online with free local pickup or shipping options.
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Outdoors
For an industrial neighborhood, there are a surprising amount of green spaces - including this Redwood grove in Esprit Park!
⛰ Heron's Head Park
@abby
Heron’s Head is the ideal outdoors destination if you’re looking for something a bit more active. Grab a public bike (or bring your own) and follow the bike ones on Illinois street south and then east when it dead ends into Cargo Way. Cargo Way dead ends into the park and you can ride your bike all the way out to the end of the peninsula in the bay.
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⛰ Esprit Park
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When it’s hot out, Esprit park is a great spot for a shady lunch. This is an off leash dog park, so be prepared for curious pups to come say hello. The park is circled by a shady walking trial and a few surprisingly old redwood trees. There are also spots along th edge for excercising which are usually filled with neighbors during good weather.
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⛰Crane Cove Park
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A brand new park for the neighborhood that just opened in September of 2020.
There are picnic tables and grills, a sandy beach leading up to the bay, plenty of grass to spread out on, and homages to the neighborhood's shipping past.
Bring a blanket and some food to sit out and enjoy. Dog friendly. Great for sunsets watching the sun reflect on windows in the Berkeley and Oakland hills.
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Where to Stay
Looking for a place nearby to stay? These are the closest two hotels to Dogpatch. Besides access to my favorite neighborhood, this area is also good if you're planning to go to a Giants game at Oracle Park or an event at the Chase Center.
Hyatt Place San Francisco / Downtown
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Close to Dogpatch, sometimes cheaper than hotel via, sometimes not.
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San Francisco Marriott Union Square
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Hotel Adagio, Autograph Collection
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How to Dress
SF is famous for its microclimates, and Dogpatch certainly has one - it can be up to 10 degrees warmer there, and it's almost always sunny. Take the general SF weather below, and adjust accordingly.
Other Foodie Guides
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abby West
Available for hire
Cofounder @ Thatch 📍Washington, DC
My favorite way to get under the skin of a place is to eat! I always seek out new dishes and ingredients that are local to the place I'm visiting. My ideal day in a new city involves wandering the streets of a new neighborhood to get a feel for its energy, ducking into an art gallery or museum to see something inspiring, and then stopping for an afternoon coffee and chocolate chip cookie. At night, you'll more likely find me in a cocktail bar than a club. I also love to hike, camp, and be near the ocean!
I lived for 8 years in San Francisco, and spent extended time in Lima, Peru and Mombasa, Kenya. Even though I've moved back to my hometown of Washington, DC, I still stay up to date on the SF food scene and travel back often for work! I'm pretty tapped into the DC food and coffee scene.
Conversational in Spanish. Have some rusty Swahili.
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