The San Francisco Civic Center is on Van Ness Avenue, north of its intersection with Market Street.

Get in

The most convenient BART and Muni stop is United Nations Plaza. From the CalTrain station the #47 bus takes you to City Hall and beyond. Directions for driving to the Civic Center are marked on the freeways; there are several garages, as the Performing Arts Garage at Grove and Gough, an underground garage under the Civic Center Plaza (entrance on McAllister), open from 6:00AM to Midnight, or 24-hour valet parking at Opera Plaza on Turk just off Van Ness Avenue. Where the freway was prior to 1989 earthquake (between Grove at Gough and Turk at Franklin) there are several smaller open air lots, that will charge about $10 for all day or $6 for an evening. Those lots are gradually being displaced by new construction.

See

In addition to just being a nice area to walk around, there is the San Francsico City Hall, and San Francisco Public Library to visit, a Farmers' market Wednesday and Sunday morning, and the Opera and Symphony buildings, which host occasional tours.

The plaza in front of City Hall is also the venue for rallies, demonstrations, and festivals, as well as the endpoint for many of the colorful parades in San Francisco.

• Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street in the San Francisco/Civic Center [1] is one of the largest and newest museums of Oriental art. It is open every day except Mondays and Holidays from 10AM-5PM; Thursdays evenings, at a reduced rate ($5) to 9PM. Admission is free on the first Tuesday of every month. The Asian Art Museum hosts many special exhibits as well.

Do

The San Francisco Civic Center is dominated by the impressive City Hall - well worth a visit. Around City Hall, from east to west clockwise, are the new Asian Art Museum (free admissions every first Tuesday in a month), a new large Public Library, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for large concerts and exhibits, Davies Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Opera House, and the War Memorial building with the Herbst Theater. The U.N. charter was signed in Herbst Theater in 1945.

Even if one hasn't bought a ticket in advance, there are often returned tickets available at the box offices before a performance. Most performances are at 8PM, Sundays at 7PM, with matinees Sa 2PM. The symphony is trying an experiment, advancing Friday evening performances to 6PM, so that one can have still a leisurely dinner afterwards.

• Opera. There is a Fall, Spring, and Summer season. The summer season focuses on lighter and popular operas. +1 415 864-3330), [2]. In December and late spring the Opera House is used by the San Francisco Ballet.

• Symphony. San Francisco has an excellent Symphony orchestra, with Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) as the principal conductor. The Season goes from September to April, with a a break in the middle of December and January. When the San Francisco Symphony is on tour, other orchestras visit to fill the void. [3]. In July there is a `Summer in the City' program of light music; August is quiet.

• Herbst Theater. Herbst Theater, next to the Opera house in the similarily-styled War Memorial Veteran's building is host to a wide variety of activities. One can find plays, readings by well-known authors, chamber music, Jazz performances, etc. throughout the year [4] or [5]. The monthly Friday evening talks of the Long-now Foundation [6], projecting the far future, are presented in Herbst or in the Fort Mason Center.

• The New Conservatory Theatre Center. The three small New Conservatory theaters present novel, musical, comic, and educational plays. Performances are typically W-Sa & Su 2PM, all year. They are located at 25 van Ness, near Market Street. [7].

• The Orpheum Theater and the Golden Gate Theaters. These two large theaters focus on Broadway shows. The Orpheum is located at 1192 Market at McAllister, on the east side of the Civic Center. The Golden Gate Theater is one block north in the triangle formed by Golden Gate, Market and Taylor streets. [8].

• The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Large and small bands, and exhibits, appear at the Civic Auditorium on the Civic Center Plaza, 99 Grove Street. Check ticketmaster to see what's playing [9].

• The Great American Music Hall. GAMH is located a few blocks north of the Civic Center, into the Tenderloin district, on O'Farrell just off Polk. (It is not associated with the Mitchell brother's O'Farrell theater next door, which features erotic shows.) GAMH, in operation since 1907, has performances most evenings by a wide variety of bands, vocalists, and other performers [10].

• The Old First Church. The Old First Church, about 10 blocks north of the Civic Center on van Ness at Sacramento streets, has concerts F 8PM & Su 4PM, and some other evenings, throughout the year. Ticket prices are typically $10-S15. [11].

Buy

West of the Civic Center, on Hayes Street is an eclectic collection of stores, that are fun to browse [12] .

Eat

For visitors to the Civic Center area, many excellent eating places are just west and south of the Civic Center, around Hayes street. Seating is easier around 8 pm, when opera and symphony patrons depart. On Hayes Street itself is a wide-ranging variety of restaurants. We don't list the ubiquitous and ever-changing Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, and Italian restaurants. Some unusual ones, arranged roughly by price are:

• Absinthe, Hayes and Gough, for elegant and tasty French food, never disappointed. Smaller appetites are well served in the bar, at least to midnight. Very reasonable prices for French cuisine. Also open for brunch.
• Fritz, a diminutive and funky Belgian fries place.

Two blocks west, at Laguna are the

• Suppenkueche for casual German food and service, beer -- of course -- served at shared tables, and
• Tandoori Grill, with tasty Indian food but poor service -- it may have given up by now.

A block north, on Grove street are

• La Jardiniere at Franklin, French food in American style, very pricy, great decor, appetizers, deserts, mixed reviews on entrees.
• Citizen Cake, at Gough, reasonable light California style meals. Outside of dinner and weekend brunch times you may just want to indulge on their deserts. Mixed service reviews.

A few short blocks south are

• Canto do Brazil, on Franklin at Oak, great traditional Brazlian food, very affordable, but mixed reviews on service.
• Bistro Clovis, on Franklin and Page, delivers a quite authentic feeling inside and outside with the historic streetcars clanking on Market street. affordable, friendly service.

North, on van Ness and its side streets are

• Max's Opera Cafe, 601 van Ness Ave., the California version of a New York deli.
• California Culinary Academy, 625 Polk street at Turk, +1 415 771-3500. Dining in the Careme room allows you to see what goes into your Cordon Bleu dinner. Requires reservations. The Grill serves simple dishes, prepared by the fresh[wo]men class. Closed Saturdays.
• O'Reilly's Holy Grail, 1233 Polk at Bush, +1 415 928-1233. A classy Irish restaurant (yes, it's possible). Opened 2005 in a restored landmark (Maye's steak-house, for old-timers). Have the Colcannon ("Potatoes and cabbage pounded together in a mortar and then stewed with butter" [Oxford English Dictionary]) with your meat. Ignore the dumpy street scene.
• Maharani, 1122 Post Street between van Ness and Polk, with great Indian food, including a romantic rear hideout.
• Kyoto Sushi, 1233 van Ness Avenue at Post. With the multitude of Sushi places it is hard to say which is best, but this one rates at the top for taste, freshness, and authenticity.

Drink

• Fritz on Hayes between Franklin and Gough, has a wide collection of Belgian Beers.
• The Suppenkuche at Hayes and Laguna has a busy bar where German beers dominate.
• Absinthe at Hayes and Gough has fine French wines, that can be tasted in its bar or on its sidewalk tables, and also can be purchased next door.

Sleep

Convenient for music lovers:

• Nob Hill Hotel, 835 Nyde Street (Nob Hill), +1 415 662-4455, [13]. The Historic Nob Hill Hotel is located in Nob Hill close to the Financial District and Union Square. It features restored marble floors, alabaster chandeliers, stained glass panels, grand statuary and an extensive collection of period paintings and antiques.
• Fitzgerald Hotel Union Square, 620 Post Street (Union Square), +1 800 334-6835, [14]. Located in Union Square close to Russian Hills, Nob Hill and the Financial District. Established in 1910 and completely restored, it has hosted many colorful and famous visitors including musicians, actors and writers.
• The Inn at the Opera, 333 Fulton (near Gough), [15]. Small and elegant.
• The Phoenix Hotel, 601 Eddy Street (at Larkin), +1 800 738-7477, [16]. A boutique hotel, favored by musicians of all stripes, with free parking and breakfast.
• Hayes Valley Inn, 417 Gough Street, +1 415 431-9131, [17]. European Style.
• Ramada Plaza Downtown, 1231 Market Street, +1 415 526-3000, [18]. An old, opulent building, first used as a temporary city hall after the 1906 earthquake. modest rooms, on a busy street. The Ramada Limited Downtown, east of Market street, is not in the same class.
• La Quinta, 1050 van Ness (at Geary), [19]. Several blocks north. Good for public transportation.
• Days Inn, 465 Grove Street, [20]. Utilitarian and convenient.

Longer term (1 month or more) furnished rentals are available at the Opera Plaza, +1 415 474-6600.

Note: the Best Western Motor Inn Civic Center is actually located 5 grimy blocks east of the Civic Center.

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