Many guidebooks will tell you to avoid a large part of downtown San Francisco, roughly bounded by Geary, Polk, Taylor and Market--the Tenderloin. It's true that this "bad neighborhood" is rife with panhandlers and massage parlors, but it's also full of good, cheap ethnic restaurants and colorful dive bars. The area is lively and safe until about 2 AM (when the bars close); after that, it does get sketchy, and is best avoided by travelers walking alone.

Understand

A number of cities in the U.S. have "tenderloin" districts. Legend has it that these rough-and-ready neighborhoods got their nicknames from the police who patrolled them; these cops received hazard pay (or bigger bribes -- stories vary), and were therefore able to regularly dine on steak.

Get in

Street parking in the Tenderloin is extremely difficult to find, but parking garages are plentiful. The neighborhood is also well-served by public transit; both the Powell and Civic Center BART stations will put you well within walking distance of any Tenderloin attraction.

See

Not much to see except for panhandlers and prostitutes. Not even a good variety of that either.

Do

• United Nations Plaza Market, on the UN Plaza (just north of Market St.) between Hyde and Leavenworth. The farmer's market held Sundays and Wednesdays offers a less expensive alternative to the yuppie Ferry Building Farmer's Market, though it helps if you're seeking the ingredients for Asian food. On other days, there are often tents with vendors selling jewelry, scarves, clothing, snacks, housewares, and who-knows-what. The fun is in the surprises.

• St. Boniface, the Catholic church at 133 Golden Gate (just off Jones) features its original elaborately decorated interior from 1900. A Franciscan parish, it is also known for allowing the homeless to sleep in the pews on weekdays. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/27/ING8MBSSIB35.DTL

• Glide Memorial Church on Ellis is famous for its Gospel music, as well as for its inner-city missions. Sunday services are a major music event.

Buy

Not much to buy besides drugs, alcohol and sex. And not even the good variety of any of them.

Eat

Vietnamese, Thai, and Indian restaurants are well represented in the Tenderloin. One of the best options for a cheap lunch is picking up a "Vietnamese sandwich" from any of a number of corner delis in the area (they're packed especially thick along Larkin). For about $2.50 you can expect to get a generous helping of your choice of meat and shredded vegetables sandwiched into a quarter of a baguette and dressed with a thin, tangy sweet and sour sauce. Be sure to bring cash, as these places don't take any credit cards.

• Bang San, 505 Jones St., 440-2610. This tiny hole-in-the-wall serves up some of the best damn Thai food this side of the Mekong River. Sit down, order, and watch as delicious food is cooked before your eyes.
• Dottie's True Blue Cafe, 522 Jones, 885-2767. Th-M 7:30AM-3PM. There's almost always a line stretching out of Dottie's and down the sidewalk, and that's because this cozy little breakfast nook is unparalleled in the neighborhood, and maybe in the city. From the thick marvelous toast to the fluffy omelettes to the savory chicken apple sausage, from the strong coffee to the strong mimosas to the extensive juice selection, everything is impeccable...once you shoulder your way inside. $4.50-9.95 (all the hot food is on the high end of the price range).
• Kim Thanh, 607 Geary, 928-6627. M-F 11AM-11PM, Sa-Su 5PM-11PM. Check out the aquariums in the window if you want to know what's for dinner. If you've never seen a geoduck, you will not soon forget it. $7-$12.
• Moulin Rouge Breakfast Cafe. 887 Geary St. 928-0158. M-Sa 7AM-2PM, Su 7:30AM-2PM. If you can't stomach the line (or the hipster clientele) at Dottie's, the Moulin Rouge Breakfast Cafe around the corner on Geary offers solid grub at much cheaper prices. The elderly Asian couple who run the place are always friendly and never hurry you, and the shabby faux-French decor is weirdly charming despite liberal amounts of duct tape holding the place together.
• Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant, 572 O'Farrell, 673-3136. W-M 11AM-9PM (closed Tu). This pleasant, quiet restaurant specializes in the sort of seitan-based, faux-meat concoctions that will make a hardcore carnivore happy, and may make a lifelong vegetarian feel a bit squeamish. Nonetheless, the vegetarian "lamb" claypot is something to try. Everything can be served vegan upon request. $5.50-9.25. http://www.goldeneravegetarian.com
• Joey's Laundry, 517 O'Farrell. 6AM-9PM. What is a laundry doing under "eat"? Joey's serves Mitchell's Ice Cream, widely recognized as the best in the Bay Area. If you're bored with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla, try the green tea or macapuno ice creams. For the launderer seeking more solid sustenance -- or if you get hungry while using their internet access -- there are breakfast pastries, pizza slices, and coffee.
• Mela Tandoori Kitchen, 417 O'Farrell, 447-4041 (melakaraja@hotmail.com). M-F 10AM-11PM, Sa 11AM-9PM. The jewel-like atmosphere, complete with marble floors and a tiled fountain, is the real draw at this inexpensive Indian restaurant. Candles, drapes, wall sconces and ululating music make for a charming setting. The food itself isn't quite as scintillating, but you do get your money's worth. $5.95-11.95. http://www.melatandoori.com/
• New Golden Gate Cafe, 280 Golden Gate, 931-3928. Daily 6AM-3PM. Travelers on a budget would do well to mark this shabby, yet reasonably clean, establishment, because you won't find cheaper. Two eggs, coffee, toast and hash browns go for exactly $2.53. The daily lunch specials are always $3.90. Everything is dished up out of a steam table, but it tastes good and will fill you up. If you're there on a Wednesday, you're in luck; that's meatloaf day. $2.53-5.96.
• Old Chelsea, 932 Larkin, 474-5015. Daily 4PM-11PM. As well as supplying fish-and-chip orders for the Edinburgh Castle bar around the corner, the Old Chelsea offers take-out. You want to take your order out, as seating is limited to two somewhat sticky tables, and the air is hot with grease. The fish justifies the trip. $6-$10.
• Original Joe's, 144 Taylor, 775-4877. Daily 10:30AM-1:30AM. Joe's is a local institution, a Rat Pack dream of an Italian restaurant. The after-hours haunt of the theatrical and musical set in the 1950s and 1960s, Joe's fortunes fell with those of the surrounding neighborhood, and it's considerably frayed at the cuffs now. But the owner and staff maintain dignity through adversity -- all the waiters wear tuxedos and are delightfully polite and thoughtful -- and the tasty food in generous portions is probably the best meal you can find after midnight in SF, bar none. Reasonable prices, great service, oh-so-cool atmosphere -- don't miss Joe's if you can. $10-$15 ($4 well drinks).
• Pakwan, 501 O'Farrell, 255-2440. Daily noon-11PM. Pakistani food features curries, tandoori fish, and piping hot naan. Unlike some of the local eateries in the "tandoori-loin," the seating is clean, comfortable, and fairly new (possibly the results of some other restaurant's going-out-of-business sale). The restaurant tends to be comparatively quiet, as well as offering an excellent view of police actions on Jones. $6-$10.
• Vietnam II, 701 Larkin, 885-1274. Daily 9AM-11PM. At any number of eateries around the 'Loin, you can order pho, the Vietnamese beef and noodle soup that's correctly written with some curly bits over the "o," and correctly pronounced somewhere between "phuh" and "phah." It will always cost about five dollars; it will always come with your choice of meat (slices of rare beef, well-done brisket, tripe, tendon, and meatballs are the most common) simmering in a clear, pungent broth along with a tangle of thin rice noodles; it will always be accompanied by a heap of mung bean sprouts, leafy basil and mint stalks, lime wedges, and slices of chili pepper; and it will always be served in bowls ranging from merely large to mind-bogglingly enormous. But only at Vietnam II will you enjoy your pho while gazing upon an indoor koi pond, and browsing through a vast menu of other delicacies. Everything from deep fried quail to pig intestine porridge is available to the adventurous, along with Chinese standards like lo mein and fried rice. $4.95 (pho)-16.95 (fresh lobster).
• Shalimar, 532 Jones. Northern Indian/Pakistani, they have a tandoor (clay oven) which means excellent naan (flat breads) and murgh boti (barbecue chicken). The curries and rice pilaf are also worth checking out for their unique combination of spices. http://www.shalimarsf.com

Drink

• Edinburgh Castle, 950 Geary, 885-4074. Daily 5PM-2AM. Expatriates from the British Isles are often to be found at this Scottish pub. The interior is warm and shadowy, a comfortable place of dark wood and golden lantern light, and the beer selection is good; you can get pints of Belhaven or Newcastle as well as the ubiquitous Guinness, and it's all available by the pitcher. The Edinburgh Castle also has a relationship with a local fish and chips fryery, so you can order from their menu and have it delivered to you at the pub. The jukebox is well stocked with punk rock, Irish folk/rock, and American roots music, and live bands also play regularly (which can unfortunately make it impossible to carry on a conversation). A trivia contest is held on Tuesday nights. And on Burns Night (January 25th), the Edinburgh Castle is the place to be, with ribald poetry readings, music, and a public haggis.
• The Gangway, 841 Larkin. Daily 6AM-2PM. This nautically-themed dive bar is home to a group of chatty regulars, mostly gay middle-aged men, who are friendly to newcomers of any age, gender, or sexual orientation. Many of them have lived in San Francisco for decades, and they have great stories. $2.50 domestic beer, $3.50 well drinks
• Hanaro, 939 Geary St, 928-4066. Just across from the Edinburgh Castle is a shadowy hole-in-the-wall festooned with Korean lettering: Hanaro. Though the bar is wallpapered with "No Smoking" signs (as California law demands), you need only loiter outside the bar for a few minutes with a cigarette before you are beckoned inside and offered an ashtray. In fact, Hanaro's great charm is it that it's accommodating in every respect; stay for a bit and you will be offered various bar snacks, and there is usually a hostess on hand whose only job is to chat with the patrons. This is done, however, with taste and tact; if you wish to drink in silence, you won't be disturbed. The jukebox is stocked with Asian pop singles.
• Lush Lounge, 1092 Post, 771-2022. Daily 4PM-2AM. This brightly appointed, fashionable cocktail lounge is adorned with witty quotations from the likes of Dorothy Parker, and sometimes features live piano music courtesy of Spencer Day. The clientele is diverse, but skews towards young, hip gay men, tourists, and girls from Pacific Heights who come down in the hill in groups to "slum" around the 'Loin. The specials of the day are usually cheap, sweet, and highly alcoholic.
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• Arrow Bar, 10 6TH St, 255-7920. Friday night brings out the darker side of the hipster crowd where local DJs spin a mix of trendy 80s, hip-hop, house, and anything else that gets your body moving music at this relatively small and dark lounge. Expect crazy hair styles, black clothes, and some fun people. Last time I checked... 6th and Market is not considered the Tenderloin! -Dick Hollywood
• Aunt Charlie's Lounge, 133 Turk St, 441-2922. Cheap, stiff drinks. Endearing, (and this 'hood) harmless and vocal co-drinkers provide fantastic people-watching. Thursday nights are definitely recommended. '"Tubesteak Connection'" = 70's/early 80's disco/new wave glam spinning, vintage gay porn plastered on every surface and a very hip, young gay (and mixed) crowd.AUNT CHARLIE'S LOUNGE In San Francisco is a Show Bar featuring THE HOT BOXXX GIRLS at 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. The Hostess is Gina La Divina The $65,000 Silicone Wonder. Popular with Gay, Lesbian, Straight, TS, TV. Cocktails are stiff and inexpensive. Feature performers include Vicki Marlane. The Girl with the Liquid Spine & Bobby Ashton The Manly Stud NO ADMISSION Fri/Sat. or Sunday’s benefits Thursday TUBESTEAK CONNECTION: celebrates 2 years at AUNT CHARLIE'S LOUNGE every Thursday 9:00 DJ Bus Station John a weekly club Featuring retro-homo bar & bathhouse classics 9 pm till 2:00 (admission $3 after 10:00). HI_NRG EURODISCO, ELECTRO FUNK, DISCO A very popular night. TUESDAYS MIX it up 9 pm till 2:00 MANNYSHACK: DJ Reaganomixxx & Friends classics. SUICIDE TUESDAYS: DATED with DJ Reaganomix Freakazoid Robots please report to the dance floor“HOLD YR HORSES” DJ RCHRD OH?! playing electro, nowave, 80's, 90's, hiphop, dicopunk, synthpop, and more... THE CLAP with Dj's Der Blau Reiter, Gary Fembot,

• The Owl Tree, 601 Post St. A small, quiet bar that's great for conversation and relaxation after a long day of wandering around San Francisco. The name of the bar gives a clue to its unusual decor: the entire place is adorned with owl memorabilia.

Entertainment

• Hollywood Billiards. 61 Golden Gate Ave. 252-9643. Daily 2PM-4AM. This spacious, elegantly-appointed pool hall features table after table receding into the building's hushed and shadowy depths. The bar is well-appointed and the jukebox is tolerable; you can sip a pint and practice your trick shots in complete peace. A fine way to lose a Saturday afternoon. One warning: Golden Gate Ave. is lined with homeless people at night, and violent incidents have occurred here. Bring a friend if you plan to stay late.

• Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell. Reputed to be the city's oldest nightclub, this ornate venue presents hip music acts, some well-known among the cognoscenti, some so cutting edge that there's blood on the pavement. In the 1930s, this was fan-dancer Sally Rand's "Music Box."

• Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater , 895 O'Farrell. Tourists have flocked here for live, nude girls and dirty movies since 1971, when porn star Marilyn Chambers followed her performance in a Mitchell Brothers' film by becoming an Ivory Snow model. The venue is large, clean, and the biggest rip-off in adult entertainment this side of Paris. $40 gets you in the door, and the girls demand large tips for anything more. Avoid this over-priced, over-hyped tourist trap for the Crazy Horse on Market (next to the Warfield) or any of the clubs on Broadway in North Beach.

Sleep

Many "hotels" in the Tenderloin do their major business as single-room occupancy (SRO) lodgings for permanent residents who live from welfare check to welfare check (or drug sale to drug sale). These hotels also rent rooms to frightened-looking tourists lured by bargain rates "just off Union Square." Both the rates and the location are true: the management merely neglected to mention the urine-stained mattresses or the drunk who has 4 a.m. DT's. Use caution: if a rate seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There are more normal hotels in the area as well, ranging from large chains (Hilton) to tiny boutique hotels with fashionable decor and chi-chi prices. If you plan to park a car, scrutinize the hotel listing for parking information. Free parking is not a given, and at peak times, even paid garages overflow onto the sidewalks.

There are several backpacker's hostels in this area, particularly on Taylor St.

• Serrano Hotel is a deluxe boutique hotel at Taylor and O'Farrell, in a Spanish Revival building.
• Taylor Hotel is an older building at 615 Taylor Street. I stayed here for a week, it cost $50.00 per night. The place is old and the rooms are in need of paint, but relatively clean. There is a nice Indian couple who run the place, they have wireless internet and community computer in the lobby and a continental breakfast each morning. Its just 2 blocks from Union Square, great location.
• Adelaide Hostel is a popular backpacker hostel.

• Hotel Mithila (Sutter and Hyde or so, not certain of the spelling) is also pretty nice, same basic description as Taylor hotel (i.e. older building, run by Indian couple, comparably priced, etc,). A few of my family members have stayed there. I don't know if they have internet. The neighborhood is a bit nicer than Taylor/O'Farrell.

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