In San Francisco, expectations of visitors run high, as they should. The city is spectacular, expensive, and wrought with tourist-traps all the same.  I have to know where to recommend clients and guests shop, dine, relax and have a glorious time while they are visiting. We host conferences here for public relations agencies from around the world (IPREX network, www.iprex.com), I attend professional conferences here, and I travel to other cities to speak, learn and attend to client business.

I also know the impact of peer-to-peer recommendation and word of mouth marketing for a business’ reputation and growth potential. It’s only natural for me to practice what I preach.  Whether by reflex or perennial practice, I can’t help but take note when I encounter an exceptional customer experience. That is why I’ve compiled this not-so-short list of a few of my favorite things to do, see, shop and be in San Francisco:

Best wine and spirits retailers

• Cask – 17 Third St., San Francisco
• Draeger’s Market – 222 E. 4^th, San Mateo – Also in Menlo Park, Danville and Los Altos
• Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant – Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco
• Jug Shop – 1590 Pacific Ave. (off Polk), San Francisco
• K&L Wine Merchants – 855 Harrison St., San Francisco – Also in Redwood City
• PlumpJack Wine & Spirits – 3201 Fillmore St., San Francisco
• Weimax – 1178 Broadway, Burlingame
• Whisky Shop – 360 Sutter St., San Francisco
• Wingtip – 550 Montgomery St., San Francisco – (wine & spirits in the back)
• There is always Bevmo, highly commercial, but excellent selection (stores throughout Bay Area)

Best men’s retail stores in S.F. Bay Area

With some further qualifications — you won’t find highly swanky or ultra modern shops mentioned here, although all listed below are upscale. You won’t find for “youth only” clothing that wouldn’t fit you anyway. What you will find are upscale labels, tailored, off the rack, tasteful men’s clothing for guys from 35 to 75+. You’ll find help that knows their business and knows how to fit their customers in straight forward, stylish threads, whether casual or for more dressed occasions. Some of them are more casual than others, and some offer bespoke. If you know a store in other parts of San Francisco or the Bay Area, let me know, and I will be happy to review for inclusion here.

• Couture, 395 Sutter St., S.F.
• Gene Hiller, 729 Bridgeway, Sausalito
• John Varvatos, 152 Geary St., S.F.
• Sarrtori, 740 Laurel St., San Carlos
• Ted Baker, 80 Grant Ave., S.F.
• The Hound, 140 Sutter St., S.F.
• Wingtip, 550 Montgomery St., S.F.

*Also, in San Francisco, three top-shelf department store men’s departments – Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom (both downtown Westfield Center), and Sak’s Fifth Avenue Men’s at 220 Post St., San Francisco.

Best sights, activities and views while in San Francisco and the immediate Bay Area

By the water

• Ocean Beach the Cliff House restaurant, Sutro Baths just below and view point just above
• Ferries on the Bay
• The Embarcadero – walk the waterfront for miles or hike between the distractions on the way
• Ferry Plaza – one of the great Embarcadero distractions; shopping and dining, ferries and views
• Treasure Island – look back for a spectacular view of the downtown skyline
• Crissy Field and Marina Green
• Great Highway, hike the path alongside and just above the ocean
• Fort Funston and Lake Merced
• Crystal Springs Reservoir

Hills

• Twin Peaks – high point in San Francisco
• Mount Davidson — also right in the city
• Land’s End – you’re at the edge; stunning
• Bernal Heights Park
• Mount Sutro
• Marin Headlands (the views, Point bonita Lighthouse, Marine Mammal Center)
• Mount Tamalpais – drive, bike or hike all the way up
• Berkeley Hills and Tilden Park
• Mount Diablo – one of the highest points in the entire region; hard to fathom you are a short drive from downtown (not at height of commute time)

Cool Towns

• Tiburon
• Sausalito,
• Berkeley
• Burlingame
• Palo Alto

Attractions

• Fort Point and Fort Baker and the Golden Gate Bridge linking them
• Jack London Square, Oakland
• City Lights Bookstore and the Beat Museum (both in North Beach)
• Angel Island (S.F.’s Ellis island for Asian immigrants)
• Union Square – shopping, people watching and home to Fineman PR
• Golden Gate Park – hiking, biking, museums
• Alcatraz – worth it I promise
• S.F. Jazz Center
• Beach Blanket Babylon
• Presidio – former military post, now national park
• Filbert Street Steps
• Stern Grove summer concerts
• AT&T Park (home of the S.F. Giants)
• St. George Spirits Distillery (Alameda)
• Emeryville Public Market
• S.F. Civic Center (Opera, Ballet, Symphony, City Hall, Asian Art Museum)
• And not to be forgotten, the mainstays: Coit Tower, Ghirardelli Square and The Cannery, cable cars, Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, and crooked Lombard Street

Museums

• Legion of Honor
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
• De Young

San Francisco neighborhoods

• North Beach – Columbus Avenue, Italian flavored, vestiges of old bohemians, restaurants and bars
• Castro – LGBT-centered, edgy
• Marina – Think singles, Chestnut Street, Marina Green, Bay views from Fort Mason to Fort Point
• Noe Valley – gentrified, families, 24^th Street shopping
• Chinatown – touristy but authentic
• The Mission – still Latino but more and more the younger folk in hip restaurants and bars
• Telegraph Hill
• Nob Hill
• Russian Hill
• Fillmore – lots of shops
• Haight-Ashbury – where it’s still the ‘sixties
• Richmond – down Clement, think fog
• Sunset – down Irving, think fog
• Union Street – near and related to the Marina
• Hayes Valley – a “scene,” near San Francisco’s Civic Center
• Potrero Hill – Think Bullitt car chase, street scenes up and down, up and down, up and down
• Pacific Heights – Billionaire Row
• Bernal Heights – Cortland Avenue shopping village thoroughfare

Watering Holes with views

• Top of the Mark (Nob Hill)
• Top of the Marriott Marquis The View Lounge (downtown)
• Waterbar – along the Embarcadero, almost underneath the Bay Bridge; also good fish and seafood
• Pier 23
• Starlight Room (atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel
• Cityscape Bar & Restaurant (Hilton)
• Cliff House (on the ocean)
• Slanted Door – in Ferry Plaza; also known as one of the best restaurants in the U.S. (Vietnamese/Pacific rim)
• Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39 – several
• The Ramp
• El Techo (rooftop bar in the Mission)
• Mission Rock Resort
• Ferry Building
• Beach Chalet (near Cliff House, sometimes called Park Chalet)
• Green’s – wonderful vegetarian restaurant in Fort Mason along the Bay
• The Waterfront Restaurant
• Coqueta – a personal favorite
• La Mar Cebicheria – Peruvian; beautiful space along the Embarcadero, on the Bay with terrific food
• McCormick & Kuleto’s – in Ghirardelli Square
• Scoma’s Sausalito
• Sam’s Tiburon
• Skates – on the Berkeley side of the Bay
• Claremont Hotel – spectacular views from the Oakland hills
• Cavallo Point – at foot of Golden Gate Bridge on Sausalito side

Extended Stay/Exploring Nearby

• Wine Country (Napa and/or Sonoma)
• Russian River
• Carmel/Monterey
• Half Moon Bay
• Santa Cruz
• Point Reyes
• Stinson Beach
• Muir Woods
• Bodega Bay
• Muir Beach
• Ano Nueva State Park (elephant seals)
• Gold Country
• Big Sur
• Lake Tahoe
• Yosemite

The post That’s What He Said: My Guide to Do, See, Shop and Be in San Francisco appeared first on Fineman PR.

Life in San Francisco is a grab bag of fantastic surprises and “real-life” challenges. It’s a golden city, but be prepared to see firsthand the humanitarian issue of homelessness, an incredibly high cost of living, over-the-top activists, hella horrific traffic and highly aggressive drivers (the City is ranked 186 on the Allstate list of “Best Drivers”). Why do we put up with it? Well, there is the year round temperate climate; the hills, the Bay and the views they provide; the distinctive food and wine they inspire; the music and art; the overall creativity and inimitable free-thinking and open-mindedness: the City certainly has its qualities.

I am proud to say that Fineman PR has been at least a peripheral part of so many news making milestones that helped shape the modern day Bay Area: from working with rock and roll impresario Bill Graham to fixing what was broken in the ’89 Loma Prieta earthquake; and from riding the roller coaster of the Dot Com boom, bubble and bust to promoting a client’s work in the recent re-opening of the expanded and renovated Museum of Modern Art.

Ever since the Gold Rush, this city has been both a trend setter and maverick. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab all started here, as did Levi’s, the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. Silicon Valley is nearby as are the top, top universities, Stanford and UC Berkeley. The Bay Area attracts some of the best and brightest in workforce talent.  Approximately 30 percent of San Francisco residents have a bachelor’s degree, nearly twice the state level, and more than 16 percent of residents hold a graduate or professional degree, compared to 9.5 percent California-wide.

The evolutionary caldron of San Francisco and environs has been tumultuous, provocative, and conflicting, yet, serving as a crucible to forge ever new creativity and innovation. We’ve endured major earthquakes, steady waves of immigration and numerous cultural conflicts. There’s been the Beatniks, hippies and flower children, the Summer of Love, the Berkeley Free Speech movement, Black Panthers, the Sierra Club and environmentalism, and the fight for gay marriage and LGBT rights. There’s been the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly Stone, Santana and Janis Joplin, not to mention Etta James and Vince Guaraldi. On the other hand, there’s been the founding of several major banking institutions, great engineering firms and multi-billion dollar tech companies like Oracle, Salesforce, HP, Yahoo, Twitter, Google, Apple, Intel, Cisco, eBay and Facebook.

Suffice it to say, the place is anything but boring. And that’s my segue for recommendations of things to do in this crazy and wonderful city.

Cycle or walk along Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, all along the Embarcadero from AT&T Park to Ghirardelli Square, the Marina from Fort Mason to Fort Point right under the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge with killer views, the five-mile circuit around Angel Island with breathtaking, 360 degree views of the Bridge, Bay and City. Take the Magic Bus through the Haight, stroll through the oldest Chinatown in the nation, or take a leisurely walk through lovely Hayes Valley or Noe Valley. Take a ferry to beautiful surrounding areas like Sausalito, Tiburon, or Jack London Square. Grab a drink on top of the Marriott Marquis Hotel or at the Cliff House for amazing views or visit one of San Francisco’s many spectacular museums—the SF MOMA is fresh out of a 3-year remodel, and the brand new space is incredible.

Enjoy your stay, everyone, and welcome to San Francisco.

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