THE SAN FRANCISCO NORTH BEACH NEIGHBORHOOD
SAN FRANCISCO'S OWN LITTLE ITALY

And it's fairly easy walking distance to or from either one if you're in reasonable walking-shape. And it's another of those split-personality-type neighborhoods, fun for both tourists and locals!

A LITTLE SAN FRANCISCO NORTH BEACH HISTORY

Do you know why it's called North Beach? Because it was originally a beach. Yerba Buena's original shoreline only extended to where Taylor & Francisco Streets are today.

And, did you know the San Francisco North Beach neighborhood was not orginally Italian? It's true! As part of the Barbary Coast in the mid 1800s, the neighborhood was known as Sydney-Town, and was home to toughs and thugs from the British penal colonies in Australia.

The inhabitants were called the Sydney Ducks, and they were blamed for just about every misdeed that occured in San Francisco at the time.

The Italian fishermen from Genova didn't begin to arrive until late in the 1800s (peaking in 1913), but when they did, they quickly made the neighborhood their own, and it has maintained its Italian flare since then.

(CC) Karen Horton

In the 1950s, the North Beach San Francisco area was invaded by the Beat Generation, a group of American writers, poets, and artists who rejected mainstream values and fostered drug experimentation, sexual freedom, and Eastern spiritualism - people like Allen Ginsberg, William S. Bourroughs, and Jack Kerouac.

The City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, a favorite hangout of the Beatniks, is still a wonderfully independant and famous icon for lovers of ideas and books. It's a must-see stop when you get to North Beach!

And, of course, the North Beach of the '60s was the venue of strip joints, Carol Doda and topless bars, Finocchio's where female impersonators reigned supreme, and jazz clubs like the hungry i, which helped to launch the careers of many illustrious entertainers.

TODAY IN NORTH BEACH

Today, San Francisco's North Beach is a place of ristorantes with checkered tablecloths, spirited nightclubs, Beach Blanket Babylon, festivals, bakeries & delis, unique import shops, coffee house traditions, and a general aura of bustling conviviality!

If you roam the streets of North Beach, whether it be day or night, you're sure to find much to intrigue you!

• You might join the locals for an espresso at Caffe Greco or Caffe Puccini, visit the Beat Museum or - for something a little more unusual - Lyle Tuttle's Tattoo Museum.
• Perhaps you'll be there during the North Beach Festival or the Oyster and Beer Festival.
• Or maybe you'll attend a Beach Blanket Babylon performance or browse the poetry at City Lights.
• Try breakfast at Mama's, dinner at Washington Square Bar & Grill, or at Michelangelo's with its rooster-pitcher wine and bowl of gummi bears.


• Hang out and people watch in Washington Square, or celebrate Columbus Day at Sts. Peter and Paul's Columbus Day Bazaar.
• Dance the night away at the Velvet Lounge, or have a weekday pint and a game of pool at the Savoy-Tivoli, or really join the locals for happy hour at the Columbus Cafe.
• You might want to shop for a pasta maker at A. Cavalli & Co., or for European and Asian designer jeans at AB fits, or Majolica pottery at Biordi Arts.
• And to experience the full flavor of North Beach, you gotta at least stroll under the neon on Broadway and take a look at the strip clubs, especially the Broadway Showgirls Cabaret which offers fine dining along with its classy adult entertainment.

There's lots to do in North Beach, and you'll feel like you're in an authentic San Francisco neighborhood with character while you're doing it!

Is your curiosity peaked about other San Francisco neighborhoods? Come along . . .

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