Guidebook for San Francisco

Mohammad
Guidebook for San Francisco

Arts & Culture

If you hit it at the right time, around 6:30-7pm, you see this orange glow from the marquee, and you get this nostalgic feeling of cinema right away. This is the first theater I saw a movie at when I moved to San Francisco in 2007. It’s beautiful on the outside and inside, and was designed by the same architects as the Cliff House. It’s a great matinee theater. I would come here, see a matinee, walk down to Ocean Beach, get some food, and your day’s not done yet. Seeing a movie and being able to walk out with all these thoughts and walk to the ocean is a pretty fantastic experience.
60 polecane przez mieszkańców
Balboa Theatre
3630 Balboa St
60 polecane przez mieszkańców
If you hit it at the right time, around 6:30-7pm, you see this orange glow from the marquee, and you get this nostalgic feeling of cinema right away. This is the first theater I saw a movie at when I moved to San Francisco in 2007. It’s beautiful on the outside and inside, and was designed by the same architects as the Cliff House. It’s a great matinee theater. I would come here, see a matinee, walk down to Ocean Beach, get some food, and your day’s not done yet. Seeing a movie and being able to walk out with all these thoughts and walk to the ocean is a pretty fantastic experience.
It’s like a little time capsule—you walk back into the beginning of cinema and you feel the history. It’s the kind of place that makes you appreciate the experience of cinema. The marquee takes you to the 1920s or ‘30s. The programming is also great; they have awesome double features. My favorite restaurant in San Francisco is a short walk away: Namu Gaji. Be sure to ask for David Lee, one of the three brothers who owns it, who’s also an expert in Korean gangster films. Tell him, “Mo said to order a glass of sake with you, and talk about Korean movies.”
332 polecane przez mieszkańców
Castro Theatre
429 Castro St
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It’s like a little time capsule—you walk back into the beginning of cinema and you feel the history. It’s the kind of place that makes you appreciate the experience of cinema. The marquee takes you to the 1920s or ‘30s. The programming is also great; they have awesome double features. My favorite restaurant in San Francisco is a short walk away: Namu Gaji. Be sure to ask for David Lee, one of the three brothers who owns it, who’s also an expert in Korean gangster films. Tell him, “Mo said to order a glass of sake with you, and talk about Korean movies.”
It’s a wonderful place that programs a lot of foreign films, especially some really great Asian cinema, the art-house stuff. You’ll see films that are unlikely to be playing anywhere else. It’s also in one of my favorite unsung neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Outer Richmond and specifically Clement Street. I would go here in the evening, because it’s nice to eat somewhere on Clement Street afterwards. Just avoid Monday or Tuesday, though, because a lot of things are closed in this area on those days.
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Four Star Theatre
2200 Clement St
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It’s a wonderful place that programs a lot of foreign films, especially some really great Asian cinema, the art-house stuff. You’ll see films that are unlikely to be playing anywhere else. It’s also in one of my favorite unsung neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Outer Richmond and specifically Clement Street. I would go here in the evening, because it’s nice to eat somewhere on Clement Street afterwards. Just avoid Monday or Tuesday, though, because a lot of things are closed in this area on those days.
They play some interesting films you won’t see anywhere else, and it has the feeling of a community-run place. There are a couple of big rooms, no seating plan, just couches and chairs and maybe a row of seats they took from another theater. They have a lot of community events with movies attached to them. The last two times I’ve gone to the New Parkway Theater it’s been for an event.
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The New Parkway Theater
474 24th St
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They play some interesting films you won’t see anywhere else, and it has the feeling of a community-run place. There are a couple of big rooms, no seating plan, just couches and chairs and maybe a row of seats they took from another theater. They have a lot of community events with movies attached to them. The last two times I’ve gone to the New Parkway Theater it’s been for an event.
This is the definitive San Francisco arthouse cinema, where the most experimental, strangest, most unique programming takes place. There are so many strange and little films I am grateful I saw here. It’s also a regular location for countless other SF film festivals. It’s no frills, no glitz and glam. But it’s colorful. It’s kind of like going to a dive bar with a bartender who’s been doing the same drink for 50 years. You don’t ask questions, you just experience it. And then when you walk out, you’re like, man, that was amazing.
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Roxie Cinema
3117 16th St
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This is the definitive San Francisco arthouse cinema, where the most experimental, strangest, most unique programming takes place. There are so many strange and little films I am grateful I saw here. It’s also a regular location for countless other SF film festivals. It’s no frills, no glitz and glam. But it’s colorful. It’s kind of like going to a dive bar with a bartender who’s been doing the same drink for 50 years. You don’t ask questions, you just experience it. And then when you walk out, you’re like, man, that was amazing.
This is the next generation of theater experience: amazing seats, incredible projection and sound, and great food you can order while you watch your films. The theater itself is world-class, sort of like a museum of movies with classic posters on the walls. It’s always a great balance of indie and classics and some more mainstream crowd-pleasers. You can walk in, see what’s playing, and think about other movies you might see later, and then just go have a drink and a snack at the bar. I’ve actually gone here to drink without seeing a movie.
229 polecane przez mieszkańców
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
2550 Mission St
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This is the next generation of theater experience: amazing seats, incredible projection and sound, and great food you can order while you watch your films. The theater itself is world-class, sort of like a museum of movies with classic posters on the walls. It’s always a great balance of indie and classics and some more mainstream crowd-pleasers. You can walk in, see what’s playing, and think about other movies you might see later, and then just go have a drink and a snack at the bar. I’ve actually gone here to drink without seeing a movie.
Grand Lake is a beautiful theater in a 1926 building with a marquee. The projector and the sound quality are really incredible. Every time I see a move here, it looks so good and sounds amazing. This part of Oakland is so beautiful. You can take a stroll around Lake Merritt before the movie, and go grab some food nearby.
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Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Ave
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Grand Lake is a beautiful theater in a 1926 building with a marquee. The projector and the sound quality are really incredible. Every time I see a move here, it looks so good and sounds amazing. This part of Oakland is so beautiful. You can take a stroll around Lake Merritt before the movie, and go grab some food nearby.
If you’re into history, this is definitely a theater to check out. Built in 1910, the building is an amazing example of Art Deco. I would go at nighttime to see the Art Deco vibe with the lighting and the colors, and to step into the past a little bit. They only program one film at a time, and they also do a great midnight madness series, which you can find on their web site. It’s in a good part of town to go eat dinner. The Clay is on Fillmore Street, so there’s lots of stuff around.
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Landmark's Clay Theatre
2261 Fillmore St
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If you’re into history, this is definitely a theater to check out. Built in 1910, the building is an amazing example of Art Deco. I would go at nighttime to see the Art Deco vibe with the lighting and the colors, and to step into the past a little bit. They only program one film at a time, and they also do a great midnight madness series, which you can find on their web site. It’s in a good part of town to go eat dinner. The Clay is on Fillmore Street, so there’s lots of stuff around.

Food Scene

Where else can you enjoy an incredible dinner in an amazing neighborhood while an excellently curated 35mm film is being projected in an open courtyard? I remember watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly while having dinner here. Just know that the movie’s not really front and center; it’s more of an ambient thing. You should definitely make a dinner reservation in advance and tell them you want to sit in the courtyard. Seating is limited. Afterwards, slide over to Laszlo next door for a drink and more movies—they project old black and white movies on one of the walls as ambiance (sorry, no sound!).
343 polecane przez mieszkańców
Foreign Cinema
2534 Mission St
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Where else can you enjoy an incredible dinner in an amazing neighborhood while an excellently curated 35mm film is being projected in an open courtyard? I remember watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly while having dinner here. Just know that the movie’s not really front and center; it’s more of an ambient thing. You should definitely make a dinner reservation in advance and tell them you want to sit in the courtyard. Seating is limited. Afterwards, slide over to Laszlo next door for a drink and more movies—they project old black and white movies on one of the walls as ambiance (sorry, no sound!).