Hayes Valley Specialty

This adorable neighborhood cheese shop (named for its owner, Phithak Raxakoul) specializes in French cheese and other gourmet items like chocolate, wine, and tea. The cheese selection is the kind you dream—or drool—about, but they also make sandwiches and charcuterie plates, which you an enjoy on their patio.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find anybody who’s more passionate about ice cream than the folks behind Smitten, who actually built and patented a completely new technology to make what they claim to be the smoothest ice cream in the world. They started in San Francisco, selling ice cream out of a little red wagon (seriously), and while they’re beloved in their hometown—there are locations in Pacific Heights, Oakland, Hayes Valley, and more—they’ve just expanded to LA with a shop in El Segundo (Silver Lake is opening soon).

Project Juice's little shops, which are in San Francisco and Southern California, make fresh juice and cleanses, but the real game-changer is their test kitchen, which also has a menu of clean, vegetable-based whole meals. Breakfast is particularly strong with smoothies and bowls both on offer.

Many credit Ritual with being the first truly gourmet coffee shop in the city. Now, 11 years and five bustling S.F. locations later, they still brew arguably the best cup in town. Because people have been known to get hooked on their meticulously sourced blends, a coffee club was launched to make sure out-of-towners can get their hands on the good stuff.

Many credit Ritual with being the first truly gourmet coffee shop in the city. Now, 10 years and four bustling S.F. locations later, they still brew arguably the best cup in town. Because people have been known to get hooked on their meticulously sourced blends, a coffee club was launched to make sure out-of-towners can get their hands on the good stuff.

This is an exceptionally well-stocked wine shop specializing in hard-to-find local and international spirits across all price points. Being that its something of a local secret, not many people are aware of the magical community garden out back, where you can drink any wine from the shop by the glass for a small corkage fee. There’s also a sweet little café right next door where you can snag a quick soup-and-salad lunch or pick up a to-go order.

This is an exceptionally well-stocked wine shop specializing in hard-to-find local and international spirits across all price points. Being that its something of a local secret, not many people are aware of the magical community garden out back, where you can drink any wine from the shop by the glass for a small corkage fee. There’s also a sweet little café right next door where you can snag a quick soup-and-salad lunch or pick up a to-go order.

There are now ten locations strong in the bay area, with cafés in the Ferry Building, Hayes Valley, Heath Ceramics, Market Square, Mint Plaza, and on Sansome. There are two locations in Oakland, on Broadway and Webster St. Perhaps the most groundbreaking of their brews is the chicory-spiked New Orleans cold brew, which comes in a handy single-serving carton. They also make a pretty great granola in-house while the SFMOMA rooftop location is home to Chef Caitlin Freeman's modern art desserts. Think: a loaf cake made to look like a Mondrian painting and cookies inspired by Richard Serra’s sculptures.

There are locations peppered throughout L.A., NYC, and even Tokyo, but Blue Bottle coffee will forever be synonymous with San Francisco, the city that started it all. Perhaps the most groundbreaking of their brews is the chicory-spiked New Orleans cold brew, which comes in a handy single-serving carton. They also make a pretty great granola in-house while the SFMOMA rooftop location is home to Chef Caitlin Freeman's modern art desserts. Think: a loaf cake made to look like a Mondrian painting and cookies inspired by Richard Serra’s sculptures.

The original teeny stand on Cow Hollow's main drag (and all the locations that followed) is operated by three surfer dude brothers and is home to high-quality organic, cold-pressed juice extracted using a hydraulic press and sold in cute bottom-heavy glass bottles, which you can bring back for the deposit. Stands and juice tucks are popping up all over and they now offer delivery as well.