Mission Specialty

Anthony’s is the holy grail of cookies in San Francisco. People who love it—which is to say people who know it—talk about it with such reverence and awe, you’ll think they’re a little out of their minds…until you try a cookie yourself.

The Civic Kitchen is an entirely purpose-built (meaning every amenity is built to spec) cookery school in San Francisco’s Mission district. More than just a kitchen, this space is a fully immersive culinary experience for the gourmand with floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with cookbooks for inspiration, a large communal table for meal sharing, and the cook space itself, which feels like the cozy, well-designed kitchen of a friend. The classes are intended to be practical—themed around building meals and menus rather than zoning in on individual, complicated dishes. Choose to learn how to pull together a full Sunday brunch, how to cook a chicken and assorted grains ahead of time for easier meal-making during the week, or, if the mood strikes you, how to prepare a full celebratory Chinese new year dinner (dumplings, noodles, steamed fish, the works). The school has over a dozen chefs on staff (each one with their own particular area of expertise) and classes never go above fourteen students.

Founded by two friends, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring—who got their start roasting up cocoa beans just for fun in a garage—Dandelion Chocolate sources the highest-quality beans, and, in small batches, crafts incredible chocolate that really draws on the complex flavors of every bean. At their Valencia Street café, you can grab a hot chocolate (or an espresso drink and a pastry made in-house by Executive Pastry Chef Lisa Vega) and watch the entire bean-to-bar process from start to finish. And, of course, you can get your hands on their amazing chocolate offerings. In addition to their Mission District location, they also have a spot in the nearby Ferry Building (as well as a factory and café in Tokyo).

Ice cream sandwiches steal the show at Cream, from waffle-based to cookie, brownie, mini-sized, gluten-free, and vegan. There are locations in a few states now, and in addition to this SF shop, there's also a second outpost in Stonestown Galleria. Also, note: Cream caters—and what's more awesome than an ice cream sandwich bar?

Haus is the minimalist studier's paradise—it's light-filled and simply decorated with a pine wood bar and beams, white walls, and concrete floors. Plus, they have a lovely patio if it's warm enough to sit outside. There's plenty of seating, which means you can camp out for the afternoon without feeling guilty about taking up so much space.

A decade ago, two Bi-Rite market pastry chefs spied a vacant space across the street from the iconic market and moved in their small-batch baking and ice cream operation. Staying true to the Bi-Rite mission, only organic local ingredients are used, resulting in some of the hands down best scoops (balsamic strawberry, honey lavender, mixed-berry coconut in the summer; earl grey, orange cardamom, maple walnut in winter), buffalo-milk soft serve, frozen cakes, sundaes, and popsicles in the country. A second location recently opened in Alamo Square, though sadly, no soft serve there.

A decade ago, two Bi-Rite market pastry chefs spied a vacant space across the street from the iconic market and moved in their small-batch baking and ice cream operation. Staying true to the Bi-Rite mission, only organic local ingredients are used, resulting in some of the hands down best scoops (balsamic strawberry, honey lavender, mixed-berry coconut in the summer; earl grey, orange cardamom, maple walnut in winter), buffalo-milk soft serve, frozen cakes, sundaes, and popsicles in the country. A second location recently opened in Alamo Square, though sadly, no soft serve there.

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. There's no WiFi here, but plenty of space.

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 where legit coffee aficionados go to procure house-roasted beans to grind and brew at home. That said, the bi-level café itself is beautiful, airy, and lively—a really fun place to while away an afternoon and watch as the pros load sacks of beans into the massive Probat roaster. There's also a location in SoMa.