Bay Area Travel Guide: Things to Do, Eat, Drink, & Shop in the San Francisco Mission District

Narrated by Keith Lewis (with input from Lynn)

Even for an adventurous couple like us, we are occasionally guilty of having a few too many quiet nights in (Ask us about some of our favorite TV shows sometime). So how do you break the cycle of binge watching Netflix? Well, we recently challenged ourselves to make our weekends more adventurous, even if we are working a photoshoot! Thus the tradition of Date Night began, with Lynn taking the helm for this most recent weekend! 

We had the whole day to ourselves for once, which is a rare occurrence these days. We opted for a less packed, more casual date day in San Francisco, which you will see in the photos, but below are some of our favorite things to do, eat, and see in the city!

Things to Do

• Aim for a hole in one at the Rube Goldberg mini golf course at Urban Putt ($)
• Swing over a grand view of the city at Bernal Heights Park (Free)

Eat + Drink

• Nom nom on the famous SF burritos at Taqueria Cancun ($) or El Farolito ($)
• Transport yourself to Spain with tapas from Picaro ($$)
• Skip the Tartine line for croissants and morning buns by instead going to Tartine Manufactory ($$)
• Drink Hong Kong milk tea with honey boba at Boba Guys ($)
• Grab a cup of coffee at Ritual Coffee Roasters ($)
• Learn to brew a ridiculously good cup of coffee at Fellow ($)
• Try all the samples and indulge in the chocolate flight at Dandelion Chocolate ($$)
• Indulge in the best ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery ($)
• Grab a slice of pie at Mission Pie ($)

Shop

• Explore the curiosities of taxidermy at Paxton Gate ($$)
• Support reading for children while living your childhood pirate dreams at 826 Valencia ($)

MISSION PIE

When you were a kid, I am sure you dreamed of eating desserts for breakfast, I mean who hasn't right? Well the team at Mission Pie wants to make that dream a reality. With a wide selection of both sweet and savory pies, coffee from Equator coffee, and a selection of beers and ciders, Mission Pie has it all. We split a savory pie (Lynn ate all the crusts) and a sweet pie (I picked berry pie as revenge) and it was the perfect balance. Seating is tight so be ready to take it to go or wait until something pops up. 

URBAN PUTT

Lynn won't admit this, but she is extremely competitive, just like me! So for couples like us, that like a little competition in their lives, Urban Putt is a super cool and complex indoor mini golf course and bar. While I will say that it is kid friendly, it is clearly engineered to be a playground for adults. The course is extremely unique, with the holes being themed after the history of San Francisco and awesome machinery that transports your ball along tracks to score a hole in one. We fought fiercely but in the end, Lynn pulled ahead for the victory. This is a great activity for a group of friends or a couple out on a date, and they do update the holes every once in a while so it can even be a repeat adventure!

FELLOW

Confession time: I have been wanting to come to the brew lab playground at Fellow for a long time. Coffee is probably my favorite hobby, and getting to play around with the cool tech at Fellow was an absolute blast. For $3 you can learn to brew the perfect pour over from your choice of coffee roasters. Admittedly, I have quite a bit of practice making pour overs already, but I wanted an excuse to play with the cool toys that Fellow had.

PAXTON GATE

We have been coming to this store for years whenever we are in the Mission District. No, we are not huge taxidermy fans, and no, we do not have a fancy skull collection, but we love looking at the plants and rocks and equipment that Paxton's sells. Walking through the store always inspires us to redecorate in creative ways and gives us new ideas of how to display our plants and paintings.

PICARO

With a trip to Spain coming up soon, we decided to try some new cuisine before we go there. Picaro is an absolute gem of a restaurant, and is perfect for date night or a group gathering. With Happy Hour Sangria (strong but oh so good) everyday, make sure you get there early and eat a light lunch before hand. The menu is extensive but the garlic shrimp are a must and the bread/salsa combo is one of the tastiest free appetizers I have ever had.

BERNAL HEIGHTS TRAIL

There are a lot of places in San Francisco to watch the sunset (when Karl allows it) but how many of them have a swing? Bernal Heights sits comfortably at the end of the Mission District, and depending on how much exercise you want, it can be either a long hike or a short walk up the hill. We packed up some treats and drove to the top of the hill before sunset. With plenty of time, we took turns on the swing, met some new furry friends, faked parkour, and finally sat down and munched on some sweets while the sunset on a great date day.

That's it for this post date day, stay tuned for the next installment in a few weeks! Have any awesome date ideas? Leave them in the comments!