24th Street in San Francisco is named by AAA’s VIA Magazine as the Best Places for Window Shopping in San Francisco!
Read about it here from VIA:
Best Places for Window Shopping
Visit these streets in California, Oregon, and Utah to enjoy a rich shopping experience—even if you don’t buy anything.
CALIFORNIA
Fourth Street Berkeley, Calif. “You’ll find doggy boutiques and modern design outlets and makeup shops where you can personalize a fragrance,” says Melody Esquer Gil of San Pablo, Calif. “Best, though, are the stationery stores, especially the Japanese paper shop, with its beautiful prints, cards, and origami supplies.” fourthstreetshop.com.
Pollasky Avenue Old Town, Clovis, Calif. “Perfect for an afternoon stroll,” says Carrie Padgett of Madera, Calif. “It’s full of collectible and antique stores, a quilters’ shop, gift shops, and restaurants. Every year it’s the site of a great family Halloween event.” (559) 298-5774, oldtownclovis.org.
Santana Row San Jose. “Classy stores, a chic crowd, and foot-tapping music,” says Nikhila Yadunath of Sunnyvale, Calif. “What else? Apparel, bags, sunglasses, dinnerware, books, perfumes, luggage, pasta, ales, wine tastes, electric-powered sports cars—what can’t you find here?” (408) 551-4611, santanarow.com.
Sutter Street Folsom, Calif. “This historic neighborhood dates back 150 years,” writes Aparna Agarwal of Folsom. “You’ll find artists’ studios and galleries, wine bars, a famous pottery shop, side-street bistros, a chocolate store, a spiritual shop and dance studio—often with belly dancers—and a thriving farmers’ market on Sundays.” (916) 985-7452, historicfolsom.org.
Twenty-Fourth Street San Francisco. “In four blocks of the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood, there’s a chocolatier that sells decorative tins, a stationery store, an art glass shop, clothing boutiques, a cozy bookstore, decor shops, bistros, and coffeehouses,” says Patricia Corrigan of San Francisco. “Don’t miss the Ark, a great store that sells classic and contemporary toys.” (415) 641-8687,noevalleymerchants.com.
Read more:
http://www.viamagazine.com/attractions/best-places-window-shopping
Schmendricks might have been named best Bay Area bagel, but Noe Valley’s very own Holey Bagel was the only brick and mortar bagel shop in San Francisco listed as a winner!
Read about it here from SFGate:
For this special installment of Taster’s Choice, The Chronicle’s Food & Wine staff took carb-loading to the extreme. We compared plain bagels, unadorned and untoasted, from 16 Bay Area shops, including big chains, independents and several newcomers that are still operating in limited fashion.
The result wasn’t so much an assault on our taste buds as an affront to our vision and touch. For every bagel that was modestly sized and nicely browned, there were three that were pale and puffed up like a donut. (Sorry, Noah’s).
“It’s from Pillsbury!,” a staffer wrote of a particularly bad offender. “If you can squish it flat, it’s not a bagel,” another chirped.
As always, the tasting was done blind. All bagels were baked earlier in the day; some boiled and baked, others steamed and baked.
Here’s how it shook out.
The winners:
Schmendricks ($3): By far the priciest of the bunch, these “delicious” bagels elicited an “Oh baby!” from one staffer. “Dense and crusty” with a wonderful chew.” Pop-up schedule at schmendricks.com
Baron Baking ($1.50 at Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen, Berkeley): Several staffers likened these “nicely browned” beauties to a “pretzel” – “salty” and “crisp” on the outside, “soft” and “chewy” on the inside. Available at Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen, 1475 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley and other locations. baronbaking.com
House of Bagels, San Carlos (95 cents): A Peninsula staple, these “glossy” bagels had “a great balance of sweet and yeasty.” “Easy to eat,” “love the texture and snap.” 605 Laurel St., San Carlos; (650) 637-8277.
Authentic Bagel Co. ($1.25): “Solid” all-around, these East Bay newcomers had the “perfect density.” “Nutty and chewy,” the biggest complaint was the “wrinkly” appearance. Availability at abagelcompany.com
Holey Bagel ($1): File these under the “tastes better than it looks” category. “Pale” and “puffy,” the bagels from this Noe Valley restaurant nonetheless had “great density and snap.” 3872 24th St., San Francisco; (415) 647-3334.