I recently visited San Francisco for the first time for the How I Built This Summit.
I will say, this is the first time where my first impression was proved inconsistent with my lasting impression. And boy, am I glad.
We stayed at the Hilton Union Square, which was a beautiful hotel, situated in the Tenderloin neighborhood. The Tenderloin has a high crime rate, even in the day time, and there is a large homeless population in that area. Overall, it’s a very dirty area that needs some love.
The history nerd that I am did a quick Google search on the history of the Tenderloin district, and it seemed to be a very vibrant area in its prime. (And it may still be this way, that just wasn’t my experience.)
We drove through this part of town as we approached our hotel and I was a bit skeptical, thinking, “This is not exactly how I pictured San Francisco when I signed up for this conference.” We didn’t let this rocky first impression inhibit the rest of our experience.
Once we got settled into our room, we set out to explore via Uber (because we didn’t know any better until the Summit.) First stop: the Full House house. Not sorry.
One place we did walk to from our hotel was the trolley, which is 99.9% a total tourist trap, but it was still fun and I would do it again. Our trolley driver was very kind and recommended a cute little bodega for breakfast, although it was only okay. We took the trolley down to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we rented bikes to bike the Golden Gate Bridge, which was an easy breezy bike ride for about 2-3 miles, then it was actually impossible for about a mile and I’ve never been so close to having a heart attack, but then biking over the actual bridge was nice, just to say we’ve done it. But hot dang, did I earn that drink afterwards (pictured below.) I’m not sure if I was just near-death or if it was the best drink ever, but in my experience, it was the best lemonade cocktail ever.
Now about the food (because that’s what really matters in a new city.)
Jerra had never had In-N-Out Burger before, so, of course that was our first stop. We Uber’d down to the Wharf (because we didn’t know any better), got hit on by our driver, then waited in line for about 10 minutes, ordered, then waited about 45 minutes, got our food, then waited for an open table for another 5-10 minutes, then we finally got to eat (after photos, of course.) Worth it as usual *praise hands*
Afterwards, Irish coffee: hot coffee and Irish whiskey, topped with whipped cream. I obviously took this photo before I tried it because yowza! It was stout, but a great night cap.
Our last meal of the trip was in Chinatown. We kind of had to wing it since restaurants in Chinatown didn’t have much in terms of a social media presence, but we found some yummy dumplings and steamed buns and pot stickers *heart eyes*
Finally, MILLIONAIRE BACON. Ever heard of it? Me neither. My friend Alyx, a 2-year San Fran local, recommended it but I hadn’t been able to go out of my way to find it, BUT on our way out of town, we stopped by Boudin Bakery, The Original San Francisco Sourdough (TM), and I noticed they had millionaire bacon on the menu. If you ever see it on any menu in San Francisco, GET IT. It’s thick cut bacon with brown sugar and pepper, maybe? It’s sweet but a little spicy too. I don’t know, but freaking yum.
San Francisco food earned an A+ in my book.
As for the How I Built This Summit? I wrote a whole post dedicated to it here. It was incredible in itself and totally worth the quick trip. I got to meet some incredible people that still inspire me today, including Guy freaking Raz (pictured below.) The community of entrepreneurs the HIBT podcast has brought together is seriously the best and makes me want to start a business…. Who knows :)
