5 Days In San Francisco | Places To Go | Fuji X-T1 & Fujinon 16mm 1.4

Well, this is going to be quite a different post from normal in the Joshua Rainey Photography world, but I’m hoping it’s still worth a read! Rachel and I take a trip every year after our busy wedding season finally winds down. We’ve made it close some years and really far others, but this year we wanted to explore a city and we wanted to keep things cheap(ish). So, we found the cheapest flights possible to a major city (San Francisco) and then booked some hotels on TravelZoo and Groupon.

But for the meat of this post (unless you don’t eat meat, it can be the tofu of the post or whatever you choose…) I wanted to share a few photos, tell a bit about our trip, and mention some places we thought were worth while! If you’re heading to San Francisco anytime soon feel free to retrace our steps and let me know what you think of these recommendations.

But first, I’m doing this sort of weird and in chronological order of our trip. I think it tells our story better, and I’m into that. This blog post is not trying to rank restaurants or plan a perfect trip, I want it to be more of a friendly conversation “hey check out this place if you’re there” “we had fun at this location” blah blah blah…

Good Mang Kok Bakery – Don’t say that name out loud if there are people near you. Eat there if you’re in ChinaTown and want some cheap, and amazing food. Our total was $2.30 for both of us. I thought I heard the lady wrong!

Explore ChinaTown – We loved walking around shooting photos and just taking it all in. Here are a couple of shots from the area.

Haight / Zazie – We explored the Haight neighborhood one day and ended up making it to Golden Gate Park after breakfast. This neighborhood is really cool, and really mellow when we were there! If you’re around the East edge of Golden Gate Park and it’s breakfast time, you absolutely have to check out Zazie, sooooo good! It seems a bit expensive at first but they factor tips into all of the prices so it works itself out. We also went to a really cool kids shop called Tantrum and then off to the Conservatory of Flowers.

The Mill / Painted Ladies / Alamo Park – Full House houses on the hill overlooking the city, amazing people-watching potential. And, The Mill. Some of the best coffee I’ve had and definitely the best toast I’ve had. I can’t even describe how worth it it is to go here if you have time. Well, if you love coffee and bread that is. Oh wait, everyone in the world loves coffee and bread, or should if they don’t. Or will if they go to The Mill.

Little Italy – We hung out in Little Italy and shot a few night photos. On a side note, the Fuji X-T1 is incredible at night photography! Stoked to have this thing in my camera bag now. This church was cool, cooler at night. Tony’s has the world’s best pizza or something like that. Literally, really really good pizza! And the entire neighborhood was just fun to walk around at night.

Here are a couple of other places you have to check out if you have the chance!

Bean Stalk Cafe – Get a cragel, it’s a bagel croissant! (left)
Four Barrel Coffee – A bunch of places in the city serve it, find it. (right)

Uno Dos Tacos – I have a weakness for flautas and agua fresca.

La Taqueria – They won some competition for the best burrito in the entire world. Duh. It is.

Blue Bottle Coffee – Really great coffee! Thanks to our friend Sara for telling us about it, getting us a gift card, and insisting that we go there. Worth it!

I got to meet up with my friend Sam to explore a bit. He’s a really good follow on Instagram if you have an account (@thesamgraves)!

So, much of the rest of our trip was spent exploring the city with just Rachel and I using our feet and riding public transportation. We walked a ton, shot a bunch of photos and enjoyed a super cool city! Here’s some pics!