Best Barista: Centrally Located

In a city like San Francisco, it is hard for independent coffee shops to compete with the usual suspect like Starbucks and Peets. Thankfully, some do survive including Central Coffee, which is located on the Northeast corner of Central and Hayes, right next to a Hayes bus stop which is great for the business and the businessmen alike. Central Coffee has managed to thrive by staying true to themselves and providing a cozy, laidback, and eclectic atmosphere for their customers. Central Coffee seems to break every rule that Starbucks and Peets stick to: none of the furniture matches, the music is anything but mainstream, and most importantly the Internet access is FREE! When you walk into Central Coffee you instantly feel comfortable, the music is relaxing and everyone inside are extraordinarily nice (customers and employees alike).

Ali, the owner of twelve years, has clearly worked very hard to set Central Coffee apart from the coffee industries moguls. It is a very “neighborhoody” place explained Michael, who has been a Central Coffee employee for six years. “We have a lot of regulars. We know their names and what they want. I think that is important…something you would not find at most Starbucks,” said Michael. Central Coffee offers a full menu, and Ali is adamant that everything they serve is made of all natural and fresh ingredients. Central Coffee has at least ten different types of bagels at any given time including jalapeño, plain, egg, blueberry, onion, combination, garlic, and pumpernickel! In addition to the wide variety of bagels that CC offers, they also have savory cream cheeses that will leave your mouth watering. The delicious cream cheese flavors include: roasted garlic with fresh herbs (my personal favorite!), smoked mozzarella with slow roasted tomatoes, smoked salmon with dill, and habanero jack with roasted peppers.

The cozy coffee shop has everything you need when it comes to the perfect cup of Joe experience. A random mix of tables and chairs are great for reading the Chronicle, getting work done on your laptop (using CC’s free wireless internet), grabbing one of the obscure books that fill up the bookcases in the shop, or just relaxing with a cup of coffee or a spinach pesto quiche. To be honest I have been a Starbucks fanatic for as long as I can remember and I even drank the same Venti Chai Tea Latte every single day. However, since moving 1/2 a block from CC I have ended my long-term relationship with Starbucks and always find myself at Central Coffee ordering a large (much sweeter) Oregon Chai Tea!

Yummy Yummy Haight Street

All You Knead. I guess it’s all right there in the title, but this Haight street jewel is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It’s the kind of place where everything on the menu is delicious, and they even serve breakfast all day! The huge booths are broken in and comfortable and there is always something interesting to look at on the walls. The extensive menu offers everything from breakfast to sandwiches to pizza-the best part is it’s cheap! Two people can easily dine for less than 20 dollars. I have spent much of my life eating BLT’s (bacon, lettuce, tomato-just incase), and for that reason I might even call myself a BLT connoisseur. All You Knead has one of the most amazing BLT sandwiches I have ever tasted, and I even bring my friends and family to AYK and make them order this delightful treat. It is served on fresh baked 7-grain toast with just the right amount of perfectly sliced tomato’s and crunchy lettuce, and they never skimp on the bacon, which is cooked just right! All You Knead also cuts their own French fries and season them with a secret red spicy powder. Although the place can get a bit crowded for breakfast and lunch on the weekends, don’t be discouraged, the service is relatively quick and orderly. Bottom line if you are ever on Haight street and wondering where to stop in for a quick bite, look no further that All You Knead! Oh and if you want my advice, order a BLT, I promise you will be satisfied.

Art Gallery: Intimidation

Art tends to be inherently intimidating. Thanks to my Father, I have never felt that intimidation. Between the home I grew up in and the one my parents live in now, there was always enough art hanging on the walls and on bookshelves to have filled the Art Institute of Chicago. Anyway, when it comes to art galleries and museums, bring ‘em on! Pretentious art brokers and zany artists don’t intimidate me, they intrigue me. That is until I walked into “Off the Wall Art”, a gallery on Haight Street that sells posters and reprints of famous paintings. The first time I went into the shop it seemed like there was no one else in there, including anyone working. My friends and I walked around for five minutes or so but got annoyed that no one was there to help that we left unsatisfied.
Months later I saw a sign in the window of “Off the Wall” that said ‘Lost Our Lease Closing in 3 Days.’ I decided to give the place another chance, figuring that at least there would be a decent sale. Well I wish I hadn’t gone back in because the sales woman/ owner of the shop who had failed to help us the first time, was snippy and a tad feisty. My boyfriend and I found the one poster in the place that wasn’t on sale and the woman was short with us as she rang up the purchase. The poster is a pretty awesome map of the Haight-Ashbury area, with a key telling you where all the musical people of the 60’s and 70’s lived. I walked out of “Off the Wall” with 150 dollars less than when I walked in, and a new intimidation of art (one that I had so fortunately avoided for 21 years). After 23 years, “Off the Wall Art” a store full of posters and reprints has lost its lease and is moving to Ninth and Folsom. Haight Street in San Francisco is one of the friendliest places on earth, between the hippies and tourists; I guess there just is not room for pretentious art.

Herb Haven

San Francisco became something of a safe haven for hippies, hemp, and herb almost forty years ago when the members of the Grateful Dead, who would ultimately become one of the greatest bands of all time, bought a house on Ashbury St. The Grateful Dead basically created the framework for what we call the ‘hippie counterculture’ of the late 1960’s. A lifestyle based on the ideology of “peace, love, and personal freedom.” To this very day one would not have to look far to find a hippie, whether they are 17 or 75, snacking on ‘special brownies’ in Golden Gate Park or the nearby neighborhood known as Haight Ashbury.

Glorious Golden Gate Park is known for a million different things: beautiful lakes and waterfalls, gardens, museums, endless trails, and even a herd of buffalo. However, if you know where to look, somewhere in the midst of the 1017 acres you can find your one-stop cannabis super shop—hippie hill. Hippie Hill earned its name during halcyon days in the 1960’s when George Harrison could be found playing his guitar and free-thinkers and drum circles called it home.

An unsuspecting tourist may be caught of guard by the cloud of smoke that lingers above the grassy rise or the man dressed-up like Darth Vader drinking a 40 at noon on a Monday afternoon. However, locals find hippie hill an “amazing place to get away from the city and there is never a shortage of ganja” said the man in the Vader get-up, who wished to remain anonymous.

The days of the Grateful Dead and deadheads are long past, so one might wonder what they would find if they stumbled upon hippie hill today?

An average day on hippie hill--On the sun-swept hillside there would be an abundance of people playing bongos, guitars, frisbee, and soccer. Free-spirited homeless people lay relaxing burning some fern along with long lost hippies and misplaced business men. Cowboy hats, skateboards, dread locks, and boom boxes are just a few of the odd things a person might see on this holy hill. Fresh baked ganja cookies and treats can be purchased from fifty year old men, who are missing their four front teeth and their left shoe. A homeless man rocking a Cubs batting helmet might be throwing tennis balls into the 'crowd', like a spirit squad at an NBA game. And a plethora of people can be found merely enjoying the sun and the contact high they can experience on this city-park hideaway!

Want to relax? Want to get high? Want to experience a day like you did back in the 60's? Want to see homeless people heckling each other? If you answered yes to any of these questions then hippie hill in Golden Gate Park is the place for you!