This week, we asked locals to look on the bright side of life and share their favorite features of the Lower Haight neighborhood.
Here's what we heard.
Food and Drink
"Love the vibe in that place and great coffee too!" said a reader of Cafe International (508 Haight St.), which is in the running for Legacy Business status. "Their iced coffee with coffee ice cubes!" got another nod from a local. "Open mic night at Cafe International with Clyde Always," recommends another.
"For me, the best thing about the Lower Haight is Palmyra, the Middle Eastern restaurant at the corner of Haight and Pierce Streets," said another reader. "The food is good, the prices are low, and the friendliness is high. Sometimes when I am across the street waiting for a bus, the owner, Mohammad, will come out with a piece of baklava and a banana in a white paper bag for a treat for me. Such wonderful people they are." Another reader also had good things to say about the restaurant at 700 Haight St.: "Palmyra is awesome!!! Such great owners."
"Love taking my dog to the Animal House," said one fan of the pet store at 157 Fillmore St. "Great staff and place to take my dog," said another. (See our interview with owner Megan Johnson for more on the neighborhood favorite.)
"I love this place," says a reader of Japanese spot Nara (518 Haight St.). "The owner Sunny, is super nice. And the staff is just awesome. They are friendly and remember your name. When we come in with out of town guests or to celebrate something, they always up their service. Plus really amazing food for a neighborhood joint." The restaurant opened in February of 2015, replacing Greenburger's, another neighborhood favorite.
"Getting the local treatment at Nara (where our guy brought us another round on him last night), Wonderland (where Wayne is always asking where I am if I'm not out with Yer Dad), Perilla, the hippy mart on the corner, and Cafe International, is definitely my fave—we go to other nearby neighborhoods nearly as often, but only the Lower Haight knows us," said one local. "It's changing like everything else, but you can still find some grit in the cracks and hang out with regular people who didn't just move in last week. When the city wins big and all the bars pour out into the street—I want to be on Haight between Fillmore and Steiner."
Relative newcomer Iza Ramen (237 Fillmore St.) got a nod from one reader, who says "getting Iza Ramen then going record shopping is an incredible time in SF." Another calls longtime 'cue joint Memphis Minnie's (576 Haight St.) "the best BBQ in town."
"The Little Chihuahua and Cafe Axum, some of the best food in Bay Area," raves another.
Nickies gets a nod for being "a neighborhood bar," said one local. "Records. Other non-pretentious bars and restaurants (Maven, you okay. Even with that awful be-fedora'd logo, yuppie clientele, standard trendy restaurant flourishes like shared seating etc. I ain't mad at ya.) RECORDS. The personalities, both shopkeepers and the local street people."
Other Local Businesses
"I want to add B Parlor (formerly Wak Shack)," said one reader of the salon at 782 Haight St. "Sara L. does my hair and now she does the hair of my 5 closest friends/family. She is great!!"
"Zip Zap hair salon!," plugged an employee of the spot at 245 Fillmore St. "I've been working there for over a year and it provided me the introduction to Lower Haight I needed, which eventually got me to move to the hood. One of my now favorite places to live and work. I love seeing clients while walking around the neighborhood :)"
"I love the Star Lynn Beauty Lounge," said another local of the nail salon at 211 Steiner St.
"Great staff and windows are always entertaining," said a reader of Costumes on Haight, the longtime costume shop at 735 Haight St.
More Of What Locals Love
"The Toronado/Rosamunde combo is hard to beat... but Animal House is up there too. Also a fan of Cafe Soleil, Three Twins, Indian Oven, Upper Playground. Besides the food and retail, Duboce Park and Alamo Square!"
"It feels very much like home without the annoying touristy crowds and Haight between Steiner and Fillmore, just awesome combination of places, beer, sausages, pizza, BBQ, so glad to live here!"
"That there are still businesses left that aren't just gray cement walls with uncut wood tables and $10 beers."
"Honestly, drinking coffee and watching other people's dogs at Duboce Park never gets old," observed one local. "It's the little things sometimes."
"Beer, sausages and pizza, and the dog park, so much joy."
"No brainer: my neighbors."
"Lived there for six years and have been in the East Bay for two years, so my impressions might be a bit dated," said one ex-Lower Haighter:
My favorite neighborhood in the city. Loved the proximity to the Panhandle, GG Park, N or if that wasn't coming soon the Church St. Station, 22 and 24 getting me north and south super easily. I love the low key bars (Toronado, Noc Noc, Mad Dog) and the lack of tourists. Not the most happening neighborhood in and of itself, but it has a little bit of everything and allows for easy access to everything else. Well except North Beach, but that's pretty much a pain to get to for anyone in the city.
And finally, noted one appreciative local, "It's not the Upper Haight."
