Content creator Lylaa Ali Shaikh poses in a vintage photobooth
Content creator Lylaa Ali Shaikh poses in a vintage photobooth

Some cities reveal themselves through landmarks. San Francisco is just as happy to do it through lunch.

Lylaa Ali Shaikh (@saltandshaikh) got to know the city one flavour at a time, from Mission District taquerias and Salvadoran pupusas to Japanese tea and sweets in Japantown. Between bites: Golden Gate views, a sunset on the Bay, and a final evening shaken, stirred, and very San Francisco.

Seafood served on a skillet

Day 1

Work up an appetite

Start with a guided e-bike ride across of San Francisco’s biggest icons. Join local, family-owned Blazing Saddles and follow the waterfront towards the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping at viewpoints along the way before cycling across to Sausalito. Take the ferry back for views of Alcatraz and the city skyline, or explore more across the Bay.

 

Later, head out on the water for a 1.5-hour Adventure Cat sunset cruise, passing Alcatraz and gliding beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Back on dry land, appetite thoroughly earned, make for Crab House at PIER 39 and its sizzling iron skillets. Follow dinner with a wander around Fisherman’s Wharf (preferably with something sweet in hand) and a visit to PIER 39’s famously vocal sea lions.

Content creator Lylaa Ali Shaikh smiles as she walks past painted mural walls in San Francisco's Mission District

Day 2

Follow San Francisco’s flavour

Start hungry in the Mission District with Stretchy Pants Food Tour, combining neighbourhood flavours with the stories behind its celebrated murals and their artists. Tastings include Salvadoran pupusas, Detroit-style pizza and handcrafted chocolates, while your guide brings the history and artistry of the murals to life along the way.Taste tacos and Salvadoran pupusas as you go, with the five-storey MaestraPeace mural at the Women’s Building and the street art of Clarion Alley adding plenty of colour between stops. There’s a story behind every bite, and often on the wall beside it. Finish with an iced chocolate at Dandelion Chocolate.

 

Then take your appetite to Japantown. Explore the neighbourhood on a self-guided history walk, making time for Japanese tea and something sweet along the way. Try ChaTo or Kissako Tea for Japanese tea, then make for Yasukochi’s Sweet Stop, a Japanese bakery where coffee crunch cake is the local favourite. Still room? Uji Time serves up Japanese soft serve, while Maruwu Seicha is one for a matcha fix.

 

Come evening, head to Club Fugazi for Dear San Francisco, a 90-minute acrobatic love letter to the city. Then finish the day around the table at Original Joe’s, with traditional Italian-American cooking on the menu.

Influencer Lylaa Ali Shaikh holds up a yellow box at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in San Francisco

Day 3

Pick a different course

Start in Haight-Ashbury with a stop at 710 Collective, where you can squeeze into a vintage photobooth for an old-school strip of pictures. Poses sorted, use SF CityPASS to shape the rest of your day, with a choice of attractions across San Francisco. Lylaa headed to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, exploring its exhibitions before making her way up to the observation tower for panoramic views across the park.

 

Still hungry for something different? Stop by the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown, where you can write your own fortune before watching it get baked into a custom cookie. A little taste of San Francisco to take away - if you can resist eating it first, of course.

 

For your final evening, head to Absinthe for French-Mediterranean cooking and creative cocktails. Then follow San Francisco’s Martini Trail to Holbrook House and, if you fancy one more stop, Starlite. One final toast, with the city laid out beneath you.

One last stop: SFO

There’s still a little more San Francisco to squeeze in before your direct Virgin Atlantic flight home to London Heathrow. Get to SFO with time to spare and explore the Aviation Museum & Library, catch one of the changing SFO Museum exhibitions or settle in for a short film at Video Arts – all located pre-security in or near the International Terminal.

And once you're through security, keep an eye out for the Wag Brigade, SFO’s team of certified therapy animals, for a four-legged send-off before your direct Virgin Atlantic flight to London Heathrow.

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