North Beach is where the beatniks used to go as people know. It is great for the atmosphere and the coffeehouses.

North beach is one of those neighborhoods I love to hate. I can never find parking very easily which is stressful but once I do I seem to relax and be ok there. There are some delicious Italian (my fav is Pan De Ray I think it's called ) restaurants here and you can't help but get a kick out of the Italian men who stand on the street asking you to come into their restaurant. Classic Roma style! Easy on the eyes too! And, the candy store! The store that lets you eat all the taffy you want while shopping inside! This place is great. If you stay away from some of the lame nightclubs you can actually have a pretty good time in North Beach. Just take public transportation there! Hit up one of the wine bars or cigar bars instead of the clubs!

I like this place alot. Some cool clubs and very Italian themed. Most nights you can find a live band playing somewhere in north beach.

politicians? are you kidding?

cold

At least for tourists, San Fran wouldn't be San Fran without North Beach.

my all time favorite neighborhood!!

I love Mission or haight more (5 stars). so,, 4 stars for north beach.

  North Beach was once next door to Greenwich Village.

Come to think of it, it still is, now that both places are bereft of character.

City Lights Books remains as a reminder of what was and what could have been.

North Beach is home to some interesting places like Telegraph Hill and Washington Square. There are some nice restaurants and bars there as well as some strip clubs along Broadway. There is no beach in North Beach.

I live here and love it! Of course, I don't live right in the heart of NB. My favorite places to eat - Sushi on North Beach, Kennedy's, Trattoria Contadina, and Fiora d'Italia.

Used to be a place where a working class family could find a restarant and have a meal with a table cloth and nice bottle of wine for a decent price. Unfortunately, with the great dot com gentrification, most of the family places have been run out and replaced by the trendy places. Still has City Lights Bookstore and the famous Grant & Green nightclub, but it's clearly lost its way. On the upside, most of the sleaze places on Broadway have closed down.

This was once a wonderful neighborhood, but almost all of it is long gone. There's a pitiful attempt to pretend otherwise. Lots of gay bars, wonderful and cheap restaurants, major jazz clubs,....all gone.

I like the chaos and commotion of North Beach, but as Wiggum says, I'm not sure if I could live there. Unlike any other place that I've ever been to, North Beach boasts world class restaurants right next to low grade strip joints. It really is an odd mix of Italy, Vegas, and San Francisco. Definitely worth checking out, but if you're going to live there, make sure you have a parking spot.

Love it. I lived here for years. Love the narrow little alleys and stairways. It is far too expensive, however, and I wish it could be more like it used to be in the 50s, around the time of the Beats, with more of the little wood cottages and less highrises and condos. It is great for restaurants and a great farmers market is held every Saturday at the foot of Telegraph Hill on the east side near the Embarcadero.

North Beach is a beautiful neighborhood and a fun place to spend a weekend night, but I think it would be a tough place to live. Narrow streets, miserable parking, crowds of tourists - no thanks. But there are some great stores full of history (like City Lights) and lots of great restaurants. You can really picture the Beats hanging out here in the 50s and 60s, going from one jazz club to another.