Bay Area summer 2025: Beat the heat with cool events and activities
Find relief with foggy local beaches. Hike a favorite trail to a grassy knoll for a picnic lunch, visit a museum or see a movie. Dive into local pools and water parks like Hurricane Harbor in Concord, the Dublin Wave or South Bay Shores at California's Great America. And don't miss the opportunity to go out after sunset, with cool night markets, movies in the park and more offering a welcome respite from the daytime heat.
Check out the Chronicle's guide to beating the heat with cool indoor and outdoor events and activities:
Enjoy the ocean's cool influence at the weekly after-hours event at the zoo with live music, family-friendly activities, outdoor bars for adults over 21, animal interactions and more. Daytime zoo visitors may stay and attend at no additional charge.
5-7 p.m. Friday, July 18. Through Aug. 29. $14, under 12 free. Playfield Lawn, Sloat Blvd. at the Great Hwy., S.F. Zoo, S.F. 415-753-7080.
Summer of Music SF
Sponsored by Civic Joy Fund and produced in partnership with Noise Pop, this free series offers a full lineup of live, local bands performing alongside the food, artisan vendors, family-friendly fun and chill energy of San Francisco's monthly Castro, Chinatown, Glen Park, Noe Valley, North Beach, Richmond, Valencia and SOMA neighborhood night market events.
4-8 and 5-10 p.m. on select Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Free. See website for schedule. Various locations throughout San Francisco. www.summerofmusicsf.com
San Anselmo Live on the Avenue
The small North Bay town goes big every weekend with a downtown event featuring two stages of live music, closed streets, children's activities, late shopping and dining. Scheduled performances include Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Brian Melvin, the Wreckless Strangers, Shana Morrison, Scott Amendola Trio, Sgt. Splendor with Eric McFadden, Sun Ra cellist Kash Killion, Jinx Jones, Pride and Joy, El Radio Fantastique, Super Diamond and others.
National Carousel Day: 'A Spin Around the World'
Head over to the Creativity Museum (adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens) to enjoy free rides on the 1906 Le Roy Carousel, carousel-themed workshops from the Museum of the African Diaspora, the Mexican Museum and American Bookbinders Museum, live music from René y Familia, shaved ice, games and more.
11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 19. Free. Le Roy Carousel, Creativity Museum, 221 Fourth St., S.F. 415-820-3320. www.creativity.org/historic-carousel
Blankets & Blockbusters at Thrive City
Explore an interactive kids zone or a couples arts and crafts station. Spread out a blanket and get some snacks to enjoy during outdoor screenings of 'Wicked' in July and '10 Things I Hate About You' in August.
Enjoy classic boardwalk amusements, then rock out to live music and entertainment as local bands, DJs, magicians and acrobats perform on Saturday-Thursday evenings on the beachfront stage throughout summer.
Settle in with fresh saltwater taffy, corn dogs and other boardwalk snacks for family-friendly movies every Friday night on a shoreside big screen in front of the colonnade. Bring a beach blanket or low-back chair for seating.
Magicians and Acrobats 8:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; Live music 8:30 p.m. Thursday; Movies 9 p.m. Friday; DJ dance parties 8:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Through Aug. 7. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. 831-423-5590.
626 Night Market
The sprawling food festival is set to include more than 200 diverse food and merchandise vendors, games, live music and entertainment for all ages.
3-11 p.m. Friday, July 25; 1-11 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 26-27. $5-$25. Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. www.626nightmarket.com
Summer Stride at the San Francisco Botanical Garden
Celebrate summer with San Francisco Public Library at an afternoon event featuring live drumming and dance workshops with Duniya Drum and Dance Company, storytelling from children's authors Monica Wesolowska and author-illustrator Kenard Pak, hands-on screen-printing with Haight Street Art Center, collaborative art activities, nature play, STEM activities, button-making and an all-ages book giveaway.
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 26. Free. Terrace Lawn, San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr., S.F. 415-661-1316. www.gggp.org
Oakland Ice Center
Indoor skating is available year-round at this rink, owned and operated by the parent company of the San Jose Sharks.
$11-$23; see website for daily public skate schedule. 519 18th St., Oakland. 510-268-9000. www.oaklandice.com
Summer at Snoopy's Home Ice
The cool and spacious ice rink, located in Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz's hometown, offers year-round ice skating with campy Swiss chalet vibes. A robust summer schedule includes drop-in classes, camps, public skates, a toddlers-on-ice program, team and pickup hockey games, night skate events and more. The onsite Warm Puppy Cafe offers refreshments.
See website for schedule. Free-$20. Snoopy's Home Ice, 1667 W. Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. 707-546-7147.
Yerba Buena Skate
The downtown skating rink on the Yerba Buena Gardens campus offers daily public skate hours year-round.
World Dog Surfing Championships
Hang ten with man's best friend. Scheduled activities include a dog surfing competition, informational tents, activities and more. Participants will receive a goodie bag with treats for pups.
9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2. Free admission. Linda Mar Beach, 5000 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacifica. www.surfdogchampionships.com
Cat Video Fest 2025
All hail our fuzzy overlords. Cool cats are featured on the big screen in the air-conditioned North Bay theater as part of a curated compilation of short films. A portion of proceeds from the Smith Rafael Film Center screenings will benefit Jake's Place Cat Rescue.
4:15 p.m. Aug. 2; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 3-4. $14.50. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415-454-5813. www.rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/cat-video-fest-2025
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest
Keep cool at a three-day festival featuring high-caliber jazz performances on multiple indoor and outdoor stages. Proceeds will benefit the music nonprofit's educational programming and year-round concerts and festivals.
This year's stellar lineup includes Ghost-Note, Dave Binney Action Trio, Louis Cole, Common, Malo, Carl Allen, Butcher Brown, Mary Stallings, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, John Pizzarelli, Tyreek McDole, Marina Crouse, Lalah Hathaway, Femi Kuti, Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca, Ray Obiedo, Lilan Kane, Mavis Staples, Stella Cole and many others.
4-9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8; 10 a.m.- 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10. $30-$680. Plaza de César Chavez Park, 194 S Market St., San Jose. www.summerfest.sanjosejazz.org
Blue Muse and the Celestial Voice Sound Bath Experience
Release anxiety and chill out while soaking up sympathetic vibrations from crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes and more, amidst the florid tranquility of the Conservatory of Flowers' Orchid Pavilion.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. $48. Orchid Pavilion, Conservatory of Flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr., S.F. 415-661-1316.
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San Francisco Chronicle
10 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area summer 2025: Beat the heat with cool events and activities
Though the temps in the city and areas prone to routine seasonal fog are keeping their cool, this summer around the Bay Area is shaping up to be a scorcher. Find relief with foggy local beaches. Hike a favorite trail to a grassy knoll for a picnic lunch, visit a museum or see a movie. Dive into local pools and water parks like Hurricane Harbor in Concord, the Dublin Wave or South Bay Shores at California's Great America. And don't miss the opportunity to go out after sunset, with cool night markets, movies in the park and more offering a welcome respite from the daytime heat. Check out the Chronicle's guide to beating the heat with cool indoor and outdoor events and activities: Enjoy the ocean's cool influence at the weekly after-hours event at the zoo with live music, family-friendly activities, outdoor bars for adults over 21, animal interactions and more. Daytime zoo visitors may stay and attend at no additional charge. 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 18. Through Aug. 29. $14, under 12 free. Playfield Lawn, Sloat Blvd. at the Great Hwy., S.F. Zoo, S.F. 415-753-7080. Summer of Music SF Sponsored by Civic Joy Fund and produced in partnership with Noise Pop, this free series offers a full lineup of live, local bands performing alongside the food, artisan vendors, family-friendly fun and chill energy of San Francisco's monthly Castro, Chinatown, Glen Park, Noe Valley, North Beach, Richmond, Valencia and SOMA neighborhood night market events. 4-8 and 5-10 p.m. on select Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Free. See website for schedule. Various locations throughout San Francisco. San Anselmo Live on the Avenue The small North Bay town goes big every weekend with a downtown event featuring two stages of live music, closed streets, children's activities, late shopping and dining. Scheduled performances include Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Brian Melvin, the Wreckless Strangers, Shana Morrison, Scott Amendola Trio, Sgt. Splendor with Eric McFadden, Sun Ra cellist Kash Killion, Jinx Jones, Pride and Joy, El Radio Fantastique, Super Diamond and others. National Carousel Day: 'A Spin Around the World' Head over to the Creativity Museum (adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens) to enjoy free rides on the 1906 Le Roy Carousel, carousel-themed workshops from the Museum of the African Diaspora, the Mexican Museum and American Bookbinders Museum, live music from René y Familia, shaved ice, games and more. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 19. Free. Le Roy Carousel, Creativity Museum, 221 Fourth St., S.F. 415-820-3320. Blankets & Blockbusters at Thrive City Explore an interactive kids zone or a couples arts and crafts station. Spread out a blanket and get some snacks to enjoy during outdoor screenings of 'Wicked' in July and '10 Things I Hate About You' in August. Enjoy classic boardwalk amusements, then rock out to live music and entertainment as local bands, DJs, magicians and acrobats perform on Saturday-Thursday evenings on the beachfront stage throughout summer. Settle in with fresh saltwater taffy, corn dogs and other boardwalk snacks for family-friendly movies every Friday night on a shoreside big screen in front of the colonnade. Bring a beach blanket or low-back chair for seating. Magicians and Acrobats 8:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; Live music 8:30 p.m. Thursday; Movies 9 p.m. Friday; DJ dance parties 8:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Through Aug. 7. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. 831-423-5590. 626 Night Market The sprawling food festival is set to include more than 200 diverse food and merchandise vendors, games, live music and entertainment for all ages. 3-11 p.m. Friday, July 25; 1-11 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 26-27. $5-$25. Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. Summer Stride at the San Francisco Botanical Garden Celebrate summer with San Francisco Public Library at an afternoon event featuring live drumming and dance workshops with Duniya Drum and Dance Company, storytelling from children's authors Monica Wesolowska and author-illustrator Kenard Pak, hands-on screen-printing with Haight Street Art Center, collaborative art activities, nature play, STEM activities, button-making and an all-ages book giveaway. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 26. Free. Terrace Lawn, San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr., S.F. 415-661-1316. Oakland Ice Center Indoor skating is available year-round at this rink, owned and operated by the parent company of the San Jose Sharks. $11-$23; see website for daily public skate schedule. 519 18th St., Oakland. 510-268-9000. Summer at Snoopy's Home Ice The cool and spacious ice rink, located in Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz's hometown, offers year-round ice skating with campy Swiss chalet vibes. A robust summer schedule includes drop-in classes, camps, public skates, a toddlers-on-ice program, team and pickup hockey games, night skate events and more. The onsite Warm Puppy Cafe offers refreshments. See website for schedule. Free-$20. Snoopy's Home Ice, 1667 W. Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. 707-546-7147. Yerba Buena Skate The downtown skating rink on the Yerba Buena Gardens campus offers daily public skate hours year-round. World Dog Surfing Championships Hang ten with man's best friend. Scheduled activities include a dog surfing competition, informational tents, activities and more. Participants will receive a goodie bag with treats for pups. 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2. Free admission. Linda Mar Beach, 5000 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacifica. Cat Video Fest 2025 All hail our fuzzy overlords. Cool cats are featured on the big screen in the air-conditioned North Bay theater as part of a curated compilation of short films. A portion of proceeds from the Smith Rafael Film Center screenings will benefit Jake's Place Cat Rescue. 4:15 p.m. Aug. 2; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 3-4. $14.50. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. 415-454-5813. San Jose Jazz Summer Fest Keep cool at a three-day festival featuring high-caliber jazz performances on multiple indoor and outdoor stages. Proceeds will benefit the music nonprofit's educational programming and year-round concerts and festivals. This year's stellar lineup includes Ghost-Note, Dave Binney Action Trio, Louis Cole, Common, Malo, Carl Allen, Butcher Brown, Mary Stallings, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, John Pizzarelli, Tyreek McDole, Marina Crouse, Lalah Hathaway, Femi Kuti, Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca, Ray Obiedo, Lilan Kane, Mavis Staples, Stella Cole and many others. 4-9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8; 10 a.m.- 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10. $30-$680. Plaza de César Chavez Park, 194 S Market St., San Jose. Blue Muse and the Celestial Voice Sound Bath Experience Release anxiety and chill out while soaking up sympathetic vibrations from crystal singing bowls, gongs, chimes and more, amidst the florid tranquility of the Conservatory of Flowers' Orchid Pavilion. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. $48. Orchid Pavilion, Conservatory of Flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr., S.F. 415-661-1316.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Versailles Royal Opera to visit Wine Country in one-of-a-kind cultural exchange
The Versailles Royal Opera makes its home in one of history's most famous settings: the Palace of Versailles. Just 12 miles outside Paris, the grand estate houses a strikingly beautiful concert hall completed for King Louis XV in 1770, once the largest performance venue in Europe. So it's only fitting that the esteemed opera company, embarking on its first this summer, would want to play somewhere with comparable beauty for its North American debut. The Versailles Royal Opera is slated to bring its acclaimed production of Gaetano Donizetti's 'La Fille du Régiment' to Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena on Friday, July 18. The evening is expected to be one of the highlights of this year's Festival Napa Valley, which kicked off on July 5 and continues through July 20, with classical concerts, film screenings and more at various Wine Country locales. But it's not just opulence that connects Versailles and Napa. Stage director Jean-Romain Vesperini, who mounted 'Fille' in France this spring, was referred to the historic company for this production by Festival Napa Valley's co-founder, vice president and director of artistic planning, Charles Letourneau. That introduction sparked a years-long international collaboration that ultimately made it possible to adapt the production for a California vineyard. 'You couldn't produce an opera like this in the U.S.,' Letourneau told the Chronicle via Zoom call from his New York office, explaining how the effort to bring 'Fille' had to start overseas. 'So many elements are so particular to France and Versailles.' Vesperini, who lives in Paris but has worked with Festival Napa Valley for the past six years, was primed to serve as ambassador. On a separate Zoom call from Liège, Belgium, where he was in rehearsal for another opera, the director described how this production of 'Fille' is rooted in historical accuracy and a very specific time and place. First and foremost visually are the period costumes by renowned fashion designer Christian Lacroix, which evoke the early 19th century Napoleonic era, when Donizetti's comic two-act opera is set. There's also the orchestra playing on period instruments, tuned lower than standard modern pitch — as they would have been heard at the opera's 1840 premiere. But fidelity to the past doesn't mean this production can't also come alive for 21st century audiences. 'I often say, it is not necessary to have contemporary costumes or set design to make a contemporary staging,' explained Vesperini. To this end, much of his directing has focused on letting the singers behave and react more like people in 2025, which adds humor and helps modern audiences identify with the characters. Letourneau praised the updates that Vesperini and the rest of the artistic team have carried out in this spirit. 'They were clever and rewrote some of the dialogue to make references to what's happening today in America, like TikTok,' he noted. 'They're young, they're hip, they're fun and they're motivated.' You might even say there's a tradition of ingenuity at Versailles. Designers equipped the opera house in 1770 with stage techniques so advanced they remained in wide use across Europe and much of the Western world for the next 200 years. Those practices — large painted backdrops, sliding scenery flats and action that shifted between the forestage and full stage — were established before the French Revolution, when the venue was shuttered. (It underwent restoration in the 1950s and reopened in its present form in 2009 following a safety retrofitting.) Many modern productions there, including 'Fille,' embrace this history by continuing to feature painted backdrops. But adapting everything for a differently sized outdoor stage in Napa required further innovation. Vesperini revealed that the company took photos of the sets in Versailles, digitized them and then built a model on a computer. What the festival audience will see are digital projections of these original sets — just one solution to the challenge of transporting a full-scale production across an ocean and a continent. Letourneau acknowledged that when he and his colleagues first discussed hosting a Versailles opera in Napa about seven years ago, it was 'one of those crazy ideas that seemed ridiculous and out of reach.' But he persisted, in part because of the parallels he saw between the two cultural retreats. Versailles, he explained, is 'very much of a similar mindset to what we do in Napa — which is creating these extraordinary artistic experiences and finding ways to pay for them.' A lunch in New York City with Gerret and Tatiana Copeland, owners of Bouchaine Vineyards in Napa and supporters of the festival since its beginning nearly two decades ago, led to solid backing. In addition to 'Fille,' presented on the annual opera series underwritten by San Francisco philanthropist Maria Manetti Shrem, the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra is scheduled to play a second program of Baroque favorites on Saturday, July 19, at Copeland Olive Hill Estate in Carneros. It's a cultural exchange that everyone can get excited about. Festival Napa Valley's pay-what-you-can pricing means that tickets for 'Fille' can be purchased for as little as $5; general admission and lawn seats are otherwise fixed at $35. For an experience that would normally require a trip to Versailles, that's a bargain. 'This is a happy story about countries and cultures collaborating together,' Letourneau said. 'We need more of that.'
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s newest dining trend? Old restaurants
In her March 1987 review of Izzy's Steaks and Chops, Chronicle critic Patricia Unterman described the transformation of an Irish pub in the Marina into 'an elaborate stage set' inspired by prolific bootlegger Izzy Gomez's North Beach saloon. She wrote, 'The place projects a history, a resonance, even though it's only a couple months old. The ambiance makes you want to have a shot of whiskey and a steak.' Those sentences could have been written by me a few months ago, although I'm more of a whiskey sipper than a shooter. After an extensive renovation overseen by the late owner Sam DuVall 's daughter, Samantha Bechtel, Izzy's is back slinging steaks, and the projected history and resonance is as thick as the house creamed spinach. If the original Izzy's was a late '80s simulacrum of a Prohibition Era speakeasy, the new Izzy's is a 2025 interpretation of a luxurious late '80s steakhouse inspired by a Prohibition Era speakeasy. This year, at least as far as dining is concerned, what's old is new again. Izzy's is one of a handful of legacy San Francisco restaurants that have recently been given a fresh lease on life. Old standbys like Turtle Tower, Wayfare Tavern and Crustacean have reopened in sparkling new locations. Others have overhauled their interiors and given menus the spit shine. But the house specialty is reliably the same — nostalgia. The current economic climate is an arduous one for independent restaurateurs, especially those looking to launch their first business. My colleague Cesar Hernandez and I recently introduced the Now List, a quarterly round-up of the best new restaurants in the Bay Area. Of the 25 entries, 15 are either an additional location of an existing concept or are operated by groups that have at least one other restaurant. Like Marvel franchises and the Polly Pocket movie, restaurants that can trade on existing IP have an advantage. Sam DuVall was wise to that in 1987, when San Franciscans would still have remembered Gomez's Barbary Coast gin joint. Well, maybe not all San Franciscans, but certainly Herb Caen, who described 'the long climb to the second floor, where the bar was jammed with winners, losers, beauties and beastly bohemians' in a column that year. DuVall crammed the walls with Gomez-related memorabilia, old-timey advertisements and sepia-toned photographs. Much of that ephemera, together with memorabilia from Izzy's Steak and Chops, remains on gallery walls on the second floor, but the downstairs is dominated by a new mural by artist Matthew Benedict depicting the characters from William Saroyan's 'The Time of Your Life,' a play inspired by Izzy Gomez's clientele. Saroyan himself looks approvingly down at the refurbished dining room, with its long soapstone bar, milk glass pendants and checkerboard floors. Design firm Gachot Studios understood the assignment. North Beach Restaurant, which served Tuscan fare from its opening in 1970 until it closed in 2023, reopened under new ownership late last year. Its dining rooms, spread across two floors, have received a similarly respectful treatment courtesy of local designer Maria Quiros, melding the old — a black-and-white photo of former ownerLorenzo Petroni mugging for the camera, a mirror so weathered it's more Rorschach Test than reflective surface — with the new. Booths have been upholstered in a sumptuous mossy green. Arresting canvases from Robert De Niro, Sr., brighten up walls. I don't know whether the glassware and china are holdovers from North Beach's previous incarnation, but their heft and quality are unusual for a contemporary restaurant. It takes very little to make the nostalgia flow at North Beach. One evening, seated downstairs next to the Willie Brown room, which boasts its own private entrance, I asked our server about the mayors, governors and other political players who did their deals at the restaurant during the Petroni years. Our server needed but the gentlest encouragement to dish. It would be unseemly to repeat his ranking of the least gracious political clientele, but apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger is a real gent. And the food at these establishments? Generally solid, but somewhat besides the point. You're not going to the latest Superman film for the dialogue, but rather to visit old friends and see what the new director has done with the joint. At Izzy's, stick to steaks and the dynamite potatoes au gratin, saving room for the warm cruellers, fried and glazed to order. At North Beach, the tweaked menu features more dishes reflective of the new chef's roots in Emilia-Romagna. Pastas and braised meats are a good bet. The caveat here is that I was not a patron of Izzy's or North Beach 1.0, and I therefore have no basis for comparison. I called up my uncle, who dined at Izzy's with some regularity during his bachelor days in the '90s. His voice took on the aural equivalent of a Vaseline-lens flashback as he recounted the cocktails he and his pals would throw back before dinner, the skirt steak that they definitively decided was the best cut on offer, the hot sauce bar with dozens of selections. He'd been back post-remodel, and I asked him how it measured up. 'Well I don't drink anymore, so that probably doesn't help,' he admitted, 'but it's never as good as you remember.' Nostalgia — and alluring new interiors — will get people in the door. If superhero movies are any indication, these historic restaurants have a bright future ahead of them. Izzy's Steaks and Chops 3345 Steiner St., San Francisco. Noise level: Moderate Meal for two, without drinks: $100-$150 What to order: Drinks: A martini would be an excellent place to start, but with any classic cocktail, you're in good hands here. Wines by the glass, including Coravin pours, draught and bottled beers, and a few N/A cocktails. Best practices: If you don't have a res, the bar is a beautiful place to dine. If you prefer something more secluded, angle for one of the private booths in back. Upstairs, there are club chairs by the fireplace for lingering over a nightcap. Skip the appetizers and the burger. North Beach Restaurant 1512 Stockton St., San Francisco. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Noise level: Quiet to moderate Meal for two, without drinks: $90-130 What to order: Tagliatelle Bolognese ($31); osso bucco ($36) Drinks: Cocktails are excellent and all the better for being served in weighty, high quality glassware. N/A options are available. The lengthy wine-by-the-glass list is exclusively Italian and Californian. Best practices: North Beach Restaurant is popular with large groups; on one visit, a party brought their own accordion player, so… be aware that that could happen. The main floor is light-filled during the day, while the basement level reminded me of 'The Cask of Amontillado,' but in a cozy sort of way.
