If You're Going To San Francisco: Union Square

Most people think of Union Square in San Francisco as an overpriced, overcrowded tourist trap. And mostly they're right. But you're here so you might as well make the most of it.

Chain Stores

Levi's is based in San Francisco so naturally there's a Levi's flagship (300 Post Street) on the corner of Union Square. The three level store has all the Levi's you could ever ask for including Levi's Vintage Clothing jeans that are found mostly in Europe and Japan.

Besides Levi's, Union Square has a branch of just about every major department store and luxury brand within a ten block radius. There's Neiman Marcus, Saks, a (old, but decent) Prada store and Hermes. Off of Stockton, look for Maiden Lane which is a sort of alleyway that has a series of luxury brand boutiques including Chanel.

Local Shops

Right off of the square on Geary is Britex Fabrics (146 Geary Street). If Project Runway were filmed in San Francisco the designers would likely be going to Britex to pick up their fabrics. The San Francisco landmark has thousands and thousands of fabrics stacked up to the ceiling.

Sure this being Union Square you could go to Tower Records or Barnes & Noble or Borders or whatnot. But we prefer to support the locals. If you're looking for books, you can't miss Cody's (2 Stockton Street) right on the corner of Stockton and Market, and if it's CDs and vinyl you seek try Bay Area music chain Rasputin (69 Powell Street).

Gump's (135 Post Street) is another San Francisco shopping landmark. A proper home accessories store is full of furniture and items from around the world mixed with glass, jewelry, art and ceramics from local designers.

There's not much in the way of small boutique shopping in Union Square. There is AB Fits, which has high-end casual clothing for men and women, mostly from Europe. There are also whole row of boutiques on Sutter street north of Union Square. Definitely stop by Big Pagoda (310 Sutter Street), especially if you're looking for a nice gift (and by nice we don't mean a set of Golden Gate Bridge shot glasses). And if you're rich or hope to be soon one day, across the street is Metier (355 Sutter Street), a women's clothing boutique that brings in clothing from the top European luxury labels. Also on Sutter are Karikter (418 Sutter Street) and Rims & Goggles (445 Sutter Street).

Detours

By this point you've probably engaged in a good bit of consumerism and we're guessing you feel a little bit dirty. Which means its time to try on a bit of culture. Just east of Union Square is SF MOMA (151 Third Street). MOMA is the city's pride and joy, just about any day you go by you're bound to see something interesting. And lest you feel a little flushed from all this learning, there's always...

the SF MOMA store.

And after you're done there we suggest you partake in that other great American tradition: gluttony. Right around the block from the museum is Beard Papa (99 Yerba Buena Lane). The Japanese chain sells one thing and one thing only, cream puffs. A great idea if we ever ate one.