Streets of San Francisco: Dim sum and French flare on Clement Street

There is something exciting and unexpected around every corner in San Francisco; at 49 square miles with less than a million people, this town is jam-packed with awesome. For our latest series, "Streets of San Francisco," we zero in on a small section of this great city to find what's good in the 'hood.  Last time, we sampled tacos and gazed at the murals of lower 24th Street in the Mission District. Now, we head into the oft foggy and always cool Inner Richmond neighborhood to get a taste of Clement Street, between Arguello and 12th Avenue.

Clement Street once had a reputation for being a real "neighborhoody" neighborhood (read: residential and boring), but that's changed a lot over the years as a slew of fabulous boutiques, innovative new restaurants, and cute cafes have cropped up, giving the neighborhood a whole new feel.

Exploring Clement Street is especially interesting for me because I am a child of the Inner Richmond, hailing originally from 17th and Balboa. For the purposes of this story, I took a little trip back to experience firsthand how much has changed in this area.

One thing that hasn't changed much is the diversity of the neighborhood, as evidenced by all of the international businesses. I love walking down Clement Street and seeing restaurants with colorful awnings inscribed with different characters; this a wonderful part of town to get amazing food with strong influences from the Asian (predominantly Chinese, Korean, Burmese, and Cambodian) and Russian communities that live here.

Dim sum is an especially iconic dish on Clement Street. I recommend Good Luck Dim Sum and Wing Lee Bakery -- both places have great food and great prices.

For some newer interpretations of international food, the ever-popular Burmese Superstar packs in the crowds night after night with their famous tea leaf salad (the tea leaves are flown in from Myanmar). Or check out B Star Bar, a great pan-Asian place just a few doors down from Burmese Superstar.

There's also Q Restaurant and Wine Bar which boasts traditional American fare like mac and cheese and their famous tater tots (I know, that seems oxymoronic but they're really, really good tots), or Troya, the chic date spot with a monochromatic black-and-white color scheme and pipin' hot Turkish food.

Though great food at many price points abounds on Clement Street, on my most recent afternoon visit to my old stomping grounds, I opted for a mocha to-go from Blue Danube Coffee House so I could freely explore the neighborhood. Another option for coffee and a quick snack is Cafe La Flore -- a little further down Clement Street toward 12th -- which makes a mean cappuccino, and serves some of the cheapest (non-dim sum) lunch options in the Inner Richmond. 

With a caffeinated beverage and an over-sized purse in tow, I began my shopping adventure. For my first stop, I swung by Period George and perused the treasures at this wonderful antique shop. A store for the artful hoarder, this place is colorfully, and, at times, chaotically cluttered. It's filled with antique flatware and cookware, and since I'm someone who loves a purposefully mismatched table and a mason jar full of vintage silver, this little place is heaven!

A close second for my favorite shop on Clement Street is April in Paris -- just the name is enough to entice me in! The store specializes in handmade leather accessories by the Hermes-trained Beatrice Amblard. Bea makes anything you can dream up in luscious, colorful leather (belts, purses, wallets) at a fraction of the Hermes price. And then there's Seedstore, a clothing boutique that pairs European labels with flea market finds. The aesthetic of this store echoes that of many uber-trendy new businesses -- it has a certain rustic, re-purposed, you-kinda-wished-you-lived-here vibe that is very inviting, if a little overdone. 

And of course, no trip to Clement Street is complete without a stop at Green Apple Books, one of the city's best-loved book stores. This is not a place for picking up a bestseller or an Oprah's Book Club pick. Here you can discover the greatest book you've never heard of, and talk to the very well-read staff about their favorite books. I love browsing without an agenda; on the day of my visit, I found a wonderful anthology of Harper's award-wining magazine articles from the last decade.

After all that shopping and walking, I was pretty thirsty by the time the sun went down -- which is beer o'clock by anyone's calculation, so I ended my day with a drink at the Bitter End. A friendly, neighborhood bar, this place has been around since I was a kid (though I didn't frequent the joint with my parents). I ordered a pint and a pile of salty fries and reminisced about San Francisco, now and then.