Streets of San Francisco: Oysters, thrift stores, and gay bars on Polk Street

Look up San Francisco on Wikipedia and you'll discover that there are 117 neighborhoods in a city that's only 7 miles by 7 miles. Our series "Streets of San Francisco" dissects small sections of these 117 neighborhoods, taking the whole "microhood" thing to a new level! We've discovered the best tacos on 24th Street, shopping on Hayes Street, and Burmese food on Clement. Now we're pointing you towards the freshest oysters, beats, and threads on Polk Street.

Of all the things that Polk Street has to offer, I think its best feature is that it provides a great walking tour of the city, running north-south from Beach Street at Fort Mason (near the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Hostel), through the posh Russian Hill and Nob Hill neighborhoods, to the Tenderloin and Civic Center, near the City Center Hostel. It's a direct and pedestrian-friendly route, about 2.5 miles long. Many tourists ride through the area on the nearby Hyde Street cable car, but it's worth slowing down and exploring on foot.

My favorite section of Polk Street, between Jackson and Post streets, is known on that massive index of 117 neighborhoods as Polk Gulch. This area is the epicenter of our infamous, weekly tri-hostel pub crawl, and offers great nightlife, fun shopping, and tasty food. I go for the bar scene more than I care to admit, but there is plenty to do during the day, too. To follow my Polk Gulch itinerary, check out this handy map, and for a detailed list of Polk Street businesses this Local Sights page is pretty comprehensive.

The original home of San Francisco's LGBTQ community, back before the Castro-Market neighborhood became popular, Polk Gulch was the place to be, and this area has the honor of being the location of the first Gay Pride Parade in 1972. The "Polk" in Polk Street is for former U.S. President James K. Polk, and Polk Gulch was named as such because that section of Polk Street ran over a stream at the bottom of a gently sloped valley.

Today, the best place to start an exploration of the neighborhood and its colorful past is at Out of the Closet, a nifty thrift store where you'll find everything from rainbow-sequin hot pants to blue jeans and used sweaters. The store operates as a nonprofit whose revenues provide medical care for patients with HIV and AIDS, and you can get a free STD or HIV test on site. For more shopping, there's also Picnic, which is one of my favorites. At Picnic you'll find things like California-shaped necklace charms (best souvenirs ever!), colorful scarves, hand-poured artisan candles, and a variety of other small, fun things, including locally made goods.

The stand-out business on Polk Street, and a true treasure of San Francisco, is the world-famous and family-owned Swan Oyster Depot. This miniature-sized fish market with about 20 bar stools has been serving fresh Dungeness crab, clam chowder, shrimp cocktails, and oysters on the half shell for 100 years. SF has a lot of fabulous food but I would say there are only a handful of not-to-missed places, and this is one of them.

If you're still hungry after sampling the oysters and Anchor Steam at Swan, check out Co Nam, a new "rustic" Vietnamese restaurant serving inexpensive regional dishes that they refer to as "peasant food." Slider's Diner is a good late-night option, with a basic menu of burgers, fries, and a really serious condiment bar.

There's no shortage of bars on Polk, nor is there any shortage of opinions about which bars are the best, the coolest, the gayest, the hipster-est, or the most/least fratty. For a well-rounded approach to after-hours entertainment in this area, I recommend: Cinch, a gay cowboy bar; Veritgo, a 21 year-old's playground (complete with Jager shots and dance music); Hemlock Tavern, a divey hard-rock bar with a good whiskey selection and bad Yelp reviews; and Lush Lounge, a bar with indoor plants, a cozy fireplace, and a nice cocktail menu.

For another kind of beverage and a totally different entertainment experience, Polk Street also has some great coffee shops. Fourth Wave has great coffee and an unpretentious atmosphere. It's the typical coffee house blend -- laidback people serving amped-up caffeinated beverages. It’s a Grind is -- gasp! -- a corporate coffee institution, but the coffee is tasty and the WiFi is free.

This story was written by Allison Doyle, the marketing and communications coordinator for Hostelling International's eight Northern California hostels. Allison is a proud Bay Area native, and when not at work she can be found doing yoga, hiking in lip gloss, trying new restaurants, or writing one of her many blogs.