Neighborhood
Richmond District
A relaxed, fog-kissed neighborhood where Clement Street’s bakeries, bookstores and dessert shops sit near clifftop museums and lakeside parks.
About Richmond District
The Richmond runs from the Presidio to Ocean Beach in a flat grid of Edwardians and stucco houses, built after 1906 on what maps used to call the Outside Lands. It has been home to Chinese and Russian communities for generations, and Clement Street is the result: one of the best eating streets in California, with almost no tourists on it.
Golden Gate Park is on one side and Lands End on the other, which makes this the greenest-edged neighborhood in the city. It is also properly foggy, and the further west you go the colder it gets.
Quiet, residential, family-heavy, and a place where dinner is the main event.
Our neighborhood lines are based on DataSF's Analysis Neighborhoods, adjusted where visitors use a smaller area or a different name: Dogpatch and Fisherman's Wharf stand on their own, and the Richmond and the Sunset are each kept whole.
How Far Is It?
- Golden Gate ParkImmediately south · a 5 minute walk
- Ocean Beach2.5 mi · 20 min on the 38 or 5
- Golden Gate Bridge4 mi · 12–18 min drive
- Union Square5 mi · 30–40 min on the 38-Geary
- SFO airport16 mi · 30–40 min drive; no direct transit
Getting here: The 38-Geary and 38R are the spine, with the 1-California, 2, 5, 31 and 44 crossing. The 28 runs north to the bridge. No BART on the west side. Street parking is mostly free and generally findable, except around Clement on weekend evenings.
What to See
Lands End
A cliff trail through cypress with the bridge in view and shipwrecks visible at low tide. The lookout has restrooms and parking.
Sutro Baths Ruins
The concrete bones of an 1896 bathhouse that once held six saltwater pools, at the edge of the Pacific. Slippery; keep children close.
Legion of Honor
A colonnaded museum in Lincoln Park with a cast of Rodin’s Thinker in the courtyard and an ocean view behind it.
The Columbarium
A domed 1898 neoclassical rotunda full of stained glass and stories, one of the strangest beautiful buildings in the city.
Clement Street
Bakeries, dim sum, Russian delis and one of the best independent bookshops in the city.
Mountain Lake
A rare natural lake with a flat loop path and a renovated playground on the Presidio boundary.
Things to Do
Walk the Lands End Coastal Trail
About three miles round trip, with a paved accessible section from the Merrie Way lot.
Mountain Lake Park Playground
Sand-floor play, an accessible area and an easy lakeside loop.
Green Apple Books
Three floors of new and used books with creaking stairs, open late.
Legion of Honor with Kids
Smaller and calmer than the de Young, with a café and lawns outside.
Eat Your Way Down Clement
Dim sum, a Russian bakery, boba and a burger, in eight blocks.
Where to Eat
Good Luck Dim Sum
Dumplings and bao by the piece for pocket change. Takeout only, and there is usually a line.
Burma Superstar
The tea leaf salad that made Burmese food a Bay Area staple. No reservations, expect a wait.
Ton Kiang
Hakka cooking and cart dim sum, and a room big enough for a family.
Cinderella Bakery
A Russian bakery and café since 1953: piroshki, borscht and pastries.
B Star
The Burma Superstar sibling, with a back patio and an easier wait.
Arsicault Bakery
Croissants that have been called the best in the country. Go early; they sell out.
Pizzetta 211
A tiny, cash-friendly pizzeria with a weekly-changing menu. Worth the wait on a cold night.
Upcoming in Richmond District
Sandcastle Classic
The Wildwoods at 4 Star Theater
Legion of Honor Free First Tuesday
Places We Rate in Richmond District
Green Apple Books on Clement
Legion of Honor
Mountain Lake Park
Toy Boat by Jane
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Read the guide →Questions People Ask About Richmond District
What is the Richmond District known for?
Food and green edges. Clement Street is one of the best eating streets in California, with dim sum, Burmese and Russian bakeries and no tourists, and the neighborhood sits between Golden Gate Park and Lands End.
Inner or Outer Richmond?
The Inner Richmond, roughly Arguello to 15th Avenue, is livelier, closer to the park and noticeably sunnier. The Outer Richmond is quieter and cheaper, closer to Lands End and Ocean Beach, and properly foggy. The fog line often sits around 25th Avenue.
Is the Richmond good for families?
Very. It is flat, residential and family-heavy, with Golden Gate Park on one side, Mountain Lake Park and the Presidio on the other, easy street parking and cheap food. The trade-offs are fog and no BART.
What should you eat on Clement Street?
Dim sum by the piece at Good Luck, the tea leaf salad at Burma Superstar, a croissant from Arsicault on Arguello, and piroshki from the Russian bakery on Balboa.