Nob Hill, Russian Hill and the Fillmore are the hilltop neighborhoods west of Chinatown and North Beach: the railroad barons' grand hotels and cathedral on top, steep residential streets with stairways and gardens to the north, and…
Nob Hill, Russian Hill and the Fillmore are the hilltop neighborhoods west of Chinatown and North Beach: the railroad barons' grand hotels and cathedral on top, steep residential streets with stairways and gardens to the north, and Japantown and the old Fillmore Street jazz corridor to the west. Come for the cable cars, the views from the hills and Lombard Street, and stay for a drink at the Nob Hill hotel bars.Cable cars are the most practical way around here: the Powell-Hyde line climbs over Nob Hill to Lombard Street, and the California line crosses Nob Hill to Van Ness Avenue. Give Nob Hill and Russian Hill half a day, and save an afternoon for Japantown, Fillmore Street and Alamo Square with the Painted Ladies, a few blocks south.Nob Hill: Grace Cathedral, the Cable Car Museum, Huntington Park and the Fairmont and Mark Hopkins hotels.Russian Hill: Lombard Street, Macondray Lane and stairways with bay views.Japantown and the Fillmore: Japan Center and the Peace Pagoda, ramen and sushi, and on Fillmore Street, boutiques, restaurants and live jazz.The hills are seriously steep. If you're walking, allow extra time going up, and take the cable car or bus back.
Sights in Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Fillmore
Discover the most important sights and attractions
Church
1Grace Cathedral
The Gothic Revival Episcopal cathedral at 1100 California Street crowns Nob Hill. It went up in stages starting in 1928 and was consecrated in 1964. The main doors are casts of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise in Florence, there's a Chartres-style labyrinth inside and a second one outside in the courtyard, and the AIDS Interfaith Chapel holds a Keith Haring altarpiece. Sightseeing hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday; admission is $14 (free if you come to pray). It sometimes closes to visitors for services. Huntington Park is right across the street.
The museum at 1201 Mason Street is inside the 1887 powerhouse and carbarn that still drives every cable car line in the city. From a mezzanine you watch the huge winding wheels pulling the steel cables under the streets, and downstairs you can see the cables run over giant sheaves into the conduits beneath Washington and Mason. Historic cars are on display, including the only surviving car of the Clay Street Hill Railroad, the first cable car company. Free; open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and until 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, closed Mondays. The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason lines stop out front. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.
The five-tiered concrete pagoda on Peace Plaza was designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi as a gift from San Francisco's sister city, Osaka, and dedicated in March 1968. It's the centerpiece of Japantown. The Japan Center malls around the plaza, also from 1968, are full of ramen shops, bookstores, stationery and anime stores and Japanese ceramics. Over two weekends in April, the neighborhood hosts the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival and its parade. The plaza is open to everyone; the 38 Geary gets you here from Union Square in about 15 minutes.
This car-free lane on Russian Hill runs two blocks between Leavenworth and Taylor streets, parallel to Union and Green, under trees and past gardens and wood-shingled cottages. Armistead Maupin based Barbary Lane in Tales of the City on it. At the east end, wooden stairs drop down to Taylor Street with views of the Bay and Coit Tower. People live here, so keep your voice down. It pairs well with Lombard Street, a few blocks northwest.
Since 1922, the block of Lombard between Hyde and Leavenworth on Russian Hill has zigzagged downhill through eight hairpin turns lined with flower beds, to make the steep grade drivable. It's one-way downhill from Hyde Street, and on weekends and in summer the line of cars can stretch back several blocks. On foot, take the stairs along either side; the classic view is from the bottom on Leavenworth. The Powell-Hyde cable car stops at the top on Hyde. Go early in the morning for the fewest crowds, and remember these are private homes.
Seafood counter at 1517 Polk Street at the foot of Nob Hill. It grew out of the Cable Oyster Depot of the 1890s and has gone by its current name since 1903. Grab one of the stools at the long marble counter for oysters, crab cocktail, clam chowder and Sicilian-style sashimi. It won a James Beard America's Classics award in 2000. There are no reservations and the line is long at any hour, so come just before opening or on a weekday, and check hours before you go; it's generally a daytime place.
Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski opened their restaurant at 1529 Fillmore Street in 2012, and it was named best new restaurant in America by both Bon Appetit and the James Beard Foundation. Small Californian plates come around on dim sum-style carts and trays, so you grab what looks good and add larger dishes from the menu. The name comes from its fried quail; the quail is California's state bird. Book a few weeks ahead; some seats are held for walk-ins at night.
Ramen shop upstairs in the Japan Center at 1581 Webster Street. The house specialty is Hakata-style ramen, thin noodles in a milky tonkotsu broth that Time Out says simmers for more than 20 hours; the chicken paitan with chicken chashu is the alternative. Open for lunch and dinner. Expect a wait at peak weekend hours, so come early.
On Nob Hill you eat and drink in the hotels; down on Polk Street there are bistros and bars; Japantown is all Japanese food, and the Fillmore has restaurants worth booking ahead for.
Ramen and Japan Center
The Japan Center malls on Post Street are packed with ramen, sushi, udon and Japanese bakeries. Lines are shorter at weekday lunch than on weekends.
Oysters at the counter
Have raw oysters, crab cocktail and clam chowder at the marble counter of Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street, a fish market dating to the 1890s. No reservations, so get there early.
Tiki cocktails
At the Tonga Room in the Fairmont, you sip Mai Tais and Scorpion Bowls beside a lagoon where fake rainstorms roll through. Book ahead or arrive right at opening for a table by the water.
History and Culture
In the late 1800s, Nob Hill was where the railroad barons lived. The 1906 earthquake and fire left little but stone buildings standing, and the mansion lots became the sites of grand hotels and Grace Cathedral. The 1887 cable car powerhouse on Mason Street still drives every line in the system.Russian Hill is a quiet residential neighborhood of stairways and lanes such as Macondray Lane, which Armistead Maupin turned into Barbary Lane in Tales of the City.To the west lies Japantown, a center of Japanese immigrant life since before 1906. In 1942 its Japanese American residents were sent to incarceration camps. African American families who came for wartime industry jobs moved into the empty homes, and in the 1940s and '50s Fillmore Street became the "Harlem of the West," with clubs where Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane played. Urban renewal from the 1950s to the '70s razed much of the neighborhood and displaced thousands of residents. The Fillmore Jazz Festival in July honors that era every year, and in April Japantown holds the Cherry Blossom Festival over two weekends.
This tiki bar in the lower level of the Fairmont on Nob Hill was built around the hotel's old indoor swimming pool. Every so often a fake tropical rainstorm rolls through, complete with thunder and lightning, while a band plays from a boat floating in the lagoon. Order a Mai Tai, or a Scorpion Bowl to share. Open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m., later on weekends; reservations recommended.
The cocktail lounge on the top floor of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins has windows on every side, looking out over the city, the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. It opens daily in the late afternoon and stays open past midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. A live band plays Saturdays from 8 to 11 p.m., with a $15 cover, and guests under 21 must leave by 9:30 p.m. Dress is smart casual. Reserve if you want a window table at sunset.
Cable cars: The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason lines leave from the turnaround at Powell and Market and cross Nob Hill; Powell-Hyde stops at the top of Lombard Street. The California line runs from the Financial District over Nob Hill to Van Ness Avenue and is usually less crowded. Board at the turnaround early in the morning, or hop on at a stop along the route to skip the long line.Bus: The 38 Geary runs from Union Square to Japantown and the Fillmore. The 22 Fillmore runs along Fillmore Street, and the 2 Sutter crosses the area east to west. Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies are about a 15-minute walk south of Japantown.On foot: Nob Hill and Russian Hill have some of the steepest grades in the city. Walk downhill and ride uphill; your knees will thank you.By RV: Big rigs struggle on these grades, parking is scarce, and Lombard Street is no place for a long vehicle. The Cathedral Garage on Taylor Street under Grace Cathedral has an 8-foot-2 clearance. Leave the RV outside the city center and come in by bus or cable car.
Accommodations in Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Fillmore
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