Erika Mailman

A city unlike any other and immediately recognizable in photographs, San Francisco reigns supreme as a fun metropolis with offbeat choices of how to spend your time. If you’re an outdoor person, you have scads of hiking trails and water activities to pick from—and just walking our famously steep streets is an adventure in itself. If you trend towards quieter times indoors, you’ll love a contemplative afternoon exploring the many museums we offer. If a tipsy ramble through the city appeals, we have tons of great bars, including ones perched on rooftops for those exquisite city views. When you get hungry, there are a ridiculous amount of incredible restaurants (we pick out our 11 favorites last month, and there are 28 Michelin starred ones as well). There’s a fantastic zoo, some wild architecture, a park far larger than New York’s Central Park packed with tons of great things to do, iconic hotels and neighborhoods like Nob Hill, Chinatown and the Haight that each convey their own personality. Wherever your explorations take you, you're bound to have a memorable time with these things to do in San Francisco. April 2025: This month, we’ve added the quirky new Museum of Failure pop-up, a staging of Shrek the Musical and a pair of flowery events. RECOMMENDED: 🎨 The best museums in San Francisco🛏️ The best Airbnbs in San Francisco🏨 The best hotels in San Francisco

All across San Francisco, amazing restaurants beckon. In every neighborhood, small eateries abound, while larger places dotted over the city expertly handle crowds. Because of California’s orchards, farms and seacoast, a variety of ultrafresh ingredients find their way to menus and to your plate. Besides the 28 restaurants that have earned Michelin stars, a larger number do their magic of making diners appreciate the three times a day that we pause to fuel our bodies and delight our senses. Dishes can be plated so beautifully that “the camera eats first,” or they can be served no-nonsense–style to diners who ply their forks immediately. This list includes restaurants we’ve tried all across the city and of varied cuisines: American, Mediterranean, vegetarian, Italian, Indian, seafood, French, Argentinian and Chinese, among others. As for your culinary journey across San Francisco: Try new places, continue to patronize your favorites and incorporate restaurant visits into your weekly routine, if you can. By supporting our hardworking chefs and servers, we’ll ensure that they continue to thrive and keep making San Francisco a foodie’s paradise. April 2025: Time Out has reformatted its food and beverage features, so we’re starting our once-lengthy San Francisco list over afresh with 11 spots. We’re now also assigning star ratings to every venue: three stars corresponds to “good,” four to “great” and five to “amazing.” For more on our new policies, feel free to check out How we re

San Francisco’s museums reward people who like to spend time looking at art or historical objects. We have several world-class art museums and some fun collections that show how life used to be in the area before the Gold Rush brought the population up explosively. But if you’re willing to do a deep dive, you’ll find even more museums that pinpoint fascinating and specific topics. For instance, we have one of only two museums devoted to Walt Disney the man (the other is in his hometown of Marceline, Missouri). Our Cable Car Museum lets you actually see the huge circulating mechanisms that drive the cable cars. Right by the waterfront, the Musée Mécanique has a warehouse full of turn of the century dioramas, which you can animate by feeding them a quarter, while the Cartoon Art Museum, the Beat Museum and the Wells Fargo Museum each provide an insider’s look at a microtopic. Want to get hands-on and feel your way through some science? There are several places to do that, including the Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park and the Exploratorium along the Embarcadero. Here’s our list of the very best museums in San Francisco. Prices given below are for general admission; special exhibitions usually involve a separate upcharge. Many are free or discounted for San Francisco residents, and many have monthly free days or pay-what-you-can days. We totally recommend looking into NARM membership; some of these sites belong. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in San Francisco🍽️ The

Often, a train takes you where the freeway doesn’t, giving you spectacular views you can’t see otherwise. You roll through the countryside where herds of elk graze or go through back regions of national parks with a vantage point all your own. While the train lets you doze off, read a book or scroll your phone (so long as Wi-Fi works) because someone else is at the wheel, odds are you’ll instead be glued to the window, unwilling to miss a single picturesque thing that floats by. But not all trains are created equal. While some traverse uninteresting corridors, others earn the title of a “scenic” railway. We’re most interested in those, and the chance to make the journey just as enjoyable as the destination...or maybe the train ride really is the destination. That’s especially the case with trains that focus on luxury. Here’s our list of the most scenic train rides across the United States. (Unless otherwise stated, prices below are for one-way travel).

Zoos provide an amazing chance to connect with wildlife and develop empathy. Who can’t be moved to protect wildlife after watching newborn lemurs energetically play with each other? Or after seeing the placid stare of a tiger or pop-up nature of the prairie dogs? Zoos let us see animals that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to see without traveling across the world, and most zoos do their best to provide habitats that give animals humane treatment and a safe place to roam with as much space as possible. Often, the funds raised by zoos can pay for captive breeding programs that protect endangered species. There are even some species that are extinct in the wild but still living within zoos, such as the Przewalski's horse (can be found in the San Francisco Zoo, among others), Père David's deer (can be found in the Bronx Zoo and others) and the Guam kingfisher (can be found in the St. Louis Zoo and others). Here are the best zoos in the U.S. RECOMMENDED: ⛰️ The best outdoor adventures in the U.S.🌍 The best camping in the U.S.

San Francisco’s got a lot to offer families. Besides the usual fun things you’d expect in a city of a certain size (a wonderful municipal zoo, great science museums), San Francisco has some things you can only do here: ride the bright red cable cars, visit a pirate supply store, walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge and watch 1800s animated dioramas spring to life. There are plenty of vantage points to show your kids the incredible beauty of the bay, including the Presidio Tunnel Tops with 14 acres of playspace with the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge for every cartwheel and Frisbee toss. And while at the end of the day mom or dad might want to slide into a chair for a Michelin-starred restaurant experience, here is our list of best cheap eats to make this family vacation more affordable. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best things to do in San Francisco  

There’s a reason people travel here from all over the world. We have incredible views, world-class dining, diverse neighborhoods, a park in walking distance from every home, hiking trails overlooking bay and ocean waters, spectacular museums and stunning architecture. A bridge or underground BART train leads you to the fabulous towns of Oakland and Berkeley, or you can take a ferry or the Golden Gate Bridge north to beautiful Sausalito and the wine country cities of Napa and Sonoma. Heading south, you’ll find San Jose and other tech cities. The entire Bay Area welcomes you with memorable experiences like kayaking, visiting brewpubs, tasting your way through Michelin-starred restaurants and perching on a rooftop bar to fondly regard the picture postcard vista below you. Here are a few of our don’t-miss activities to make sure you really get the best of the Bay Area. RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in San Francisco

Here in the City by the Bay, there’s always something cooking, whether it’s a jaunt across the elevated playspace of the 14-acre Presidio Tunnel Tops, taking an urban hike across the Golden Gate Bridge, celebrating gay culture in the Castro neighborhood, dancing yourself into a frenzy or chilling to incredible music. There’s always a festival of some sort unfolding, and one of the best things is that many of these events are free. We’ve put together our picks for the best things to do in San Francisco this weekend (you can check the website for each event for further details). Now: Grab that weekend by the horns! RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best things to do in San Francisco

A train is already a luxurious thing as we sit back and let someone else whisk us past beautiful landscapes and drift into a lulled sleep. But some trains make the experience even more extraordinary by offering little touches to upscale the ride. That may be special food delivered to your seat, a glass of champagne to sip, velvet upholstery, huge windows that open up the view or service that adds that extra level of indulgence. Here is our list of the best luxury train rides in the U.S., plus some extra information about what to expect for travel time and pricing. RECOMMENDED: 13 weird and funky train rides to experience across America

A romantic restaurant isn’t a tall order. We just need some flattering lighting, a space quiet enough to hear each other and food that feels special in some way, either because it’s beautifully plated or because it tastes so good it’s a great precursor. A restaurant doesn’t have to be expensive to be romantic—it just has to have a certain warm, intimate vibe that mirror how the diners are feeling. Here are our 16 picks for the most romantic restaurants in San Francisco. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in San Francisco🏛️ The best museums in San Francisco🍽️ The best restaurants in San Francisco🏨 The best hotels in San Francisco  

Breakfast: It all starts with coffee, but after that it can go a number of different directions, all of them delicious if it’s San Francisco. You might be after a tower of pancakes or a full plate of shakshuka, dashing in for a bagel or luxuriating over some perfectly plated French confection. Whatever it takes to get us going in the morning—eggs, bacon, mimomas—we’re grateful for the chance to sit down with family and friends with a bite to sustain us. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in San Francisco

Time spent in nature is always healing, but you can also find equal pleasure in traversing city streets. Whatever your favorite type of hike—on a sinuous path above oceanside cliffs, through a historic part of town, over the span of a very particular bridge or in rustic meadows where you can almost forget you’re in a city—you’ll find it here. And while San Francisco is famous for being steep in certain parts, you’ll always be able to find a relatively flat hike if that’s more your style. RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in San Francisco

What is it? A seafood restaurant on the second story of Pier 39. Why we love it: You can count on 100 percent sustainable seafood at this busy waterfront spot with floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the bay. The clam chowder literally has “award-winning” in its name, and you can order it (as one does here) in a fresh house-baked sourdough bowl. We tried the dual lobster tails (oven roasted with seasonal vegetables), the Petrale sole (pan seared with a pesto cream sauce) and fried scallops, served with roasted jalapeno aioli. The cocktail game is wonderful here with drinks named for local landmarks, like the Alcatraz Escape and the Spicy Mission Margarita. For land-favoring folks just “along for the ride,” there are also sandwiches, steaks and pasta. Time Out tip: Try to sit at the farthest end of the restaurant, where you’ll be able to catch the best view of the sea lions pushing each other off the docks. And if you love flowers, TulipMania is at Pier 39 throughout April with 20,000 tulips in bloom. Address: Pier 39, San Francisco, 94133 Opening hours: Daily 11am–9pm Expect to pay: Seafood mains run $29 to $56, while the clam chowder in sourdough is $16. House specialties include cioppino at $42 and a whole Dungeness crab for $64. Cocktails are $14 to $17.

What is it? An Argentinian steakhouse in the heart of the Mission. Why we love it: The ojo de bife Argentino rib eye (100 percent grass-fed) was supremely buttery in texture, and the wild mushroom sherry sauce had us trying to soak up more with each forkful like a sponge. The pollo skewer with perfectly blackened corn and aji amarillo almost surpassed the steak for me, but we also loved the yuca fries with rocoto aioli—and we had fun moderating our evening with the “sin licor” mocktails, an agridulce citrus beverage and a tutti frutti sweet one. Though I didn’t have room for the empanada options, I’d certainly try them next time. The décor is atmospherically dim and dominated by some fearsome underlit bull head statues, while beautiful chandeliers and metal fixtures that mimic wagon wheels adorn the ceilings. Time Out tip: Arrive before your reservation and head to El Techo, the bar perched on Lolinda’s rooftop, for excellent city views. Also, as much as we love the colorful vibe of the Mission, the homelessness crisis may make visitors feel uncomfortable after dark, so consider that when planning your reservation and parking or transit plans. Address: 2518 Mission St, San Francisco, 94110 Opening hours: Tue–Thu 5:30–10pm; Fri, Sat 5:30–11pm; Sun 5:30–10pm Expect to pay: For a few pequeños (littles), a 12oz rib eye, a beverage and a dessert, you’ll pay around $85.

What is it? A contemporary American restaurant carrying one Michelin star in the Fillmore. Why we love it: On a quiet street near the edge of Japantown, 7 Adams bustles with attentive waitstaff, crazy-skilled chefs and blissed out diners. Behind the chef’s counter, there’s gorgeous backlit mod-shaped embedded wall compartments holding plants, stemware, candles and a miniature statue of the Michelin man petting a dog. Chef owners Serena Chow Fisher and David Fisher have created a space where the vibe is relaxed and down to earth, even though the exquisite food could easily deserve a snooty air. We especially loved the starter of hokkaido scallop crudo with koji kosho, pepita and pixie mandarin and all the mains, and lost our minds over the winter citrus dessert (pistachio cake, lemon curd and blood orange ice cream—intensely succulent and vibrant) and the salted malted s’more with chicory pastry cream. Time Out tip: A 20 percent service charge is automatically added to the bill, so you can relax about tipping. Address: 1963 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94115 Opening hours: Mon–Thur 5:30–9pm; Fri, Sat 5–10pm; Sun 5–9pm Expect to pay: The five-course tasting menu is $87 per person, while the chef’s counter (six people only) is 8 to 10 courses for $157 per person.

What is it? A French bistro with bright vibes at the Embarcadero. Why we love it: Everything’s at bar level here, so you feel elevated and light while you indulge in French favorites “from Paris with love,” as the menu says—a nod to charming owner Kais Bouzidi’s Parisian roots. Plants are embedded in the mesh liquor cabinet that hovers above the bar, which itself is a beautiful wooden statement piece with carved out embeds for your knees. The croque monsieur was a fantastic confection of layers of thin ham, pickle and béchamel sauce: It was a “fondue with bread” in one gooey unit. We also loved the madeleines plate with anglaise and chocolate sauce. For a refreshing drink that’s adorably photogenic, try the citron pressé: fresh lemon juice and a separate cute vessel of housemade lemon cordial. Time Out tip: Absolutely make reservations in advance; the walk-in party ahead of us was turned away. Address: Pier 3, the Embarcadero, San Francisco, 94105 Opening hours: Mon–Fri 11:30am–2pm, 3–10pm; Sat 11:30am–3:30pm, 5–10pm; Sun 11:30am–3pm Expect to pay: If your brunch includes an hors d’oeuvre, a main, a beverage and dessert, it will run about $60.

What is it? An Italian eatery in the Russian Hill neighborhood with a parklet out front Why we love it: The menu is so full of great options I had pasta twice (and I’m glad I did, because the agnolotti was a true standout, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the fettuccine blackened by squid ink and accompanied by generous lumps of Dungeness crab). Even though we were stuffed, the delightful server—chef Anthony Florian has assembled an amazing team with great wine guidance—wouldn’t let us go without trying the chocolate budino served in a mason jar: We’re glad we relented to the peer pressure. Time Out tip: Request a seat in the back dining area if you would like a quieter space for conversation. Address: 1896 Hyde St, San Francisco, 94109 Opening hours: Sun–Thu 5–9pm; Fri, Sat 5–9:30pm Expect to pay: About $140 per person if you indulge in antipasti, salad, pasta and secondi with a few glasses of wine.

What is it? An American restaurant inside the Beacon Grand hotel in Union Square Why we love it: Want bountiful proof of why the food scene in San Francisco is so great? Look no further than the California market salad, with mixed greens in a citrus vinaigrette we adored, along with Point Reyes blue cheese, candied pecans and tender slivers of tangerine. Other dishes we loved were the wild king salmon with thinly shaved fennel, radish and cucumber in a dill vinaigrette, as well as the hand-rolled spinach and mushroom canelloni dotted with morels. Make your lunch truly inspiring by pairing it with the Spring Sour mocktail—bright and fresh enough to power through the day. Here for business? The prix-fixe “executive lunch” is only $28 Monday through Friday. Time Out tip: Venture into the side chamber and look up: The painted ceiling and ornate grillwork on either side of the pedimented door are impressive. Want to fully appreciate the opulent architecture and décor of this 1928 beauty? Elect to spend the night (you should). Address: 450 Powell St, San Francisco, 94102 Opening hours: Daily breakfast 7–11am, lunch 11:30am–1:30pm, dinner 4–10pm Expect to pay: For brunch with a salad, salmon and mocktail, close to $70.

What is it? A contemporary Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in the SoMa neighborhood, housed in the Intercontinental Hotel. Why we love it: Everything on chef Dennis Efthymiou’s spring tasting menu was geared to surprise visually and tastewise. Each course arrives in a unique vessel: a duck foot stand for the quail Scotch egg amuse bouche, or a “meteorite” (as the server termed it) that held beautifully plated dessert components. Our favorite dish was startlingly realistic-looking strawberry sculpted out of white chocolate and stuffed with truffle mousse, served with elderflower and basil ice cream and a Kalamata olive shortcake. I started with a passionfruit margarita and switched to a suggested Riesling to pair with the Spring Awakening course, which was a literal miniature garden with tiny spears of white and green asparagus “planted” alongside tendrils of pea appearing like plants meeting the sun. Time Out tip: The tasting menu consists of 11 courses, many of which have multiple components. Come with an appetite—like “I haven’t eaten in months” levels of hunger. If you book a room at the Intercontinental, you’ll have an easy elevator ride up to a spectacular panoramic city view as your digestive system works on the issue at hand. Address: 888 Howard St, San Francisco, 94103 Opening hours: Thu–Sat 5:30–9pm Expect to pay: The spring tasting menu is $175 per person with a $115 wine pairing.

What is it? A vegan eatery in Cow Hollow with a parklet on Union Street. Why we love it: In a world trying to adopt more sustainable practices, a vegan restaurant so great that omnivores won’t miss meat deserves notice. The interior at Wildseed has bright white walls adorned with modern art. When you open the completely plant-based menu, the first thing you’ll see is a list of what fruits and vegetables are in season that month. That’s not just something worth appreciating on paper: The chilaquiles with vegan “just egg” and coconut queso were gobble-quality, and the Wildseed burger made with a mushroom and spinach patty, vegan chipotle aioli and tomato chutney (and added-on tempeh bacon) was a fortifying delight. Time Out tip: The grapefruit mimosa comes in a pretty vessel and makes brunch happier. Address: 2000 Union St, San Francisco, 94123 Opening hours: Mon–Thu 11:30am–9:30pm, Fri 11:30am–10:30pm, Sat 11am–10:30pm, Sun 11am–9:30pm Expect to pay: About $70 per person if you have a small salad, brunch item, dessert and a few mimosas.

What is it? A seafood restaurant on the second story of Pier 39. Why we love it: You can count on 100 percent sustainable seafood at this busy waterfront spot with floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the bay. The clam chowder literally has “award-winning” in its name, and you can order it (as one does here) in a fresh house-baked sourdough bowl. We tried the dual lobster tails (oven roasted with seasonal vegetables), the Petrale sole (pan seared with a pesto cream sauce) and fried scallops, served with roasted jalapeno aioli. The cocktail game is wonderful here with drinks named for local landmarks, like the Alcatraz Escape and the Spicy Mission Margarita. For land-favoring folks just “along for the ride,” there are also sandwiches, steaks and pasta. Time Out tip: Try to sit at the farthest end of the restaurant, where you’ll be able to catch the best view of the sea lions pushing each other off the docks. And if you love flowers, TulipMania is at Pier 39 throughout April with 20,000 tulips in bloom. Address: Pier 39, San Francisco, 94133 Opening hours: Daily 11am–9pm Expect to pay: Seafood mains run $29 to $56, while the clam chowder in sourdough is $16. House specialties include cioppino at $42 and a whole Dungeness crab for $64. Cocktails are $14 to $17.

What is it? A Mediterranean restaurant housed in a former army barracks in the Presidio. Why we love it: Billed as “modern Eastern” rather than “Middle Eastern,” Dalida comes from husband-and-wife chef team Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz. The flavors here stretched our palates and made our eyebrows rise—even the hummus had some extra zing sitting under the Cypriot lamb chops wrapped in ground lamb and caul fat. Our family’s favorite was the Breaking Bread dish with round tins of spreads accompanied by chubby pita (baked in-house every five minutes). The cocktails were a highlight, served in fun vessels like a miniature silver tankard or with tall, glass-height ice cubes ordered by mail. Stay for dessert and you may catch some Top Chef magic with pistachio three-ways baklava and the sour cherry Maraş ice cream that chef Laura made for one of the show’s challenges. The interior’s muted lighting comes from rice paper chandeliers, and there’s a beautiful mural of trees in bloom. The historic building’s high ceilings really open up the interior, but that does mean the acoustics are rough for conversation.  Time Out tip: If you want to make a night of it, book a room at the Lodge at the Presidio, just a four-minute walk away. Address: 101 Montgomery St, San Francisco, 94129 Opening hours: Tue–Fri 11:30am–2pm, 5–9pm; Sat, Sun 11am–2:30pm, 5–9pm Expect to pay: The chef’s menu is $85. Otherwise, you can expect to pay about $100 per person for appetizers, entrée, a vegetable dish and a few c

What is it? A two Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in the Fillmore, helmed by chef Srijith Gopinathan. Why we love it: The food here is exquisite with many moments that’ll leave you closing your eyes to exult. Among every beautiful thing we ate, our favorite was the rasam poori with passionfruit, mint, sprouted chickpea and radish: It’s a delicate fried puri sphere into which you spoon a bit of soup and eat in one frisson-filled mouthful. For cocktails, the winner was the turmeric spritz with marigold amaro that was so light and fruity it provided perfect accompaniment. As far as a bit of refreshment, don’t fear that the dishes will be too spicy; everything was perfectly spiced to make lips tingle but not overwhelm the tongue. Plus, the interior is insanely pretty with macrame lighting features, two rooms delineated by changes in flooring (blonde wood to button tile) and an indoor gazebo marked by twining ivy. Muted brick, a two-story wall of cubbies holding amphoras and wicker furnishings lend an air of museum-like elegance. Time Out tip: Ask your server to identify which menu items are unique to Copra (or at least the most innovative) and order those. Address: 1700 Fillmore St, San Francisco, 94115 Opening hours: Mon–Sun 5–10pm; brunch Sat, Sun 11:30am–2pm Expect to pay: Brunch is surprisingly affordable for a spot carrying two Michelin stars. If you order several “littles” and a main with a few cocktails, you’ll walk out paying around $90.

What is it? A Chinese dim sum house in Ghirardelli Square, halfway between Fisherman’s Wharf and Fort Mason. Why we love it: Aesthetics rule the day here. The “palette” of the name refers to the plate you receive, shaped like an artist’s palette with five wells to hold differently colored sauces. One of the standout dishes, a xiaolongbao sampler, also evokes admiration with five soup dumplings arranged beautifully with their dough colored red (beets), green (spinach), yellow (turmeric), black (squid ink) and white, with various fillings. The taro puff black swan with a delicate cracker neck “floats” on an edible flower strewn plate, while the hot and sour soup is classically delicious. I indulged in an espresso martini and the Portuguese egg tart, while also stealing bites of my daughter’s mango pudding supreme with popping boba, coconut and fresh mango. Above you, large red lanterns glow with Chinese characters for the names of the food, including BBQ pork bao and pork soup dumpling. General manager and part owner Dennis Leung has created a beautiful space, where large red lanterns above you glow with Chinese characters that correspond to the names of the dishes. Make sure to make a pit stop at the bathroom, too, so you don’t miss the beautiful mosaic tiles in the hallway. Time Out tip: It’s housed in the same square as the iconic Gold Rush chocolatier Ghirardelli, and we’d also recommend a pre- or post-meal walk down the hill to the free, ship-shaped Maritime National Histo

If Tahiti’s not on your family’s radar, it will be with this limited-time “kids fly (almost) free” sale. Experience the islands with kids up to age 11 for free—all you have to do is pay the minimal sales tax. The sale works for two round-trip economy child tickets going from Seattle or Los Angeles to Tahiti. You’ll need to book by December 31 for travel anytime now through December 31 to take advantage of this deal. The only catch? You can’t book it online. You’ll have to call a travel agent or the airline directly at (877) 824-4846. That doesn’t seem like a dealbreaker at all. Air Tahiti Nui is to date my favorite airline—my husband and I lucked into a flight from LAX to Paris years ago with the now-dormant Airhitch program (essentially, hitchhiking in the sky, organized by surly guys in an AOL chatroom). We loved the colorful upholstery of the seats and the florals worn by the flight attendants—and even a blossom tucked into their hair. It made the whole flight festive. Air Tahiti Nui tickets always include these complimentary amenities: onboard meals and drinks (you could stop right there, but the list continues), one checked bag, one folding stroller per child 0-23 months, pillows, blankets and amenity kits. You’re probably wondering how much the adult fare costs. From now through May 31, and from November 1 to December 13, fares start at $1,280. For travel from June 1 to October 31, and from December 14 through January 6 of 2026, fares start at $1,480.

Watch next week for a food festival we can’t believe didn’t already exist: the Big Queer Food Fest in Boston! It’s the country’s first LGBTQ+ food festival, featuring queer chefs, mixologists, bakers, authors and, of course, drag performers. It should be an incredible time of uplifting queer culture while eating amazing food and walking around a great city in springtime. The festival welcomes everyone: queer people and allies of all ages. When is the Big Queer Food Fest? The Big Queer Food Fest takes place over seven days from April 28 through May 4. Where is the Big Queer Food Fest? Various venues across the city of Boston will host events. The festival ends in a two-day Grand Tasting presented by the Food Network on May 3 and 4 at High Street Place food hall and the adjacent outdoor city block. The Grand Tasting encompasses 60,000 square feet of unlimited tastings from 40 local and national all-star chefs. The street party includes more vendors and a performance stage curated by OUTLoud which amplifies queer artists. Who will be at the Big Queer Food Fest? For food-making prowess: Stars like Tiffani Faison, Jon Kung, Karen Akunowicz, Mavis-Jay Sanders, Zac Young, Tatiana Rosana, Rick Martinez, Arnold Myint, Renee Touponce and Kareem Queeman. For performance glam: Rupaul's Drag Race royalty Raja, Willam, Miz Cracker, Jujubee, Joslyn Fox, Kori King and social media superstars The Goddess Boys. Photograph: Courtesy Big Queer Food Fest Is there a charitable component? Yes, th

We’ve all heard about the mice scuttling along the subway lines in New York, or rats in Chicago so smart they wait at the crosswalk with the humans to cross the street when the light changes. Cities can be dirty—it’s part and parcel of so many people living there. A new study from Oxi Fresh has come out with a ranking of the cleanest metro areas in the U.S., so you can maybe skirt that creature scuttling along the floor when you turn on the lights at night. The metrics the study looked at included population density, rodent and cockroach prevalence (based on the percentage of housing units with signs of these pests within the last 12 months), reported vandalism, amount of litter, air quality and tap water quality, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other government sources. We’re able to see not only how 35 major cities rank, but also a letter grade they were assigned, from A to F. I hope your city got a good grade! If you’re in Portland, Oregon, or planning to travel there, congratulations! Portland is the cleanest city according to this study, winning for strong environmental regulations, well-funded public services, lower population density and cleaner air and water. Portland gets an A+. In second place is Seattle with an A, faring well in all the categories, and in third place is Rochester, New York with an A-. Now, we always dislike sharing negatives about cities because civic pride is a beautiful thing and every city has something great about it. But we do have

Last week, while walking the beach in Marina, California (a 15-minute drive from Monterey), I couldn’t help noticing the sand was covered in what appeared to be plastic. They were all the same size, clear plastic pieces with striations, and some of them were attached to purplish seashells. My best guess was that a container full of these must have fallen off the ship and the plastic pieces were making their way to shore. I stopped in at the front desk of the Sanctuary Beach Resort, where I was staying, to ask what they were—and if we should organize a beach cleanup. The staff member smiled and said he thought they were actually shells themselves. It’s hard to believe since they look (and feel!) like plastic, but they really are a sea creature. After googling, I learned from this Smithsonian article that they are called Velella velella and are related to the jellyfish. The design of these creatures is truly unique. An upright “fin” protrudes from a flat oval pad, almost like the dorsal fin of a shark. That part is transparent, and the pad adheres to the blue shell underneath. The velella velella floats on the top of the water, and its fin actually catches the breezes to sail along. Their nickname is “by-the-wind sailors.” Sadly, the velella velellas don’t mean to beach themselves, but if a strong wind sends them towards the sand, that’s where they go. The National Park Service website for the creature says, “As the Velella dries out on the beach, it becomes brittle and transpa

A holiday in the Christian calendar, Easter is also celebrated throughout the U.S. by people who enjoy spring and the idea of bunnies and Easter egg hunts. Plus: chocolate for days. We all love a reason to get together and celebrate, and WalletHub has prepared a list of surprising stats about Easter—like the most expensive Easter bunny you can buy (it’s more than a lot of people’s annual salary) and what method people use to devour one (ears or cottontail first?). Here are some fun things about how Americans celebrate this Pagan-based holiday! That most expensive Easter bunny? Yeah… it costs $49,000. It was made in 2015 and had 1.7 carat diamonds for its eyes and was surrounded by eggs covered in gold leaf, according to ABC News. And how do most people eat their bunny? The ears are infinitely appealing, and 77 percent of Americans start there first. For other cuts of meat, 16 percent nibble the feet first and only 6 percent gobble the tail at the outset. What do most people prefer their Easter eggs to be filled with? I’m shook. A whopping 41 percent want it to be solid chocolate, while 36 percent prefer a filling of peanut butter, caramel or chocolate ganache (I’m solidly in this percentage), while 23 percent of wierdos want it to be hollow. Why would you want nothing but air inside? I guess I have strong feelings on this one! What are some expenses associated with the holiday? People will spend $3.5 billion on clothes (that nice Sunday dress, right?), $7.4 billion on food, $

Something exciting is brewing up in the skies above our heads. This week, there were/are two nights where we might be able to see the northern lights, depending on where we live in the U.S., as reported by USA Today, using information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center. Typically, we think of the Aurora Borealis—the often-green, vivid movement gyrating in the dark skies—as something you must travel far north to see. In recent years, lower U.S. states have sometimes been able to see them. That might have been the case for you last night—and hopefully it’s the case for you tonight! These are the U.S. states where you can see the northern lights: According to NOAA’s calculations, these 17 states may be able to see the Aurora Borealis tonight: Idaho Illinois Iowa Maine Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New York North Dakota Oregon Pensylvania Vermont Washington Wisconsin Wyoming My state’s not on the list. What now? Wellll, if the geomagnetic storms that produce the northern lights are strong enough, you might still have a chance. Funnily enough, even if your eyes don’t catch them, use a camera since its multiple sensors can catch things our naked eyes can’t. It's kind of like ghost hunting. What time is best to try to catch them? The darkest hours of the night and early morning. In general, which are the best places to see the northern lights in the U.S.? On our list, Time Out identifies 11 states or

Great news for those who cherish the inventive cocktail—or even a traditional straight pour—served in a beautiful setting that makes you appreciate the clink of your ice cubes and the fragrance in the glass. You can build an evening out of visiting a bar you love going to, and North America's 50 Best Bars list is expanding the curated recommendations to include bars ranked 51-100 for the first time. Double your pleasure! The bars on the expanded list cover the territory of the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, so you may have to book your travel if you want to visit one that appeals. In Vancouver, the list will be officially announced at a live awards ceremony on April 29. But in the meantime, we’ve got the sneak peek for you. We’ll include the full list at the end, but will start by focusing on the bars here in the U.S. that made the list. First in the newly expanded portion is Miami’s ViceVersa at No. 56. This Italian aperitivo bar is in the lobby of the Elser Hotel downtown. Open from 5pm to midnight every day, the bar serves cocktails, pizza, aperitivi, and a raw bar. Photograph: Courtesy of Best BarsThe Dead Rabbit interior, New York The Dead Rabbit in New York is No. 57, while Miami hits again at No. 61 with Champagne Bar at the Surf Club. The Dead Rabbit is an Irish pub (if you saw the movie Gangs of New York, its name makes instant sense to you) serving classic and contemporary cocktails over three floors with a Tap Room, and The Parlor (and two other rooms

We love to travel and take the photo that hopefully shows a new angle on a much-photographed landmark (how many people have experimented with propping up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, for instance?). But sometimes a high entrance fee can make it seem really pricey to take that shot that you hope will wind up being a favorite. A new study from Heepsy crunches numbers from tourist spots all over the world, analyzing their entry fees and adding in their online popularity, their hours of opening, their visitation numbers, the possible need for photography permits, among other considerations, to come up with a ranked list of the world’s priciest and most popular places to take a tourist photo. On the list of the top 38, five are found in the U.S. We’ll admit to a little surprise when scanning this list, because many of the landmarks can be seen and photographed without actually visiting (going inside) and paying a fee. Let’s take a look. No. 1 on the list is Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper. It’s also the most expensive and in-demand place to take a personal photo. Its entry fee of $108 beats that of the second on the list, Mount Kilimanjaro, by nearly $40. The Eiffel Tower can easily be photographed from vantage points all over Paris, yet its $39 admission fee to actually ascend the tower earns it a third place on this list. The list goes on, but we’ll skip to highlight the five places in the U.S. that are included. No. 7 on the list is the Grand Canyon. To ente

Over many years of visiting the Presidio, I’d never actually thought to spend the night there. And now that I have, with my family of four, it’s impossible to overestimate how much we loved our stay at the Lodge at the Presidio. It was a fantastic overnight getaway and made us feel like we were really on vacation, even though our stay was brief. The hotel itself is beautiful and unusual, created out of an old Army barracks. And the views of grassy lawns (the parade grounds for the soldiers back in the day) with the Golden Gate Bridge in the near distance are about as good as you’re going get, shy of heading down to the beach. We were able to walk to dinner and to lunch and played Frisbee in the Tunnel Tops, a park with beautiful plantings and a playground. Although some visitors may arrive when the area is blanketed by fog, we had perfect weather for our March visit and blissed out on the dogs romping across the former parade grounds, the food trucks and the families enjoying the long stretch of greenery. And this is no minor win: Throughout our stay, we had no problem scoring parking right in front. Photograph: Erika Mailman Photograph: Erika Mailman The lodge is set in a historic Colonial Revival brick building which once served as housing for U.S. soldiers stationed here. The Presidio played a role in a whole plethora of military conflicts: the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, the Indians Wars and World War II,

It may not seem like the thing you immediately associate with Easter, but the Trader Joe’s mini Easter tote bags bring a special pastel happiness to the season. These tiny tote bags (along the lines of an LL Bean bag) showed up last year and thrilled shoppers. There was a viral surge of people purchasing them (and even reselling them for huge profit: a set of four went for $500 on eBay, reported USA Today). Right now, they’re available again for a limited time. Why are Trader Joe's Easter tote bags so popular? The company doesn’t know; they say on their website, “We were so pleasantly surprised by their rapturous reception.” Perhaps it is the charm of the miniature, seeing a familiar shape shrunk down. These bags are only 13 inches long, 11 inches high, and 6 inches wide, which means they can hold your lunch or maybe a few last-minute things for dinner. They’d be excellent for a picnic or even for filling with candy as an ad-hoc Easter basket if you can’t find last year’s baskets in the garage. Another reason they may be popular? The $2.99 price point. How are they different from last year? Last year the bags came in four colors: forest green, navy blue, red and bright yellow. This year, the bags are in a more spring-like pastel palette, with handles and detailing of sky blue, pink, lavender or grass green. Where to find the trending tote bags: Visit your local Trader Joe’s ASAP. As with all seasonal items, they are only available for a limited time, and other shoppers tend t

After a long hiatus, Crystal Cave in Sequioa National Park is reopening to guests next month with guided tours. It had closed after the road, trail and visitor facilities were damaged in the 2021 KNP Complex wildfire and damaged again from harsh winter weather in early 2023. It’s been four years… and now again we get the chance to enter this incredible underground cathedral! Here's all the information we know so far. When will Crystal Cave reopen? The cave system reopens on May 23. How to get tickets for Crystal Cave and when to visit: Visit the Sequoia Parks Conservancy website to get tickets for the tour. You can visit from May 23 through September 7, 2025. The tour times are between 9am and 3pm. The parks conservancy recommends you purchase tickets 30 days in advance due to demand. Summer months will be especially impacted. How much does it cost? The tickets are $21 for adults and $11 for children under 10. You must also pay a fee to enter the national park: $20–35 for a standard pass, $70 for an annual pass, and $80 for the America the Beautiful pass, which opens the doors to all national parks for a year. Right now, no reservation is required to enter Sequoia National Park. Is it worth it to tour the cave? People say it’s astonishing inside. It’s one of the most visited caves in the U.S. with beautiful calcite formations and huge interior rooms. There are three miles of lighted passages inside and the chance to feel a sense of awe and history so deeply underground. Is it

It’s spring, so it’s time to set aside sweaters and hoodies and start looking at summer clothes. Perhaps the winter months have added padding that made last year’s clothes a little tighter—or maybe the reverse is true and you need to find new gear for your different waistline. Or… maybe you just want to celebrate the change of the seasons with a new wardrobe to boost your mood and brighten your closet. It’s also not a bad idea to think about shopping for birthdays and holidays, or to buy something special to refresh a room in your home. All of that means we’re looking for the best places to shop, whether that means tax-free purchases or a great array of walking distance boutiques. Here to help us is Smarter Travel’s list of the 10 best states for shopping. In first place? Massachusetts. In this New England state, clothing is exempt from sales taxes unless if an item costs more than $175, so you can scoop up excellent clothes so long as they’re not bearing designer labels. Boston is a hub for shopping with shopping districts like Charles Street, Newbury Street, Assembly Row, Coolidge Corner and Harvard Square. There are also plenty of premium outlets and malls, too. Next is New Hampshire, where there’s no sales tax at all. The best boutique shopping happens in the charming town of Portsmouth (we love its charming downtown on the edge of the river), while you can find outlets and malls in North Conway, Tilton and Merrimack. The third best state for shopping is Oregon, another o