San Francisco Food – Page 2

Category: San Francisco Food (15)

SF Housing Explores Bay Area Pumpkin Patches!

Oct 01, 2018

The weather is cooling imperceptibly as ‘Karl the fog’ has began to coat the city in a blanket of mist. The leaves are turning from their summer green into a pinwheel of warm hues. San Francisco college students don their Uggs and sweatpants and retreat to their San Francisco dorm rooms, like a bear to its cave, only with the intention to hibernate alongside hours of Netflix binge watching. Just like the annual cyclical ritual of a bird’s flight South in the Winter, so does your stomach promptly begin to crave Starbucks’ PSL and candy corn at the stroke of midnight on the first morning of October. Ghouls and ghosts, witches and spiders deck store windows all up and down Union Street, and some stores already have Christmas decorations up. Instagram has become flooded with photos of artfully foamed lattes with #sweaterweather punctuating a caption about ‘Falling for Fall’.

There is no doubt about it: Autumn is upon us.

Now while you may fret and bemoan the change of season, Fall in your San Francisco housing is a beautiful time of the year. The large selection of San Francisco’s amazing coffee beverages sound extra warm and comforting, and absolutely nothing sounds better than turning on those twinkle lights and settling in for a Harry Potter movie marathon in your San Francisco room rental.

But perhaps best of all, Autumn in San Francisco means pumpkin everything – pumpkin spice lattes, a million pumpkin inspired goodies at Trader Joes, cute pumpkin decorations in every window of the city, pumpkin pie, and, best of all, time for your annual trip to the pumpkin patch! Often, living in a city means few local farms and pumpkin patches to get the full pumpkin picking ~experience~. Luckily for you, the Bay Area has dozens of local farms, farm stands, and seasonal pumpkin patches where you can go to pick out your perfect pumpkin pal! Many of these pumpkin farms patches offer so much more than pumpkins – seasonal fun activities like petting zoos, corn mazes, hay rides, and haunted houses! So whether you are a Bay Area parent taking your child or a student living in San Francisco, grab your ghouls and gals, your PSLs and LOLs, and head on over to one of these fun little pumpkin patches to get spooky season off to a great start!

ABC Tree Farms & Pumpkin Patches

A few locations – Hours: varies by location – Phone: 408-393-6303

This pumpkin patch chain operates 18 pumpkin patches across the Bay Area, mostly in the city! This pumpkin patch has a ton of fun games and activities, inflatable carnival rides, photo areas, and a variety of beautiful pumpkin varieties grown on farms in the Pacific Northwest. This pumpkin patch runs from late September through October 31st. Admission is free, but there is an admission fee for children ages 2-12 that wish to play on the inflatable amusements.

Arata Pumpkin Farm

185 Verde Rd., Half Moon Bay – Hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 8pm. – Phone: 650-726-7548

Arata Pumpkin Farm is the oldest working farm in San Mateo County, and features a ton of fun activities including the 2-acre Minotaur- inspired Labyrinth Hay Maze, a train ride, and a petting zoo. You can pack your own lunch and enjoy it in the picnic area! Admission is free, but the corn maze and other activities have varied fees.

Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch

850 North Cabrillo Highway, Half Moon Bay – Hours: Monday through Friday 9:30am–5:30pm; Saturday and Sunday 9:00am–5:30pm.- Phone: 650-726-4980

Half Moon Bay is the unofficial pumpkin spot, home to the world-famous Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch is best known for their wide range of pumpkins and squash – Over 60 varieties! This farm is also one of the only local pumpkin patches that wis dog friendly, so you can bring your canine best friend along for the fun! The pumpkin patch is open mid-September through Halloween.

Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival

If you really, really, really love pumpkin season and you live in the Bay Area, you won’t want to miss this landmark local festival in Half Moon Bay. Now in its 46^th year, the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival is one California’s most famous fall festivals. The event features the world-championship winning biggest pumpkin of the year, a parade, fall food and activities, live music, and kid-friendly rides, games, and activities. All proceeds from the festival benefit the Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee which funds local community service organizations and civic improvements.

Lemos Farm

12320 San Mateo Rd. (Hwy 92), Half Moon Bay – Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 9:00am-5:00pm. – Phone: 650-726-2342

This farm is best for kids or forever young adults, including a variety of fun activities including hay rides, pony rides, a spooky Ghost Train, a bounce house, a petting zoo, and, best of all, the Scare Zone haunted house! The haunted house has a ‘Halloween Fun’ version for the easily spooked, and a super spooky Scare Zone for the scream enthusiasts. The farm is open every day in October. Admission is free but the activities have varied fees.

Perry Farms

34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont – Hours: Monday through Friday, noon to 7pm. Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 7pm. – Phone(510) 793-6658

Perry Farms is unique in that it is located on the historic Ardenwood Estate in Fremont, which is now an organic farm. All of the pumpkins are grown on site! The farm includes a kids-size corn-maze, character cutout photo ops, a hay pyramid and hay rides. The pumpkin patch is open every day in October. Admission is free Monday through Friday, $1.00 per person on Saturdays and Sundays. Children under two enter for free.

Spina Farms Pumpkin Patch

Santa Teresa Blvd. at Bailey Ave., San Jose – Hours: Sunday to Thursday 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, Friday to Saturday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. – Phone: 408-763-1093

Every fall, the cute family-owned Spina Farms opens their pumpkin patch in San Jose. This pumpkin patch features more than 60 varieties of pumpkins and a beautiful bounty of other fall produce, all grown locally in the Coyote Valley! The pumpkin patch includes a train ride, pony rides, a hay ride, and a petting zoo. This patch lets you pack your own lunch and enjoy it in their adorable picnic area, so grab some of Fall’s bounty and a piece of pumpkin bread and enjoy! The Pumpkin Patch is open starting on the 28h of September and through the month of October.

Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Park

14485 Monterey Rd., San Martin – Hours: Open at 9 a.m. ; close times vary between 5-9 p.m. – Phone: 408-778-7225

This local Coyote Valley farm has so much more than pumpkin picking to offer! This local farm has a large variety of fun activities for kids and San Francisco students of all ages, including petting zoo, butterfly garden, train rides, hay rides, a corn maze, ‘pumpkin blasters’, the famous Pumpkin Pyramid (a stack of 4,000 pumpkins!), and ‘the Great Pumpkin Weigh-off’, where pumpkin farmers from throughout the west coast can enter their big orange beauts to compete for over $25,000 in prizes. Open October 1-31. Admission is free and parking is free on weekdays. On weekends, there is a parking fee of $5. Cash only.

We hope we helped kick off your pumpkin spirit this October! Happy Fall to all!

Want to read about more fun things to do in the Bay Area? Check out our other blog posts exploring SF here!

Need Fall Housing? Check out all of our San Francisco rooms for rent on our website, www.urbanest.com.

Post written by contributor Isabelle Kaplan

Explore Beyond Your SF Housing: Labor Day Weekend Events in San Francisco!

Aug 29, 2018

The last few moments of Summer are slipping away, and you can feel it. School has started, Summer Fridays are a thing of the past, and you are already seeing your tan fade. But Summer isn’t over yet! The sky is still blue and clear, the weather is still warm, and you are still rocking your white pants, since Labor Day is still ahead. Whether you are a student living in SF or work a full time job, you are looking forward to the long weekend ahead. You are anxious to get out of your short stay apartment in San Francisco, get outside, and drink in the last few days of Summer sunshine before accepting your San Francisco Fall fate. So we have got you covered, with a big list of fun Labor Day activity options for all! Here’s to a long weekend so full of fun and sunshine that you forget all about changing leaves and pumpkin spice lattes.

Enjoy Art, Music and Wine in one place

The 48th Annual Millbrae Art & Wine Festival is taking over downtown Millbrae from September 1-2 from 10 am to 5 pm, in celebration of the last blast of summer. This event is Mardi-Gras themed, and massive crowds are expected to show up for the incredible lineup of music, art, food, and entertainment. The event features live music on stage and throughout the streets, and the performers include Petty Theft, Illegals, Rock Steady SF, East Bay Mudd, Patron Music, Viva La Reve, Loudin’ Cleer, John Clarke, Bob Culbertson, Stephen Dreyfuss and HeartStrings Music. As you jam along, you can walk through the 250+ professional artists, craftmakers, and vendors showing their latest handcrafted wares, food and drink, an organic and green products showcase, home and garden exhibits, health and wellness displays and the “Classically Cool Car Show.” There is also a dance showcase, a 200’ zip-line across Broadway, carnival rides and games, and all sorts of fun entertainment that will entertain youngsters and childish adults alike!

Explore Your City!

This Labor Day weekend, San Francisco City Guides is offering free, guided walking tours all over San Francisco. Here is the full list of tours this weekend:

9:30 am – Japanese Tea Garden

10:00 am – 1906: Earthquake And Fire

10:00 am – Chinatown

11:00 am – Japanese Tea Garden – 11AM

11:00 am – Fisherman’s Wharf: A Hidden History

1:00 pm – American History in Golden Gate Park

1:00 pm – Japanese Tea Garden

1:30 pm – Chinatown

2:00 pm – Making Waves on the Waterfront

7:00 pm – North Beach By Night

Salsa Under the Stars

If you want to dance your labor day weekend away, the 9th Annual Salsa Festival at the Fillmore Center Plaza is the place for you. From Friday to Saturday August 31 to September 1st, from 6-10pm, you can salsa your heart out at the Fillmore Center Plaza! This salsa fiesta features free salsa lessons from J Luis, live music, a DJ, and the biggest outdoor salsa dance party under the stars.

Jam to the Blues

If blues is more your scene, check out the 2nd annual Morgan Hill Blues Festival! This family-friendly event takes place at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Amphitheater. Guests are invited to sit back, relax, and enjoy this years incredible blues lineup. Bring lawn chains and blankets so you can post up, and there will be a number of delicious food vendors available at the event for your snacking pleasure. The lineup includes Maxx Cabella Jr., Ladee Chico, Hendrik Martin, Alvin Draper, Kaye Bohler, Burnin Vernon Davis, Tony John & The Lucy Street Project, and AJ Crawdaddy.

Catch a Baseball Game

Whats a more American way to celebrate a long weekend than baseball? From August 31 to September 2nd, the San Francisco Giants are taking on the New York Mets at AT&T Park! You can cheer on your three-time World Series Champion Giants as they (undoubtedly) crush the New York Mets in a three-game series. Fun Labor Day weekend events include Fireworks night on August 31st, where you can enjoy a fireworks show alongside the ball game, Fellowship Day with a Fellowship-themed Giants blanket giveaway on September 1st, and Buster Posey socks on September 2nd.

That’s all we got folks! Have a great Labor Day weekend, and let us know what you end up doing to celebrate!

If you are looking for a fall sublet, check out all of our available San Francisco apartments and room rentals!

Interested in more fun things to do in San Francisco? Check out our other blog posts!

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Meet Our Team! Operations and Property Manager at 1010 Bush Street.

Aug 21, 2018

We pride ourselves in our diverse, worldly, and dynamic team here at Urbanests, and we want you to get to know us better!

Today, we are profiling Thatcher Richins! Thatcher is a Motorsport enthusiast, loves anything mechanical, and really knows his way around SF ( read on for some incredible insider recommendations for cool spots in SF!)

Name:

Thatcher Richins

Where are you from originally?

Sacramento, California

What brought you to SF?

I was here very very often growing up. So, from a young age, I fell in love with the hustle and bustle of city life. I think that kind of vibrant, busy environment is something I thrive in, personally. I also wanted to move away from Santa Cruz – Amazingly living here was cheaper than the insane population bloat and impossible rental market that came from UCSC!

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

Motorsport is my favorite sport to watch. I watched over half of Le Mans a few years back.

Do you have any hobbies, talents, or interests?

Anything mechanical. Without a garage, recently i’ve been building and painting models of mechanical things real or ficticious.

How are you involved at Urbanests?

I do general operations work for the company, but I also manage the property at 1010 Bush Street. Since I manage the property, I also live there, and I love it. The Balmoral, or 1010 Bush Street. Lower Nob Hill is a great neighborhood that’s pretty much at the center of everything.

1010 Bush Residences

Do you know any secret spots in the city we should know about?

There’s about a hundred public private spaces in the city, that most people don’t know about. The best maintained one I’ve seen is on top of the Fairmont Hotel.

What is your favorite thing to do in the city?

Riding around between errands or on the way to meet up with people. You’ll never see the whole city just by walking or taking the bus. Always try to take a slightly different route and you’ll be able to get around without your phone in no time.

Got a restaurant recommendation for us?

Yes! Check out Toyose. It’s an amazing late night Korean restaurant in outer sunset. Bring friends, wait times can be brutal before 10pm.

Want to find a short stay apartment or room rental in San Francisco with us? Check out our website here!

You can read more about our team here!

Explore Beyond Your SF Housing: Fun and Free in San Francisco!

Jul 24, 2018

Are you tired of sitting in your San Francisco apartment on a Friday night with nowhere to go that won’t break the bank? Or cooking every meal in your San Francisco furnished housing, knowing you can’t afford to eat out with SF’s crazy food prices? Or maybe you want a way to get out of your San Francisco dorm room and be active, but can’t afford a gym membership.

Lucky for you, San Francisco has a ton of fun events everyday waiting for you to explore, and the best part is… Most of them are completely FREE! Who doesn’t love free movies, food, parties, or even concerts? If you

Here are some of the fun things you can do to get out of your San Francisco room rental while your on your San Francisco summer vacation that won’t require a single penny from your pocket!

Free Bagel Mondays

You heard that right, every Monday, there will be hundreds of free Bagels available at the La Victoria Bakery located at Mission District of San Francisco. These bagels are delicious and freshly baked, ready for anyone that comes in the doors starting at 8 AM. Start your week off on a positive note and come by the bakery for your free Bagel!

Movie Nights

Are you a movie lover? Lucky for you, because San Francisco offers many free movie nights that are held outdoors this summer! Movies and dates range from The Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert at the Dolores Park on August 4th, Lady Bird at Washington Square Park on August 25th, to Black Panther at the Dolores Park on September 22nd. Spend some time in the beautiful outdoors and tune in for a great show!

For a full list of movies, dates, and locations in the Bay Area, click here!

Free Waffles Wednesday

Did someone say free waffles? That’s right! You can claim your free waffle at the Capital One 360 Café in the Financial District every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., or while they last. These delicious Belgian-style waffles come in many different flavors such as TCHO chocolate, maple-bacon, salted caramel and more. Drooling yet?

Dance Party

“Y2K Friday” is a dance party that is hosted every single Friday at the Milk Bar in San Francisco. If you are looking for a fun throwback party, then this is the place to go! The DJ plays pop and r&b songs from the early 2000s from artists like The Beatles, Usher, Destiny’s Child, and more!

Bring your friends out of their San Francisco short stay apartments and join the fun! Admission is completely free before 11 PM!

Comedy Shows

Did you know that San Francisco has one of the best underground comedy shows in America? At SF SoMa, there are some of the best comedy groups in the city that will perform for free every Friday! There will be a different group every week that will be sure to make you laugh out loud.

Join the showcase on Fridays at 7:30 pm every week at 1123 Folsom St and get ready for some hilarious entertainment. Don’t forget to RSVP in advance to get in for free!

Outdoor Yoga Day

Had a long week at school or work, sitting in front of a computer all day? Take yourself outside into the beautiful city and Practice yoga outdoors under the beautiful trees. This class, given generously by instructors free of charge, will invigorate you once again after a tiring or stressful week and help you relax while spending some time outdoors. Classes are held every Saturday starting at 11:30 AM at the Golden Gate Park, and bring along a blanket or mat for practicing!

Thanks for reading, and let us know of any other fun free things happening in SF we forgot!

If you are looking for San Francisco housing, look no further! Click here.

To read more fun things to do in San Francisco, click here!

Post made by contributor Angela Cao.

Students Living in SF Wake Up at 7 AM For This Pastry: Mr. Holmes Bakehouse.

Jun 11, 2018

Hey San Francisco Housing fam! I have a question for you. What is your favorite pastry? Is it a donut? Croissant? Muffin? Something creme filled or chocolate glazed? Or something flakey and savory?

If you are drooling already, you are in for a treat, because today we are spotlighting Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco! Specifically, their mystical, magical, and oh so mouth watering cruffins!

But first, a follow up question: Would you leave your SF furnished apartment at 7 AM or earlier for a pastry? Think about it, and lets dive in.

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse is located on 1042 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94109, (just a few blocks away from our San Francisco short stay apartments, the Yale and the Adrian in the Tenderloin!). Mr. Holmes offers a wide selection of mouth-wateringly delicious baked goods – everything from the lowly butter croissant to widely innovative variations including the ‘Rest in Peach Croissant’ (filled with Vanilla Pastry Creme, peach jam, oat crumble, and mascarpone whipped ganache), or the Creme Brûlée Danish (smothered in salted caramel, cheesecake filling, and topped with caramel shards).

(Rest in Peach Croissant)

However, Mr. Holmes is particularly known for their incredible rotating pastry flavors, that change daily. Each day two rotating flavors are available, one in the form of a donut and the other in the form of Mr. Holmes’ world-renowned, buttery and sweet, oh-so flakey and oh-so-famous cruffin. For the uninformed, a cruffin is a croissant, shaped and baked like a muffin, filled with a daily-rotating flavor of sweet cream, and finished with a variety of toppings and glazes.

‘Portrait of a Cruffin’, Hannah Reinhard, Oil on Canvas.

Now, I must warn you, this next paragraph may result in an over-production of saliva, intense hunger pains, or the inability to continue reading due to having gone cross-eyed with desire. You have been warned.

Here is a sample of their monthly menu. Right now, for June and July of 2018, cruffin flavors include Horchata Cream, Caramel Chocolate Cream, Guava Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Orange Cream, Maple Malt Cream, and Tropical Curd.

The donut flavors include Strawberry Lemon Verbena, Lavender Mousse, Raspberry Sherbet, Spiced Apricot Jam, Blueberry Lemonade, Blackberry Jam, and Pistachio Whipped Ganache.

Chills. So many chills.

(Sample Menu on Instagram @MrHolmesBakehouse)

Did you black out? Are you drooling? Have you gone into a sugar-induced coma just at the thought of so much deliciousness? Good. Now that I really have your attention, lets talk logistics.

Mr. Holmes opens at 7 AM, but people start lining up well before that. There is a line for the bakery, and a separate line just for cruffin-seekers. The cruffins are unveiled and available for consumption promptly at 9 AM, no earlier, no later. Be warned, Mr. Holmes has been known to run out of the daily cruffin and donuts in just a few hours, often by 10 AM. The flavors are posted on Instagram, so before you go check to make sure the daily delicacy is up your alley – and if not, there is always tomorrow!

Now, if the pastries are not enough for you (I’m just kidding, we all know the pastries are more than enough for you, but bear with me), Mr. Holmes Bakehouse is also a quintessentially Instagrammable San Francisco spot. From their punny and neon pink “I got baked in San Francisco” sign, to their peace-out logo-shaped mirror, to their light pink and gold pastry boxes, to the “Holmes Sweet Holmes” tiled floor mosaic, this place has too many cute photo-ops! Just look at some of these cute snapshots, taken by some of Mr. Holmes’ avid and sugar-spurred cruffin fans!