Asia at Your Feet and other San Francisco, CA Shopping Tips

Name of Shop: Combined Suggestions

My favorite place to shop in San Francisco is Grant Avenue, the main drag in Chinatown. You can find a wide variety of merchandise here, everything from plum candy to pearls. Some of the things I have bought in Grant Avenue shops include Chinese clothing and purses in silk and brocade, inexpensive ceramic plates and bowls, freshwater pearls, lipstick cases, and a travel mah jongg set. See also my Chinatown tip.



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Theme: Other

Name of Shop: San Francisco Shopping Centre

The upscale Nordstrom department store takes up four of the nine floors of the SF Shopping Centre, and smaller shops make up the balance. You can find almost anything here: clothing, books, chocolates.

Even if you don't like to shop, come to see the spiral escalators. They're beautiful and amazing to look at -- quite an engineering feat.



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Theme: Other
Phone: (415) 495-5656
Address: 865 Market Street, between 5th and 6th Streets
Directions: Across Market Street from the Powell Street cable car turntable
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/listings/venue.php?shopping,v4627

Name of Shop: San Francisco Mystery Bookstore

If you're a mystery fan, as I am, a visit to this Noe Valley shop is a treat. You don't even have to search for the mystery section, because the store's entire inventory is mysteries. Good stuff, too -- I found two books that I hadn't already read.

The staff here is great. We arrived just before closing time, but they told us to take our time and not feel pressured; they kept the store open until we chose our books.



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Theme: Books
Phone: (415) 282-7444
Address: 4175 24th Street
Directions: 24th Street between Castro and Diamond Streets

Name of Shop: Chocolate Covered

This shop is like an opium den for chocolate addicts. So much good chocolate to choose from! My favorite is dark Belgian chocolate, and there were a lot of choices. My daughter was delighted to find a dark chocolate she had previously found only in Spain.

Bit of trivia: although the store qualifies as a "hidden gem" in the Bay Area, it is evidently well-known in Japan, where TV shows have been made about it.

Regarding price: Be aware that any chocolate you purchase here will not be cheap. I paid (gulp) $7 for a single bar, but the taste justified the price tag. . .and hey, I can quit anytime I want.

The owner also makes and sells tins and lunchboxes with vintage photos on them, as well as tins with every street sign in San Francisco. If you provide the photo, he will custom-make a box for you.

Chocolate Covered is just down the street from the San Francisco Mystery Bookstore, so you can visit both in one fell swoop. Chocolate and books -- what could be better?



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Theme: Food and Drink
Phone: (415) 641-8123
Address: 4069 24th St
Directions: 24th between Castro and Noe