Food Crawl! Chinatown and Little Italy

Find your way to Portsmouth Square, center of Gold Rush-era San Francisco, now the hub of the Chinese community in America’s oldest Chinatown. Meet your story-filled local guide and understand how food and restaurant culture shaped early San Francisco, then begin a journey to our favorite spots for food and drink, both renowned and off-the-beaten-path.

Skip the queue at Dragon Papa to taste their dragon beard candy that’s become a sensation across Asia, then wash it down with freshly brewed boba milk tea from an innovative boba bar that was inspired by the modern craft cocktail movement.

Head down one of the city’s smallest alleys to the first dim sum restaurant in America, and taste their traditional Chinese dumplings. Follow your guide past stunning Chinatown architecture and painted balconies to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, where dedicated workers still produce crispy cookies by hand every day.

In Little Italy, head up Columbus Avenue and past famed Beat Generation hangout Caffe Trieste, home to traditional Italian restaurants with outdoor sidewalk seating, and sample the best pizza in town at Tony’s, winner of the World Pizza Cup.

Stroll through our locals’ park, Washington Square, and pop in to the Italian bookstore turned cafe that makes the city’s most delicious, fresh cannoli desserts. The tour ends on a little-known rooftop with a sweeping view over Alcatraz, Coit Tower, the Transamerica Pyramid, North Beach and the Financial District.