The current state of the Tenderloin: Once it was famous for homeless and streetwalkers, now the streetwalkers are pretty much gone (with the possible exception -- I dunno why -- of trannies), and things are looking a bit more "cleaned up" in places, particularly on the Polk Street edge (which I've heard called "the Trendyloin"). Some gentrification is chewing away at the edges of this neighborhood but it's not going to turn into a beige blob any time soon -- one nice thing about public housing projects: it's politically difficult for real estate profiteers to sweep it aside when it's inconvenient.
One difficulty about this is that the Tenderloin -- with the exception of the Polk Street corridor -- is very much a grid of scattered points of interest. Strolling down Polk Street is the only obvious "walking tour" route. So let's start with that...
And actually, as long as we're doing the Polk Street strip, let's start with the end up north of California, though this is not the "Tenderloin" by anyone's standard:
- Royale Grounds - respectably funky coffee house, at 1605 Polk just north of Sacramento (and there's also another slightly less funky "Royale Grounds" on Polk, 6 blocks up just north of Vallejo).
- See's Candy - Reference, just north of Sacrametno, right near the above Royale Grounds, convieniently enough. Closes around 6pm though.
- Good Vibrations - new edition in the chainlet of sex toy stores (Reference). On Polk, near Sacramento.
- Fields Books - Long standing experts in books on eastern religions, spiritual esoterica, newage this-and-that.
- Kimo's - On the corner of Pine. Punk rock in a remarkably dark, sleazy, sinister environment just like it's supposed to be.
- Lifetime Books - south of Pine. Nice little small used bookstore.
- Quetzal - 1234 Polk, between Bush and Sutter (corner of Fern). A web cafe/restaurant. An iMac joint. Good, though a little on the slick side. Serves fair trade coffee.
- Foot Worship - 1214 Sutter St, a little west of Polk St. A supplier of "stripper shoes", which I includ mostly for completeness: my opinion is that they carry a lot of trashy, junky-looking shoes that aren't worth the prices. But then, it doesn't hurt to browse if you're in the area anyway.
- Space - 1141 Polk (between Sutter and Hemlock). I have no idea what these people are doing, but they've got the look. I think the idea is "Gallery Space".
- Hemlock Tavern - Polk at the corner of Hemlock. The back room is a great place to see a band. You might even be able to hear them a bit, through the muddy sound.
- Vertigo - tiki bar, slightly slick. I understand they've often got the movie running in the background, which is a cute touch.
At this point, I don't think there's any obvious order to take things. Unlike many a neighborhood in SF, there's no one linear main drag in the Tenderloin, things are scattered around.
If you hung a left at the Lush Lounge on the corner of Post, you'd go by Divas (a tranny place, if I remember right).
There's a place called The Magazine at 920 Larkin near Post that does an amazing job with the niche market of back issues of porn magazines. It has a very respectable wood-paneling look about it, and it's not unusual to see upscale Nice Girls wander in, take a quick look around at the largely male clientele, and do a quick retreat.
On Geary street, between Polk & Larkin, is a huge Scottish bar by the name of Edinburgh Castle. You can get some serious british style fish and chips there (though really they're made by some chinese folks at a small place around the corner at 932 Larkin, "The Old Chelsea"). They often have live music upstairs, in one of the diviest of all divey performances spaces in the city, rivaling Kimo's for the throne.
One block over from Polk, at Geary and Van Ness is Tommy's Joynt, a classic carnivore oriented place (SF's answer to Katz's in NY). Open until 2am.
On O'Farrell, between Polk and Larkin, you'll find "The Great American Music Hall", an old place with a really beautiful, ornate interior that you'll want to check out, given half a chance. The booking has been getting better in recent years: check their schedule (Reference below).
Some trivia about this place: if you go around back (in the alley called Olive's), you can see a faded sign painted on the back that says "ELANCO's". Dashiel Hammett had his "Continental Op" character stop in here once for a bowl of clam chowder (see "The Dain Curse").
At the corner of O'Farrell and Polk you will find the capitol of the Tenderloin: the O'Farrell Theater, a monument to the efforts of local sleazemeisters the Mitchell brothers (though one of them is dead now, killed by the other one). I must confess that I've never actually been inside the O'Farrell Theater, but I plan on getting to it one of these days, in spite of the high cover charge ($20 early in the afternoon is the cheapest rate). (Reference below).
Back on Larkin, if you go south one block, at the corner of Larkin & Ellis you'll find "Vietnam II", another Vietnamese place that gets good reviews (I haven't been there yet). Hours: 8am - Midnight.
Phoenix Hotel - Eddy and Larkin. A constant stream of rock band tour busses infests or enlivens the scene here. I like the sculpture scatterd around the pool area.
Saigon Manh Mi - 560 Larkin. Tiny, hole-in-the wall place reputed to have great vietnamese sandwiches.
Deco Lounge - 510 Larkin. Art deco gay bar, with "play space" downstairs.
Lafayette Coffee House - Hyde between Eddy and Turk. For the devotee of what I like to think of as the Misunderstood Diner.
509 Cultural Center - 509 Ellis between Hyde and Levanworth. No regularly scheduled events are happening here just now as far as I know, but this is a neat little art center that's worth keeping an eye on. Reference.
On Ellis, near Hyde, there is a tree.
Altaturka - 869 Geary Street, between Larkin and Hyde. Nice, inexpensive middle-eastern place.
Golden Era, 572 O'Farrel near Levanworth, Tenderloin - Excellent vegan vietnamese/chinese food, evidentally run by some kind of asian mormons. You can pick up free religious propaganda at the door. Nifty, ornate, roccoco chese interior. Open 11am-9pm, but note: closed Tuesdays.
Love - west side of Leavenworth, north of O'Farrell. Thrift store. Literally a hole-in-the-wall. Don't blink.
Kayo Books - 814 Post, between Hyde and Leavanworth. Excellent paperback/pulp book store, with heavy emphasis on kitschy oddities.
Cafe Royale - Post and Levanworth, next to Kayo. Bar that also does coffee, food. Jazz performances, sometimes. A class act.
Argonaut - 786 Sutter, between Jones and Taylor. Midway between "used books" and "antiquarian". A setting for Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (for which they changed the name to "Argosy", I know not why).
Meridian Gallery - 545 Sutter, between Mason and Powell upstairs over a greek deli (with a few net terminals in the back). There's a really nice Friday night music series going on here, creative music with the emphasis on the delicate and subtle side. (Okay, so this isn't exactly in the Tenderloin... you don't want to tell someone you went somewhere near Union Square on purpose, do you?)
Shalimar - 532 Jones. An old favorite, a cheap indian food place.
Naan & Curry - O'Farrell between Jones and Tyalor, around the corner from Shalimar. *Another* great, cheap indian food place. Slightly hipper atmosphere, better music, maybe better food (though opinions differ).
Internet Cafe - O'Farrell and Taylor. Has a touch of a funky, international atmosphere about it.
Glide Memorial Church - Taylor and Ellis. The sunday morning R&B ceremonies are popular. Ostensibly a methodist church, but the sermons tend to spend a minute on a God, and a half-hour on "social justice".
ACT - Geary between Taylor and Mason. The heart of San Francisco's baby theater district. There are a bunch of late night diners in the area, such as --
Pine Crest at Geary and Mason. 24 hours. A fine example of the Misunderstood Diner.
Let's call that it for now. More later... stay tuned. Or not.