Enjoy a taste of life on The Street

SAN FRANCISCO – "You can't have too many clothes or too much jewelry," my companion remarked.

"Or food or drink," I added.

That gender-reflective exchange – inspired by what we'd been seeing all day – put an exclamation point on our sunny Saturday spent strolling the seven-block-long stretch of Union Street between Steiner and Franklin streets. Locally, this near-promenade is known as The Street. Go take a look.

It's a neighborhood jammed with dozens of restaurants, bars, shops and specialty stores (women's fashion boutiques are big). Its flavor and sense of style make it a tourist destination and, right now, a holiday-shopping option.

Another draw is the amazing architecture – 19th and early 20th century wood buildings constructed as private mansions in the Victorian and Edwardian styles.

The clue that The Street is an actual live-in neighborhood is the rows of surrounding apartment buildings, plus service-oriented stores such as dry cleaning, shoe repair, plumbing and hardware.

Though San Francisco occupies only 49 square miles, it contains more than 40 major neighborhoods (not counting 60-some subsections), according to the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. Each has distinct characteristics and demographics, emphasizing the city's unique cultural personality.

The Street is in Cow Hollow (so named because it was once dairyland), part of the Marina-Presidio district. Don't confuse Union Street with ritzy Union Square.

Above and south of the Street is Pacific Heights; below and north is the Marina district and San Francisco Bay. Follow Union west and you'll come to the Presidio; east takes you to Chinatown and North Beach.

One of the many locals who have seen changes on The Street is Lesley Leonhardt, an art merchant of 30 years and executive director of the 120-member Union Street Association.

"After the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, a lot of older families moved out of the Marina district and younger people moved in," said Leonhardt, who owns Images of the North gallery. "They wanted clothes, jewelry and restaurants, so (the merchants) started catering to them. When I opened, there were 30 of us selling art and antiques. Now there are three."

True, changing tastes and escalating rents killed many longtime businesses, some of which were replaced with chain stores.

Still, a neighborhood feel and a party atmosphere dominate. The day we visited, crowds of locals and tourists were everywhere, mingling and chatting and creating an energy that radiated excitement.

Serendipitously, we popped in and out of storefronts to create this sampling, listed alphabetically:

• Bar None, 1980 Union St., (415) 409-4469, www.barnonesf.com: In a city of legendary watering holes, we especially favor this below-street-level hideout with its wood floors, labyrinthine corridors and under-the-tourist-radar feel.

• Betelnut 2030 Union St., (415) 929-8855, www. betelnutrestaurant.com: Hungry? Thirsty? You won't do better than this strikingly decorated room modeled after the beer houses (pejiu wu) of Asia. You can go for the beer, sure, but you'll stay for the fabulous dishes prepared by cooks in an open kitchen.

• Bus Stop, 1901 Union St., (415) 567-6905: The bar opened in 1900 and has been owned by the Ferroni family for the past 97 years. Drop by to appreciate the wry bartenders, memorabilia, pool tables and multiple TVs tuned to sports.

• Chez Moi, 2217 Union St., (415) 563-1775, www.chezmoisf.com: In this chic shop specializing in furniture and home accessories, we found onyx cheese-cutting boards from Mexico that look just like slabs of Swiss cheese. They're $115 (large) and $98 (smaller), each with a pewter knife.

• CocoaBella Chocolates, 2102 Union St., (415) 931-6213, www. cocoabella.com: Michael Freeman sells 175 artisanal chocolate creations from seven countries. We were reeling after tasting Freeman's personal favorite, handmade in an Italian village – local cherries soaked in cherry liqueur, packed in almond paste soaked in almond milk, then jacketed in dark chocolate.