All stories about "Mission District"

If you're worried about regional conflicts, swelling airfares, or minimizing your contributions to jet-fuel emissions, you can still sate both your cultural curiosity and relentless appetite by visiting restaurants that offer cuisine from around the world. In San Francisco, there's no place better than the Mission to in-gestigate the whole spectrum. Although only a preliminary list, the following offers an introduction to some of the gustatory adventures that await you in the neighborhood. Further suggestions welcome in the comments or tipline.

Whether you're trying to avoid wearing the same damn outfit as every other American Apparel-sporting hipster or hunting for a birthday gift that wasn't made in China, the Mission district is ready to save your ass. Thrift-store finds are often marvelous, but sometimes those racks of musty sweaters just can't cut it. When the occasion calls for a little more class, visit one of these shops to find lovingly crafted clothing, artwork, accessories, and more -- and feel great about supporting local business while you're at it.

In San Francisco, if you don't do the sidewalk thing then there is a good chance you thrift. And even if you're a fashionista making what you think is a bold stand against consumerism, you probably make far more trips to the store and accumulate more products than you every would if there were no such thing as $1 Wednesdays, half-off Sundays, and clothes by the pound. Obviously, the liberal arts educated, post-graduate work from laptop in café never have to see boss or clients crowd is no match for the marketing savants behind Goodwill Industries and Thrift Town USA. We've compiled a list of places to drop your small bills in the Mission -- over and over and over. Also check out our Halloween Costume special

On any given weekend evening in the Mission, somewhere around the midpoint of drinking your body weight in pints or shots, you'll experience a fierce hunger -- an urge that could lead you to raid the fridge (yours or someone else's) or risk your precious stomach lining on questionable jalapeno poppers at the bar you're currently slumping over. Fortunately, there are many late-evening or late-night dining options that are somewhat calmer and even a little less caustic than (most) bar food. You might not wake up, exactly, but picking any of these night-owl eateries will no doubt provide a decent meal of alcohol absorbing material.

Most people know that if you throw a rock in the Mission District, you will probably hit a coffee house. Java-fueled addictions are taken seriously in this town, and there are those that say, "If you aren't getting your drug of choice from someone with tattoos and piercings, you aren't really trying." Fortunately, the dichotomy of wanting the grunge of a greasy spoon and still getting your espresso made from something that wouldn't scare the health inspectors has created a sellers' market in the coffee business. So if you follow the required formula, as every establishment in the Mission does, you will soon have a loyal following. In no particular order, here are your dealers of choice (and yes, they all have free wifi).