Il Mission District — Murales, Dolores Park e il Burrito di San Francisco
The Mission District — the historically Latino neighbourhood of eastern San Francisco, centered on Mission Dolores (the oldest surviving building in San Francisco, established 1776 simultaneously with the Presidio as the sixth in the chain of California missions) and today the most culturally diverse and artistically vibrant neighbourhood in the city — is the birthplace of the Mission burrito (the enormous foil-wrapped rice-and-beans burrito developed in the 1960s by restaurants on Mission Street as a full meal in a tortilla).
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Mission Dolores — San Francisco's Oldest Building (1791)
Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores, 3321 16th Street, the Mission District's namesake church, 1791, the sixth of California's 21 Spanish missions, the oldest building in San Francisco) has whitewashed adobe walls 60cm thick, original roof tiles, and the cemetery where Mexican and Native Ohlone peoples who built and maintained the mission are buried — the original church (50m × 10m) is largely unchanged from its 1791 appearance; the adjacent ornate 1913 basilica dwarfs the original; the cemetery includes the graves of early San Francisco politicians including William Leidesdorff, one of the first Black Americans in California.
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Mission Murals — 400+ Works Along Balmy Alley
Balmy Alley (between 24th and 25th Streets, Harrison and Treat, the Mission District, the most concentrated outdoor mural gallery in the US) has been covered in political murals since 1973 when Chicano artists began painting on the garage doors and fences of this alley in response to the political situation in Central America — the current 27 murals (replaced and repainted as they deteriorate or when new commissions are arranged) document immigration, labor rights, gentrification, women's rights, and Día de los Muertos; the Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center (2981 24th Street, $25 guided tour) is the organizing institution.
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Dolores Park — The Living Room of the Mission
Mission Dolores Park (Dolores Street and 18th Street, 16.5 acres, reconstructed 2012–2016) is the most socially diverse urban park in San Francisco — the upper terraces (the 'Gay Beach', the 'Hipster Hill', the 'Panhandle', the dog run) are visibly distinct communities within the same park space; the park's food vendors (Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream is the most popular, $5 single scoop) and the Saturday/Sunday crowd culture (the park fills beyond capacity on sunny weekends) make Dolores Park the best anthropological study of San Francisco's competing subcultures.
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La Taqueria — The Burrito That Changed American Food
La Taqueria (2889 Mission Street, 1973, Miguel Jara owner, the Mission District) is widely considered the inventor of the San Francisco Mission Burrito (the large format flour tortilla burrito with rice, beans, meat, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream, wrapped in foil) — the Mission Burrito spawned Chipotle (founded 1993, the first Chipotle was in Denver but the Mission Burrito was the explicit inspiration) and the entire fast-casual Mexican chain industry; La Taqueria charges $10–14 for a carne asada or carnitas burrito with no rice, which they claim distinguishes their version from competitors.
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Valencia Street — The Gentrification Corridor
Valencia Street (between 16th and 24th Streets, the Mission District's secondary commercial artery, running parallel to Mission Street) is the most visible face of San Francisco's tech-era gentrification — bookshops (Dog Eared Books, Alley Cat Books), artisanal food producers (Dandelion Chocolate, Bi-Rite grocery), and boutique restaurants (Delfina, State Bird Provisions — perpetually reservations-unavailable) compete for space with the long-established taquerias and panaderías; the neighbourhood's changing demographics (70% Latino in 1990, 40% in 2020) are the source of ongoing community organizing.
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24th Street — The Heart of the Latino Mission
24th Street (the commercial heart of the Latino Mission District, between Potrero and Castro) is the most ethnically concentrated commercial strip in San Francisco — the panaderías (La Victoria Bakery, the best pan dulce in the Mission since 1956), the carnicerías (Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Mexican butcher shops selling cuts unavailable elsewhere in San Francisco), the pupuserías (the Salvadoran stuffed griddle cakes, El Zocalo), and the Día de los Muertos altar installations (November 1–2, the street becomes a procession route with community altars in storefront windows) define the street's character.