BEST Things to See & Do in The MISSION DISTRICT San Francisco

Hey there everyone! My name is Eduardo Arroyo, but you can call me Ed, and today we are here exploring the Mission District in San Francisco, California. I came to the Hispanic District here in San Francisco to show you a few things that I think are very interesting about this place. The very first thing is this building in front of me. This building right here is the Misión de San Francisco de Asís. This is the longest standing building here in the city of San Francisco, and the namesake of this community. This is, I think, as close as you can get to live in history. The building is still functional, and it still holds an active congregation to this day. I don't know if they use this place as a congregation place, or the Basilica that is right next to it. The Mission is also a cemetery, and it's a popular tour destination in this area. They use this place to tell people about the history about this place, as well as the history of the beginnings of the city of San Francisco itself. Right next to the OG Mission is the Basilica. This building right here is relatively younger than the other one, and it is definitely the most eye-catching between the two. Anyways, you guys, I thought I'd stop here first before anywhere else due to the relevance that these two buildings have for the community here at the Mission, and to the city of San Francisco as a whole. My plan today is to show you a few of the places that I really enjoy here at the Mission District, so that you get an idea of what is there to do and to see. So if you're interested, come with me. I'm currently at Dolores Street. I'm making my way over to Valencia Street. That street has a lot of different cool places that are worth checking out here at the Mission. And it's not too far from here. But before we get there, I would like to share with you guys a little bit about the history of this place. It's more like a fact, really. The Mission District has been the home of multiple waves of immigrants, including German, Irish, Polish, and the most recent one coming from Mexico, Central, and South America. This is evident as you start exploring this place, as the Hispanic culture is reflected in the restaurants, the art, the shops, the music, and the overall identity of this place. I am currently at the height of 18th. I am right across from Dolores Park over there, as well as Mission High School. I promise we'll be back to Dolores Park, but I want to first make my way over to Valencia Street, which is this way. I just checked the time, and it's about to be lunchtime, at least in my book, so I better start looking for a place to eat. That, however, is no issue here at the Mission, because there's a lot, a lot of really good restaurants. So, I'm going to look for one as I'm making my way to Valencia Street. I'll see you guys in a few. Hey there, you guys. I made it to the area between Valencia and Mission Streets. This is the area where you can find most of the popular slash well-known locations here at the Mission District, and I've been looking for a place to eat for about half an hour now. I'm getting hungry, so I decided to come visit a place that I've been to before. It's called Panchitas Pupuseria. It's this one right behind me. The food is great, and I am really looking forward to it. I'll make sure to update you guys on how the food is when I'm inside, or I'll catch you guys once I'm done right after. I forgot for a second that I was recording a video, but here you go, guys. These are my two pupusas, or what is left of them. These are the plantains. This is sour cream that goes with the plantains. Oh, and you can also combine it with beans. So good. And yeah, that's my lunch. I'll see you guys after. Oh my goodness, that was so good, guys. I strongly recommend to come here if you're ever in the Mission. But hey, what is a good meal without a good dessert, am I right? I didn't get a dessert at that place on purpose. The reason is because I wanted to go and check out one of the mercados here at the Mission so that we can see all the things that they have and pick up a dessert for moi. So what is a mercado? A mercado is simply a shop like this one, and at the Mission, you can find a lot of them. These are famous because they carry a lot of really famous Hispanic products. Let me show you what I mean. From food to drinks, home cleaning supplies of all kinds, to canned goods, to snacks of many different kinds, there's a lot of stuff you can find in places like this. So I came here looking for some snacks and I found a lot, but I decided on these two right here. They're both two Mexican snacks that I love, so I'm going to take them. A lot of people come to mercados like this one to do their shopping. Instead of going to Target or Trader Joe's, they come here and they buy things either on the daily or every two days to restock on the things that they need at the house. For me, it was just another stop to get some snacks and to keep going with this adventure. The next place that I want to visit is Clarion Alley. Clarion Alley is one of the multiple spots for murals here at the Mission District. The unique thing about this place is that you can find a lot of different murals in a very short distance. It's just a single block and you can see multiple different murals by multiple different artists in that single block, which makes it really cool and you'll see very soon. The murals here at the Mission District are one of the main reasons why I like to come to this place. They're like a free art gallery that is open to everyone. A lot of the pieces are political in nature while others are just ideas that want to convey something by the artist. But one of the things that they all have in common is that there's a lot of effort that goes into these and I'll show you in just a few minutes. We're almost there. Hey there, you guys. We are here. We made it to Clarion Alley. Let me show you just real quick. Like I mentioned before, it's just a single block that is covered in different murals on both sides and I'll show you better right now when I stop talking. But yes, this is a very cool place where you can come and take a few pictures or simply look at the different murals and try to see what they're trying to tell you and why they were created. It's really cool to learn about the history of each and every one of them. But yeah, that's enough from me. I'll go ahead and show you this over some cool music so that you get to see them as well. Hey there, everyone. That is it for Clarion Alley. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed it. If you guys did, make sure you hit the like button and let me know which one you thought was your favorite in the comment section. I thought it was very interesting. This is definitely one of the most representative locations here at the Mission District. So I wanted to show you guys and let you guys know that if you are ever in San Francisco, this is a place that you don't want to miss. So what I want to do next is actually visit some of the shops that are here in the area. I know there's a lot of thrift stores. You can also find like Mexican antique shops and we'll look around and see what else we can find. I also want to get a coffee and some pan dulce. I'm sure they must have a good panaderia around here. So that's what I want to do next. And at the end, I just want to find a place where we can rest after a long day of exploring. In the Mission, you can also find a lot of thrift stores just like this one. This one is closed right now. But next to it, there's another one that is open. And here you can find a lot of different pieces of clothing that you can add to your collection without blowing your budget, which let me tell you, is so easy to do here in San Francisco where everything is so expensive. But yeah, we can go inside. I don't know if I'll be able to record, but if I do, I'll show you some shots of what you can find. That place was bigger than I thought and had more things that I really thought I was going to find. I couldn't really record inside. There was a lot of people, so I didn't want to get kicked out. And also, they had really loud music playing in the background, so I didn't want my video copy strike. So I just decided to record a few shots and show that to you guys. The next place I want to go to is some sort of antique shop or something like that. The reason why, I just want to show you what type of things they have in those places. And also, I think it's funny. I'm from Mexico, so I've been to one of these places and they have a lot of the antiques that they would sell on the street or close to any touristy area over there. So I want to see if I can find anything that I remember from when I was little. So I found one of these antique shops that I was telling you guys about. This one behind me, it's name is Mezcuatl. It sounds like a Mayan name or something like that. I don't know if I will be recording and talking at the same time. I saw the same issue that happened at the thrift store. They have some loud music playing, so I'll try to get some shots for you guys. But I don't know if I'll be able to talk over them. Guys, to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't find any of the things that I told you about, like the things that they sold over there in Mexico for tourists. The things that they have there, they're pretty legit as far as I could tell. They're really nice too. They would make a really cool and interesting gift for anyone in your family or any loved one. So I would strongly recommend to go to that place. I didn't get anything for myself. Not because I didn't want to, but I was too busy trying not to get caught by the only lady in that place. But I think I did a good job. I didn't get any bad stares or anything like that. So mission accomplished. I just made it to Balmi Alley. This is the second most popular mural spot here in the Mission District. I've been here before one time, so I don't really remember much of the murals here. So going through it would be like going through it for the first time with you guys. This is like the first few murals as you go in through this side. Whoa, so this one's interesting. This is a mother having a child. I don't know if that represents like the earth or something like that. There's a lot of murals too about empowering minorities or like indigenous people from somewhere. And this is one of them right here. You can see they're breaking the chains of something and they're lifting their fist as in resistance. This mural right here reminds me of the one we saw at Khoi Tower. Basically the mural like depicts the mission right here. So a part of the community of San Francisco and then like there's something going on like in every corner. So it's really interesting to stare at it for a little while and uncover like all the little mini stories that you can see in the background of this picture. One way, otro way. This alley is still like a road. So you'll see cars pass from time to time. All done here at Balmy Alley. Definitely a great place to check out. You'll learn about the history of San Francisco, especially this community and the issues that they've experienced in the past and some of the issues that they're experiencing till this day. For a snack, I'm thinking of hitting up a panaderia and getting some pan dulce, maybe a coffee as well. But we will see. I'm just taking 24th. This road leads to a lot of panaderias here. I'm looking at one right now. That was so quick. But it's right there. I can see it. Panaderia Mexicana and Coffee Shop. Just what I was looking for. They have a lot of good options. Check them out. I love these with coffee. And oh these. I haven't had them in the longest time. I'm gonna get like two of those and then something else. I just got the goods. I'm really happy and I'm really looking forward to devouring them at the park that I'm going to. Bros, I forgot to get a coffee. I messed up but it's too far from me now. I'm not gonna walk back there. So right now, just an update. I'm heading back to Dolores Park, which is one of the very first few places that we visited today. I told you guys that we're gonna go back and I'm gonna fulfill my promise. I still have a long way to go though. It's a long walk from here. But for you guys, it'll be in a snap. Dolores Park is where the cool kids come hang out during the weekends. This is where people come and relax. They come and eat some good food. They come and drink. They come for a birthday party. For anything and anything you might think of, people are here. Even if you forget to bring something to eat or drink, you don't even have to worry about that because usually there's someone walking around with a bag and selling a bunch of things. People sell soda, water, beer, even pizza and weed. I've seen people selling here. But yeah, it's overpriced. But if you didn't bring anything in the first place, it might be worth it to have a good time. Right now, I'm just eating some bread as I wait for the sun to set in the distance. Really peaceful. Really nice. 10 out of 10. I don't think there's a better place to end the vlog than here in Dolores Park in a very relaxed setting. Make sure to like the video and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And also, make sure to share the video with someone that you might think might like it. Anyways, you guys, as always, make sure to be kind. Have an open mind. We'll see you next time.