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Downtown San Francisco is back: Here's how to spend a perfect Saturday.

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Downtown San Francisco is back: Here's how to spend a perfect Saturday.


Downtown San Francisco is back, baby.

It doesn’t look exactly like it did pre-pandemic but no matter: A slew of recent art, food, and drinks arrivals have once again made it fun to spend the whole day exploring the neighborhood.


Here’s how to spend the perfect Saturday in downtown SF right now.

11:30am: Breakfast at Grand Opening

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(Courtesy of @grandopening___)

Start the morning off right, with a pastry from Chinatown bakery pop-up Grand Opening. You’ll find a weekly assortment of Asian-influenced sweets like black sesame eclairs, passion fruit caramel cashew cookies, and Parisian egg tarts crafted by the twice-nominated James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef finalist Melissa Chou.

// Bake sales are Saturday from 11am to 2pm and Sunday from 10am to 2pm; 28 Waverly Place @ Mister Jiu’s (Chinatown), grandopeningbakery.com

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Noon: A Bit of Magic at Madame Theodore’s Floral Academy for Wayward Travelers

(Courtesy of Floral Academy for Wayward Travelers/Beacon Grand)

Enter a whimsical world of botanical beauty at Madame Theodore’s Floral Academy for Wayward Travelers. The public art installation, a partnership between the iconic Beacon Grand hotel and artists Nicole Whitten and Carina Garciga Meyers, walks the boundary between reality and imagination, filling a once vacant storefront on Powell Street with a dizzying array of plants, flowers, and surprises. Take a spin through the “shop” and reinvigorate your sense of discovery and wonder.

// Free to enter; 450 Powell St. (Union Square)


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1pm: Lunch at Miller & Lux Provisions

(Courtesy of @eatwith_tracy)

Chef Tyler Florence’s pair of Union Square cafes are the best spot for lunch with a generous side of people watching (especially during the holiday season when the ice rink is rolled out). If you’ve got an appetite, it’s the Rotisserie you want, which features Mary’s spit-roasted organic chicken, as well as tasty salads, sides, and brunchy eats like black truffle potato salad and smoked salmon benedicts (plus beer and wine). If you’re still full from Grand Opening, grab a seat at the Patisserie instead where you can sip Postscript coffee or a chai latte and attempt to resist the soft serve ice cream croissant sandwich.

// Miller & Lux Provisions Rotisserie is ope from 11:30am to 5pm daily at 225 Stockton St. The Patisserie is open from 7:30am to 5pm daily at 350 Powell St. (Union Square), millerandluxrestaurant.com

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3pm: Culture at Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) SF

(Courtesy of ICA SF)

This fall, San Francisco’s Institute of Contemporary Art got a serious upgrade, moving from its small Dogpatch gallery to a cavernous space in the Financial District. The nimble museum now has ample space to show off cutting-edge local and international artists whose work is a response to the current political and social moment. The inaugural show includes a group exhibition that turns everyday materials into artistic statements, the bejeweled rotting fruit of Kathleen Ryan, and the ceramic reliefs of Maryam Yousif—and entrance to the museum is always free.

// Open Wednesday through Sunday; 345 Montgomery St. (FiDi), icasf.org

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5pm: A Forested Happy Hour at Heartwood + Transamerica

(Courtesy of @gaelen)

Transition from day to night with a highball or boozy seasonal slushie at Heartwood. The redwood forest–inspired bar in a century-old brick-and-timber building hails from the team behind Third Rail, The Treasury, and The Beehive. Cocktails brim with the creativity of the natural world, ranging from the spice-forward Pulp Fiction (house-spiced rum, mango pulp, cinnamon, makrut lime) to the herbaceous Apple Propaganda (gin, green apple, juniper, pisco, bay leaf, elderflower tonic). Stick with the forest theme with a slight detour through the Transamerica Redwood Park (600 Montgomery St.) on the way to dinner. The refreshed oasis, which is currently decked out with the fantastical faunal sculptures of French duo Les Lalanne, will change up its art twice a year.

// Heartwood is open Monday through Saturday; 531 Commercial St. (FiDi), heartwoodsf.com.


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6:30pm: Dinner at Four Kings

(Courtesy of @fourkings__)

Arguably SF’s hottest restaurant of the year—and, according to Esquire, the hottest new restaurant in the entire country—Four Kings is an intimate Hong Kong–style resto-bar with serious main character energy. Chefs Franky Ho and Michael Long whip up the dishes that fortified them through childhood, from black pepper steak and fried squab to Chinese sausage and bacon claypot rice and salted egg squash croquettes, to the soundtrack of ‘90s Cantopop. The wee space and undeniable charisma of Four Kings makes advance reservations an absolute must.

// Four Kings is open Thur to Mon from 6pm to 11pm; 710 Commercial St. (Chinatown), itsfourkings.com

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8:30pm: Nightcaps at Verjus

(Will Brinkerhoff)

End your perfect day downtown with a visit to Verjus, the celebrated wine bar from the team behind Quince and Cotogna that reopened with a bang last month after several quiet years. Channeling French bistro style, the revamped space is as lively as ever with a new DJ booth, vinyl collection, and ephemeral dance floor that pops up whenever the mood strikes.

// Verjus is open Tuesday through Saturday; 550 Washington St. (Jackson Square), verjuscave.com





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San Francisco, CA

Holiday travel at San Francisco airport being affected by winter weather

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Holiday travel at San Francisco airport being affected by winter weather


With rain and wind in the forecast, it may make some people’s holiday travel a little more difficult.

At San Francisco International Airport, more than 400 flights have been delayed. Maggie Nelson’s was delayed coming into the airport. 

“It seemed like everyone was in a panic or a hurry to get anywhere,” said Nelson. “The plane was crowded. There was a lot of turbulence.”

Nelson flew in from Redmond, Oregon, usually a quick flight to SFO, just under two hours, but she ended up being delayed nearly that long.

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“Originally, we were supposed to take off at 2 p.m. and then our flight got delayed to 2:50 p.m., and then it got delayed again,” Nelson explained. “I don’t think we took off until 3:30 p.m. because of high winds or something.”

California is in the middle of an intense storm period. Two systems bringing heavy rain and strong winds, and Nelson could feel all of it.  

“The turbulence was pretty bad,” said Nelson. “There was a point where I got nauseous. I was like ‘Are we there yet? Is this over?’”

While she’s grateful to be on solid ground, Shon Alkaslasi was about to take off or at least try to.

“United sent a text that wind might affect operations,” said Alkaslasi. 

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He arrived early, just in case of holiday traffic, now he’s anticipating he may be delayed. He’s travelling home to Los Angeles, another area in the middle of the storms.

“I would say I’m not the biggest fan of turbulence so I am a little bit nervous about that,” Alkaslaski detailed. “But if they say it’s totally safe to travel, I’m not usually concerned but the feeling of bumps on a plane is just not the most comfortable and I’ll have to deal with it.”

Airport Duty Manager Crystal David said overall things haven’t been too bad, but West Coast flights, like Alkaslasi’s and Nelson’s, are the ones most likely to be impacted.

“SFO is on a ground delay program throughout the night, through midnight and so right now it’s about 127 minutes because of winds,” said David. “Mostly it’s the west coast flights are that are being affected right now with delays of up to 35 minutes for the west coast traffic.”

She said the delays could continue into the morning, when even stronger winds are expected. She recommends travelers check in with their airlines.

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But for Nelson, she’s just glad she made it home.

“I used to live a lot closer so it’s a lot harder to come home now so when I do get to come home, I try to take advantage of that and appreciate it,” said Nelson. 



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Executive chef of new buzzy San Francisco restaurant Bourbon Steak visits ABC7

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Executive chef of new buzzy San Francisco restaurant Bourbon Steak visits ABC7


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 got in the holiday spirit Monday with the executive chef of San Francisco’s buzziest restaurants that just opened in October — to a lot of fanfare.

We’re talking about Bourbon Steak, inside the Westin St. Francis Hotel.

Legendary celebrity chef Michael Mina’s latest opening brings him back to San Francisco, and everyone came to celebrate: a cable car, Mayor Daniel Lurie, and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry — a partner in this venture who created the bourbon bar Eighth Rule inside the restaurant.

But they’re not just about style. They are first and foremost about steaks.

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Because they are on the menu for so many holiday gatherings, we are delighted that Bourbon Steak executive chef Kevin Schantz joined us on ABC7’s “Midday Live.”

Watch the full interview in the player above.


If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2025 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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Thousands in one San Francisco neighborhood heading into another day without power

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Thousands in one San Francisco neighborhood heading into another day without power


While many people in San Francisco have their power back, there are still thousands without it.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, Mayor Daniel Lurie said 4,000 PG&E customers in the Civic Center area are still in the dark. One of them is Parvathy Menon. 

“We haven’t been able to take showers or use the bathroom,” said Menon. “Our electricity is out. I think all our food started rotting about a day in.”

She lives at 100 Van Ness. She said she’s grateful she’s going out of town tomorrow, but even that’s posing some problems.

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“I actually have to pack for a trip tonight, and we’re doing it in full darkness,” Menon explained. “We are using our phone lights, we are using our laptops to charge our phones.”

Her apartment is pitch black, except for the small amount of streetlight coming through the windows. She said the apartment complex has been doing all they can to help, like providing some food and water.

They have a small generator to power some lights in the lobby and one elevator for the nearly 30-story apartment building.

Menon said she is most upset about the lack of communication from PG&E.

“Initially, when this started, we were supposed to get power back within the day, then it went to the next day and now they just stopped calling us completely,” said Menon.

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San Francisco City Hall was closed for the day because of the outage, but Mayor Daniel Lurie held a press conference with Supervisors Matt Dorsey and Bilal Mahmood.

Lurie said what residents have gone through is unacceptable, and he’s lost trust in PG&E’s estimated times for repair.

“They gave us a timeline that they believe in, but it’s not one that I can have confidence in any longer,” Lurie said. “So, we don’t have full faith that 6 a.m. is the time tomorrow.”

“Shame on PG&E for having this happen,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “This is a company that has had a lot of reliability issues and the jury is out on what happened, but if this is negligence, I think it’s going to be really important for people to understand they have rights as customers.”

Leaders encourage everyone who lost anything to file a claim with PG&E; they could be eligible for reimbursements. Mahmood is calling for a hearing after the new year to get some answers for PG&E.

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“What went wrong, why weren’t they able to address it this weekend and what steps are they taking to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Mahmood about the question he has for the utility company. 

PG&E said the outage happened after a fire at its Mission Street substation left significant damage, but the cause is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, Menon has been refreshing social media looking for good news, but she’s starting to lose faith.

“They’re really doing nothing to help us here, so I’m losing hope,” said Menon. 

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