Butchers

Called around for the best deal on Prime Rib for a holiday dinner. Came up with a list of local butchers; not including those in supermarkets and small grocery stores:

1. Drewes Brothers Meats, 1706 Church Street in Noe Valley

2. Avedano's Holly Park Market, 235 Cortland Avenue in Bernal Heights

3. Guerra Quality Meats, 490 Taraval Street in the Parkside

4. San Francisco Meats and Deli, 1330 Ocean Avenue in Ingelside

5. Canyon Market, 2815 Diamond Street in Glen Park

6. Mission Market, 2590 Mission Street in the Mission

7. Belmar-La Gallinita Meat Market, 2989 24th Street (at Harrison) in the Mission

8. Bi-Rite Market, 3639 18th Street in the Mission

9. Good Life Grocery, 448 Cortland in Bernal Heights and 1524 20th Street in Potrero Hill

10. Lucca Ravioli, 1100 Valencia Street in the Mission

11. Fatted Calf, 320 Fell Street in Hayes Valley

12. Falletti Foods, 308 Broderick Street in the Panhandle

13. Lo-Cost Meat Market, 498 Haight Street in the Haight

14. Little City Market, 1400 Stockton Street in North Beach

15. Prather Ranch Meat Company, 1 Ferry Buildling

16. Golden Gate Meat Company, 1 Ferry Building

17. Bryan's Quality Meats, 3473 California Street in Laurel Heights

18. Antonelli's, 3585 California Street in Laurel Heights (inside Cal-Mart)

19. Marina Meats, 2395 Chestnut Street in the Marina 

Cool SF Slides

After 20+ years of living here, San Francisco is still full of surprises. Through my children I have re-discovered the pure joy in going down a slide, and in these cases, some long and gnarly concrete ones.


Concrete Slides:
1. Seward Street Slides, Seward & Douglass in the Castro
2. Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park
3. Douglass Park, Douglass and 25th Street in Noe Valley
4. Mountain Lake Park, 11th Avenue and Lake Street on the edge of the Presidio
5. Glen Canyon Recreation Center, Bosworth and Elk Streets in Glen Park
6. Hilltop Park, Whitney Young Circle and Newcomb Avenue in the Bayview


Plain Wacky and Fun:
7. Yerba Buena Gardens Children's Playground, 4th and Mission Streets in SOMA
8. AT&T Park Coca Cola Fan Lot
9. 24th Street Mini Park, 24th and York Streets in the Mission
10. Bernal Heights Mini Park, Esmeralda and Winfield Streets
11. San Francisco Zoo

SF Labyrinths

I'll leave it to the experts to describe what a labyrinth is but all I can say is, I never refuse a labyrinth when I see one. There are some famous ones in San Francisco, and there are some that I just happened to bump into during walks with my kids and my dog.


Searching for labyrinths is a great kid-friendly activity. They're all over the place as you can see in this Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.


The Famous Ones:
1. Land's End (Miles Rock Beach, directions)

Photo by Tim Valderrama

2. Grace Cathedral (indoor and outdoor), (at Taylor and Sacramento)
3. Noe Valley Ministry (Sanchez and 23rd Street)
4. Scott Street Labyrinth in Duboce Park (next to the Harvey Milk Center)
5. University of San Francisco Harney Plaza (Parker and Golden Gate Avenues)
6. California Pacific Medical Center's Labyrinth Garden (at Sacramento and Cherry)


Hidden Gems:

1. Bernal Heights Park, Bernal Heights Boulevard (at the southern entrance to the park)

2. McLaren Park, 266 John Shelley Drive (about 100 feet up a dirt path from the road, on top of a small hill)

3. Potrero del Sol Park, San Bruno Avenue entrance (in the southern part of the park, a painted labyrinth, but a great way to pass the time while waiting for your skateboarder)

Far, Far Away (just for fun):

The Dragon Labyrinth

Photo by Eccentric Jeff