Deals in North Beach

When you live in a city with so much scenery, eating inside can feel a bit stifling. Here are five beautiful restaurant patios in San Francisco that allow you to order in the great outdoors. Mission Rock Resort (817 Terry Francois Blvd.) The restaurant group that owns South Park staples MoMo’s, Pedro’s Cantina, and Pete’s Tavern overhauled Mission Rock Resort in late 2012. Now, it’s a bayside escape with plenty of deck seating, calming ocean views, and easy parking. Try bites from the raw bar or fried seafood for lunch, brunch, or happy hour. Foreign Cinema (2534 Mission St.) The most popular tables at this Mission stalwart are in the romantic covered patio. In the evening, artsy or retro flicks are projected on the patio wall while sound can be played through drive-in–style speakers at each table. The movies, however, are a secondary draw compared to the Californian-Mediterranean food. Waterbar (399 The Embarcadero S) Waterbar is a perennial Top 100 restaurant, so you can bet on some memorable seafood with views of the bay, the Bay Bridge, and the Bay Lights—not to mention $1.25 oysters every day before 5:30 pm. Bar Agricole (355 11th St.) Opened by a collective of the city’s best bartenders and sommeliers, Bar Agricole is led by master drink maker Thad Vogler. Unsurprisingly, its cocktails are just as good as its seasonal food. The space’s award-winning design features plenty of redwood, concrete, and glass, plus a spacious patio that’s covered and heated during the winter months. Biergarten (424 Octavia St.) Biergarten takes its name literally—its only seating is outdoors, where all of its Bavarian-style street food is served from shipping containers converted into a kitchen and bar. Brews can be ordered by the half- or full-liter, but considering the long lines, it’s best to get the larger of the two before you squeeze into one of the communal picnic tables. Photos courtesy of Mission Rock Resort, Foreign Cinema, Waterbar, and Bar Agricole; Biergarten photo courtesy of BarFlySF.

In spite of ramen’s minimalism, the pursuit of a perfect steamy bowl of noodles in San Francisco is nearly limitless. Many San Franciscans will insist that you have to leave the city to truly find the best ramen, but that would mean overlooking a number of hidden gems nearby. Remember: slurping is mandatory. Hapa Ramen might not have a brick-and-mortar location yet, although one is in the works. This relative newcomer has popped up all over town, and holds to the belief that ramen is as much an art as a science, where precision counts for a lot. The $12 Big Daddy Ramen Bowl combines chicken, slow-cooked pork and a perfectly prepared egg, and Hapa’s even been known to concoct novelty bowls of cheeseburger ramen on occasion. One step ahead of Hapa is noted hipster hangout Ken Ken Ramen, which successfully made the transition from pop-up to permanent address. It might have truncated hours, but this Mission District ramen house offers wide varieties, including a nightly special as well as multiple vegan options – although you’d never err by doubling up on the pork, and pairing it with one of Ken Ken’s several sakes. Given Americans’ penchant for downing a late-night bowl of noodles after a solid dose of partying, it makes sense that one of the more beloved ramen bowls would be found at Izakaya Sozai restaurant in the Inner Sunset. The ritsu tonkotsu, or pork broth – with pork belly added, of course – is the only ramen on offer here, but it wins near-universal acclaim. All too often, tourist-clogged Union Square is where good taste goes to get watered-down. That could not be less true at Ramen Underground, the Kearny Street ramen emporium that is something of a hole-in-the-wall. Fans of fire will tell you that the habanero ramen is not to be trifled with, but once the heat dissipates, the noodles reveal themselves to be flawlessly executed. If house-pickled bamboo shoots and sixteen-hour broth sound about right to you, then Ramen Izakaya Goku is your kind of place. Amid a menu thick with delicacies such as monkfish liver and fried burdock root, the clam-and-garlic ramen swims in a complex shoyu broth. All that flavor, and you never even had to leave the city.

The projected two-year closure of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art casts a long shadow over the Bay Area’s arts scene, particularly for the field trip crowd and young weekenders who loved to take in the vast collections. But savvy grown-up patrons aren’t crying too hard, thanks to several new weeknight events at other museums and galleries around town, each geared exclusively toward adults. The over-21 crowds also have a reason to celebrate, thanks to the availability of booze at many of these adult interactions. Newly reopened on the Embarcadero, look for the Exploratorium. On the first Thursday of every month, grownups queue up for After Dark, an adult party that combines tactile exhibits with mixed cocktails and a rich array of themed programs such as Fog, the Art of Tinkering and Sexplorations. Much of the science behind the Exploratorium’s fascinating exhibits may rely on serendipity, but in this case, it’s best to plan ahead, as more than any other after-hours shindig in San Francisco, this one sells out quickly. San Francisco’s other hall of technology, the California Academy of Sciences, hosts the hip NightLife gathering every Thursday. Well-known deejays stop by regularly for sessions that last until 10 p.m., and if you look carefully you might even see the Academy’s albino alligator bobbing along to the beat. Partygoers opt for a craftier, hands-on feel at this weekly get together, all while sipping cocktails and immortalizing the night from inside the photo booth. The relatively recent Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio might seem like the kiddiest place on earth, but just as Disneyland has Downtown Disney, the museum itself loves catering to adults. The 18-and-over series Animate Your Night brings a monthly party to the Disney doorstep, with rotating themes that play on vaulted classics. Look for rare Disney tidbits scattered throughout the space and lots of craft cocktails for anyone who’s old enough to enjoy them. Intrepid adults can also take a peek at the oddball happenings every Friday at the de Young, where panel discussions, live music, fashion and drag shows, art-making and more all collide in a single space. There are cocktails, a prix-fix menu and extended hours, of course, but the cultural assault that is the de Young certainly isn’t for everyone. Thankfully, there’s likely to be another adult-only after hours museum party not far away.