While I do enjoy roaming around Union Square in San Francisco, my favorite shopping area is by far Union Street between Steiner and Octavia Streets. This area, which is known as the Union Street shops, is best describes as an upscale, charming neighborhood with great apparel boutiques, coffee shops, florists, jewelry boutiques, and plenty of other places to entertain yourself. This time around I discovered a great store called Sumbody, which has all natural and eco-friendly beauty care items. As I was buying some astringent, the sales girl informed me that they have a location in Santa Barbara (at 920 State Street), so I'm definitely going to check that out. Last year I enjoyed an amazing Italian dinner at Capaninna (the red building pictured below). I highly recommend it for anyone who visits Union Street. For a complete listing of all the businesses located on Union Street, click here.
Click the photos to enlarge.
Amazingly enough, I didn't buy anything, although I browsed the racks at Ambiance, LF, Bebe, and a great antique store which I cannot remember the name of. For margarita lovers, I recommend Left At Albuquerque (there's a location in Santa Barbara as well). For denim lovers, the Blue Jean Bar has an extensive selection of popular labels in a bar-like setup. During my visit to Union Street, I had lunch at La Boulange (the blue building pictured above in the center), which seemed to be quite the popular place for coffee, pastries, and massive sandwiches and salads. After my late lunch it was time to head back to my hotel in Union Square to start getting ready for a night of partying, as it was Friday. I'll have more on that later...