Shopping & Services >>

• Shopping & Services Readers' Poll (1 Comment)
  Readers' Poll Winners:
  Best Massage: Kabuki Best Manicure/Pedicure: Silk Best Hair Salon: Madusalon Best Lingerie Store: My Boudoir Best Men’s Clothing: Macy’s Best Women’s Clothing: Ambience Best Shoe Store: DSW Best Jewelry: Beadissimo Best Furniture: IKEA Best Antique Store: The Apartment Best Thrift Store: Thrift... More >>
• Best Pot Club
  Hope Net
  Yes, it's true that this SOMA club has beautiful, high-quality marijuana — within the inner sanctum, green and purple buds sparkle with crystals. It's also true that patients are allowed to smoke at the club, either in the cozy, carpeted "chill room" or on the sunny patio out back. And it's... More >>
• Best Way to Foil the Parking Ticket Industrial Complex
  Project 20
  You paid the meter but neglected to curb your wheels. You overslept and didn't move your car for the street sweepers. You're allergic to metal and can't carry the two pocketfuls of coins it takes to fill up a meter these days. Whatever the reason, if you drive in San Francisco, you inevitably... More >>
• Best Gardening Store
  Flowercraft Garden Center
  This gardener's mecca is on an unassuming stretch on Bayshore Boulevard, surrounded by dull warehouses and traffic rushing toward highway onramps. But step through the gate and you're in a deep green oasis, a quiet place where at least four cats prowl through the foliage and the chipper motto is... More >>
• Best Lap Dance (46 Comments)
  Market Street Cinema
  Lap dancing has come a long way from its early days when customers paid naked dancers a dollar to just sit on their laps. Well, maybe not that far, conceptually speaking. Nowadays be prepared to give up more than a buck, but expect more than just a static buttocks upon said lap. The girls at... More >>
• Best Toy Store for Adults
  Double Punch
  Get your mind out of the gutter because, despite a potentially misleading store name, North Beach emporium Double Punch doesn't carry "adult toys," simply toys for adults. The last few years have seen much innovation in the art of creating vinyl figures, originating in Asia. Artists design... More >>
• Best Vending Machines
  JVD Global Inc.
  We struggled with this one — after all, at least one other store on Clement Street has a similar array of coin-operated magic, and there are a few good spots in Chinatown. But in the end, we give the nod to this odd little store that has two specialties: money transfers and toys. Their... More >>
• Best Way to Volunteer (1 Comment)
  One Brick
  There are never enough volunteers to serve our community needs, but it would be wrong to say that this is because there aren't enough kindhearted people around San Francisco. One Brick puts them together. Their simple yet ingenious approach eliminates three large concerns that keep many from... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Alternative Remedies
  Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy
  The concept of a pharmacy as a place to browse for the fun of it is a fairly non-existent one, except in the case of Cole Valley's Pharmaca (part of a small chain that also has Bay Area stores in Sonoma, Novato, Berkeley, and Mill Valley). Besides carrying a time-consuming selection of wellness... More >>
• Best Ninja Supply
  Brendan Lai's Supply Co.
  The Bay Area has one of the most ardent martial arts communities in the country, so there's a legitimate need for a great shop that carries everything from truncheons to butterfly swords for those who have the right skill to use them. Named after the late gentleman who opened the store almost 30... More >>
• Best Clown School
  Clown Conservatory
  There are a lot of clowns in San Francisco, and they number more than just the bozos you encounter tooling around town on an average day. Indeed, with multiple schools dedicated to the comic relief of the circus world located right here, we are actually somewhat of a world-renowned haven for... More >>
• Best Corner Market
  Mama's Market
  Mama's is basically everything anyone could ask for in a corner market. It's clean. It opens early. The shop has the New York Times and local papers near its hot coffee and pastries for those who don't want to stand in line at a cafe. Mama's sells a remarkably good selection of everything from... More >>
• Best Tender Loving Pet Care
  Mission Pet Hospital
  At some animal hospitals, veterinarians start to seem more like interrogators than caregivers, hurling questions at pet owners like, "When was the last time you trimmed those claws?" or "So, you noticed this problem a while ago?" But at Mission Pet Hospital, the staff actually tries to cheer up... More >>
• Best Computer Saviors
  Lazarus Data Recovery
  There's a scene in Star Wars that anyone scrambling for help in the midst of a computer meltdown should be able to understand. It's the one where a desperate Princess Leia turns to R2-D2 so the little droid can deliver her message of, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." Lazarus Data... More >>
• Best 10-Minute Massage
  Blush Nail Spa
  The Blush Nail Spa massaging pedicure chairs are awfully comfortable, especially after the staff drapes a warm aromatherapy neck pillow around your shoulders. Then they bust out this heated mango-scented lotion and sweetly ask, "Would you like a 10-minute massage?" Who in their right mind is... More >>
• Best Place for a Man to Get Waxed
  Nickel Spa
  The term "boyzilian" might make a few people giggle, but at Nickel Spa in the Castro, man-waxing is a serious beauty matter. Nickel is one of the few places that offer waxing services for every possible inch of the male body. "If there's hair there, we'll wax it" should be the unofficial motto... More >>
• Best Bikini Line Rip
  Benefit
  All too often a trip to the bikini waxer feels like a session in an especially cruel torture chamber. But at the Benefit Cosmetics shop on Fillmore Street, waxers truly have a gift for a quick and relatively painless bikini line (or eyebrow) rip. If you get to the lovely little shop early enough... More >>
• Best Public Transit Stress Reliever
  NextBus
  In the past, catching public transport in San Francisco meant standing on a street corner for 20 minutes wondering when the next bus would arrive, or if, indeed, it would arrive at all. Things began to change in 1999 when the city started experimenting with the NextBus automated tracking system.... More >>
• Best Muni Adventure
  76 Marin Headlands
  Locals and visitors alike should take advantage of this little known treasure of a bus line that, for the humble $1.50 fare, takes hikers, bikers, and nature lovers (or simply those in need of a short respite from life in the big city) up into the gorgeous Marin Headlands. Starting at the... More >>
• Best Tanning Salon (1 Comment)
  Brown Sugar
  Now that it's officially lethal to lie in the sun without a floppy hat, Ray-Bans, and several coats of SPF 57, how can the melanin-challenged attain that beautifully bronzed look favored by the toned and robust from Copacabana to Stinson? Brown Sugar offers the perfectly safe airbrush tanning... More >>
• Best Retail Therapy
  Therapy
  Having a terrible day at the office? A relationship is on the rocks? Never fear. Shopping at Therapy is just as likely to raise the spirits as a trip to some counselor's couch. Therapy is brimming with awesome clothes, amazing shoes, and especially lovely bags. The front of the shop always has a... More >>
• Best Free Samples
  Kiehl's San Francisco Store
  There's a reason that Kiehl's has developed a cult following since it was created more than 150 years ago. No, it's not the amazing customer service — although the staff members seem to be perpetually helpful and genuinely nice people. At Kiehl's, it's all about the free samples. Meaning... More >>
• Best Salon
  Grasshopper
  For a multisensory experience provided by some of the hottest style cognoscenti around, visit this tranquil South Park outpost, which is dressed to the max in Southeast Asian décor and bamboo plants. Aside from the fact that a cut at Grasshopper provides the luxury and serenity of a day spa... More >>
• Best Spa
  Soothe
  There's no sauna, fancy locker-room amenities, shelves of overpriced miracle salves, or attitude-shlepping front-desk girls, but Soothe, an unpretentious Upper Haight pampering haven, offers a gentle reprieve from careworn lives to rival any of the city's hoity-toity spa pretenders. You can... More >>
• Best Hair Stylists
  Edo Salon
  Wrapped around the corner of Haight and Steiner in the eclectic Lower Haight neighborhood sits Edo Salon with its creed to merge fashion, design, and art. The massive windows and perpetual afternoon sunlight provide an excellent setting for the constantly rotating art gallery, and perhaps it's... More >>
• Best Makeup Store
  The Apartment
  There's a dearth of stores in San Francisco that operate in the middle ground between thrift store and high-end antique store. What we yearned for was a place where you can furnish your flat with stylish vintage finds on an otherwise-IKEA budget. We were thrilled to discover the Apartment, which... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Junk Jewelry (1 Comment)
  Forever 21
  We'll still cruise the racks at Claire's and H&M, but our heart belongs to the amazing accessory displays at Forever 21, specifically those found at the flagship store, located in an architecturally impressive building downtown built as a bank in 1921. If you see something you like among the... More >>
• Best Record Store
  Amoeba
  The idea of "big box store" gets a bad rap, assuming that a consumer outlet is bad just because the place is cavernous, packed with a dizzying selection of merchandise, and made of unadorned concrete. Ninety-nine percent of the time huge stores do suck, whether because they're full of things no... More >>
• Best Place to Ogle Vinyl
  Groove Merchant Records
  Sorry, digital download enthusiasts: MP3s just don't have sex appeal. And those that are quick to proclaim that vinyl is dead as a musical format have probably never seen how pretty and youthful it looks in the bins at Groove Merchant, a discerning purveyor of lovely collectable jazz, funk, and... More >>
• Best Place to Find Narcocorridos
  Discolandia
  Discolandia is one of those music stores somebody can wander into, hum a few bars of the Latin song that you've been looking for, then wait as the helpful shop keeper rushes around to find the right CD. Chances are good that Discolandia will not only find the right version of the song but will... More >>
• Best Theater Ticket Deals
  TIX Bay Area
  Many people don't go to the theater because they think it's too expensive. But a visit to TIX Bay Area will prove them wrong. The TIX booth on Union Square is the place to go to get seats for a song. Run by Theatre Bay Area (TBA), the local performing arts umbrella organization, both the booth... More >>
• Best Video Store (2 Comments)
  Four Star Video
  In a city with so many great video stores, it's the little things that count. Four Star Video certainly has the basics covered, but this film treasure trove in Bernal Heights also has a section devoted to British TV, so if you want to spend the weekend watching alternating episodes of The... More >>
• Best Place to Rent Movies for Free (1 Comment)
  San Francisco Public Library
  Sure, Netflix delivers to your door, but you've gotta pay for that laziness. How about a service that ships those flicks close to your homestead for free? Go to the San Francisco Public Library's Web site and you can request a movie from its catalog and have the DVD delivered to the branch... More >>
• Best Radical Bookstore
  Bolerium Books
  Bolerium Books is the wiser older sister of some other, more irritating radical bookstores we could name. You won't stumble into Bolerium on your way to the touristy head shop, for example. In fact, you might miss it altogether. It's up three flights of narrow stairs above a paint shop, and you... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bookstore
  Bird and Beckett Books and Records
  Crammed with literature both popular and obscure, Bird and Beckett Books and Records stands as a pillar of the Glen Park community and a gathering place for the local intelligentsia. Leftist-existentialist volumes seem be stacked everywhere, and you'll smell the anti-war ambience as soon as you... More >>
• Best Hidden Bookstore
  Book Bay Fort Mason Bookstore,
  Our frequent finds at the Book Bay Main, a snug used bookstore operated by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, tucked just inside the Grove Street entrance of the main library branch in Civic Center, led us to take a trek to its other location, the Book Bay Fort Mason. We stumbled... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Clothing Shop
  Lower Hater
  True, the youthful gallery/clothing store Upper Playground is a block away and they, too, love to represent their vibrant Lower Haight digs with a selection of street art and fashion wares that celebrate the area's natural and artificial funkiness. The newer boutique Lower Hater has a similarly... More >>
• Best Lingerie Store
  Agent Provocateur
  It may be one of the most expensive lingerie lines around, but Agent Provocateur renders fine couture-detailed underthings in luxe materials like silk and chiffon that's worth the often triple-digit price tags. A favorite of saucy stars like Christina Aguilera, AP has the power of putting... More >>
• Best T-Shirt Shop (1 Comment)
  My Trick Pony
  My Trick Pony prides itself on making T-shirt dreams come alive. Bring in an image or just an idea and bring out a finished garment (like a tee, hoodie, pants, etc.) created to personal specification. Luckily, the shop doesn't rely strictly on its customers' imaginations, providing plenty of... More >>
• Best Belt Buckles (1 Comment)
  Booty Boutique
  Because Kyra Brown knows that belts are more than just a utensil for keeping pants properly hitched, she treats belt buckles as the small pieces of unusual and expressive art — and, sometimes, as the wallets and stash boxes — that they were meant to be. She uses a broad base of... More >>
• Best Spot for Sneaker Heads (1 Comment)
  Huf
  Huf is the mecca for kids who get hard-ons when they see rare pairs of Nike SB Dunks. Pro skater and store founder Keith Hufnagle carved a new standard when he opened the store in 2002, making Huf a staple for limited-edition sneakers and exclusive collaborations with companies like Nike, Vans,... More >>
• Best Ladies' Thrift
  Thrift Town
  Exquisitely surly service, that pervasive, weird noise that comes from the roof, and the masses of hipster and/or impoverished humanity gathered on a weekend: Thrift Town is not for the faint of thrift-shopping heart. Its men's section is horribly picked over, its jewelry counter is... More >>
• Best Men's Thrift
  Clothes Contact
  For a town that's been home to generations of wittily-dressed men, S.F. is rather impoverished as far as a one-stop thrift-shop for cool men's clothes. Maybe our well-dressed citizens recycle their castoffs to friends, or maybe they're buried with Egyptian-style caches, taking their best outfits... More >>
• Best Place to Find Tranny Gear and $400 shirts
  Polk Gulch
  From Felicity's Fetishes, where you can fulfill your most forbidden fantasies with some extremely risqué erotic lingerie and a few "sumpthin'-sumpthin's," to American Rag on Van Ness, a Japanese-based fashion store specializing in designer clothes (Ben Sherman, Marc Jacobs, Earnest Cut & Sew,... More >>
• Best Weird Gift Store
  Paxton Gate
  Fossilized shit — it's for the man who has everything. But what about the lady? Hmm ... how about the skeleton of a domestic cat? Or a beaver skull, complete with buck teeth? Maybe a penis bone, a dead beetle, or a bird-eating tarantula? A knobby starfish? A civet skull? Perhaps one of... More >>
• Best Chinatown Walking Tour
  Wok Wiz Chinatown Walking Tours and Cooking Center
  Looking for a place to ditch your visiting relatives for an afternoon? They'll thank you if you drop them off at Shirley Fong-Torres' Wok Wiz Chinatown Walking Tour. On the daily tours, visitors follow Fong-Torres and her Cantonese-speaking tour guides around Chinatown to learn about... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Walking Tour
  Alternate Soundtrack City Tours
  Beyond the tinted windows of the double-decker red tour buses that bumble through the city, the streets of San Francisco offer invisible cultural phenomena and flavors of each neighborhood that can only really be tasted by hitting the pavement. Neighborhood Public Radio's Alternate Soundtrack... More >>
• Best Homebrew and Winemaking Supplies Shop
  San Francisco Brewcraft
  A sign at the door of San Francisco Brewcraft tells visitors not to bring cellphones inside. Just turn yours off. They'll never know. Two feet in the door, boxes, buckets, barrels, and coils of copper tubing nearly block the way, but don't grumble and gripe, for these are all very essential... More >>
• Best Penny-Squishing Machine
  Laffing Sal at the Musée Mécanique
  You may think all penny-squishing machines are alike. They all take your 51 cents and return to you a flattened copper oval, and they're all located at tourist traps. How different can they be? For collectors, it's a matter of deep importance. Is the contraption a rare hand-crank model, or the... More >>
• Best Pen Refills
  The Gables Stationery
  Your ancient pen is out of ink. You try to refill it. But nothing works. It seems as if there's nobody you can talk to. Roxanne Hill understands. "The older generation, the kind with walkers, that's all they come in for," Hill says. "They depend on us for that sort of thing." Hill's family has... More >>