North Beach, San Francisco ยท restaurant
A triangular corner room in a 1909 flatiron building facing Washington Square Park, where good seats fill early and the view keeps you in yours. The focaccia paninis arrive on bread from Liguria Bakery down the block (meatball is the one to order) while the espresso comes from Graffeo beans, sourced just as locally. Three generations of the Crismani family have run it since 1971, keeping a neighborhood spot alive that predates the cafe itself by decades.