Union Square/Theater District

Now: Every day, Union Square puts on its show for visitors, tourists, and moneyed locals. And if consider the scale of it all, it's really a grand show. Hotel doormen with their buttoned coats take their place on the sidewalks, taxis line up in front of the St. Francis, drivers of red double buses prepare for their circular routes, store managers dress their window displays, and groundskeepers pick up trash from the sidewalks.

Then: The square was created in 1850 and named in support of the Union (as opposed to the Confederacy). The parking lot, built from 1939 to 1941, was the world's first underground parking garage.

How To Get There: From Powell Street Muni/BART station, walk up Powell to Geary. If you're driving directly to Union Square, parking options include the garage under the square (enter on Geary Street if you're going west, or Post Street if you're going east), or the Sutter-Stockton Garage, which can be entered from either Stockton Street or Bush Street.

Union Square, from the corner of Geary Street and Powell Street
Maiden Lane, adjacent to the east side of Union Square, between Geary and Post Street
Outdoor tables in Maiden Lane

Entrance to Maiden Lane from Grant Avenue, toward Stockton Street
Maiden Lane between Grant Avenue and Kearny Street
The intersection of Stockton Street at Market Street

Powell Street at Ellis Street, near the Cable Car Turnaround
In Union Square, facing the Macy's building
Emporio Rulli il Caffe at Union Square

Fountain at the Levi Store at Stockton and Post Streets
In Union Square
In Union Square, looking east

Southeast corner of Union Square, facing Neiman Marcus
Union Square, taken from Borders building
Window display for Louis Vuitton at Stockton Street near Geary

Stockton Street, looking south toward Macy's, at Union Square
Gucci Store, on Stockton Street at the entrance to Maiden Lane
Union Square, from Neiman Marcus store window

The ceiling inside Neiman Marcus, at the corner of Stockton Street and Geary
Cable Car turnaround on Powell Street
Hallidie Plaza, entrance to Muni and BART stations on Powell Street

Escalator at the Powell Street Muni station
Muni gates inside the Powell Street Station
Entrance to BART inside the Powell Street Station

Inside the Powell Street Muni station
Boarding a train at the Powell Street train platform
The display screen at the Powell Station platform, meant to show arriving and departing trains

Cable Car on Powell Street
Line of people waiting to board the Cable Car on Powell Street at Market
People waiting in line for the Cable Car

Muni ticket booth on Powell Street at Market Street
Waiting at the Cable Car turnaround at the end of Powell Street at Market Street
Empty Cable Cars on Powell Street

Empty Cable Cars
Cable Car window showing price of fare
Sightseeing tour bus on Post Street

Intersection of Geary Street and Powell
Handlery Hotel on Post Street
Fino Italian Restaurant, on Post Street near Taylor Street

Colibri Mexican Bistro, on Geary Street near Mason Street
Millennium Vegetarian Restaurant, on Geary Street at Jones Street
American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), and the Curran Theatre, on Geary Street between Mason and Taylor Streets

David's Delicatessen on Geary Street, across from the Curran and ACT Theatres
Biscuits and Blues, on Mason Street
Belden Place (or Belden Alley), between Pine and Bush Streets near Kearny Street

Brindisi Italian Restaurant, in Belden Place
Post Street at Grant Avenue
Prada store on Grant Street, near Post

Shops along Grant Avenue between Sutter and Post, including Banana Republic
Shops on Grant Avenue near Post Street
Intersection of Grant Avenue and Sutter Street

Bus stop on Sutter Street between Stockton and Grant
Sutter Street between Stockton and Grant
Campton Place Restaurant and Bar (and Hotel) on Stockton Street, near Post Street

Sugar Cafe on Sutter Street near Taylor Street
Sutter Street at Mason Street
Mason Street, looking south from Sutter Street

The Hotel Triton, on Grant Avenue near Bush Street
Farallon Seafood, on Post Street near Powell Street
Michael Mina Restaurant, inside the St. Francis Hotel

The Gold Dust Lounge, on Powell Street between Geary and O'Farrell
Sears Fine Food on Powell Street
St. Francis Hotel on Powell Street, adjacent to Union Square

Sir Francis Drake Hotel, at Powell and Sutter Streets
Le Colonial Vietnamese Restaurant and Club, on Cosmo Place, off of Taylor Street between Sutter and Post Streets
Hana Zen Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, on Cyril Magnin Street off of O'Farrell between Powell and Mason Streets

Puccini and Pinetti (family-friendly) Italian Restaruant, on Ellis Street between Mason and Powell
Cafe Mason, betwen Geary and O'Farrell
New Delhi Indian Restaurant, on Ellis Street near Mason