Polk Street is the commercial main drag running along the western side of Russian Hill, and the part of the neighbourhood where life happens at street level rather than on the postcard. The blocks through Russian Hill — sometimes called Polk Gulch — are dense with cafes, bars, restaurants, wine shops, and independent stores, busy in the evenings and on weekends with a mostly local crowd.
It makes a good counterpoint to the tourist circuit of Lombard Street and the cable car: come here to eat, drink, and people-watch the way residents do. The street has a long history as a centre of San Francisco's gay life before the scene's centre of gravity moved to the Castro, and it retains an easygoing, neighbourly character. Wander a few blocks and pick whichever cafe or bar looks busiest.