West Portal

West Portal

 

West Portal is sometimes referred to as the 'new' Noe Valley. No neighborhood drag is more dominated by the MUNI light rail than this one (the 9th and Irving one comes close). West Portal is a combination of local and national shops with a 1950s ambiance and angled parking places. You'll come across restaurants, services, and one-off establishments such as a gold store adjacent to a title office adjacent to the Koren BBQ across the street from the dust-free Mexican restaurant. It's one of the few communities where you'll see families out and about in the manner of Norman Rockefeller — that is, Americana modernized for the twenty-first century. The houses here are located on winding, twisting lanes leading up to the Inner Parkside, which resembles the Sunset. There are various large houses in various styles (Tudor stucco/Spanish colonial anyone?). You'll find clusters of adorable renovated houses adjacent to one another, as well as a handful of older (and neglected) houses ideal for renovation and detached homes on very large parcels. The atmosphere mixes long-time residents, students en route to SF State via the M-MUNI line, and the occasional, very lost-looking tourist. Proximity to Portola, 280, and MUNI and good schools contribute to its popularity. Single-family homes will range in price from the mid $1 million range to well over $2 million and beyond.

West Portal Avenue, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, serves as the primary shopping district in southwestern San Francisco.

Due to the neighborhood's modest size and concentration of mom and pop shops, restaurants, and saloons is frequently described as having a village-like ambiance. The West Portal Branch of the San Francisco Public Library serves the neighborhood. As with Glen Park, West Portal is a San Francisco neighborhood that works nearly as a tiny city in its own right. While the neighborhood is small, it is densely packed with banks, restaurants of various types, coffee shops, salons, a first-run movie theater, post office, elementary school, drug stores, bakeries, ice cream shops, real estate brokers, and spas. West Portal Avenue is lined with independently owned shops, including a book store, toy store, fruit market, confectionery shop, and hardware store. West Portal Avenue is home to a slew of professional services, including dentists, attorneys, accountants, and optometrists.