Fillmore Street changes character three times over its length. The upper stretch, above Bush, is boutiques and Pacific Heights money. The lower stretch, below Geary, is what remains of the Fillmore jazz district — a neighbourhood that was once called the Harlem of the West and was largely demolished in the 1960s and 70s under redevelopment. Between them, on the blocks around Fillmore and O'Farrell, sits a set of places to eat that are worth going out of your way for, and a history that most of the people eating there do not know.
The eating and the history are on the same two blocks but almost nothing is signposted, so it is easy to have dinner here and see none of it. Tell Karpo what you want and it will put the two together.
The room people book
State Bird Provisions at 1529 Fillmore Street is the restaurant that made this stretch a destination again. It serves small plates from carts moved around the dining room, which is an approach borrowed from dim sum and applied to Californian cooking, and it has been extremely difficult to book since it opened. Its sibling, The Progress, is next door and is the sit-down, set-menu version of the same kitchen's thinking.
The method for State Bird has always been the same: book when the window opens, or turn up early and put your name on the walk-in list. The walk-in route is real but it requires being there before the doors rather than optimistically at eight.
What else is on the block
The Boom Boom Room at 1601 Fillmore is the surviving blues and funk bar on the corner, and it does the work of reminding you what this district was. Sheba Piano Lounge on Fillmore covers Ethiopian food with live jazz, which is a combination that only makes sense here and makes complete sense here. Around the corner on Geary there is a run of Japantown restaurants a few minutes' walk east — a second, entirely different eating neighbourhood within the same trip.
This mixture — a nationally known restaurant, an Ethiopian jazz room and a blues bar, inside two blocks — is not the result of a plan. It is what is left after several decades of things being knocked down and a few refusing to go.
The history you are standing in
From the 1940s through the early 60s, the Fillmore held dozens of jazz and blues clubs, many of them in buildings that were cleared in the redevelopment programme that followed. The Fillmore Auditorium at 1805 Geary, which became famous for rock in the 1960s, is still operating and still holds the room's original scale. The annual Fillmore Jazz Festival, held on the street in summer, is the neighbourhood's largest event and is free to walk into.
If you want the fuller version, the plaques and the historic markers along the Fillmore blocks between Geary and Eddy will do more for the evening than another cocktail will.
Timing and getting there
The 22 Fillmore runs the length of the street and the 38 Geary crosses it, so this is one of the easier destinations in San Francisco to reach without a car — which matters, because parking on these blocks in the evening is genuinely difficult and the garages fill when there is a show at the Fillmore Auditorium. Check what is on there before choosing a dinner time; a sold-out show changes the whole neighbourhood's traffic.
Practical notes
Addresses: State Bird Provisions and The Progress, 1529 and 1525 Fillmore St. Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore St. The Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Blvd. Sheba Piano Lounge is on the same Fillmore stretch. State Bird takes reservations well in advance and keeps a walk-in list — arrive before opening for it. Japantown is a few minutes east along Geary. The 22 Fillmore and 38 Geary both serve the area; evening parking is difficult, especially on Fillmore Auditorium show nights. The Fillmore Jazz Festival takes over the street in summer and is free.
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Ask Karpo first
Lower Fillmore rewards knowing what is on at the Auditorium and whether the walk-in list is worth joining tonight. Ask Karpo what is happening on the block, whether to book or queue, and where to go afterwards for music.
