Eyewear Store Near Me on Maiden Lane: Spectacles of Union Square

Spectacles of Union Square has occupied 177 Maiden Lane since 1972, a small optical shop with its own lens lab on the gated pedestrian lane that runs between Kearny and Stockton streets. It opens Monday through Saturday from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm and stays closed on Sunday. When an eyewear store near me search around Union Square needs to end with a frame repaired, a rimless pair built from scratch, or an unworn vintage frame fitted with modern lenses, this is the counter to visit.

The shop's story starts in Detroit. In 1932 the owner's family opened their first wholesale optical lab there, and sisters Isabel and Rae became two of the first women working in the optical industry. Decades later the craft moved west to Maiden Lane. Owner Kevin Hershey trained under master optician Horst Goos and took over the lab in 1996, which means the person adjusting your hinge has spent nearly thirty years at the same bench.

The in-house lab specializes in custom rimless mountings, the drilled-lens style where the temples and bridge attach directly to the lens with tiny screws and no frame around the glass. It is fussy work that many shops send out to a wholesale lab, and here it stays on the premises. The lab uses Varilux and Carl Zeiss lenses. If you want an almost invisible pair for daily wear, describe your prescription and lifestyle at the counter and ask what lens shape suits it.

The other reason to walk down Maiden Lane is the vintage case. The shop sells unused, never-worn vintage frames, old stock rather than secondhand glasses, and fits them with new prescription lenses. On its own site, Vintage George is listed at $200, Vintage Mayan at $325 and Vintage Picasso at $450. Vintage sizing tends to run small, so try a few before you set your heart on a shape you saw in an old photograph.

Visitors who fall for a frame but leave San Francisco before the lenses are ready have an option. The shop sells eyewear through its own website and offers free shipping on all domestic orders, so a vintage or Archie Brower frame can follow you home. The simplest approach is to try the frame on in person, leave your prescription at the counter, and have the finished pair shipped instead of rushing the lab before your flight.

Alongside vintage, the cases carry a list of independent and luxury makers that reads like an optician's wish list: Lindberg, Mykita, Cazal, Cartier, Zero G, Akoni, Eyevan, Kame ManNen, Movitra, T Henri, Blac, Say-Oh and genuine horn frames. There is also Archie Brower, a line sold through the shop, where styles such as New Panto and Oxford are listed at $350 each. Ask to see the horn pieces even if you are not buying; the grain differs from frame to frame.

Hershey has described his job as doing everything in-house, from repairing an old frame to helping someone see better. That makes this a strong first call when a favorite pair has a cracked hinge, a loose rimless screw or lenses that need replacing in an older frame you cannot find anymore. Reviewers single out Kevin and his staff for service after the sale, especially repairs and adjustments, so bring the damaged pair in rather than describing it over the phone.

Hours are short by downtown standards, 11:00 am to 5:30 pm, so lunch hour and the late afternoon before closing are the busiest windows for office workers from the Financial District. Late morning on a weekday, soon after the 11:00 am opening, is the easiest time to get unhurried attention. Saturday brings tourists from Union Square but also the most browsing time on the lane. Sunday is not an option at all, since the shop is closed.

Be clear about what this shop is. It is an optician and lens lab, not a big eye clinic, and the official site does not advertise eye exams. Arrive with a current written prescription if you want new lenses. It is also not a place to browse hundreds of trendy frames; the selection is curated and some of it is decades old. If you need an exam and frames in one appointment, San Francisco Optics by Alexander Daas on Chestnut Street in the Marina offers both.

The lane is part of the visit. Wrought iron gates close it to cars through the middle of the day, so during shop hours you walk down the middle of the street between café tables. A few doors away stands the V.C. Morris Gift Shop building, the only Frank Lloyd Wright design in San Francisco, with its arched brick entrance and spiral ramp inside. Sherri McMullen opened a large two-floor boutique on the lane in September 2026, adding another reason to linger.

From Spectacles, walk west to Stockton Street and you are at Union Square, with its palm trees and the Dewey Monument at the center. Head the other way to Kearny Street for the edge of the Financial District, or continue north a few blocks up Grant Avenue to the Dragon Gate at the entrance to Chinatown. All three make easy stops while a lens is being cut, so you can drop off a pair and return to pick it up.

Powell Street station, served by BART and Muni Metro, is a few blocks south on Market Street, and the Central Subway's Union Square/Market Street station opens onto Stockton Street right beside the square. The Powell Street cable car lines also stop nearby. Driving downtown is rarely worth it; if you must, the large Union Square garage under the plaza is the simplest option, then walk across the square to the Stockton Street end of the lane.

Spectacles of Union Square is at 177 Maiden Lane, San Francisco, CA 94108, between Kearny and Stockton streets. Hours are Monday to Saturday 11:00 am to 5:30 pm, closed Sunday. For lens pricing, call the shop with your prescription, since lens costs depend on the lens type. Bring any frame you want reused, plus your prescription, and allow time for the lab if you are ordering rimless mountings.