San Francisco, CA

Should you go check out Ghirardelli Square if you’re visiting (or living in) San Francisco? I suppose it depends on how much you like chocolate and how fond you are of tourist attractions, but the short answer is that you should probably go there at least once. The grounds of the place are beautiful, the location is fairly easy to access and let’s face it, the chocolate is fabulous. But there’s an insider’s way to enjoy Ghirardelli Square and you should know it.

First of all, there are several different places that you can go to check out the chocolates of Ghirardelli Square. Your best bet if you want to see the most and get in and out decently quickly is to go to the store located just off of (west of) the Ghirardelli ice cream shop at the corner of North Point St. and Larkin St. Many people trying to avoid the crowds skip this spot because it looks like there’s a big line, but it actually moves quickly and the way that the store is set up is designed to push people along. So, go in and have your hand ready for the sample chocolate square that they’re going to offer you. Then just keep moving through. If you’re planning to buy a chocolate gift, you’ll be able to see everything easily and quickly and if you’re not, you can get your free chocolate and get going.

Secondly, you should get the ice cream at Ghirardelli Square. It’s worth it, whether it’s just the fudge sauce you eat or not. But there’s a better way to do this than what most people are doing. See, right next to that chocolate store is the main ice cream selling section. And you will always find a line here. Always. But, if you stick to the outside of Ghirardelli Square and go to the actual corner of North Point and Larkin, you’ll see another entrance. It’s the upstairs to this same location, and it also sells the full menu of sundaes and whatnot that you can get downstairs. Most people don’t realize this and therefore there is rarely a long line. When this is not true is on major holidays and on weekends in the summer; these are the obvious times not to go to Ghirardelli if you’re trying avoid the crowds.

How much looking around you do after getting your treats really depends on you. There are some neat shops in there. I have a friend who can get lost for hours in the woodcarving shop down below. As for me, I’ll usually just sit at the mermaid fountain with my ice cream and see whatever entertainment they’ve got going on for the day. On days when there’s none, the people are always fun to watch. But explore if you like; the old buildings have a lot of interesting things going on for them architecturally and the stores have stuff to see if you’re into that kind of stuff (high end tourist stuff, that is).

If not, make your way down to the water that’s south of Ghirardelli Square. This will put you at Aquatic Park which is one of the beaches of San Francisco. It’s a bay beach and you’ll see boats bobbing in the water, kids letting the waves chase them and perhaps someone swimming there. It’s rarely crowded but usually has some people. And it’s not a bad place to go to see a good mix of both locals and tourists being casual in San Francisco together.

Now that’s the way to do Ghirardelli Square.