San Francisco Neighborhoods · Ingleside
Ingleside
also OMI (Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside)Persistent Fog zoneA diverse, down-to-earth southwest village strung along Ocean Avenue — where a 1962 burger drive-in, family taquerias, and an all-ages brewery sit in the shadow of City College, all an easy hop from the K-line and Balboa Park BART.
- Real working commercial strip on Ocean Ave
- Transit-rich: K-Ingleside Metro plus Balboa Park BART
- Next door to City College's Ocean campus
- One of the city's most diverse, neighborly districts
On the map
Open Ingleside on the map →The story
The neighborhood traces to the Ingleside Racetrack, which the Pacific Coast Jockey Club opened just off Ocean Road (now Ocean Avenue) on November 28, 1895, drawing thousands by special rail line and becoming the first American track with a real starting gate. Streetcar service reached Ocean Avenue the same year to serve the track, and after the racetrack era ended the area filled in with single-family homes along the new lines, accelerated when the K-Ingleside opened through the Twin Peaks Tunnel on February 3, 1918. City College of San Francisco opened its permanent Ocean campus at Ocean and Phelan avenues on August 27, 1940, anchoring the district. The old racetrack oval survives as the curving loop of Urbano Drive in the adjacent Ingleside Terraces residence park, home to a giant 1913 sundial. Today Ingleside is a middle- and working-class community known for its diversity, with the Ocean Avenue corridor as its commercial heart.
Things most people don’t know
City College's flagship
CCSF's Ocean campus opened at Ocean and Phelan in 1940, its Timothy Pflueger-designed Science Hall a showpiece of monumental architecture.
Streetcar since 1918
The K-Ingleside began running through the Twin Peaks Tunnel on February 3, 1918, and still rolls down the middle of Ocean Avenue today.
Ingleside Branch Library
The neighborhood's public library sits right on the strip at 1298 Ocean Ave, a modern branch rebuilt for the community.
A racetrack in the street grid
The 1895 Ingleside Racetrack's oval lives on as the curving loop of Urbano Drive in neighboring Ingleside Terraces.
Two rail systems at the door
Balboa Park BART and the K and M Muni Metro lines all meet at the neighborhood's eastern edge.
Eating and drinking
Restaurants
- Beep's Burgers · 1051 Ocean Ave
- Sakesan Sushi & Robata · 1400 Ocean Ave
- Pakwan · 1140 Ocean Ave
- Champa Garden · 613 Faxon Ave
Bars
- Ocean Ale House · 1314 Ocean Ave
- Philz Coffee · 1110 Ocean Ave
Getting around and getting care
Transit. K-Ingleside Muni Metro runs along Ocean Avenue; M-Ocean View and Balboa Park BART meet at the neighborhood's eastern edge. Buses 29-Sunset, 49 Van Ness-Mission, 8-Bayshore and 54-Felton serve the area.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Mission Bernal Campus, 3555 Cesar Chavez St (about 2.5 mi)
Thinking about Ingleside?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.