San Francisco Neighborhoods · Panhandle
Panhandle
also NoPaTransition zoneA leafy half-mile green arm reaching east from Golden Gate Park, flanked by grand painted Victorians and a buzzing Divisadero dining strip locals call NoPa.
- Half-mile green park strip
- Grand Victorian rowhouses
- Buzzing Divisadero dining
- Bike & jog path
On the map
Open Panhandle on the map →The story
The Panhandle was laid out in the 1870s as the original eastern entrance to Golden Gate Park, shaped under engineer William Hammond Hall as a tree-lined carriage approach. Its elegant Victorians survived the 1906 earthquake, and the strip became a refugee campground for thousands left homeless. The blocks north of the park stayed quietly residential for decades until the restaurant Nopa opened in 2006, sparking a dining revival and christening the NoPa neighborhood.
Things most people don’t know
The park's original arm
The one-block-wide, three-quarter-mile strip was designed in the 1870s as Golden Gate Park's eastern entrance — a green spine still lined with mature trees.
1906 refuge
After the earthquake and fires, thousands of displaced San Franciscans camped along the Panhandle's lawns in tents and shacks.
Grand Victorians
Stately Victorian and Edwardian rowhouses line the surrounding streets, many spared by the 1906 disaster.
Bike & jog path
A paved multi-use path runs the length of the green strip — a key cross-town commuter and recreation route.
NoPa was born here
The restaurant Nopa opened in 2006 and gave the North-of-Panhandle area its now-ubiquitous nickname.
Eating and drinking
Restaurants
- Nopa · 560 Divisadero St
- Bar Crudo · 655 Divisadero St
- Brenda's Meat & Three · 919 Divisadero St
- The Mill · 736 Divisadero St
Bars
- Madrone Art Bar · 500 Divisadero St
- The Page · 298 Divisadero St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Muni 5 Fulton, 7 Haight, and 21 Hayes run along the green strip; the 24 Divisadero and 43 Masonic cross it north–south.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Davies Campus, 601 Duboce Ave (about 1.5 mi)
Thinking about Panhandle?
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.