San Francisco Neighborhoods · West Portal
West Portal
Fog zoneA village within the city: streetcars surface from the tunnel onto a walkable main street of family-owned trattorias, old-school pubs, and stroller-friendly sidewalks.
- Walkable main-street shops
- Streetcars from the tunnel
- Family-friendly village feel
- Beloved Italian restaurants
On the map
Open West Portal on the map →The story
West Portal takes its name from the western mouth of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, which opened in February 1918 and finally let Muni streetcars reach the area. Trains emerging from the portal turned a stretch of sand-dune outskirts into a thriving streetcar suburb, and West Portal Avenue grew into its commercial spine. Today the avenue keeps its small-town, family-friendly character beside St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill.
Things most people don’t know
Out of the tunnel
The neighborhood is named for the west portal of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, where Muni streetcars emerge into daylight at the foot of the avenue.
Opened 1918
The Twin Peaks Tunnel opened in February 1918, connecting the area to downtown and sparking its build-out as a streetcar suburb.
The avenue
West Portal Avenue is the commercial spine — a low-rise strip of locally owned shops, cafés, and restaurants.
Village by design
Walkable and quiet, West Portal is known as one of the city's most family-friendly, village-like neighborhoods.
The old Empire
The 1925 Portal Theatre, later the CineArts Empire, lit up the avenue for decades before closing in 2021.
Eating and drinking
Restaurants
- Trattoria da Vittorio · 150 W Portal Ave
- Little Original Joe's · 393 W Portal Ave
- Mozzarella di Bufala · 69 W Portal Ave
- Elena's Mexican Restaurant · 255 W Portal Ave
Bars
- The Dubliner · 328 W Portal Ave
- Philosopher's Club · 824 Ulloa St
- Bullshead Restaurant · 840 Ulloa St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. West Portal Station is the hub — the K Ingleside, L Taraval, and M Ocean View lines run through the Twin Peaks Tunnel to downtown; the 48 bus crosses the south of the city.
Nearest hospital. UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus, 505 Parnassus Ave (about 2 mi)
Thinking about West Portal?
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.