West Portal is a small neighborhood with a village-like vibe located at the southern edge of the hills. It is bordered on the north by Forest Hill, on the east by Sherwood Forest, on the west by Inner Parkside and on the south by Lakeside and St. Francis Wood.

The neighborhood is primarily residential, with a number of locally owned and operated businesses, also called mom-and-pop stores, along its main artery, West Portal Avenue.

West Portal is very walkable, with most of the streets lined with rows of brightly colored single family homes, some of which have front and back lawns. Commerce is mainly concentrated on West Portal Avenue.

The quaint neighborhood appeals to starting families because of its access to good schools, a public library and a public playground. Many of the residents own their houses, and this somewhat affluent neighborhood is also home to a lot of retirees.

The small community and its small-town atmosphere also make West Portal a great choice for empty nesters, and its access to transportation is ideal for professionals.

History 

The Muni tunnel which runs beneath Twin Peaks was built in the early 1900s, connecting the western neighborhoods directly to downtown. The western terminus of the tunnel was opened in 1918, and this is where West Portal got its name. 

Trains coming from the tunnel emerge straight into West Portal, making the neighborhood very accessible to transportation.

Schools 

Some of the schools in the neighborhood include the K-5 West Portal Elementary School, which has a dual Cantonese Immersion Program (CIP), and Maria Montessori School of the Golden Gate on Lenox Way. The San Francisco Waldorf School on West Portal Ave. offers a high school program and West Portal Lutheran Church and School on Sloat Blvd. accepts students for grades 4 to 8. 

West Portal’s location between San Francisco State University and University of California San Francisco also makes it an attractive place to live for students. 

Other nearby schools include the Catholic all-girls Mercy High School and the K-5 Commodore Sloat School and Herbert Hoover Middle School. 

Some of the top-rated schools in San Francisco, such as Lowell High School, Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and Lincoln High School, are also just under 10 minutes’ drive away.

Learn more about the San Francisco Unified School District’s assignment process.

Supermarkets 

Residents get their produce from the West Portal Produce Market on West Portal Ave. Just a few blocks away, on Taraval St., you can find a Safeway and a butcher shop, Guerra’s Quality Meats.

Parks and green spaces

West Portal has one main park, the West Portal Playground. It is located on a hill, sandwiched between the train station and West Portal School. 

In addition to the playground, there is a picnic area and a large play field. It also has a newly renovated modern clubhouse that can accommodate parties, public meetings and other recreational programs.

The neighborhood lies in one of San Francisco’s “fog corridors”, which helps keep the area green, even in the rainless summer months. On a clear day, though, you can see the Marin Headlands and the Farallon Islands in the Pacific. 

If you like nature, you can also visit the nearby Edgehill Mountain, which has a park with a trail, benches and protected native flora and fauna. West Portal Elementary School sometimes conducts science and ecology classes for its students here, using the park as an environmental laboratory. Other youth organizations, including the Boy Scouts, also help protect the park while learning about the natural environment. Edgehill Mountain Park is perfect for residents who love nature and enjoy volunteering. 

Stern Grove is also another nearby park that residents can visit. This big recreational park is home to many eucalyptus trees and the famous Stern Grove Festival. Watch world-class performances in picnic style. In addition to weekly concerts with free admission, the park also hosts a kids’ camp and summer programs, yoga and different kinds of dance workshops, including ballet, hip hop, reggae and more.

Concentrations of commerce

Commerce is concentrated on West Portal Avenue, from the train station on Ulloa St. to 15th Avenue. There is a book store, toy store, produce market, hardware, banks and ATMs, dentists, gyms, an antique shop and a small cinema. A number of restaurants offer different cuisines, including Indian, Chinese, Italian, Irish, Japanese and Peruvian. 

Some Italian restaurants include Spiazzo Ristorante, Trattoria da Vittorio and Mozzarella Di Bufala Pizzeria (Italian–Brazilian). 

The Manor is one of the neighborhood institutions that has been around for half a century. First opened in 1967, the old family-owned coffee shop still exists today. It has a revamped menu that came along with its new French-trained chef owner, a West Portal kid himself who grew up eating at the eatery. 

For breakfast, there is Toast Eatery and Squat & Gobble. The Bullshead beside the train station offers burgers and authentic bison steaks. 

If you’re craving Indian cuisine, you can go to Clay Oven and Roti Indian Bistro. For Oriental dishes, visit Xiao Loong and Tsing’s for Chinese or Fuji and Sushi Suki for Japanese. 

Aside from the diverse cuisines you can find on West Portal Ave., it also has a Walgreens, Ambassador Toys (the “Best Toy Store You Wish Had Been Around When You Were a Kid” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian) and banks like Chase, Wells Fargo Bank and Citibank.

CineArts at the Empire is the neighborhood cinema that originally opened in 1925. Although it has closed and reopened over the years, undergoing renovation, it has retained its old-school façade, which adds charm to the neighborhood’s small-town feel. 

With San Francisco being home to many of the world’s tech giants, young kids have an advantage by learning coding and programming languages early on at theCoderSchool, a coding school straight out of Silicon Valley. The West Portal branch is located on West Portal Ave. 

If you have a dainty little princess, you can enroll her in ballet and dance lessons at the Tutu School. It is located right next to the Kumon center, which offers after-school math and reading programs that originated in Japan. 

West Portal doesn’t have its own mall, being a small neighborhood, but residents can head to Stonestown Galleria for some shopping. Many parks and other recreation centers are also located within a few blocks away.

Moving to the neighborhood

West Portal is often referred to as ‘small town in a big city’, and this small charming neighborhood’s access to transportation, great schools, parks and the different neighborhoods make it very attractive to a lot of people, especially those who are looking to move to San Francisco.