From coffee and a members clubhouse in Hayes Valley, by transit to the Mission: Retool, Weights & Biases, Noisebridge, Valencia Street and Gray Area.
Hayes Valley and the Mission are two of the city's founder neighbourhoods, a short ride apart. Start with coffee and a members clubhouse in Hayes Valley, ride across, and spend the rest of the walk among the Mission's company offices, a hackerspace, an arts nonprofit and Valencia Street.
Getting there: Start at Octavia Street in Hayes Valley, a few blocks from the Market Street Muni lines.
Stop 1 of 8
432b Octavia St
Begin with coffee at the Ritual kiosk at Proxy, 432b Octavia Street. Ritual lists weekday hours of 7am to 3:30pm and weekend hours of 7am to 5pm, and the city's registry has a Ritual location on Octavia Street from May 2011.
Look for: The kiosk window on Octavia Street.
Ground-floor cafe open to anyone.
8 min hereThen walk 3 min
Stop 2 of 8
Block from the DataSF registry; 'talks and dinners' is from our summary, not a cited source.
The registry lists The Commons at 540 Laguna Street from August 2022, as a civic and social organisation. Our record describes it as a member clubhouse where Hayes Valley's founders and researchers hold talks and dinners. It is open to members, so you read the block from the street.
Look for: A members' door with no public counter.
Members only; events are the way in.
3 min hereThen walk 27 min
Stop 3 of 8
1550 Bryant St
Retool's privacy policy gives 1550 Bryant Street as the company's address, and the city's registry lists it on the ninth floor from June 2022. Our record puts the company on several floors of this building. From the sidewalk you see a lobby and a loading area.
Look for: The 1550 Bryant lobby entrance.
Worth seeing from the street.
3 min hereThen walk 7 min
Stop 4 of 8
Block from the DataSF registry; the company has not published a street door.
The registry lists Weights And Biases, LLC at 400 Alabama Street, suite 202, from May 2025, and a second address on Folsom Street. Our record describes the company as a maker of machine- learning experiment tracking. It has not published a door, so the stop is the block.
Look for: Nothing marked; a quiet Alabama Street block.
Private office. Nothing to see inside; the building is the story.
2 min hereThen walk 5 min
Stop 5 of 8
Block from the DataSF registry; neither company publishes this address.
The registry lists OpenAI entities at 3180 18th Street from 2019 until the end of December 2024. An xAI location appears at the same address from 1 January 2025. You are looking at a building where the same address changed hands between two AI labs; the registry does not say who owns it.
Look for: The Pioneer Building name over the entrance, if it is still displayed.
Worth seeing from the street.
3 min hereThen walk 6 min
Stop 6 of 8
272 Capp St
Noisebridge describes itself as a space for sharing, creation, collaboration, research, development, mentoring and learning, and lists 272 Capp Street as its address. The registry has it here from October 2020. Check its site for open hours before you knock.
Look for: The door on Capp Street; hours are on its site.
Walk in.
8 min hereThen walk 12 min
Stop 7 of 8
1026 Valencia St
Valencia Street is the Mission's main strip. Ritual's cafe at 1026 Valencia has been in the city's registry since January 2008, and lists hours of 6:30am to 7pm Monday to Thursday and 6:30am to 8pm Friday to Sunday. Sit down before the last stop.
Look for: The corner window and the line out the door at midday.
Ground-floor cafe open to anyone.
8 min hereThen walk 6 min
Stop 8 of 8
2665 Mission St
End at the old Grand Theater at 2665 Mission Street, home to Gray Area, an arts nonprofit that says it applies culture and technology for social good. The registry has the foundation here from February 2015. Check its site for talks and shows before you go in.
Look for: The theater marquee on Mission Street.
Walk in.
8 min here
Walking times assume 80 m per minute on streets (straight-line distance x 1.3). Stories are written by us and backed by the sources on each place page.