Grazie amico mio!
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A few small boutique stores? Are you forgetting about Amoeba Music in both San Francisco and Berkeley? Two of the greatest record stores in history are in the Bay Area IMHO.
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Youāre right! Nowadays I get all my cds and music files online and I donāt have a analog anymore. My memory is fading too.
Most of the high end stores have shut down in SF, but a couple is still running, the Music Lover which has the Wilson Audio speakers and Audio Vision which has the Focal speakers. There are a few vinyl shops that are still open also.
1 - Amoeba Music. 1855 Haight St. San Francisco
2 - Originals Vinyl. 701 Fillmore St. San Francisco
3 - Jackās Record Cellar. 254 Scott St. San Francisco.
Itās possible you could find same gems in these stores.
Then there are of course the usually tourist places like the Golden Gate Bridge, the SF Zoo, The Exploratorium and Aquarium in Golden Gate Park, Fishermanās Wharf, and the Italian restaurants in North Beach. Oh donāt forget the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown all in beautiful San Francisco.
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That is a nice list. I live about twenty-five miles south of SF, and the last time I visited the City was before the pandemic.
One issue of a liberal city such as SF is the small crimes do not get much punishment. For travelers who rent cars one needs to be careful where to park since car break-in rates are high. It is better to take Uber/Lyft or public transportation. That is what we do too.
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Donāt forget SF MOMA and the de Young. Two of my favorite museums anywhere.
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Donāt leave anything visible in your car in SF. It will not be there when you return and you will have glass damage. Theft is out of control in that town.
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You are right, the San Francisco District Attorney just got recalled because of the crime. Please donāt leave anything at all in your unattended vehicle, even if itās of no value, because they will break your windows just to see, especially in tourist places. Just be cautious, itās really not that bad in other places. Iāve been lucky, I havenāt had much problems.
Oh, Al beat me to it.
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I can attest to this first hand. In 2019 I left a sweater on the back seat of my rental car while eating at the Slanted Door. The rear passenger window was smashed, sweater was gone, and they pulled the back seat out to get into the trunk which fortunately was empty.
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Sorry to hear that, but at least you had a good meal at Slanted Door.
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It looks like they are closed for renovation or I would have recommended it to @luca.pelliccioli. Itās one of those places thatās figured out how to evolve over the years and produce a fresh perspective on Vietnamese food.
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That restaurant has started a trend of hi-end Vietnamese restaurants throughout the Bay Area. You cannot find any Pho under $15 anymore (in SF or San Jose you could find I guess). I have not visited there since their Ferry Building time.
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On a business trip to SF, I had rental cars broken into three times in four days. And that was over 25 years ago.
The broken glass was epic.
I would think twice before going to SF.
There are some bad areas such as Tenderloin that you do not want to go near. The car break-ins have been getting worse within the last 10 years. RobHās experience 25 years ago was unusual.
It is a beautiful city and I used to go there often, but much less so within the last few years.
There are some pretty nasty areas like @dchang05 say, like the Tenderloin, South of Market, Civic Center, and some low income public housing areas that you should avoid, but most of the other areas are not quite as bad. The tourist areas are actually not too dirty, only be aware of your surroundings just like I what I would do if I visited a foreign country because there are thieves targeting those areas. Golden Gate Park actually is quite clean as I go to the Stow Lake area and walk around all the time.
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Sounds like a nationwide issue unfortunately!
I hope we did not scare you too much about SF. You will love the city and enjoy the trip but go ahead and cancel your rental car. 
Back when I had three rental car break-ins, it was:
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Street parking near the waterfront. Two pairs of inline skates stolen.
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Berkeley Marina greens. A pair of sneakers stolen, even though we left the glove compartment and console open, and dropped the back seats to show nothing of value in the trunk. We didnāt file a report; the local police left a note saying they had already filed a report, giving us the case number. I think they were just used to going down the line of parked cars looking for broken glass.
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At the hotel in Burlingame, south of SF. They didnāt make it into the car, but tried to lever the trunk open with a crowbar.
If you rent there, make sure you have insurance coverage for such things, and leave nothing in the carā¦ even sneakers, apparently.
I think Iāll do Uber & Lyft from here on out.
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Have you ever been in Rome or Naples driving an Italian car? Donāt worry about my trip to SF, remember where I come from!
Iām more scared about the highways in LA and how I can drive to the right direction between so many lanes! Or how I can respect the speed limit and arrest the car at each stop. We have different rules in Italy driving a car, something similar to no rules at all (unfortunately)!