101 Second Street

If it's cold or rainy this is the perfect place to have lunch, indoors and cozy. High ceilings give it a spacious feel. Trees are a nice touch as is wall of art. There are not a lot of indoor public areas to have lunch, even with two floors of seating this place does get crowded, but if you take an early or late lunch you can have a better chance of finding a seat at a table, mid afternoon only a few people are around. This is another POPOS (privately owned public open space) you can find out more about at San Francisco City Planning Dept. online.

I love art. I especially love things like architecture, public art, and community open space in a built environment. I will keep beating the following drum: Public spaces are where it's at. SF is a beautiful place to begin with, but all these little POPOS's are jewels pretty much just sitting here to be enjoyed at will. Of the 68+, this POPOS is in the the upper echelon. 101 Second Street Greenhouse and Mezzanine is a terrific space that you might not realize is open to the public.

My first experience with this space was walking by on a December evening shortly after sunset. The space at 101 Second Street looks normal enough during the day - a large window facade on another nice, relatively new building. Well, at night, the facade shows the space inside with a lot less effort. This is a huge glassed-in lobby with a mezzanine-level. There are trees inside, and there are two nice pieces of public art. On a sunny day (and we have some of those in California) the light is amazing through the two-story+ glass. There are also a number of tables and chairs on the mezzanine-level to eat, which also provides a nice view of the space and the art.

Of course this is the FiDi, so almost everyone here if working and on a lunch or a break. This place is pretty vibrant, so if you're looking to chill it may not be your first choice. (There are several places around that will work for that - try the KPMG Building.) This is also a place where the irony is that it's indoors, but particularly beautiful on a nice day. I look forward to coming in once it gets Novemberish/Decemberish and open during the darker hours to see what it's like in that light.

Oh - and there's a Peets Coffee on the ground floor. It's also very near several other terrific POPOS such as: 560 Mission Plaza, 555 Mission Sculpture Garden, Shaw Alley, The Sun Terrace, KPMG Greenhouse and Galleria, 235 Second Street and Marathon Plaza... just to name a handful.

How has it taken me so long to discover this place?! I'm in meetings around 2nd and Mission ALL the time, so this public space has been the best find. Okay to be fair, I knew about the list of POPOS in San Francisco but never bothered to explore them since the list was so long. Anyways, since I work remotely, coming to 101 Second Street is perfect for answering emails or taking phone calls between in-person meetings. It's also good for meeting up with friends or colleagues since it's so central.

The furniture and decor is simple and corporate, but there are electrical outlets if you need to recharge. The lighting in the atrium isn't the best, even though there are glass walls, and I wouldn't come here for the view unless you're into people-watching for the better part of the day. There's an entrance into Peet's Coffee for a caffeine boost with plenty of restaurants nearby for actual sustenance. There's no internet in this space, so I would typically just tether off my phone for a few hours while charging at the countertop seating area.

Overall I love the convenience of 101 Second Street and how bustling the atmosphere can be. I'm guessing it's super busy during lunch, but if you visit during off-hours like 10am or 3pm, then you're almost guaranteed to find somewhere to sit. It's best for solo work sessions or one-on-one meetings (no groups) so stop by and check it out sometime!

This is my happy place during lunch when it's cold outside. Thank goodness for POPOS! There are some pretty nifty ones in the area...

The atrium at 101 Second Street is indeed open to the public, so grab lunch from somewhere nearby and head over. It's clean, quiet, and pretty - certainly beats eating at your desk.