San Francisco Bay Guardian

Welcome to the 52nd annual Bay Guardian Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll, hosted by 48 Hills! Here’s where you tell us what you love most about living in the best place on Earth. We are so proud to continue his tradition, one that started in 1974 when the Bay Guardian became the first city paper to ask its readers to vote on their local favorites. Voting ends OCTOBER 1, so get the word out to all your friends and favorite local businesses and organizations.

Scott Wiener may claim that he’s passed a lot of “housing legislation” in Sacramento, but he’s got painfully few actual homes to show for all his efforts. Even from his days as a local supervisor, he was no friend of housing justice. My first dealings with him were in 2013 when he and then-Sup. Mark Farrell tried to cannibalize thousands of rent-controlled units into luxury condos. In 2016 he supported a ballot measure to criminalize homelessness on the streets.

The Bay Guardian Clean Slate Guide for the June 2, 2026 Election Chan for Congress, YES on D— Print this out and take it to the polls!

The June 2 elections in California and San Francisco will make a national statement, and demonstrate whether voters are ready to push back, in a serious way, against the terrible damage of the Trump Administration. Are voters ready to acknowledge that economic inequality is an existential crisis, and support candidates and ballot measures devoted to taxing the rich? Can we elect candidates who believe that housing is a human right, not a speculative good to be sold for profit?

Our Clean Slate Endorsements Issue for the June 2026 city, state, and national elections will be hitting the streets in print soon—and posted here online this coming week! Stay tuned (and be on the lookout at your favorite coffee shops and bookstores) for this free guide, written by people who have covered local politics for decades.

48 Hills and the Bay Guardian are proud to present the 51st Annual Best of the Bay! Thousands of our readers voted, telling us who they think deserved to be called “best” in dozens of categories like Best Burrito, Best Drag Show, Best Bookstore, Best Street Fair, Best Date Restaurant, Best Dive Bar…. You can find the results in four sections below, with more of our Editors’ Picks published here (with more to come throughout the year, we can’t stop!).

Since 1974, Bay Guardian—and now 48 Hills—readers have honored their favorite things about the Bay Area in our famous Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll. VOTE NOW HERE in our 51st Annual Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll and let’s make some noise for the Best Place on Earth! Voting ends September 30, so tell all your friends! And join us at the Annual 48 Hills Community Gala on October 22 to party with the winners.

It’s 2025, we’re all somehow still here, and we want to know what you love! Our annual Best of the Bay—the first ever contest of its kind when it launched—is back, with a new look and lots of Bay Area love. Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed! After a half-century of honoring everything from Best Plumber to Best Fudge, Best Politician to Best Politician You Love To Hate, we’re giving Best of the Bay a whole new look.

The Democratic Party seems paralyzed by Donald Trump. Too many national leaders are backing away from organizing against the Trump agenda, fearing retribution or electoral failure. But as Sen. Bernie Sanders put it in a recent statement: Many of us are angry and frustrated at a Democratic Party establishment that continues to turn its back on the needs of working people. But our job now is not to look back, but to look forward. Let me be clear.

You can read our reasoning behind these endorsements here. President/Vice President: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz SAN FRANCISCO RACES Mayor: Aaron Peskin Supervisor, D1: Connie Chan Supervisor, D3: 1. Sharon Lai 2. Moe Jamil Supervisor, D5: Dean Preston Supervisor, D7: No endorsement Supervisor, D9: 1. Jackie Fielder 2. Stephen Torres Supervisor, D11: 1. 1. Chyanne Chen 2.