Belden Place

Belden Place
Belden Place
Neighborhood of San Francisco
	Belden Place Location within Central San Francisco
	Coordinates: 37°47′29″N 122°24′14″W / 37.79125°N 122.40376°W
Country	United States
State	California
City	San Francisco

Belden Place is a narrow

French American

community.

Location

Locally the street is sometimes called Belden Lane, Belden Alley, or Belden Street. The surrounding neighborhood, which includes adjacent alleys and several blocks of Bush Street, is sometimes, though not universally, referred to as San Francisco's French Quarter for its historic ties to early French immigrants, and its popular contemporary French restaurants and institutions.

History

Named after Josiah Belden, an early California pioneer, San Jose's first mayor, and real estate businessman. Belden owned a portion "of the block on the east side of Kearny Street, between Bush and Pine running through to Belden Place. He built the Harpending block on the south side of Market Street, above first and the Belden block on the southwest corner of Montgomery and Bush Streets.^[1]

Later, Belden sold much of the Market Street property to

immigrants to the area. ^[3]

Attractions and characteristics

Financial District

.

In 1990, restaurateurs Olivier Azancot and Eric Klein opened Cafe Bastille, the mainstay that set the modern tone for the area. The French, Italian, and Catalan establishments are popular with locals, tourists, and office workers, and are generally considered on par with the city's best casual full-service European restaurants.^[4] Notable restaurants in the alley itself include Sam's Grill, Cafe Bastille, Cafe Tiramisu, Plouf, B44, Belden Taverna, and Brindisi Cucina di Mare. Nearby are Café de la Presse (though modest and unassuming, a favorite hangout of the city's political and social elite) and Le Central. Also nearby are the Alliance Française, the French consulate, and the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church (where mass is still celebrated in French) and an affiliated elementary school. In the vicinity are several other restaurants, cafes, hotels and other French-related institutions along Bush Street and Claude Lane, another nearby alley.^[2]

The cafes, hotels and restaurants of the area have a distinct

Christmas lights strung overhead, and light spilling out from the restaurant interiors. Restaurants send attractive hostesses out into the street to lure potential diners.^[4] Every year, the area is the site of a boisterous Bastille Day celebration, the nation's largest, and Bush Street is temporarily renamed Buisson.^[5]

References

^ "San Francisco Call 24 April 1892 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
^ ^a ^b Sam Whiting (2006-06-30). "The limited confines of San Francisco's French Quarter don't make it any less foreign". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
^ "The French migrants from Béarn in San Francisco". 15 July 2016.
^ ^a ^b Michael Bauer (2004-08-29). "On Belden Place, Bon Appetit! Alley's alfresco cuisine, ambience provide a taste of European life". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
^ Jesse Hamlin (2000-07-13). "Celebration du jour: Francophiles will take to the alleys for Bastille Day". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-06-23.

External links

Belden Place - neighborhood website

37°47′29″N 122°24′14″W / 37.79125°N 122.40376°W / 37.79125; -122.40376

v t e Financial District, San Francisco
Buildings and business	44 Montgomery 45 Fremont Street 50 Beale Street 50 California Street 88 Kearny Street 100 First Plaza 100 Montgomery Street 100 Pine Center 101 California Street 101 Montgomery 150 California Street 225 Bush Street 301 Howard Street 333 Bush Street 333 Market Street 345 California Center 388 Market Street 425 California Street 425 Market Street 456 Montgomery Plaza 505 Montgomery Street 555 California Street 580 California Street 595 Market Street 601 California Street 650 California Street Bank of California Building Bank of Italy Building Central Plaza Central Tower Commercial Union Assurance Building Embarcadero Center Embarcadero West First Market Tower Flatiron Building Four Embarcadero Center Hallidie Building Hobart Building Humboldt Bank Building Hunter-Dulin Building The Infinity JPMorgan Chase Building KPMG Building Market Center McKesson Plaza Mills Building and Tower Mutual Savings Bank Building One Bush Plaza One California One Embarcadero Center One Front Street One Maritime Plaza One Market Plaza One Montgomery Tower One Sansome Street Pacific Gas & Electric Building Phelan Building Russ Building San Francisco Ferry Building Shell Building Stevenson Place Three Embarcadero Center Transamerica Pyramid Two Embarcadero Center
Businesses	Hilton InterContinental Le Méridien Park Central Hotel Punch Line Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences Tadich Grill
Diplomatic missions	Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco
Education	Academy of Art University Golden Gate University
Geography	Belden Place Embarcadero Plaza Kearny Street Montgomery Street New Montgomery Street
Public art	Admission Day Monument Lotta's Fountain Mechanics Monument Vaillancourt Fountain
Transportation	Embarcadero station F Market & Wharves Montgomery Street station
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[3]