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Visiting Chinatown? Park once, at 733 Kearny.
The simplest way to see San Francisco’s Chinatown is to park at Portsmouth Square Garage, 733 Kearny Street, and walk. The garage sits directly beneath Portsmouth Square in the middle of the neighborhood. Grant Avenue is one block away, the Dragon Gate is an eight-minute walk, and every restaurant, temple, alley, and market on this page is within ten minutes on foot. Parking is $4 an hour, $8 flat after 5pm, and $5 less when a participating Chinatown business validates your ticket.
Start here
Why this is the place to leave the car
Chinatown’s streets are narrow, metered, and full. Most visitors who try to park on the street give up. The garage is the one large public garage inside the neighborhood itself, not on its edge.
In the middle, not the edge
733 Kearny Street, between Clay and Washington. You come out at street level on Kearny, or ride the elevator up toward Portsmouth Square. Grant Avenue is the next street over.
Owned by the neighborhood
The garage was built in 1962 with money raised by Chinatown’s own business community, and it is still a nonprofit. Parking here puts revenue back into Chinatown through the Nancy Lim-Yee Community Engagement Fund.
Dinner pays for the parking
Eat or shop at a participating merchant, hand them your paper ticket, and $5 comes off at the exit. On the $8 evening rate, that leaves $3 for the night.
A half day on foot
From the elevator, in walking order
This loop takes about three hours with a meal, and you never get more than ten minutes from your car. Times are walking minutes from the garage entrance on Kearny Street.
| Stop | Where | Walk | Why go |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth Square | Directly above the garage | 0 min | The plaza where San Francisco began, and Chinatown’s living room. Closed for a full rebuild from June 2026 to 2028; the garage stays open throughout. Renovation updates. |
| Grant Avenue | One block west | 2 min | The oldest street in the city, lined with lanterns, tea shops, herbalists, and souvenir stores. Walk it south toward the Dragon Gate. |
| Waverly Place | Between Washington and Sacramento, one block past Grant | 3 min | The “street of painted balconies.” Tin How Temple at 125 Waverly, founded in 1852, is on the top floor; climb the stairs and be quiet inside. |
| Ross Alley | Between Washington and Jackson | 4 min | One of the oldest alleys in Chinatown and home to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory at number 56, where cookies are still folded by hand. |
| Stockton Street | Two blocks west | 5 min | Where Chinatown shops for itself: produce stands, fish and poultry markets, bakeries. Busiest in the morning. |
| Chinese Historical Society of America | 965 Clay Street | 5 min | The museum of Chinese American history, in a Julia Morgan building. Check hours before you go. |
| Old St. Mary’s Cathedral | 660 California Street, at Grant | 6 min | California’s first cathedral, from 1854. The California Street cable car stops right outside. |
| The Dragon Gate | Grant Avenue at Bush Street | 8 min | Chinatown’s formal southern entrance, a gift from Taiwan in 1970. The photograph everyone takes; then walk back up Grant. |
Where to eat
Three tables that also validate your parking
All three are inside Chinatown and inside the validation program. Keep the paper ticket you pulled at the gate and ask when you pay. See the full list of participating merchants.
Sam Wo
713 Clay Street, one block from the garage. Open since 1907. Congee, rice noodle rolls, and the barbecue pork on rice that generations of San Franciscans grew up on. Parking is validated when your bill is $45 or more.
R&G Lounge
631 Kearny Street, two minutes down the same street. The salt and pepper Dungeness crab is the dish Chinatown is known for. Reserve for dinner.
Lion’s Den
57 Wentworth Place, a lane off Washington Street. Live music most nights in a room that once hosted Bob Hope and John Wayne. Enter the garage after 5pm and the whole evening is $8, before validation.
Before you arrive
Five things worth knowing
Hours
Open from 5am every day. Closes at midnight Sunday to Thursday and at 1am Friday and Saturday. The elevator up to the park stops at 10pm; after that, walk out the Kearny Street entrance.
The evening rate
Enter after 5pm and leave before closing and you pay a flat $8. Stay past closing and the hourly rate applies instead, so check the day’s closing time.
Pay before you walk back
The exit gate takes cards only. If you are paying cash, use a cash machine on the way to your car. Cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay work at every machine and at the gate.
Height limit
Clearance is 6 feet 8 inches. Standard vans and SUVs fit. High-top vans and vehicles with roof boxes do not.
Weekends and festivals
Chinatown is busiest on weekend afternoons and during Lunar New Year. Arrive before 11am on those days and you will find a space without circling; the garage does not take reservations.
Further afield
Still parked here, a little further out
The garage is also a good base for the neighborhoods that border Chinatown.
North Beach
Seven minutes up Columbus Avenue to City Lights Booksellers, Washington Square, and the Italian cafés of Little Italy.
Cable cars
The California Street line stops at Grant Avenue, five minutes away. The Powell lines to Fisherman’s Wharf are on Powell Street, about eight minutes.
Muni to anywhere
Chinatown–Rose Pak Station on the T Third line is at Stockton and Washington, five minutes away, with a direct ride to Union Square and the ballpark.
Ferry Building
A fifteen-minute walk downhill along Clay or Washington to the waterfront, the farmers market, and the ferries.
Financial District
The Transamerica Pyramid is two blocks north on Washington Street, and Jackson Square’s brick blocks are just beyond it.
Start with a mural
Before you leave the garage, find “A Chinatown Dream” by Nancy Mora on the Kearny Street level. About the mural.
Questions visitors ask
Parking in Chinatown, answered
Is it hard to park in San Francisco’s Chinatown?
On the street, yes. Chinatown has very little curb parking, most of it is metered with short time limits, and it is shared with delivery trucks and residents. In a garage, no. Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny Street has 456 spaces on four levels and is inside the neighborhood, so you can park once and walk everywhere.
Where is the best place to park to visit Chinatown?
Portsmouth Square Garage, 733 Kearny Street, directly beneath Portsmouth Square. It is one block from Grant Avenue and eight minutes on foot from the Dragon Gate, and participating Chinatown merchants validate parking here for $5 off. Enter from Kearny Street between Clay and Washington.
How much does parking cost in Chinatown?
At Portsmouth Square Garage, $4 an hour with a $38 daily maximum, or a flat $8 if you enter after 5pm and leave before closing. Merchant validation takes $5 off. Rates include the 25% San Francisco parking tax. Full rates and hours.
Is Portsmouth Square open?
The park itself is closed while the City rebuilds it, from June 2026 to about 2028. The garage underneath is open throughout, and no closures are planned. Any change would be posted on our construction updates page first.
Can I get to Chinatown without a car?
Yes, and it is a good option. Chinatown–Rose Pak Station on the Muni T Third line is at Stockton and Washington. The 1 California, 8 Bayshore, 30 Stockton, and 45 Union bus lines all stop in the neighborhood, and the California Street cable car stops at Grant Avenue.
Ready to go?
Directions to the Kearny Street entrance, and everything you need to know about rates and hours.
Getting here Rates & hours