What a birthday surprise! Spud, our guide, did a phenomenal job of weaving the history and culture of North Beach and SF with 5 great food stops. His choices were spot on - Italian sandwiches, pizza, roasted vegetables, pasta (cacio e Pepe), flatbreads on some of the best focaccia I've ever had and of course, gelato. Spud was fantastic - a retired travel writer, he was a wealth of knowledge about SF and the state. Even as a Bay Area local, we learned so much.