By Karen

Updated October 12, 2024.

A Night at the SF Opera

Forget reality TV; the SF Opera has better drama, tears, betrayals and passion!

Read on, for a local's tips on visiting the San Francisco Opera and having a great night out.

For information about the remainder of the 2024 opera season, see opera schedule.

For some of the upcoming Oct-Dec 2024 performances, you can get $32 seats in the upper balcony section.

Intermission

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The War Memorial Opera House

The San Francisco Opera House is located on Van Ness Avenue, near SF City Hall and the Davies Symphony Hall.

This beautiful Beaux Arts opera house was built in 1932 by Arthur Brown, the same architect who designed Coit Tower and San Francisco's City Hall. It has seating for 3,146 people, and was retrofitted for earthquakes in 1992, after suffering serious damage from the 1989 quake.

War Memorial Opera House

(Image thanks to Sanfranman59, under CC-BY-SA license.)

Why is it called the War Memorial Opera House? The building and its twin next door were built in part to commemorate the fallen in World War I, in addition to providing a space for musical performances and art.

The San Francisco Ballet also performs at the Opera House.

The similar building next to the opera house is the Veteran's Building; it housed an art museum until 1994, and now mainly hosts musical performances in its concert halls (the Herbst Theater and a smaller one). The original United Nations Charter was signed here in 1945.

On the other side, the modern Davies Symphony Hall hosts the San Francisco Symphony.

The Lobby

History of Opera in San Francisco

Opera in San Francisco got its start during the Gold Rush of 1849, and by the early 1900's was staging operas in the Tivoli Opera House (now gone).

The San Francisco Opera company was officially founded by a conductor from Naples, Gaetano Merola, in 1923.

La Boheme was the first opera performed in San Francisco by the young company, and performances were held in the Civic Auditorium until the current opera house was built in 1932.

Merola was the director for many years, and actually passed away in 1953, while conducting Madame Butterfly at a free concert in Stern Grove.

The tradition of free summer concerts at Stern Grove continues to the present, and one of the summer choices is sometimes an opera.

The SF Opera Season: remainder of 2024

The San Francisco Opera's "season" typically starts in early September and runs through early December, then begins again in May or June, occasionally running into July.

There are usually five operas performed in the fall, and three in summer. Mostly traditional, but with one or two newer works.

The current upcoming productions are in October-December of 2024 (current "season").

Tickets are on sale for two operas now:

Tristan and Isolde (Oct 19-Nov 5)
Carmen (Nov 13-Dec 1)

Covid update: as of Oct 12, 2024, masks and proof of Covid vaccination are no longer required, though they encourage mask-wearing.

Opera Tickets

Opera tickets in the U.S. tend to be expensive, unlike in Europe, where opera companies are subsidized to make attendance is more accessible.

Most seats for the SF Opera, depending on the opera and the location, run between $113 and $308. But there are ways to pay far less.

For fall 2024 performances, some of the seats start at $34 (Balcony), a real bargain for opera tickets!

Tip: Best place to get tickets for the opera? Directly from the SF Opera.

I researched it for my own tickets, and I found the lowest prices on the SF Opera's own website.

Buying tickets. To check out the current operas and book tickets, see SF Opera.

You can also book by phone, or in person; call the Box Office at 415 864-3330.

Tickets Sold Out? If the event is sold out, or you need two or more seats together and they aren't available, then check ticketliquidators.com.

They may have tickets when the venue has sold out, as well as tickets that don't appear on the Opera's website. But they probably will be more expensive.

Ticket format: you can have paper tickets mailed to you or use the SF Opera app on your mobile.

Cheap Tickets?

Yes, you can get cheap tickets.

But there's a trade-off: poor views or inconvenient purchasing methods.

Standing room tickets (at the back of the orchestra section, or up in the nosebleed section) for $10. 200 tickets are available the day of the opera at the box office, starting at 10 am, cash only. Limit 2 per person.
"Rush" tickets are available for 2023/2024 season. These are last minute tickets available starting at 11 am the day before a performance. Must register in advance for these. See rush sign ups.
$10 tickets for bay area residents new to the SF Opera. See Opera for the Bay for details.
Way up high. The ticket prices drop off drastically at the far reaches of the upper Balcony. As low as $32 for the back 5 rows and far edges.

Livestreams of the operas. Watch it at home. You can purchase tickets for $27.50 and watch the third performance of each opera as a livestream.

It's available for 48 hours after that as well. Get tickets.

If you're a serious opera fan, you can see the operas for free by becoming an usher, a volunteer position.

Small discounts can be obtained via purchasing in person, directly at the opera house ($5 less than online) or by getting tickets for several operas.

What are the Best Seats for the SF Opera?

Naturally, there is a correlation between ticket prices and quality of view.

But are the views from the box seats and the Grand Tier that much better than the other seats? I don't think so, especially not for the price difference.

When you go to book the ticket, you can click on sample seats and see a photo of the stage view from there.

But generally speaking, all the seats in the Orchestra section are quite good, all the way to the back and sides, I think. Ditto for the seats in the Dress Circle.

Dress Circle Seating

Dress Circle View

The Balcony seats are pretty far from the stage, but the seats are steeply tiered, so the view is clear, if small. And the acoustics are very good all through the theater.

Balcony Seating

View from the Balcony Section of the San Francisco Opera House.

Balcony View

Best bets for good seats?

You can get reasonably priced seats to the rear and sides of the Orchestra section. For example, a seat in the center section that goes for $337, is only $150 in the side section, same row, and the view isn't that different.
The Dress Circle is somewhat reasonable: $155, depending on the opera. A bit more than the cheapest Orchestra seats, but the entire section (except for the front row) is the same price, so booking early can score the better seats.

There is some limited wheelchair seating in the Orchestra and Dress Circle sections.

Map of the Opera House

Good to know...

Opera House tours are offered during the season: $20 for a one-hour, guided tour, including behind-the-scenes areas.

These tend to sell out, so book early in the season to get tickets, at 415 551-6353 or tour.reserve@gmail.com.

Pre-opera talks are given 55 minutes before each show, free for ticket holders. Sit in the Orchestra section; you can come and go.

They also broadcast the talk on the TV screens in some of the lounges (like the Dress Circle Lounge).

Coat check: the seats are rather narrow and close together, so if you have a bulky coat, you may want to check it on the ground floor, on the left side of the building near the lobby.

Opera glasses: in case you don't happen to have any lying around at home, they rent opera glasses for $5 on the ground floor near the lobby, on the right side.

OperaVision: there are large TV screens in the Balcony section that project close-ups of the singers for certain performances. See the dates for each individual opera.

Free Opera Performances

There are usually one or two free SF Opera performances every year:

Opera in the Park. On the first Sunday after the Opera's opening night in September, a selection of arias is performed at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
Stern Grove's free summer concerts. A wide variety of music is performed in a pretty, wooded grotto, entrance at Sloat Blvd. and 19th Avenue. Some years, selections by the SF Opera are included. See the Stern Grove website for their schedule.

Dine and Drink at the Opera

The SF Opera has two dinner restaurants, one on the lower level and one on the mezzanine floor, as well as several bars in the lobby and upper floors that serve drinks and snacks.

An outdoor patio cafe also serves refreshments before the performance and during intermissions.

You can have dinner before the show at one of the restaurants, and the bars serve drinks and snacks during intermission.

Cafe at the Opera

This is the largest restaurant, located on the floor below the lobby (Lower Lounge).

They open for dinner two hours before the performance, serving a buffet or a la carte items.

There is also a bar down there, serving drinks and snacks. Reservations recommended. 415 861-8150.

Convenient for opera goers, but not the best location. Unfortunately, it's right next to one of the most popular restrooms for the Orchestra seating area.

Before the show, and during intermissions, there's often a long line for the restroom (not the men's, ha ha) running alongside the tables. Nothing to look at in line, other than the folks having dinner!

Cafe at the Opera

North Box Restaurant & Bar

This is a cosy little restaurant on the Mezzanine (Box) level, with a nice view of the lobby, in a more private area.

Opens one hour before the show, and during intermissions.

Serves a la carte dinner items. Again, reservations recommended. 415 861-8150.

North Box Restaurant

There's a bar at one end of the North Box Restaurant, serving drinks and snacks.

North Box Bar

Dress Circle Lounge

The Dress Circle Lounge serves drinks and snacks before the show, and during the intermissions.

It's on the south side of the building, near the Dress Circle entrances.

Dress Circle Lounge

Intermission Tips

Intermissions are usually about 25 minutes long.

The lines at the bars can be long, so it's not a bad idea to order your drinks in advance. You can do that at the bar before the show starts; more time to enjoy your glass of wine or other refreshments.

They will put your order with your name on it on the side counter so you can pick it up with no waiting.

Note: the prices for a glass of wine go from $12 up to $450; yes, per glass, so check the fine print carefully;-)

On the Dress Circle level there is a nice place to hang out with a drink or snack, with comfy seating and a pretty view of the Symphony Hall.

It's on the south side of the opera house, near the Dress Circle Lounge and Bar. It fills up quickly, so if you can pick up pre-ordered drinks, you'll have a better chance of getting a seat.

It's also a comfortable place to have a dinner snack before the performance.

Comfortable seating at SF Opera, Dress Circle Lounge area

Dress Circle Lounge Seating

If the bars and lounge areas are crowded during intermission, which they tend to be, you can head over to the other side of the Dress Circle level (north side), where there are chairs to sit down on and some tables that aren't reserved.

Restrooms are there, too.

Sitting area on Dress Circle level, SF Opera

Dress Circle Sitting Area

For some fresh air, you can also go outside on the Dress Circle level to the balcony, or Loggia, at the front of the Opera House.

It's a large covered area with a beautiful view of City Hall.

The warning chimes start 8 minutes before the performance resumes. Then two more warnings come at 4 and 2 minutes before showtime.

And they do shut the doors to latecomers.

What to Wear to the SF Opera

The SF Opera doesn't have a dress code, in the sense that they stop people at the door, but I've been many times and I've never seen anyone in shorts or flip-flops (not that the city's climate would be conducive to that anyway!).

Most people there are nicely dressed, in business-style clothes or above.

Some people are really dressed up, in elegant dresses and black tie, but most are wearing the kind of outfit you would wear out to an upscale restaurant. Nice dresses, or slacks and blouses, for women and nice slacks, buttoned shirts and dinner jackets for men, are typical.

A small number of people are very casually dressed in jeans and sweaters or casual jackets. My son wore jeans and a buttoned, cotton shirt last time he went and he felt uncomfortably under-dressed, but others are fine with that.

Opening night at the opera is when people really go all-out and fancy.

Places to Eat Nearby

The Hayes Valley neighborhood near the Opera House has a number of good places to eat before the show. This area was dicey 20 years ago, but has gentrified into a charming couple of blocks of interesting shops, cafes and restaurants.

These popular Hayes Street restaurants are about two blocks from the Opera House:

Hayes Street Grill. A 40-year San Francisco tradition. Classy seafood restaurant, old-time atmosphere. Open for dinner daily. Reservations 415 863-5545. 320 Hayes St.
Absinthe Brasserie and Bar. Great cocktails and expensive dinners, turn-of-the-century France ambiance. Reservations 415 551-1590. 398 Hayes St.

A really fun place to go for drinks is a just couple of blocks from the Opera as well.

Smuggler's Cove is a wild, Tiki-style bar that has been on many "best bars" lists nationally and internationally. You'll see why if you go there.

They specialize in exotic cocktails, and have over 550 different rums to choose from. It's fairly small and they don't take reservations, so there could be a line, especially on weekends.

Spend an hour or so with the Pirates of the Caribbean! Warning: they don't serve food. 650 Gough St.

(The Jardiniere, Little Gem, and Arlequin Cafe restaurants have closed permanently, unfortunately.)

Opera House, Restaurants & Parking Map

Civic Center Restaurants and Parking

Map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA

Getting to the Opera

Driving

A lot of people drive to the opera, since there are plenty of parking opportunities within a short walk of the building (and the nearby BART stations aren't in the best areas for late-night walking).

SF Opera Parking Suggestions

Best option...

Many opera-goers park in the Performing Arts Garage, which is just behind the Opera House at 360 Grove Street. $20 flat fee on performance days, cash much preferred (can be a big hassle without cash).

This isn't the greatest area at night, but after a performance there are lots of people walking to the garage, and inside the garage, so it feels pretty safe.

Tip: go early to get a spot and avoid the long line of cars waiting to get into the garage. The performances usually begin around 7:30 pm, so get there before 7:00 if you can; 6:45 is even better. Once I got there a bit after 7:00 and the garage was full.

Backup garages...

Impark Garage. 601 Van Ness, two blocks up Van Ness from the Opera House. Valet parking.

Hasting Law School Garage. 376 Larkin St. About three blocks from the Opera House.

Civic Center Garage. About two blocks from the Opera House. This is a huge, underground parking garage in front of City Hall, entrance on McAllister Street.

It's got plenty of spaces, and is a good daytime solution, but at night it doesn't have security inside, other than at the entrance. I would rather park at the Performing Arts Garage at night.

They do have some discounts for some of the Civic Center venue performances (opera, symphony, ballet, Orpheum Theater, Bill Graham Auditorium) though: $17 flat fee and up. See Civic Center Garage event parking.

They now have Civic Center Ambassadors to walk groups to the Civic Center and Hastings Garages and to the BART and Muni stations after performances.

Says something about safety of the area!

Reserve a parking spot. The popular garages in the area can fill up on evenings when the opera is in session, especially when there's also a program happening at the nearby Davies Symphony Hall.

For a sure thing, you can book a spot in advance through the app Spot Hero.

Neither the Performing Arts Garage nor the Civic Center Garage take reservations, but there are other garages and parking lots in the area that are bookable.

Public Transportation

By Bus...

The SF Opera House is on several bus lines that have stops close to the building.

Bus lines 47 and 49 run down Van Ness and stop in front.
Bus line 21 runs down Grove and Hayes, right past the opera.
Bus line 5 runs along McAllister, one block away.

See Muni map for bus routes.

By Muni Metro...

The Muni Metro (streetcars) has an underground stop at Van Ness & Market Streets for six lines: J, K, L, M, N & T.

The Muni station is 3 blocks down Van Ness Ave. from the Opera House.

By BART...

The closest BART station is Civic Center BART, three blocks from the Opera House. The entrances to the underground station are at 8th & Market St.

I'll be blunt; 8th and Market is in a bad area. It's sketchy during the daytime, never mind after dark.

People do take BART to the opera, but I wouldn't feel comfortable walking to that BART station at 11:00 at night, dressed for the opera, then going down into the station and waiting for a train.

It's a matter of personal preference, of course. But for people who aren't that familiar with the city, I think it would be good to know, so they can make the choice.

SF Opera shuttle: the Opera used to operate a free shuttle to and from the BART and Muni Stations, but it doesn't seem to be running now.

The Gift Shop

The SF Opera has a nice little gift shop on the Mezzanine Level.

They have various opera-related items like books, DVD's, CD's and t-shirts, plus some designer jewelry.

Display of music boxes in SF Opera Gift Shop

My favorite thing: posters designed just for this season's operas. You can pick up some attractive, unique wall decorations here, at a reasonable price.

They have an online shop as well, but the posters are usually sold out when the season is over.