826 Valencia
Categories: Tutoring, Local Flavor [Edit]
Neighborhood: Mission826 Valencia St
(between 19th St & Cunningham Pl)
San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 642-5905
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 12:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. - Good for Kids: Yes
17 reviews
Neighborhood: Telegraph Ave
"New York has Greenwich Village, London has Soho, San Francisco has Haight-Ashbury, and Berkeley has Telegraph Avenue. Telegraph is always…" read more »
196 Reviews for 826 Valencia
Free writing classes for the wee tykes.
It sells nice publishings written by those at 826 Valencia.
The decor rocks. Pirates rule.
I love how it's right next door to Paxton Gate (yeah the place with the freaky stuffed animals that SCARES me, and yet I can't stop looking.)
Anyway, back to Pirate Supply Shop...
The clerk was super perky, and totally into the pirate stuff. He said he needed more caffeine but I told him, I was sure he'd had enough. But he still smiled and cracked up over it.
The stuff is moderately-priced...it ain't pocket change...but it's not exactly piggie-bank-breaking. I bought two tri-corner pirate hats for $10/each, and a magenta eyepatch for $5. These items are not of high-quality, and considering what it's for (pirate pub crawl), I'm not sure it's that important. They do sell upwards of $45 crushed velvet with feather pirate hats. They also have tons of pirate's booty....gold, loaded dice, and other trinkets. Oh, and peg legs and flags. The list goes on...
They mop ya too, if you want....I was in a rush so I had to get in, get the stuff and get outta there, but I still want to visit again.
Oh, and I read/heard about the children's reading program........ awesome, people!
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I GOT MOPPED!!!!!!!!! If you don't know then I'm not telling you but I was both shocked and, most of all, honored.
This place is absolutely amazing. "San Francisco's Only Independently Owned Pirate Supply Store" as described to us by the person up front. Secretly it is a reading and writing tutoring program for kids ages 6 - 18 offering free programs for kids.
Not to sound too redundant but this place is just amazing. I felt like a little kid when I ran around the store timidly opening all the obscurely named drawers looking at glass eyes, feathers, hidden treasure and a belt that could double as a ladder (rope). They sell both the very inventive McSweeney's Quarterly and the 826 Quarterly which were both awesome to read.
Please donate all your money and time to this place since it's run by volunteers. KTHNXBAI!!! (Ugh I never know how to end reviews)
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The most tasteful Pirate store I have ever stepped into. You can buy pirate shillings, oyster openers, and sand samples from Fiji.
They even have a little booth has a small aquarium in it. This store is definitely a treat.
I came here with my um, stepson, and watched his seven-year-old self exclaim in delight at the maaaany cool and rad things in this place. Really? Yes, in SF, where people (in some ways) don't seem to be so down with a very enthusiastic little nino, 826 is an exuberant and fascinating place for kids and their adult companions. Excellent job, Eggers.
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You might not like Dave Eggers's writing or even his personality, but you've got to give him props for creating 826 Valencia. In a very kid-unfriendly city, 826 stands out as a magical place for little people to get creative.
I work with troubled teenagers, and I can honestly say that if more of them had been regularly exposed to places like 826 Valencia when they were little, they would not have made some of the decisions they made. Places like this do more to make society safer than the San Francisco Police Department and the juvenile-justice system combined.
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After reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius I started to learn about the author, Dave Eggers and I absolutely love reading books set in San Francisco bay area. You have to look the personality/sense of humor of someone who would create a writers workshop for local kids and then have the front of the workshop as a pirate supply store - so funny, off the wall, and brillant.
As a part of the Yelp Scavenger hunt I finally got a good reason to drop into the store and I have to say - it is so much fun inside. The walls are lined with adorable swashbuckling curios that is impossible to take seriously, but fully accomplish putting a smile on your face.
As a part of the Yelp Scavenger hunt, we had to do barter with the man behind the counter for our next clue. Our guidelines were to basically entertain him and we were to:
- Tell a joke,
- Dance
- etc., etc.
Well, I have one good joke that I like to tell at awkward times to help me master my fear of public speaking. so I had to tell the joke in front of the man and everyone else. Because I love the joke, here it is, for you, my readers :-):
A little old lady walkd into the Chase Manhattan Bank one day. She walked up to the counter and placed a brown paper bag filled with $1 million dollars in cash money. The teller looks into the bag and then at the little old lady and said "I can't deposit this, I have to have my superior do this, for a deposit this big."
The lady is then escorted into the office of the president of the Chase Manhattan bank. He shakes her hand and says that they can definitely deposit this money. He then says that he is curious to ask how she came into such a large sum and inquired if it was an inheritance -perhaps. She said, "Oh no sonny, you see - I bet things. Different things with different people." The president looked at her as if she was crazy, so she said for example, I'll bet you $1 million dollars that by tomorrow morning, you're balls with be square.
(The president looked at her as if she was crazy, but figured this was a safe bet)
He accepted the bet, as it was practically a sure thing. They shook hands and made arrangements for 10:00 a.m. the following morning. The president thought the woman was completed "off her rocker" but decided to take the rest of the day off from work - just in case.
The following morning the man woke up, took a shower and all was normal. He was extra carefull on his way to work even whistling. When he arrived at work he waited for the little old lady to return.
At 10:00 a.m. as promised the lady returned with a younger man she introduced as her lawyer who she said always comes with her to observe her bets. The man thought this was acceptable. He then approached her compassionately with a smile and said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but you've lost the bet, as everything is normal and my balls are not square." The woman seemed as though she accepted this, but asked if she could inspect, considering the large sum of the bet. The president agreed, as it was $1 million dollars afterall and dropped his trousers and bent over. The little old lady then cupped his balls behind him. The president at this point was smiling as he knew that he had won the bet and $1 million. However, at this very second he noticed the old lady's lawyer was banging his head against the wall of his office.
The president then asked what was wrong with him and the little old lady said:
"Oh him, I bet him $2 million that I'd have the President of the Chase Manhattan bank by the balls today."
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Arrrrr you kidding? Pirate Supply Store that is actually a front for promoting kids writing ability and creativity - how cool is that. 5 stars cool!
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I was not in a great mood when I came to 826 Valencia. In fact, I'd say I was in a terrible do-not-talk-to-me-or-even-look-at-me mood. But since I'm a huge Dave Eggers fan and everyone always asks me if I've been to the "pirate store", since I was in the neighborhood I had to stop in.
20 minutes, one mop dropped on my head, some sweet pirate gear and a few corny jokes later, I left giggling and jolly. I think I may have even skipped out of the store. If I didn't know any better I'd suspect they were pumping laughing gas into the store. Many thanks to 826 Valencia for cheering me up. If you can improve my mood that much, you gotta be doing something right.
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Seriously - a pirate store? Really? As in, "Shiver me timbers, matey! Avast! Land ho!"
Aye, it is indeed.
I have a strange fascination with pirates, stemming from the first visit to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland when I was 5 years old. Then Johnny Depp was cast as Captain Jack Sparrow, and ever since then, I liken pirates to the rock stars of their time - dirty, dangerous, and doing whatever the hell they want to, whenever they want.
But I digress.
This store was absolutely mesmerizing - you didn't know where to look! All kinds of curious oddities and funny little treasures stacked and arranged in a tiny space, made to look somewhat like the inner sanctum of a ship's hull. There was standard pirate gear - gold/silver pieces, stockings, hats, eye patches, jewelry, glass bottles. Some of the things were crazy - like the giant vat of lard situated near the register. I really didn't know what to make of that. Um....are you making tortillas over here or something?
Definitely a place to browse and just get lost in. Apparently they tutor kids in the back too, which must be quite amazing for these kids - I mean, wouldn't YOU want to go and do your homework on a pirate ship?
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I've only been here once for a panel discussion. The panel discussion was absolutely horrible and boring. On the other hand, the interior is really cool and the pictures and objects are great. I'd love to come back during its regular hours to check it out. If you like pirates, or learning/tutoring, come here.
Oh and their website pretty much needs a total overhaul.
Feeling like a generous pirate lately? 826 Valencia is your place then. Inside the store is equipped with all sorts of fun treasures; drawers full of unexpected random items, eye patches, maps, secret doors in the floors and beware for ye might get mopped.
Once you've gotten over reacting as though you were in the fourth grade (well that's where my time travel machine took me anyhow) the friendly staff informs you of the heart of this spectacular little store. 826 Valenica is host to an amazing children's literacy program where kids can come and be tutored and participate in workshops by artistic and creative peers. Some programs include publishing works that the kids themselves create.
Upon entry hang an immediate right to find the wall of all the programs this place has to offer.
www.826valencia.org
What's not to like about 826 Valencia? A great non-profit and host of City Arts & Lectures. Plus a pirate store! I love opening all the drawers to find the surprises inside. Unique to SF.
this is the kind of place that makes me proud.
This kind of spirit makes me sing the praises of this city, the artists it hosts, and their commitment to the community.
This place brings me, dare we say it?
hope.
but only until i leave the door.
Then i relax back in to having no hope or faith for human survival.
But i believe that those watched over by dave eggers will be forever sheep in his flock - safely guarded and nourished, while given ultimate freedom.
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"I want to go to the pirate store!!!!"
Poor John H.
He has to put up with all my goofy suggestions and odd ball sentences that end with an awkward "would you explain?!?!" pause.
So the other day when it was miraculously slighty warm and sunny I uttered this sentence the second I sat my butt down in the car. After a puzzled look, I refreshed his memory (we had discussed 826 Valencia) and we decided to go down to the Mission to go exploring.
I love everything this place stands for. I love the fact that this place is so nuturing for children and their imaginations and minds while being a place I can stock up on eyepatches, glass eyes, compasses and lard! If you can catch fish theater with Karl, you will have an experience that will leave you as entertained as the kids are. I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time I was in there and that alone gives this place five stars
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this is a really cool place.
it also doubles as a pirate store.
arrrrr!
i love to write here also
We got mopped like suckaaz. And it was okay, since we were at 826 Valencia.
I love 826's commitment to the community and to the kids. I love their silliness. I love their fish theater (esp. the very charming puffer fish).
Bring all out-of-towners here so they can be jealous that they don't have their own pirate store.
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Yarrrrrrr!!! Every town needs a Pirate Supply Store.
Unless you live in San Francisco near this place, or in Brooklyn, where the 826 Valencia companion Super Hero Supply store is, then you cannot claim to live in the coolest city EVER. The stores -- all by themselves -- catapult these two cities to the highest rungs on the Awesomeness Ladder.
PS. Mind the sign, ye laddies, and do NOT stick your hand in the barrel of lard. I know it's tempting, but just trust me. TRUST ME.
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It's a store about pirates. With trap-doors in the ceiling and fun junk to do when you gotta kill some time. And it's FREE, too. Also, they host writing workshops and other awesome whatnots. I went there to perform in a poetry slam, and stayed for the wholly random OMG-ness sprinkled throughout the store that made me laugh and want to write about pirates. Which I did. In the workshops.
what's not to love about this place?!
i mean, besides its association with that whole mcsweeney's crowd.
still, a pirate store. that's pretty good, you guys.
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Here be a fine, fine store.
Yar.
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So if you didn't know by now, this shop sells pirate supplies. Their prices are reasonable and they usually have what I need to set sail and pillage booty.
They also have writing workshops for kids. I think this is a great idea if you want your kids to be scholars and get an education. I'd like my kids to be pirates, however, so I'll be sticking with their durable goods.
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Did that many people really propose in the fish theater? Genius!
If you only go to one quirky shop in the Mission, make it 826 Valencia. It's a pirate store, of course, but it's so much more than that; it's a reminder of those childhood days of whimsy and wonder. In fact, it's hard to believe someone actually put in the effort to make this place--it sounds like a "brilliant idea" I would ponder briefly in a daydream before letting it disappear over the horizon. So you've got to give them credit for follow-through. But be warned: like all nostalgia trips, it can be bittersweet. It might make you feel like a kid again, or it might make you realize just how much you've changed since those days when the pirate stories were far more alive than the sleepy, easily ignored "real" world. Or maybe they just make a very heady first impression.
Also, be sure to also check out the equally curious Paxton Gate next door. Between the two of them you'll find all the wonders of land and sea you need.
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More of an attraction than an actual store, the pirate store at 826 Valencia is one of the quirkiest businesses in San Francisco. Half of the merchandise doesn't even make business sense -- glass eyeballs, rubber mice, peg legs, books written in the old pirate vernacular or at least around the same period, and lard (lard!). It's such a rich experience -- the last two times I've been there the clerk had a gigantic handlebar moustache, and never broke character, especially when talking to kids.
Kids will love this place, especially when they can find a trinket in the sand vat and keep it if they "sing a song, tell a story, legally represent me in a court of law" (the clerk's words), and grown ups will just appreciate the spirit of whimsy that you just can't find anywhere else these days.
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In the venerable McSweeney's Lists tradition, I present to you
THE MOST COMMON ADJECTIVES USED TO DESCRIBE THE PIRATE STORE AT 826 VALENCIA
Plunderific
Superlafitte
Barbarytastic
Bluebeardy
Parrotic
Cutlassome
Bootylicious
Patchy
Schoonerlative
Beautiplank
Exemplarrrrrry
Scurvey-licious [(c) Bucky K]
Keeltastic [(c) Half Nelson M]
Hookeriffic [(c) Half Nelson M]
And you kids better take advantage of the writing tutors. BE GRATEFUL -- I wish I had that resource when I was younger.
Five stars for pirate supplies, sure. But five EXTRA stars for tutoring kids. Now let me commandeer your vessel.
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Arggg, it's the pirate store!!! When you enter it, you are magically whisked away to another world (okay, not literally, but this spot is all about expanding your immagination- so use it or lose it)
You go through drawers, floorboard and cabinets filled with trinkets to enhance your pirate experience. There is a HUGE sand basin for kids to dig in and find a prize (then they must tell a story, joke, or dance for their booty)
Make sure not to miss the aquarium there...KARL IS KING
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Karl is King!
Every time I'm in the mission I go out of my way to come here and watch Fish Theater. It's amazing. The fish are really great actors and they always make me smile. I just wish I could actually understand what they are saying. And the little hermit crab really adds to the diversity of the tank. There is something for everyone when watching Fish Theater.
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Yoooo Hoooo Yooo Hooo a Pirate's Life For MEEEEEE!
YES! This place will make you want to be eleven again! Why eleven, why not! ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!
I randomly discovered this treasure when i was strolling around the neighborhood, and man, what a discovery! You walk in and even the floor boards are made to feel as if you are stepping into a rickety ship. You can buy just about anything to suit your pirate needs- from stripe leggings- to eye patches! One of the best parts about the place- are the little hidden cubby holes you can open to discover more little treasures lurking about.
I also got a big kick when i found out that that 826 Valencia is a literacy project! WOOOT. I was a lit major and now currently a librarian... SWOOON!
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OK, as a store, this place is just OK. I mean, it doesn't really have things you'd want in most occasions. Although the dice in front always temp me. Directional/body part dice? Sounds like fun. But as a concept, it's just so great.
My favorite thing in it, that I would have really loved as a kid, is the treasure vat. I love seeing kids do something silly in order to keep their prize. So cure. The fish theater is also fantastic. And, well, let's not even go into the writing workshops that are the true purpose of this crazy store front.
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Pretty sweet pirate store. But I didn't see any parrots - that would really be sweet. But they do have a fish theater. Regardless, lots of cool stuff and lots of cool books. Friendly too.
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I love love love what this place does and stands for. I love that when I was in earlier this week to pick up my eye patch (a red one!), there was a mess o' kids in the back doing learny type activities. I love the fun things to play with and drawers to feel around in (reminds me of haunted house days of yore - with peeled grape "eyeballs" and cold cooked spaghetti "brains" - but less slimy).
Also? I got mopped. Thanks guy behind the counter! That was cool.
Now if only pirate prom would hurry the hell up and materialize, I'd be all set!
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826 valencia. well, if you want to bring out-of-towners to a store that will really drive home the point about san francisco's obsession with kooky unique stuff, this is it. where else can you stock up on messages in bottles and peg legs? as for their writing center, i hear it's fantastic, and i certainly applaud the mission.
i'm lukewarm on 826 valencia overall only because i am probably the only person in the bay area who isn't a dave eggers enthusiast. in fact, i find him pretentious and completely overrated. but i suppose i shouldn't condemn 826 valencia on his account. righto.
Stumbling into 826 Valencia in a bit of a disoriented state, my visitors and I were thoroughly puzzled to find a store full of pirate stuff. Is this stuff actually for sale? Is that *really* a huge tub of lard?
All I know is that this store is a lot of fun to wander around. Oh, and that it is actually a front for an awesome children and young adult's writing workshop program created by Dave Eggers. Perhaps this bucket of lard I now have sitting next to me will help some kid become the next great American author. Cool.
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Anyone who gives this place less than five stars clearly has no soul or no heart and deserves to be strung up on the yard arm and left for the gulls to peck his (or her!) eyes out.
The a wealth of good works done here is in helping all sorts, both young and old, in learning the meaning, the value, and the power of the writtten word, thierown written word. All the time paying homage to the wilely life of the *alledged* villain of the wide ocean. ;)
But even if your not up for volunteering, it's fun to stop by and explore the miriad of piratanical words and art, tee-shirts and peg-legs. Oh - and don't be too afraid to open a drawer - check under your feet - you never know what you will find.
(Check out the live fish aquarium viewing room for three right by the door as you leave - authentic cinema seating!)
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Thank you Dave Eggers, for bringing piratittude to our fair city!
Such benevolent and kind pirates you are. We need boatfuls of you:)
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Yarr, there's no better place for a pirate to go. When yer Jolly Roger finally rogers off, whar ye gonna get anudder one? What if ye scratch yer eye with yer hook and need a piratically approved eyepatch? And sure, ye don't THINK a pirate might need rubber mice, but ye never know, do ye? DO YE?!?!
Tis a fine establishment. Making a purchase sure plunters your booty, but it helps the young'ins learn to read.
Yar
Sure, I'm sick of the whole pirate-ninja-zombie craze at this point, too, but the pirate store at 826 Valencia is old-skool: they were there before the craze started. And where else can you buy pirate supplies, McSweeney's books, and books written by, not just for, kids, and have all of the money go to a good cause? The whimsical displays, in which you often have to open drawers to see what you can buy, are lots of fun. Be sure to check out Karl the pufferfish. They also have helpful, ever-changing signage. So, what I'm saying is, if you have never been, you should go. And if you have been, you should go again.
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YARR.
The trade off for having a Yankee mother and making it all the way to age 7 without relizing that the eightenth letter is, in fact a consonant, "arr", and not "ah," a vowel, is that a wonderful treat awaits you every saterday night. It's saterday night diner menu served by all Yankee mothers since time immemorial. Instead of dinner, it will be called supper, and seventy percent of it will be disgusting (franks and beans), a foil for the other thirty percent which is sublime. This is brown bread. How you love it. First, because it is bread and it is canned. You marvel that anyone thought to do this. Canned! Bread! What is next? Canned pie? Canned cereal? It seems a small miracle. Most importantly there is the taste. And oh, the taste. How to describe it? It is sweetish and dense and chewy (because like bagels, it is steamed.) It tastes like molasses and grahamy flours. It is unspiced but not bland. It is not simply comfort food; it fills a hole in your heart you didn't know was there.
This is what is written on the back of a can of bread by a yankee pirate. One of the many items to pillage to impress a damsel in distress
This might be my favorite place in San Francisco. The Captain found and introduced me to it and I could love him forever for that reason alone. We still stop in if we're walking by and laugh at the same things like it's the first time we've seen them - 'cause they're still funny.
I know that 826 offers writing workshops for kids, which is an incredibly worthy and noble cause, but I don't have kids so I love it for the pirates (if I did, I would surely take them here over Moby Dick, Good Vibrations or wherever it is you take kids nowdays - this is a better place for kids to get booty.)
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