SF's Marina Safeway *Is* a Meet Market

The Safeway supermarket in San Francisco's Marina district has had a reputation as a cruising ground for heterosexual singles at least since the days when Armistead Maupin was writing Tales of the City.

Violet Blue decided to check it out. She and a companion trolled three different Safeways, in the Castro, Marina, and "South Beach" (the beach-less area south of Market Street, by China Basin and TPC Park, that was industrial grunge before developers turned it into a yuppie trap).

They struck out in the Castro and in "South Beach." But the Marina Safeway lived up to its reputation:

While not as packed as the Market Street store, this Safeway had the goods and the groceries. The candy looked sweeter. The produce (allegedly the place to meet and be met) all looked so … young and ripe. The bananas looked eager. People were dressed up. And they were eyeing my (ahem) basket. It was eerie how sexually charged the atmosphere was.

Suddenly, we weren't dorks with striped socks and way too many condoms and bananas and tubs of cupcake frosting in our shopping baskets — we were the hunted. When a sexy Asian boy found himself flirting with both Michelle and me, trapped between us in a hot moment of blushing and smiling, I knew the legends were true. People don't go there just to shop for dish soap. Score one for scoring (and Michelle) at the Marina Safeway.

The Marina Safeway is indeed the place to go if you're shopping for a hookup.