San Francisco's original heartbeat still pulses here. North Beach glows with Italian energy as jazz spills from doorways and the scent of espresso and fresh cannoli hangs in the air. This is the city's little slice of Europe — where newcomers are winning world pizza championships and beating Italy at its own game, where couples linger at sidewalk cafés over tiramisu and Chianti until midnight, where beat poets found their voice and Sinatra sang. The Transamerica Pyramid watches over it all — the skyline changed, but North Beach never will. Pull up a chair. Order everything.