The Best 50th Birthday Party Ideas in San Francisco
Our Top Picks for Birthday Party Ideas for Your 50th Birthday
- For Foodies: We have ideas from birthday party food tours to fabulous virtual mixology classes.
- For Adventurers: Hike through Muir Woods, or fly high above Sonoma in a hot air balloon.
- For Gamers: Host a game night at home or challenge yourself with an escape room.
- For Him: Play Pickleball in the park or drink your way through Oakland’s best breweries.
- For Her: Spend the day at the Korean Bathhouse or .
Best Party Ideas for a 50th Birthday Party
1. Indulge in Chinese food on a Chinatown Food Tour
Did you know that the Chinatown in San Francisco is the oldest one in North America? This historic district is home to some of the best eats in the whole city! Join us for a pampered journey to 3-4 of the best restaurants in the area, on our Chinatown Food Tour. Skip all the lines and tuck into dishes like scallion and beef dumplings, avocado salmon egg rolls, or chocolate xiao long bao, on this three-hour odyssey through Chinatown.
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Price: $$+
Have a Game Night
Turn your Home into a casino for one night only to celebrate your 40th birthday! All you need to do is set up a few fold-out tables, some packs of cards, poker chips, and keep the alcohol flowing. No real money needs to be involved to make this night a hit! You could either play with something like wrapped candy, start everyone out with about 25 pieces, and allow them to take home their winnings at the end of the night. Or give out 100 poker chips per person, and for every 50 each person has won/kept by the end of the party, give them one lottery ticket. End the party with a drawing to see who wins the silly or special items you pick out as prizes!
Neighborhood: All
Price: $+
3. Go on a Scenic Bike Ride
The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the best bike rides SF has to offer, between the views and the fact that if you elect to bike it on the weekend or weekdays after 3:30, you can enjoy the entire west side of the bridge, which is closed off from all vehicles and reserved for bikers and pedestrians to enjoy. You can either book a guided tour of the bridge and surrounding parks or rent a bike and do it yourself. While you’re at it, we recommend biking around the base of the bridge to take in the historic Fort Point on the south side, as well as taking a moment to give a high five to the Hopper’s Hand sign.
Neighborhood: Presidio
Price: $
4. Virtual Mixology Class
If you’re not keen on crowds or want to celebrate with friends and family outside of the Bay, a virtual happy hour checks all the boxes for a great 50th birthday party! Get all your cocktail ingredients delivered to your door to learn the basics of cocktail making with an award-winning mixologist. And when we say basics, we mean skills, not flavors. Since all of this is done virtually, no one needs to be left out! Make it a hybrid happy hour and invite a few close friends over to your place to learn the cocktails together, while letting your family join virtually from wherever.
Where: Virtual
Price: $$+
5. Take To The Skies
In a hot air balloon! Grab a loved one for this special ride, and toast to another decade. The best hot air balloon experiences occur over the stunning vineyards of Sonoma or Napa, so you’ll have to step outside the city proper for this one, but companies like Sonoma Ballooning make it worth your while. They provide you with a pampered experience in the balloon, complete with views you’ve never seen before and memories to last a lifetime!
Neighborhood: Sonoma/Napa
Price: $$$$
6. Go on a Birthday Party Food Tour
For a special birthday meal, get treated like a VIP at a public or private Birthday Party Food Tour in San Francisco. You’ll get to taste some of the most unique, quirky, authentic flavors of San Francisco, all while enjoying stories and the neighborhood and its history. It’s a different kind of birthday party, but going to dinner and drinks has been done many (many, many) times before, right? You can even add hands-on experiences like cocktail making to make the tour even more special. This is your 40th birthday— see the city in new ways, eat great food, and blow out some candles during dessert to celebrate a new year!
Neighborhood: Multiple
Price: $$+
7. Spend the Afternoon at a Food Truck Park
Spark Social SF is a perfect place to celebrate your 50th birthday because they have an incredible selection of food trucks, a mini golf course, and a beer garden all in one place! The vendors vary a bit every day, but you can always expect to see places like Locksley Creamery, Momo Noodle, and Firetrail Pizza. There will be something for everyone to indulge in, no matter their tastes, and when you’re done stuffing yourselves, you can head over to the mini golf course for some friendly competition.
Neighborhood: Mission Bay
Price: $$
8. Enjoy a Concert by Candlelight
Embrace the start of a new decade by taking your friends and family to a candlelit concert in some of the most beautiful churches and performance spaces in San Francisco. These concerts range from being tributes to today’s biggest pop stars (I believe Bad Bunny was recently featured) to classical music concerts with incredible instrumentalists. The vibe cultivated by the glowing candles and beautiful music provides a lovely atmosphere to reflect on the past year and slow down and smell the roses for a moment. Whatever your music taste is, there’s sure to be an upcoming concert that would make for a perfect birthday celebration!
Neighborhood: Multiple
Price: $$
9. Take in the Sites and Tastes of North Beach on a Walking Food Tour
Join us for a North Beach Food Tour! This is the perfect experience for lovers of Italian food. While we bring you to each of the 3-4 Best Restaurants in North Beach San Francisco, we will tell you the history of this area, the Barbary Coast, which was one of the most notorious spots in all of America during the Gold Rush. If you would like to upgrade your experience, we have three perfect beverage pairings on offer. Without spoiling the surprise, some dishes you might get to sample on this tour would be: cioppino (a tomato-based seafood stew invented in SF!), wood-fired pizza, or cannolis!
Neighborhood: North Beach
Price: $$+
10. Take a Hike through Ancient Redwoods
The ancient Coast Redwood Trees in Muir Woods have to be seen to be believed. They tower over you at heights up to 250 feet, and some have been around for over 1,200 years. As you’re reflecting on the last decade of your life, it might feel good to commune with nature that’s been around much longer than you have. Enjoying good conversation and getting some physical activity with your favorite people in this gorgeous park is a perfect way to spend your 50th!
Where: Muir Woods
Price: $$
11. Dine on the San Francisco Bay
Spend your birthday cruising around the Bay while enjoying good food and conversation with your favorite people. The views from the water are incredible; you’ll see the city skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge like never before. There are many incredible photo opportunities, so don a nice outfit and encourage your friends to do the same. Companies like City Cruises offer premier dinner cruises where they serve craft cocktails and plated meals while live musicians serenade you in the background, which makes for a super special birthday celebration!
Where: San Francisco Bay
Price: $$$
12. Book an Interactive Meal Experience with Us!
For the ultimate hands-off experience, book an Interactive Meal with Avital Food & Drink Experiences! Not only do we partner with the best restaurants in SF, but we also offer comprehensive per-person pricing and give you the ability to sit back and enjoy your special night. In addition to providing you with a four-course meal composed of the restaurant’s best dishes, we guide your guests through three interactive experiences, like shaking up their own cocktail, Food and Drink Trivia, and a flavor-twisting finale. You get a delicious meal, exciting group activities, and an unforgettable night when you book with us!
Neighborhood: All
Price: $$+
13. Botanical Gardens After Dark
There is plenty to see in the Botanical Gardens of San Francisco during the day, but have you ever hung around after dark? Flower Piano is an event that occurs in the garden multiple times a year, and if it’s on when you’re celebrating your Birthday, you won’t want to miss it. A dozen pianos are scattered around the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, and on Flower Piano nights, pianists of all different genres and styles take up residence at the pianos. String lights and candles light the park, and there are food trucks and drinks for purchase.
Where: Golden Gate Park
Price: $$
14. Test your Sleuthing Skills at an Escape Room
Speaking of classics, who doesn’t love a good escape room? We’d be remiss if we didn’t include an escape room experience as one of our 50th birthday party ideas in San Francisco. It’s fun, works great for groups, and challenges everyone. Instead of dinner and drinks, a game night adds some excitement. Escape the room, and reward yourself with a birthday dessert and drink at Côte Ouest Bistro (we would recommend sticking a candle in a slice of the decadent moelleux au chocolat cake and pairing it with a glass of Cabernet).
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Price: $$+ (the more friends you bring, the cheaper it is!)
15. Mission District Food Tour
You can’t leave San Francisco without tasting the incredible Latin cuisine this city has to offer! We can guide you to all the best gems on our Mission District Food Tour. The Mission District is incredibly rich in culture and history, as well as excellent food. There is street art everywhere, and many photo opportunities that your Avital guide will make sure you don’t miss. We know the best restaurants in the Mission, and with us, you can skip all the lines. You might be tasting dishes like: Peruvian Tamal, Tunisian Kromb, or Black Sesame Dessert Buns on this tour.
Neighborhood: Mission District
Price: $$+
50th Birthday Ideas for a Women
1. Get Pampered with a Spa Experience
And not just any spa experience! If you’ve never been to a Korean Bathhouse, you are missing out. You can always expect to experience the most beautiful and well-maintained facilities and the best treatments. At Pearl Spa, you can book a massage, scrub, and/or body wrap, but be sure to arrive much earlier. You need time to try out the steam room, dry sauna, hot tub, cold plunge, sitting and standing showers, Himalayan salt room, and red clay ball room. Every toxin and bit of tension in your body will seep out as you go from room to room chatting with your friends and enjoying the facilities. Bring all the girls for a full-day spa experience like no other!
Neighborhood: Japantown
Price: $$$
2. Sip some Wine while you Paint your Masterpiece
Paint and Sip classes are a lovely way to spend your birthday. Paint the Town offers private Paint and Sip classes and has many packages that can help you fit this experience into your party budget. They can also bring the supplies and instructor to you if you have a different venue in mind! Classes like these make party planning easy by getting you all the supplies, setting up the easels, and pouring the wine while you sit back and relax. But that doesn’t mean you can’t also DIY it! Head to your local Michaels and buy a few paint sets, packs of brushes, and some small canvases for everyone attending. Pair that with a few bottles of your favorite wine (or maybe more than a few), and a nice charcuterie board, and you have just created a night in that rivals any night out!
Neighborhood: Multiple
Price: $-$$$
3. Book an Incredible Brunch
San Francisco is a great town for Sunday Brunch fans! If you want to go all out snag a table at the Michelin Starred Hilda and Jesse where you can indulge in a five course “Chef’s Adventure Menu” or order delicious dishes a la carte such as a shrimp toastie, duck leg karaage, and spiced lamb meatballs. Or head to the incredibly popular Outerlands and get SF’s favorite breakfast sandwich or the fluffiest Dutch Pancakes you’ve ever had. And don’t worry, cocktails are on the menu at either establishment!
Neighborhood: Multiple
Price: $$+
50th Birthday Party Ideas for Men
1. Play Pickleball at Golden Gate Park
Head over to Golden Gate Park for an epic Pickleball tournament with your boys. Pair everyone up in teams of two and have a few games going with the winners going on to play the winners until one team is victorious! The park offers courts at incredibly reasonable rates, just be sure to reserve far in advance of the big day because these courts fill up quickly. After you’ve worked up a sweat you can head over to the Little Shamrock Bar right at the edge of the park for a couple of cold pints and free popcorn.
Where: Golden Gate Park
Price: $
2. Take a Trip across the Bay for the Best Breweries
If you and your buds consider yourself beer aficionados (or at the very least, big fans of the drink), a bar crawl through the best breweries in the Bay Area might just be the perfect party idea! SF proper has a few good breweries, and if you want to stay local, we’ll point you right to House of Pizza (by Cellarmaker) in the Mission District. But true hop-heads know the best beer is in the East Bay, and it’s only a train ride away! Start at Original Pattern Brewing, then walk to Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, which is right next door to Cellarmaker House of Pizza. After grabbing a few slices to sober up, pile into an Uber, and start heading towards the beach, hitting Almanac Adventureland and Brewery on the way, and ending the night at Faction Brewing with views of the Bay!
Neighborhood: Oakland
Price: $$+
3. Take the Boys Out to the Giants Game
If your birthday takes place between April and October, celebrate with the eight-time World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants. Games take place often, and there are different tiers of seating options. Book a box for you and your friends to hang out i,n or get a bunch of bleacher seats and have your buddies meet you out behind center left field. Before the game, sip on beers and nosh on bar snacks at Public House or 21st Amendment. After the game, go to Momo’s to keep the party going.
Neighborhood: SoMa
Price: $$+
Best Party Themes for an SF 50th Birthday Party
1. Decades
Invite your guests to dress in the style of their favorite decade to celebrate your 50th! For the ’70s you can embrace flower power with long dresses and peace sign jewelry. Or you could put on spandex and crop tops for an ’80s jazzercise look. Your guests can get grungy with plaid flannels and ripped jeans to embody the ’90s. Or go all in on Y2K and dress like you’re straight out of Mean Girls or a Britney Spears music video. This is a great theme because it allows your guests to customize their look and pick the best costume accoutrement from their closet.
2. Oscar Party
Embrace Hollywood Glamour with an Oscars-themed birthday party! Turn your home or venue of choice into a VIP Oscars afterparty for one night only. It doesn’t even have to coincide with Oscar’s season. This theme is all about dressing chic, embracing your cinephile side, and sipping your drink of choice out of champagne flutes (which can totally be plastic, we won’t tell). Put your favorite movie posters up on the wall, some old black and white film on the TV as set decoration, and roll out the red carpet for your guests to walk in on. Bonus points if you acquire a few of those life-size cardboard celebrities for hilarious photo ops with your guests!
3. Wild West
Who doesn’t love the Wild West! Don on a cowboy hat and neckerchief while you pump country music from the speakers. Get the grill out and serve barbecued meats and heaping bowls of cheesy chili to turn your house into the prairie! After you eat, take the party for a nightcap at Westwood in the Marina District where you can ride one of the only mechanical bulls left in the Bay Area. They serve delicious whiskey drinks and tex-mex snacks until 1:30am so the party can keep going all night long!
4. Tropical
Bring Island vibes to your birthday party when you choose a Tropical theme! San Francisco has beautiful sunny days and gorgeous beaches, so why not take advantage and throw this party outside? A tiki bar is a great touch, as well as having a few tiki torches scattered about. Set up a blender so you can keep plying guests with icy drinks like piña coladas and daiquiris all night long. Dress code is bathing suits, and Hawaiian shirts—and grab a few packs of Leis from Party City for the finishing touch!
Party Favor Ideas for 50th Birthday
- Photo Strips: Rent out a photo booth so your guests can leave with cute photo strips to remember the party by.
- Custom Playing Cards: Websites like Shuffled Ink will print anything on playing cards, from your face, to a picture of your pet, or a logo custom made for your party.
- Hangover Kit: Pack a bag with individual electrolyte packages, ibuprofen, mints, and a face mask. Your guests will thank you!
- Lottery Tickets: Maybe one of your guests will win big and cut you in on their winnings!
- A Homemade Treat: Show your friend you care by whipping up a batch of your favorite cookies and sending everyone home with a bagful.
- Personalized Matchbooks: You never know when you’ll need a match, and next time your friends reach for one, memories of your incredible party will come flooding back.
Final Thoughts on Idea of 50th Birthday Party SF
We here at Avital Food & Drink Experiences are all foodies, so you’ll probably be catching us touring one of the best food neighborhoods in SF when we celebrate our 50th birthdays. But if you and your friends are more into hiking, sailing, or music, there’s certain to be an option on this list that is enticing!
If you want even more SF birthday party ideas check out our posts about 30th Birthday Party Ideas in San Francisco and 40th Birthday Party Ideas San Francisco! It’s a fabulous city for celebrating and you deserve to go all out for this special birthday.
Book With Us
Interested in booking a private Food Tour as a Unique 40th Birthday Party in San Francisco? Learn more on our Private Food Tour Page or send an inquiry to [email protected].
