Bell’occhio

Very special place. If you love beautiful things and details matter, this is your place. A lot of unique gift (although I usually end up keeping them) items. Paper, ribbons, candies, perfumes, whimsies, decorations and so much more. Gorgeous gift wrapping, too. The owner is delightful.

My wife loved this store. A diamond in the rough.

What a place for treasures. Visiting from New York, I couldn’t wait to come to Bell’occhio. But I almost missed it… taking three buses, heading in the wrong direction, my daughter and I arrived two minutes before closing literally running to the door. I walked in, so happy to see the door still open, and the magical woman at the counter reassured me not to rush, she would stay open. The joy. Sheets of glossy paper. A secret silken box. Delicate scissors shaped as owls. Bits of color and texture all made their way into my basket. Ribbon. A small doll spoon. She wrapped it all with incredible care, and then set us on our way with directions and a smile. A treasure herself.

Small shop hidden. But, super cute filled with treasures from France. Crafty or stationary things. Things for your home and kitchen. A little delight to find in the city.

You can’t help but feel like you’re in a small french village shop.
Bellocchio is hard to describe. The range of items available is astounding. From mother of pearl spools and vintage ribbon to café au lait bowls and tool bags– I absolutely wanted to add one of everything to my shopping basket. Besides the quality merchandise, the beautiful displays stole the show. Each price sign was done by their shop calligrapher. The thought and care that went into every last detail is incredible. This shop has jumped to the top of my «must visit list» whenever I’m in San Francisco.
Higher end products come with a price tag– but you can find things in here that you can’t find anywhere else. And when it comes to quality– you get what you pay for!

The prettiest store in SF!
Alright, I’ll write more on why this is the prettiest store.
It’s small. Smaller than I thought.
«Whimsical, french, quaint» are some words that come to mind about this place.
I love the sharpened sticks that spools of ribbon are on and how every single sign for each item is hand lettered in calligraphy (not the tacky calligraphy, the modern looking kind).
I love the handmade caramels or something that are wrapped in orange tissue paper in a cone shape to look like a carrot with green ribbon-​y leafy things hanging off it. It sounds tacky, but it’s not. Very fresh.
There’s this great paper stencil to powder a cake with with the words «bonne fête» cut out of it.
So many little treasures.
Worth visiting at least once, especially if you’re a creative type.
I LOVED the colorful polish paper chandeliers with wide thick colorful ribbons hanging off. Gorgeous, gorgeous.

Lovely little things. A wonderful escape from Market St.

With all of the beautiful things, how can one NOT want everything in the store (like le chat noir ribbon)? Beyond the bounty of lovely items, my experience with the owner, Claudia Schwartz, was excellent; I found her to be courteous, responsive, and very personable.

This place is so precious! Visited for the first time yesterday, on a mission to find a very specific shade of white ribbon with my boss. He has apparently been frequenting the shop for a while, and says that the array of wonderful objects changes all the time. The place is in a little alley, grungy somewhat, but at this point surrounded by a number of other nice looking businesses.
The saleswoman was very knowledgeable, though a little intense; but not in a bad way! It was just a little erie, she would pick out a ribbon, I’d say it wasn’t quite right, and she would then follow up with the exact reason I thought it wasn’t right! Without me telling her! A prime example of someone who knows their stuff.
Aside from lots of pretty ribbon, the store had lots of beautiful paper goods; stationery, tags. some really sweet papier mache boxes, other assorted knick knacks. definitely somewhere I will go next time I need a unique gift or a particularly elegant parcel for one.
Also, my boss mentioned that if you are buying a gift and have the time, you should ask one of the women working to gift wrap the item for you; they work miracles!

*Update*
The owner wrote me a very nice message! She apologized over the whole «Oh, that is very expensive» comment. I’ll be glad to give them a try again if I’m looking for a little gift for a special someone.
There is no need to say «Oh, you misunderstood! The clerk was having a bad day! Maybe the comment was taken out of context…». Some times a simple «I’m sorry you had a bad experience» is all it takes.

i must be getting old but this is an awesome little store with tons of charm and character. the door has an eyeball with long lashes that indicate if the door is locked or not. open/​closed pretty straightforward. though the eye closed didn’t seem to indicate that they were really closed.
if you want to give presents with character, go here. lots of nice boxes, antique ribbons, wrapping paper, etc. they have absinthe candles, brioche candles, boxes in the shape of truffles, apples, and mussels. there are marie antoinette dolls with a button that makes the head pop off including matching sheep. they have their own perfume, they have a variety of teas, chocolates, jewelry, and this might be the only place in SF that sells mouches that were used in the 17^th c to cover syphillis pockmarks or big zits with style.
i didn’t really notice anything outrageously expensive here so i’m not sure what the other reviewers were talking about. though you do have to open drawers, look in pigeon holes, etc. to get at stuff so maybe i just didn’t open door #2 or something. there are some neat mercury votives, carafes, and absinthe spoons i want to go back for eventually too.
the back seems to be bigger than the front that it did cross my mind that maybe the eclectic store is a front for something more interesting…

Forever ago, I saw this in a Martha Stewart magazine. While on a business trip, I made my husband take me here. At the time, it was considered not the best neighborhood. It took forever to find it. Finally inside, I spent waaaay too much money on ribbons and such to decorate my Christmas gifts that year. Everything turned out so «Martha».

My brother use to have secret places he would purchase my gifts from and it took me years to wrangle it out of him.
I however will share with you this wonderfully charming hidden treasure in a snip of an alley across from Zuni’s.
As you enter, you are entering a lovely well placed shoppe filled with basket, treasure boxes, unique cards, ribbons, beautiful wrapping paper, candles…and least I forget, a cabinet with many many hidden delights as you open each door.. .
I bought 2 cards with embossed foxes. lovely. And two red menu cards to make keepsakes of menus past for my kids.. . but I simply must return to purchase my Marie Antoninette. (sp}
Upon leaving I noticed the «eye» above the door — went back in to inquire — and was informed that — it was their way of informing the public that they were open or closed — by a simple twist of the rod on the side of the eye — the eye would close with a batting of an eyelash.. most ingenious.

This is THE most hidden treasure in San Francisco. I walk in, entering through white, wooden doors, with a handwritten sign in the window, asking to knock «LOUDLY» or ring the bell. Complete in awe, I’m taken back in time to a quaint, french provincial shoppe. I’ve fallen in love with their candles, beautiful ribbons, Mariage FreresTea Bags, Le Clerk Face powders tins, and my total favorite, handmade fleur de sel caramels, which are individually wrapped with Provencale paper. This is the perfect place to buy your loved one something special and sweet, darling and charming.

Very charming little store. Odd experience getting in, there are two storefronts and I was waiting in front of the first one making eye contact with a woman on the phone who just ignored me. After trying the second door — also locked, I came back to the first only to have the second door opened by someone else also holding the phone. No hello, no greeting, no nothing.
I wandered about for a bit and was definitely ignored for quite a while.
Lovely little letterpressed cards and wrapping paper and ribbons. Not lots of things other than ephemera but the store décor itself is really nice. Faux bois walls and great chandeliers. All the prices are handwriitten on little tags or scrolls.
Good for little romantic gifts. Knock and knock loudly if you want in.

You can spend a half hour just wandering from basket to basket in this amazing store. The style is something close to Franco-​Victorian with amazing boxes (bee boxes, almond boxes, log boxes), stationary, fountain pen nubs, absinthe spoons, etc.
One thing that you must try are the chocolates by maison bouche. I tried the salt chocolate and the pralines and almonds chocolate bars — even the highest quality chocolates I’ve had don’t come close.

I can’t wait to go here. I’m writing a review for a place I haven’t been to. Is that odd? I suppose that’s a bit unconventional, but I’ve got this deep emotional, psychic bond with this store that has existed for a while.
For instance, I’ve received gifts purchased at Bell’occhio. They were fabulous! Imported tea, miniature stationary the size of a matchbox, and sweet smelling soaps. I’ve also heard that they used to sell velvet beauty marks, shaped like little hearts. While I don’t have any syphilitic pockmarks and boils to cover with these little stick-​ons (which is, apparently, why a lot of lusty and dirty 18^th century courtiers used them), I can’t help but find the notion of them pretty fun. Lastly, but not leastly, the tea they carry is by Mariage Freres which, in my opinion, is some of the best tea out there in the world.
Also, Bell’occhio is located in one of the crappiest allies in the cities, practically behind the Power Exchange. Which just goes to show, that even the most piss-​soaked, smelly, dirty corners can contain some sort of redeeming qualities.
I think maybe I’ll go there today! I need pretty frivolous things, stat, to add to my already huge collection of pretty frivolous things.

A truly unique little shop — every time I go there they have wildly different/​unique items (example: I recently bought a friend a Marie Antoinette doll whose head popped off when you pressed a button on its back — a bit macabre but exquisitely put together!). They also have some fantastic chocolates (the sea salt is out of this world) and wrapping papers.
Make sure you go when you have a lot of time — if you buy anything they will painstakingly hand wrap every item with ribbons and paper.

This store is a gem. When I walk into Bell’occhio, I’m reminded of why I love San Francisco. There’s always a little boutique store hidden away somewhere, and it’s fun to find them. I was watching t.v. a long time ago and saw this place on Martha Stewart Living (pre-​prison.) Curiosity got the best of me and I drove there that very day. I had a hard time not blowing all of my money here, because they had the most unique and beautiful little bobbles. They have amazing ribbons here, and other interesting things to pack your special gifts in. The boxes are especially cool. They also have some inexpensive and elegant jewelry. But the one thing I always stock up on when I visit is their lotion. It’s fabulous.

A small shop with a very eclectic stock, a collection of the totally unnecessary that usually yields that perfect something for someone who has it all. They carry an amazing selection of ribbons, teas, candles, and imported chocolates, plus unusual gift boxes in the shapes of berries, snowflakes, and even a lump of coal, the latter of which is ideal for Christmas stockings, especially if filled with something special no naughty person deserves or would expect.