The museum itself is the draw here. The building is the old Main Library — high ceilings, solid natural light — and the permanent collection runs from ancient China through South and Southeast Asia, with rotating contemporary work layered in. The meetup format is loose: you show up, you find the group or you don't, and either way you're inside a good museum on a Sunday morning rather than staring at your phone.

Practical note: the Civic Center plaza can be chaotic depending on the day. Enter from Larkin Street on the east side rather than the Hyde Street side, which keeps you away from the main plaza foot traffic. The museum café is a reasonable stop for coffee before you commit to the galleries.