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I'm looking for suggestions on a reliable car for driving in San Francisco. If I just need a car for errands, groceries, etc. with great gas mileage, that's also easy to park, what would you recommend?

I'm currently considering:

Honda Civic
Honda Fit
Toyota Yaris
Chevy Cobalt

Honestly, I'd hit up the Yaris in the end. The 3-door hatch is smallest of the above and has a nice sized boot, as long as you're not looking to carry around a lot of people. It's small size make it ideal for the city setting, keeping you away from other cars parked on the street as well as people. The SMART would be a good choice (especially for parking), but the price and lack of space are a killer.

If you're going to travel a lot, moving up to the Civic or the Fit is a good idea. The extra room will prove itself for comfort. If you want a "hot hatch," go with the Cobalt. The Cobalt SS is amazing value for money and performs well above it's price range. GM reliability and quality has improved by leaps and bounds in the past few years and the Cobalt is a car that proves such things. I think they are discontinuing the Cobalt in the next year or two, so you might get some deeply discounted cars with the impending Cruze on its way.

Check out the Fit. Small, sporty, good mpg, and has the storage of a mid sized SUV.