Top 100 Restaurants
Different? Definitely. Here’s why
For this year’s Top 100 Restaurants list, my first as your restaurant critic, I wanted to take a moment to really think about what “top” means — to hold the word under a bright light and consider how the list might both reflect the current culinary landscape of the Bay Area and serve a smart, diverse and curious readership.
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Top 100 Restaurants
Browse the whole list here
A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine
It’s impossible to say whether a wine program is “the best,” but the one created by Shelley Lindgren at A16 is amazing, labor-intensive and unlike any other in the Bay Area, if not the country. The southern Italian wines at A16 are an ode to the idiosyncratic, heterogeneous creations of less-familiar regions. As The Chronicle’s wine critic Esther Mobley has pointed out, the best Italian wines are the ones you don’t know. The offerings themselves make A16’s wine list unique, but what makes it unsurpassed is the staff. It’s a thrill to be knowledgeably ferried through the Italian backroads and learn the stories of the wines.
How it’s aged well: From a diner’s perspective, there’s a magical thing that happens when a restaurant evolves from shiny new hot spot to a well-worn favorite. A16, now 15 years old, has a confidence that comes with middle age. It’s no longer an impossible reservation; now it can be a casual neighborhood drop-in. Like the Nopas and Zunis of the world, its menu is built around tentpoles (here: burrata, trippa, pizza, maccaronara), but the ever-changing seasonal dishes show how much the kitchen — led by executive chef Nicolette Manescalchi — is still pushing to be the best it can be.
The best place to sit: If you’re really here to explore wine, then you’re here to taste a wine you've never had before — maybe one you’ve never even heard of before. The best place to do that? The bar. Eat there, converse there, learn there, indulge there.
What to Order: Burrata ($16), pizza ($18-$22), seasonal specials and pasta to finish. Wine as recommended by the staff.
Hours: Dinner nightly. Lunch Fri.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted
Phone: 415-771-2216
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Acquerello
1722 Sacramento St., San Francisco
Acquerello is proof that the classics should endure. At 30 years old, the restaurant shows its age, with red carpeting, white tablecloths and an ultra-attentive manner of service that has gone out of style since 1989. But chef Suzette Gresham’s French-accented Italian food still registers delight and occasionally even genuine surprise. Her Venetian-inspired dish of marinated eel with salsa rossa, pine nuts and raisins, or her briny risotto with abalone and red dulse (seaweed) show a continued commitment to experimentation within this institution’s old-school confines.
Favorite detail: The restaurant is located inside the chapel of a former funeral parlor. Study the ceiling, and it will make sense.
The other cool thing: The wine list is of an endangered species. Overseen by father and son Giancarlo and Gianpaolo Paterlini, the Acquerello cellar is nothing short of epic. There are few places you can find verticals of the Italian greats in this sort of quantity: Giacomo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, Angelo Gaja. It’s also a treasure trove of Champagne, a passion of the younger Paterlini.
What to Order: The nine-course seasonal tasting menu ($205) is the best bang for your buck, but the most fun way to experience Acquerello is to go prix fixe, where you can choose your own adventure in three-course ($105), four-course ($130) or five-course ($150) increments. Pastas are a highlight, including the spinach creste di galli pasta with Wagyu Bolognese and mint, and a single, large raviolo nearly bursting with brown butter. The always-on-the-menu bourbon-caramel semifreddo might feel dated compared with the more modern desserts, but honestly, it’s so decadent and delicious that we don’t want it to ever change.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-567-5432
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Akiko's
431 Bush St., San Francisco
You get a pristine piece of nigiri, and you consume it with a flick of the wrist, but what you don’t see is all the work that went into that moment: owner Ray Lee’s constant travels to Japan, the sourcing, the way the chefs agonize over the rice, the aging of the fish, the garnish, the careful slicing. When he took over his parents’ long-standing sushi restaurant several years ago, Lee helped bring the omakase movement to San Francisco, and Akiko’s has stayed ahead of the curve since then, offering a seamless blend of modernist and traditional preparations, from a tuna marrow jelly “shot” flecked with uni and gold leaf to a hanasaki, a crab from Hokkaido prefecture.
The best place to sit: If you want to learn all about the fish, where it’s from and how it was prepared, one of the prized seats at the sushi bar is the spot. Space is extremely limited, so you have to request it with your reservation. Better yet, become a lunch regular.
Pro tip: There is a very different sushi restaurant a few blocks away on Mason Street that is also named Akiko’s. The two restaurants are unrelated; do not get them confused.
What to Order: The menu changes constantly, so instead of trying to navigate the specials, just put yourself in the hands of the chef. Or ask what’s new this week. The omakase ($150 for 17 to 18 dishes) isn’t just one of the best omakase options in town; it’s one of the best meals in town, period.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Mon.-Fri., dinner Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-397-3218
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Al's Place
1499 Valencia St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Aaron London is not afraid to take food to eccentric places and to prioritize vegetables over meat. Produce really does rule here, the majority from Blue Dane farm in Grass Valley. Salads are a tumble of just-plucked greens and edible flowers; it’s recommended that you eat them by hand, requiring you to dig down to the creamy herbed avocado as if you were weeding a garden plot. A teacup of chawanmushi is set with mushroom stock and garnished with apple and pistachio, rather than the usual dashi broth and seafood.
What makes it special? The main menu at London’s sun-filled corner restaurant on the outer edge of the Mission District focuses on inventive vegetable-centric dishes, with animal products like smoked chicken broth and hamachi making only guest appearances. Otherwise, fish and meats are listed as sides or specials to share.
Off-menu highlights: Specials tend to be on the more experimental end of the spectrum, and not necessarily vegetarian friendly, like a fish head with sweet and sour sauce.
What to Order: Baby lettuces with pistachio crumble and creamy avocado ($17); hamachi crudo with crispy potato and bagna cauda ($18); grits with goat milk curds, crisp peas and yellowfoot mushrooms ($17); and steak tartare with pickled kohlrabi, black mandarin and horseradish ($17).
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-872-9442
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Angler
132 The Embarcadero, San Francisco
Possibly the blockbuster restaurant of 2018 San Francisco, Angler is every bit as dialed in as your Instagram feed makes it look. It’s showy, with a 32-foot hearth blaring in the kitchen, one room full of pristine live-fish tanks and another studded with gargantuan taxidermy, but the precise, no-fish-bone-out-of-place style of cooking and service is fully realized. A warning: Though often touted by media as ultra-pricey Saison’s more casual sibling, Angler is still very expensive, and reservations are hard to get, and the servers are wearing suits. So, yeah, not really “casual.”
The best place to sit: The main dining room has lots of bar seats — and they fill up fast — but off to the side, the so-called game room (that’s where all the taxidermy is) has a tiny bar with just four seats. Bar director Brandyn Tepper is often working there himself. If you snag a reservation, you can request to be seated here. The full food menu is served, and you can take advantage of Tepper’s magnificent cocktail and spirits program.
Favorite detail: The throwback-style glass butter dish in which the (stupidly delicious) cultured butter arrives, an accompaniment to the (stupidly delicious) Parker House rolls. Or the dentist-style bib you get when ordering the radicchio XO.
What to Order: That radicchio XO ($15) may be the most interesting thing to happen to chicories in this millennium. Don’t miss the meticulous Hasselback potato in a bath of creamy white cheese ($16), or chef Joshua Skenes’ simple preparations of fish and meat — which might include scorpion fish, a whole Dungeness crab, a grilled lobster or a rabbit — over the kitchen’s centerpiece hearth ($15 to $75). And indulge in Tepper’s meticulous, labor-intensive cocktails, like the barbecue pineapple daiquiri ($15) or ember-infused white Russian ($17), along with a stellar, French-dominant wine list.
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-872-9442
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Atelier Crenn
3127 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
When this restaurant earned three stars from the Michelin Guide in November, chef-owner Dominique Crenn received a whirlwind of attention as the first U.S. woman to receive such recognition. But what makes her restaurant relevant hasn’t changed. There is an intense focus on nature and seasonality, but unique to the Bay Area is the seafood- and vegetable-only tasting menu. It suits diners’ carbon-conscious ethos while also reflecting Crenn’s background in Brittany and her ties to the sea. And while many chefs use flowers and herbs as garnish, here they are geological elements: Rosemary sprigs emerge like redwoods from a fog of dry ice next to tiny geoduck tarts, and a blossom wreath creates a protective fortress around a delicate raw oyster cloaked in frozen rosewater.
Favorite detail: The words. The poem that diners receive in lieu of a menu seems precious at first, but works with the overall theatricality of the experience. “To bury in fallen leaves my treasures of earth and sea” is a course that involves a server crushing seeds and grains at the table to spoon over trout roe before adding dressing and tiny lettuces on top. One of the desserts created by pastry chef Juan Contreras, Heart Beet, is a blood red, heart-shaped frozen confection to be eaten by hand, the fleshy grain of the beets pulsating your taste buds as red liquid drips down your arm.
Thoughtful touches: The staff explains how dishes should be tackled, down to the utensils, without making it all too serious. A server smiled at me wryly and said, “These were grown for you,” when presenting a small planter of live lettuces that he then sprayed with dressing and snipped to garnish the cheese course. It’s an example of Crenn’s intensity, artistry and whimsy all tied together neatly.
What to Order: The tasting menu ($363, including tax and service) is the only option and must be prepaid when making a reservation on Tock. The wine pairing is $220.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-440-0460
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August 1 Five
524 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Ever since its debut in 2016 in the shadow of City Hall, August 1 Five has become a pioneer in San Francisco’s burgeoning landscape of upscale Indian restaurants. Deservedly so. These days, chef Manish Tyagi’s lemongrass- and turmeric-infused salmon flakes away with the same delicate touch as the sea bass on the restaurant’s opening menu nearly three years ago. Over the years, Tyagi has built a following on a slice of Van Ness untethered to an actual restaurant-friendly neighborhood, a bit removed from both Hayes Valley and the lower Polk Street stretch. As such, August 1 Five has managed to create its own aura, one that pulls in its own type of diner.
Pro tip: Go for dinner with friends. There’s something intoxicating about the dining room, with its shades of blue, wood surfaces and dark furniture, when the lights are dim after sundown.
What to Order: Lamb chops (two for $28), truffle chicken kebab ($18), sunchoke and lotus stem chaat ($12).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sun., brunch weekends. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-771-5900
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Balompie
3801 Mission St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain Vegetarian-Friendly
The Mission-Bernal corridor has lost two of its longtime Salvadoran restaurants, El Zocolo and El Patio, in recent years, but this family-owned corner cafe is still going strong. There are few places left in the city where you can sit down to truly handmade dishes like pupusas filled with cheese and loroco (a Salvadoran vegetable) piled with curtido (pickled cabbage) and get away with spending $10 to $15 per person, especially at this quality. Owner Jackie Vela, whose uncle founded the original Balompie on 18th Street, says the recipes for both locations are her grandmother’s, and everything is still done with a sure touch. The fried plantains are sweeter and crunchier than at other Salvadoran restaurants, and the pupusas are tender, with burnt-cheese-encrusted exteriors. The pan con pavo, a thick roll stuffed with fresh-roasted turkey, crunchy lettuce and a sauce made of turkey drippings thickened with vegetables and spices, is a meal in itself.
Pro tip: Bring the Sunday paper, or just watch fútbol, while eating breakfasts like casamiento (rice fried with beans) with eggs and sour cream ($11.75), coffee included.
What to Order: Pupusas ($3.50); fried plantains with refried black beans, queso fresco and sour cream ($11.75); pan con pavo ($10.75).
Hours: 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Mon., Wed.-Sat.; until 9 p.m. Sun. Other location: 3349 18th St., San Francisco. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-647-4000
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Beit Rima
138 Church St., San Francisco
Guides: New Vegetarian-Friendly
After stints cooking at Dyafa, Tawla and Theorita, 28-year-old Samir Mogannam transformed a former Burgermeister in the Castro into a quick-service restaurant dedicated to “Arabic comfort food.” The project, named Beit Rima after his Jordanian mother, is a well-conceived tribute to the food Mogannam grew up with that brings a much-needed jolt of heart and soul to Church Street. There’s something about the restaurant that makes you want to root for the team, who apply fine-dining chops to a very accessible and affordable project. Mogannam and crew crank out an ambitious menu of Arabic classics out of a tiny kitchen — a catalog of eye-catching and crowd-pleasing mezze spreads like baba ganoush ($8) and fava bean ful ($8), beef and chicken kebabs ($16) and a Gaza-style lamb shank ($26/$48) as tender as a mother’s goodbye kiss.
Pro tip: Samir’s za’atar-dusted bread ($5), a hollow pouf of hand-kneaded dough, makes for a perfect addition to any spread — but sells out fast. The Mariquita Farm vegetable crudite ($4) is an excellent alternative.
What to Order: Falafel are a steal at 79 cents apiece, so add a couple to whatever you’re ordering. Definitely try the hummus ma’ Lehma with spiced and finely minced beef ($12) and the lamb shank. Don’t miss the muhalabia ($6), a pudding scented with orange blossom water, for dessert.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-710-2397
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Benu
22 Hawthorne St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine Quiet Vegetarian-Friendly
From the moment you step into the spacious, tree-lined courtyard off a SoMa alley and into Benu’s sparsely decorated, darkly modern dining room, you’ll know you’ve entered a different universe. Benu is wholly its own: Chef Corey Lee’s menu is a little bit Korean, a little bit Cantonese, a lot rigorous, technique-driven fine dining. The highlights of the $310 tasting menu (plus 20 percent service charge) are the eight “small delicacies” at the beginning: the thousand-year-old quail egg bathing in gingery jelly, a sticky barbecued chicken wing stuffed with toothsome abalone and abalone liver, a marinated mussel packed with compact ribbons of vegetables and glass noodles. Lee riffs cleverly on traditional dishes, like stuffing xiao long bao with lobster, approximating the texture of shark fin with solidified chicken broth, or surrounding succulent veal short rib with his version of banchan.
A cool thing: Wine director Yoon Ha, a master sommelier, succeeds brilliantly in pairing Lee’s dishes with a range of drinks ($210). Yes, there’s wine — including, recently, a 1979 Blandy’s Verdelho Madeira with that faux shark-fin number — but also sour beer brewed with dates, a collaboration between Benu and Berkeley’s Rare Barrel. With dessert, Ha might open a rare sparkling sake, fermented in bottle like a petillant-naturel wine.
Favorite detail: The smart toilets — they greet you when you enter, opening their lids and lighting up as soon as you open the door. They make you feel like you’re in the future.
What to Order: You have to order the tasting menu ($310), and you ought to order the beverage pairing ($210), though Ha is a fabulous resource if you’d prefer to order a bottle of wine or sake. For nondrinkers, there’s an interesting list of teas, including bamboo leaf and guava leaf (the latter served over ice).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-685-4860
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Bini's Kitchen
1001 Howard St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain New Vegetarian-Friendly
For six years and counting, Binitha Pradhan has been the Bay Area’s foremost dealer of momos, the hearty, pleated Nepalese dumplings that proliferate on the streets of both Kathmandu and Queens. Her devotion to her craft — mixing spices that she’s dried and ground up herself, making dumpling wrappers from scratch and sticking to a Nepalese culinary mode rather than compromising with Indian menu items for the sake of her American audience — has earned her a loyal following. Until recently, you could get Pradhan’s food only at Off the Grid events, local Whole Foods hot bars and her lunch-only takeout window on Market Street. But now that Bini’s Kitchen has a brick-and-mortar, sit-down restaurant, momo fans have a place to call their own.
Our favorite detail: One of the walls in the SoMa space is covered with a mural depicting Pradhan’s life story, featuring cameos by fellow La Cocina alums, women she’s worked alongside and her son.
The other cool thing: Pradhan’s ambitions for the restaurant include hiring women who have escaped from abusive relationships and keeping prices accessible to the residents of the affordable-housing complex perched atop the restaurant.
What to Order: Momos, of course. They come with three filling options: turkey ($8 for eight), vegetable ($8 for eight) and lamb ($10 for eight). The Nepalito ($11), a Bini-style burrito, comes with chicken, pork or a five-bean Nepalese chili called kwati.
Hours: Lunch Mon.-Fri. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-583-1862
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Bix
56 Gold St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
An Art Deco fantasy come to life, Bix is the rare restaurant that combines a retro interior — that epic two-story supper club vibe straight out of the 1930s depicted in “The Rocketeer” — with distinctly modern fare. The latter comes courtesy of chef-partner Bruce Hill, one of San Francisco’s great behind-the-scenes chefs, and chef de cuisine Emmanuel Eng, who has been running the day-to-day since 2015. There’s a feeling of anticipation walking up to Bix’s “hidden” location on Gold, an otherwise nondescript back alley off Jackson Square. That is quickly eclipsed upon entering the dark room, once your eyes adjust, taking in the two levels, high ceilings and sprawling murals of one of the city’s most beautiful restaurants.
The best place to sit: Depends wholly on your occasion. The bar is a great place for a cold martini and oysters. That second floor, meanwhile, makes for a secluded canopy for a special date night.
The other cool thing: Live music! Every night, jazz musicians take their place in the dining room to transport diners to another era. From Sunday through Thursday at 7:30, a pianist plays beneath one of the all-time great San Francisco restaurant art pieces, “The Butler Is in Love.” On Fridays and Saturdays, a jazz trio plays at 8:30.
What to Order: For bar snacks, the potato pillows ($18.75) and deviled eggs ($12.50) are a fine primer. If you’re sitting, the steak tartare ($17.50) is dressed tableside for a show. Entrees and their fixings come and go with the seasons, but the burger and hash are always there. The tomato cart is a must if you’re there during the summer months.
Hours: Dinner nightly, lunch Fri. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-433-6300
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Boulettes Larder
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco
Guides: Quiet Vegetarian-Friendly
Recent months have seen the closures of Camino, Yuzuki and Duna. These were iconoclastic restaurants that perhaps pursued paths more about craft and ideals than, well, economics. Boulettes Larder is the originator of this genre. Every morning, Amaryll Schwertner works alone in the open kitchen at Boulettes Larder, methodically poaching and scrambling eggs. She is never in a rush, nor is she particularly nonchalant. She’s just … expert, doing the dance she’s done thousands of times before. When the dish of poached eggs arrives at your table, they are perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. Everyone should experience a perfect egg in their lives. As the yolk spills onto the tender braised greens and the preserved lemon and green chile pulse through your palate, you understand why.
The best time to go: Weekday breakfast. Make it an occasion and go in to work late one day. Consider it a pilgrimage to one of San Francisco’s most non-replicable dining experiences. Because when Schwertner decides to say goodbye, there will not be another like it.
The big question: Do you want to spend $30 on breakfast? Despite its cushy chairs, not everyone may see Boulettes Larder as a particularly comfortable restaurant. Some may see the room as a serene cocoon away from the bustle of the Ferry Building, while others, especially first-time visitors, may be ill at ease with its distinct formality. Servers, clad in black, move like chess pieces around the room, filling water glasses and delivering French presses (the smallest coffee option, $7) to each table. It’s dead silent, save for quiet conversations and the occasional cracking of eggs.
What to Order: Poached eggs ($16.50) and coffee. A side of Acme toast with butter and jam ($7) if you’re feeling spendy.
Hours: Breakfast and lunch Tues.-Sat. Brunch Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-399-1155
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Brenda's French Soul
652 Polk St., San Francisco
Louisiana cooking, when packaged and delivered to parts of the country thousands of miles from Lake Pontchartrain, often becomes a caricature of itself. Everything about it pivots around the whimsical mysticism of Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and excess revelry. This isn’t the case at Brenda’s French Soul Food. Creole food is an amalgamation of culinary influences ranging from Spanish and West African to German and Italian, and when undertaken properly, is a serious endeavor. Luckily, chef Brenda Buenviaje, who co-owns Brenda’s (and Libby Jane Cafe next door and Brenda’s Meat and Three on Divisadero) with Libby Truesdell, has a practical, realistic approach to the business. The food at Brenda’s is homey, devoid of comical New Orleans tropes. Brenda’s is unassuming and unapologetic in its replication of New Orleans’ inspired cooking, and San Francisco is better for it.
The big question: How long do you want to wait? It’s not uncommon to wait 90 minutes for a seat during peak brunch hours. But it’s a bucket list item, and the food makes it worth it, especially when it makes a Louisiana native nod in approval. The chicken, sausage and okra gumbo has a formidable roux. Cornmeal is used to fry the flaky, full-bodied catfish. The chicken etouffee comes with a slow-simmered tomato gravy.
Pro tip: Dinner is one thing at Brenda’s, but it’s the brunch experience that’s a scene unto itself. Blame it on the crawfish beignets. Or the shrimp and grits. Or the omelet with Andouille sausage.
What to Order: For breakfast, shrimp and grits ($17). For dinner, red beans and rice ($12.75), hush puppies with remoulade sauce ($6) and three pieces of Brenda’s fried chicken ($18.50).
Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Tues., 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-345-8100
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Cafe Jacqueline
1454 Grant Ave., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet Vegetarian-Friendly
Everything about Cafe Jacqueline seems preserved in amber — the menu, which has barely changed since the 1970s; the blue walls and wood floors, which wear their scuffs and nicks like distinguished gray hair; the sense that the waiters, chef and diners have all the time in the world to enjoy their night, divorced from the pinging and buzzing of their devices. (Also: the precarious reservation process, which happens only via telephone.) It’s a remnant of the bohemian North Beach that seemed to die out in the 1990s. Despite its age, the souffle-making mastery of chef-owner Jacqueline Margulis, now in her 80s and still the last hand that touches every souffle that emerges from the ovens, is still at peak.
The best place to sit: Below the tiny plaque honoring one couple’s “handshake of monogamy” at the restaurant — and another celebrating their engagement.
What to Order: Besides the caloric necessity of a watercress salad ($16) to tide you over through the hour before your main course, the savory souffles with mushrooms ($45) or fruits de mer ($55) are reliably spectacular. And while chocolate ($45) is a perennial favorite for dessert, the souffles with lime or lemon ($40) practically crackle with bright citrus-zest aromas.
Hours: Dinner 5:30-11 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-981-5565
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Cafe Ohlone
2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Guides: New Vegetarian-Friendly
A result of diligent research and field work by chefs and partners Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, Cafe Ohlone, a pop-up at University Press Books, is an exploration of what California cuisine looks like in the hands of Ohlone people who have lived here for millennia. The couple pair their menus with discussions about Ohlone history in the East Bay. Rendered with skill and heart, the dishes, like hearty skewers of smoked black trumpet mushrooms and Ohlone salad made of upland cress, local fruits and walnut oil, are a sensational introduction to a culture that has meant so much to this region.
Thoughtful touches: Medina and Trevino are committed to a pre-colonial menu, which means that you won’t find gluten, refined sugar, corn, soy, dairy or alcohol on it. That makes this pop-up an easy choice for many diners with dietary limitations.
Who is this restaurant for? While Cafe Ohlone holds particular meaning for Ohlone people looking for a place to showcase their culture and community, the project is an accessible and thoughtful primer for anyone who wants to learn about California’s history. It’s very friendly but education-focused, so come with an open mind.
What to Order: Since it’s really forage-heavy, the menu changes constantly with the seasons. Admission is different depending on the day, and the amount of food scales to match: $15 on Tuesdays, $25 on Thursdays, $100 on Saturdays and $50 on Sundays.
Hours: Check website for hours. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
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Cala
149 Fell St., San Francisco
Guides: Mexican
Chef-owner Gabriela Cámara, already a star and trend-setter in her own right, is going to climb even higher this year with the release of her first cookbook and a position as a culinary adviser to the newly elected president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Those of us in San Francisco have been privileged to get to know the chef at her Hayes Valley outpost, which shares her native, cosmopolitan vision of Mexican cuisine. The menu, which favors seafood, is a snapshot of how that cuisine has evolved on the other side of the border, taking pride in homegrown ingredients and techniques instead of emulating whatever was fashionable in Europe. Thus, Cámara’s menu is all about handmade sopes, charred sweet potatoes and innovative flavor pairings like grilled oysters with epazote.
Thoughtful touches: Cala’s sound system relies on an intricate system of microphones and hidden speakers designed by Berkeley’s Meyer Sound company to regulate the noise level in the dining room to maintain ideal conversation conditions.
A cool thing: Cala has been named by Food & Wine as one of the great places to work in the United States for its generous worker health insurance benefits and a hiring philosophy that embraces prospective employees who have been in prison.
What to Order: Cámara’s famed trout tostadas (served with tuna in Mexico City) with fried leeks, sliced avocado and chipotle ($18 for three) are one of the defining dishes of contemporary Mexican cuisine. Don’t miss the rockfish a la talla ($42) and the sweet potato with bone marrow salsa negra ($19). Most items are shareable.
Hours: Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-660-7701
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Californios
3115 22nd St., San Francisco
In his tiny, handsome restaurant, with just 24 seats and a single tasting menu, chef Val Cantu conjures up his own idiosyncratic world: Meso-American cuisine, both precolonial and postmodern. Cantu, who is originally from Texas and grew up in his family’s traditional Mexican restaurant, is like many who migrate to San Francisco: a free spirit. This is a restaurant where I’d take anyone from anywhere else, to have them taste what can only be tasted here, now. Fish. Frijole. Caviar. Cacao. Doesn’t matter whether an ingredient is rare or humble. Each has many potentials, and Cantu ponders them all. The winter buri (a mature yellowtail) for the ceviche course comes from a vendor who overnights it from Tokyo; the dish is served with a sauce muddled in a mortar at the last minute, with jalapeno, lemon balm, shiso and lime. A tiny taco is wrapped in hoja santa, an ordinary Mexican herb, picked from a neighbor’s backyard a few doors away.
The other cool thing: Cantu is a history geek. A recent menu includes various takes on heirloom corns, and he has researched the origins of each dish and variety: a simple sope has Aztec origins; a chilapita, a Guerrero corn tart, is an homage to seminal Mexican cook Patricia Quintana, here with Dungeness crab and golden caviar; a rib eye taco’s tortilla is made from purple Peruvian masa. Each dish is just a few bites, but contains multitudes. Cantu’s His version of the oblea, the ubiquitous Mexican wafer cookie, is made of paper-thin, dehydrated green apple slices sandwiching dulce de leche. He describes it as a sort of Communion wafer, and the Catholic reference is not casual. Corn and beans are at the center of this Michelin two-star restaurant, along with, perhaps, a trace of a culture’s holy spirit.
What to Order: There’s one choice: the tasting menu of around 16 courses is $223. The pairings of wines, beers and spirits ($135) are as idiosyncratic as the menu.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-757-0994
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Cellarmaker HOP
3193 Mission St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Cellarmaker’s brand of hop-driven beers is very much in vogue right now, an exploration of aromas on the bitterness spectrum that run the gamut from grapefruit rind to spicy ginger — and all they need is something crunchy and fatty to really set them off. Enter Cellarmaker’s new House of Pizza. Each of the four pies, cooked in a greased square pan and layered cheese first, showcases the pillowy interior and crisp edges that make Detroit-style pizza a pleasure to eat, crackling and greasy like a grilled cheese that oozed out onto cast iron. The use of Point Reyes Toma cheese really makes it.
What makes it special? Though there are an increasing number of spots to grab a Detroit-style pie (with another one, a brick-and-mortar by pop-up Square Pie Guys, on the way soon), Cellarmaker House of Pie edges out the competition with its bespoke collection of beers and bright, pretty space.
What to Order: Classic pizza with pepperoni ($20), Little Gem lettuce Caesar ($12), crispy potatoes with smoked creme fraiche ($5/$8), any beer with 40 or higher IBU (International Bitterness Units scale).
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Mon. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-296-6351
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Charter Oak
1050 Charter Oak Ave., St. Helena
Guides: Wine
Charter Oak is a return to simplicity, a primal and pared-down contrast to the elaborate tasting menu that chef-owner Christopher Kostow serves a few miles up-valley at the Restaurant at Meadowood. Here, much of chef Katianna Hong’s food is cooked in the restaurant’s central fireplace, and much of it — roast ham, buttermilk-brined chicken, iceberg lettuce salad with breadcrumbs — reads as quaint, designed to play on nostalgia. This is hearty comfort food at its most complex.
Pro tip: The Charter Oak wine list culminates in a long section of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, organized by sub-appellation (Coombsville, Rutherford, Stag’s Leap District, etc.), maybe a little confusingly. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in selecting a bottle. This is also one of the few Napa Valley restaurants with a truly smart selection of wines not from Napa Valley, so it might be a good opportunity to order a bottle of Champagne or a Northern Rhone Syrah.
Who goes here? The dining room on a weeknight is often a who’s who of the Napa Valley wine industry. During harvest season, expect to see a lot of purple hands.
What to Order: It might not sound like much, but do not miss the crudites — raw vegetables from the restaurant’s farm with a memorable fermented soy dip ($18). Other must-orders: the hearth-grilled broccoli with puffed grains and ricotta ($24); the beef short rib, which is cooked in the fireplace over Cabernet barrels ($28); and whatever comes around on the dessert cart. .
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 707-302-6996
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Chibog
2055 Gellert Blvd., Suite 5, Daly City
Guides: Quiet
At a time when Filipino food is exploding across the Bay Area, it’s easy to get caught up in the hip and modern. Chibog is an ideal place to recenter yourself, to remember that Filipino food is not just a trendy cuisine but one that’s been amazing and well represented — at least in Daly City — for many years. The huge, home<HH>style flavors match the portions.
Who goes here? The Bay Area’s Filipino community packs the restaurant daily. Families ordering what seems like enough food to last a week sit alongside hungover couples silently nursing silog plates. Servers speak Tagalog.
Pro tip: On weekends, prepare to wait. I’ve tried sneaking in during typical in-between meal times like 3 and 4 p.m. and still couldn’t snag a table. Turnover is fast, but if you’re really desperate, there’s a Starbread slinging buttery Filipino doughnuts in the neighboring strip mall.
What to Order: Chibog’s logo features a somewhat creepy winking pig, so you can assume pork dishes like lechon kawali ($12.95) and sisig ($14.95) are strong choices. The tangy, crispy bangus sisig ($17.95) starring milkfish rivals the pork version, and the kare-kare ($17.95), oxtail and tripe in a velvety peanut sauce, is fabulous. Plus garlic rice ($3), always.
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 650-878-3591
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Commis
3859 Piedmont Ave., Oakland
As the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the East Bay, Commis holds it down like a metal guitarist playing a solo, marrying convention-breaking combinations with laser-like precision. The dining room is sleek, and the timing of the courses is as steady as a drum, yet any potential harshness is mitigated by well-tuned service. The menu here features some standbys — like a crackly little round of levain bread with chicken-skin butter and chef James Syhabout’s notorious, Brie-like poached egg yolk in onion soubise — but stay on the lookout for some brave departures as well. This is the kind of kitchen that commits to carrot tartare with young coconut shaved ice and dares to make a dessert that evokes celery-flavored soda. That courage makes for an invigorating dining experience.
Pro tip: You can get that incredible egg dish for a mere $13 at CDP, Commis’ newish cocktail bar expansion next door.
What to Order: Go for the tasting menu ($175) with the phenomenal — and sometimes shocking — beverage pairings ($100), for sure, but starting with one of the savory-adjacent cocktails ($13) would be a smart move.
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Sun. Reservations required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-653-3902
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Commonwealth
2224 Mission St., San Francisco
<b> Editor's Note: This restaurant is now closed </b> The food at Commonwealth is by turns gorgeous and goofy. Starting with a complimentary bowlful of seaweed-dusted potato chips with foamy malt vinegar sauce feels like being let in on a private joke. The dishes, organized on the menu according to temperature, are an exercise in mindfulness, asking you to take your time to notice how uncommon textures and flavors mingle in your mouth. Heirloom carrots ($17) are roasted over hay to Fig Newton tenderness and then crusted with sesame seeds that complicate the bite. And julienned squid “noodles” ($22) are layered with ingredients full of poetic aromas, like uni and chrysanthemum.
A cool thing: Commonwealth identifies as a “progressive” restaurant, and it’s important to note the wordplay involved here: Yes, chefs Jason Fox and Ian Muntzert use modernist techniques, all the foams and tweezers, to inform their menu. But the other, more political meaning of “progressive” speaks to the restaurant’s charitable model of operations — a portion of tasting menu sales goes to nonprofits and activist organizations, and more than $400,000 has been raised during its nine years of business. The restaurant offers a distinct way for similar establishments and their patrons to engage with the community around them.
What to Order: The tasting menu ($100) is a relatively affordable choice; wine pairings, from a list that favors the natural, bump it to $165. Commonwealth offers a nonalcoholic pairing too.
Hours: Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-355-1500
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Cotogna
490 Pacific Ave., San Francisco
Rare is the casual spin-off of a fine-dining destination that takes all the best attributes of the latter and puts them in a truly relaxed, natural environment. But Cotogna manages to do that as well as any such little sister, bringing all the Quince swagger from next door — polish, precision and chef-owner Michael Tusk’s talent with pasta — to a restaurant that feels effortless.
The best time to go: When the sun is out, Cotogna lends itself so well to a lazy meal, whether it’s a leisurely late lunch or an aperitivo hour. In this sense, it’s the closest modern simulacrum to Zuni.
What to Order: Here, sharing plates family style allows you to try more things. A Little Gem salad with tangy buttermilk dressing ($14) counters the richness of the seasonal sformato ($15). Then get as many pasta dishes as you can handle. The egg raviolo ($24) is a longtime Tusk signature, but don’t miss the agnolotti dal plin ($21), little nuggets of rabbit, veal and pork goodness. As at Quince, desserts have always been a strong suit.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., until 11 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Sunday supper 5-9 p.m. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-775-8508
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Del Popolo
855 Bush St., San Francisco
Guides: Natural Wine Vegetarian-Friendly
With Una Pizza Napoletena returned to New York City, Del Popolo has a legit claim to the throne of the Bay Area Neapolitan-style pizza. Owner and pizzaiolo Jon Darsky treats his dough like a craft — a serious “dedicate a life to doing this one thing well” pursuit of excellence. The dough is light and pliable when the pizzamakers push it out into a flat round, forming one of the eight pies offered each night. Whether you opt for the classic margherita (tomato, mozzarella, basil) or one of the less traditional options (like the potato, prosciutto, fontina and rosemary), the dough is the star. Cooked in the almond-wood-fired oven, it becomes chewy, savory, sour and memorable. It’s a reminder that simplicity is the hardest thing to do in the kitchen — and the most rewarding.
Pro tip: Del Popolo has one of the Bay Area’s most radical natural wine lists. It’s well worth exploring.
One visit isn’t enough: Pizza is the headliner, of course, but the opening acts, by Frances vet Michaela Rahorst, take Del Popolo beyond a stellar pizzeria and into a stellar restaurant. Wood-fired carrots are studded with crunchy quinoa and served alongside a cumin-spiked housemade yogurt. They’re the kind of dishes you want to eat every day — and they’re nearly all vegetarian friendly. It’s here that you understand why Del Popolo bills itself not as an Italian pizzeria but as a San Francisco pizzeria.
What to Order: Wood-fired carrots ($14), your favorite pie and a glass of natural red wine.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-589-7940
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El Buen Comer
3435 Mission St., San Francisco
Guides: Mexican
Why is it on this list? One word: guisados. These stews form the basis of the frequently changing menu at Isabel Caudillo’s 3-year-old Bernal Heights restaurant, inspired by the midday comida corrida of her native Mexico City. At lunch, Caudillo serves up a daily guisado special as part of a simple set menu; at dinner you order the guisados family style. Today it might be pork in bright, herbal mole verde; tomorrow, it may be beef albondigas in a smoky tomato sauce. Order rice, beans and tortillas on the side to sop it up.
One visit isn’t enough: Not only because the guisados change all the time, but also because El Buen Comer is a different sort of experience for dinner, weekday lunch and weekend brunch. This might just be San Francisco’s best spot for chilaquiles.
Pro tip: The lighter category on the menu features a tacos/sopes/tostadas section, which allows you to choose a filling — like rajas con crema, papas con chorizo, chicharron en salsa verde or chicken tinga — and choose a frame. Resist the tacos. For me, sopes are the ticket. Caudillo’s chewy-crunchy masa cakes are the perfect vehicle for the juicy, stewy toppings.
What to Order: Sopes with various meat and vegetable toppings ($5); jicama salad with orange and chile ($7); guisados, including puerco en mole verde ($17/$31/$45), camarones a la diabla ($19/$36/$56), albondigas de carne de res ($18/$33/$46).
Hours: Lunch/brunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-817-1542
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El Farolito
2779 Mission St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain Mission Mexican
As you may have heard, the Mission District is changing. But taquerias must remain the cultural and culinary pillars of the neighborhood. El Farolito is the idyll of the genre, offering the kind of hulking, blue-collar Mission burritos that prompted the late, great Los Angeles food critic Jonathan Gold to dub them “monstrous things wrapped in tinfoil.” He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but for us San Franciscans, it was. You know about nearby La Taqueria, which has parlayed its well-earned accolades from both local and national media outlets into all kinds of success. And long lines. So while La Taq is overrun by the Mission tourists and Instagram interlopers, El Farolito a block away remains a more, well, democratic alternative. And truth be told, the super quesadillas are a worthy competitor to La Taq’s vaunted burrito dorado. (El Farolito is also open very late.)
Pro tip: First, do note that it’s cash only. Second, regardless of your vessel of choice (taco, torta, forearm-size burrito, the must-order quesadilla), the freshly cooked carne asada is the move here.
What to Order: Super quesadilla ($7.95), carne asada ($8.50).
Hours: 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Mon.-Fri.; until midnight weekends. No reservations. Cash only.
Phone: 415-824-7877
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El Molino Central
11 Central Ave., Sonoma
Guides: Mexican
It’s not too often that a restaurant jumping all over a map can execute every dish beautifully, but that’s the high standard set here. El Molino Central draws from the homes of its cooks, serving dishes from Oaxaco, Guerrero, Jalisco and other regions. The menu changes with the seasons, but you can always count on a few things: Amazing tortillas made from organic, stone-ground masa; rich, nuanced mole and luxurious refried beans crowning the plates of enchiladas. When you think about going out to eat in Wine Country, upscale restaurants serving Californian cuisine probably come to mind first — and none of them come cheap. While pricier and more formal than a standard taqueria, El Molino Central presents tremendous value in this slice of Northern California.
The best time to go: All the seating is outside, so plan to visit on a warm day. However, part of the patio is covered, and heat lamps are around for chilly evenings.
What to Order: The menu changes regularly, but if there are mole enchiladas ($13), you want them. Saucy tacos, like lamb barbacoa ($15), are excellent, as are the beer-battered fish tacos ($11). Keep an eye out for specials, too.
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Group reservations only. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 707-939-1010
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El Pipila
879 Brannan St., San Francisco
El Pipila in San Francisco’s Design District is a Mexican business offering a compact canon of Guanajuato dishes, led by pozole verde, sopes and a variety of flautas. No burritos here. It has the sheen of a buzzy new business in the city, even though, technically, it is not. Though the restaurant itself opened in 2018, the business has roots in the local food scene stretching back seven years, including time as a food vendor at Off the Grid and the Hall on Market Street. During those temporary endeavors, diners realized that the food is made special by the people behind it: Guadalupe Guerrero and her daughters Brenda and Alejandra.
A cool thing: El Pipila’s modern aesthetics earned it a 2019 James Beard Award nomination for outstanding restaurant design. The dazzling interior comes courtesy of San Francisco’s Schwartz and Architecture, which turned the tiny footprint into a minimalist one full of sharp angles, slick recessed lighting and a muted color scheme.
What to Order: Pozole verde ($15); sopes ($13).
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-529-2049
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Fish
350 Harbor Drive, Sausalito
For many complicated reasons, it’s often difficult to go into a seafood restaurant in the Bay Area and find a menu full of wild local seafood. This counter-service Sausalito restaurant is an exception. Though you’ll find a few indoor seats, the majority of seats are outdoor picnic tables overlooking the bay. With a strict focus on local and sustainable seafood, its menu varies with the seasons. More farmed shellfish and rockfish appear in winter, while local salmon, albacore and halibut show up often in spring and summer. Expect excellent versions of Bay Area seafood classics like Hangtown Fry, Louie salads and barbecued oysters, along with newer entries like salmon banh mi and albacore poke. But beware: Sunny days come with a long line.
Thoughtful touches: The restaurant is very child friendly, with a kids’ menu that’s full of fish-free options and a patio overlooking the gulls and sea lions in the harbor, with plenty of room for running around. There’s also a fish counter for bringing home local seafood.
Off-menu highlights: Always pushing his customers toward the most eco-friendly style of eating, chef Douglas Bernstein comes up with specials he calls “fish bits,” like sticky salmon frames where the fleshy bones are tossed in soy-ginger sauce and bronzed for eating out of hand.
What to Order: Street tacos with choice of seasonal fish (A.Q.), clam dip ($11) and oysters on the half shell (A.Q.).
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-331-3474
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FOB Kitchen
5179 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
Guides: Oakland New Bar Stars Vegetarian-Friendly
FOB Kitchen is a new data point in the current wave of restaurants opened by third culture kids — people raised in countries different than their parents were. Luckily for us, FOB Kitchen weaves all of that memory and angst into a powerfully resonant restaurant. The menu of from-scratch Filipino homestyle cooking, from belly-filling silog rice plates to fried chicken skins, is a fresh take on the cuisine, especially when taken alongside its robust cocktail program, which marries Filipino flavors like red bean and calamansi with diverse liquors. Lit up like an aquarium at night, the leaf-shaped turquoise tiles behind and under the bar evoke the seas — a romantic nod to cross-continental migration and the oceanic aspects of the Philippine archipelago. Pretty enough for the vibe-focused crowd while accessible enough for elder Filipino immigrants, the restaurant embodies the mentality of its chef and owner, Janice Dulce. It’s also the kind of place where the servers are so personable that you don’t even notice that they’re upselling you.
Pro tip: FOB’s habanero vinegar goes with everything on the food menu, so use it liberally.
What to Order: Ensalada talong (eggplant salad $10), house Spam silog ($15), lumpia ($10), adobo fried rice ($15), pork adobo ($16).
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Fri., brunch Sat.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-817-4169
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Foreign Cinema
2534 Mission St., San Francisco
Foreign Cinema is special for many reasons. Besides the fact that it shows artsy films during dinner in one of the most singular (and beautiful) restaurant spaces on the West Coast, there’s the food. Whether dinner or brunch, the menus by chef-owners Gayle Pirie and John Clark strike a unique chord: bohemian yet dialed in, playful yet poetic, staunchly seasonal and most importantly, delicious. Equally appropriate for a special occasion with a loved one or a “nice” brunch with family, the restaurant is that rare large-scale operation that balances a counterculture personality with a mainstream appeal and on-point professionalism. It was ahead of the curve when it opened two decades ago, and now its combination of global pantry (broccoli rabe Caesar, sesame and Madras curry fried chicken) and creative cocktails feels more current than ever.
A cool thing: This year, multiple media outlets have declared that 1999 was probably the best year ever for film, toasting the 20th anniversary of the likes of “The Matrix,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Office Space” and the masterful “10 Things I Hate About You.” So it’s a pretty neat coincidence that Foreign Cinema also opened in 1999.
What to Order: For dinner, start with oysters ($3.50-$5) and brandade ($16), move to something seasonal, and finish with the fried chicken ($26). At brunch,
Hours: Dinner nightly. Brunch weekends. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-648-7600
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Francisca's
3047 Mission St., San Francisco
If restaurants were people, Francisca’s would be your nicest and most earnest relative, the person who would serve everything in the fridge when you visited and tell you about angels. The dining room, set in the former Palace, is humble, having suffered extensive damage in a fire and been redone on a bare-bones budget. The menus are typed on a simple word processor and printed on computer paper. Conceived by chef-owner Manny Torres Gimenez, that menu is a progression of courses that are as freewheeling and generous as he is. Here, he presents his concept of Venezuelan-Italian cuisine, and you’re invited to figure out what that means along with him. Gimenez, a veteran of local fine dining, has offered up a variety of concepts in the Mission, from Mr. Pollo to Coco Frio to Roxy’s Cafe. His current restaurant seems to embody several of the impulses that define the neighborhood. You can come for a four-course menu or Taco Tuesday. The staff will suggest wine pairings with your dishes or put flashing lights in your rum cocktails. Either way, you’ll have a great time.
One visit isn’t enough: You can choose between the tasting or a la carte menus, but you’re welcome to add any of the a la carte options to your dinner as well. The tasting menu changes daily.
What to Order: Arepas ($12) and the tasting menu ($39).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-374-5747
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The French Laundry
6640 Washington St., Yountville
Guides: Quiet Vegetarian-Friendly
With the weight of history and all of its accolades, Thomas Keller’s French Laundry can be intimidating if you’ve never been there. Luckily, it’s not an experience that asks much of you. Rather, the menu is the ultimate in haute comfort cuisine, accompanied by an expert serving staff that will gamely adapt to fit your needs, even if the extent of your wine knowledge begins and ends with, “What color is it?” In an abrupt departure from the silence in that space before the remodel, there’s now music playing in the dining room. Still, it’s an intense experience — that’s what you’re paying for, right? Classic Keller dishes like the Oysters and Pearls and the salmon cornets are as precise as photographs, mimicking exactly the ones served more than a decade ago. And after eight savory courses, the half dozen dessert plates laid before you land the killing blow. Finally, the little goody bag full of chocolate truffles and some fresh bay leaves plucked from the garden carries the warmth of a relative packing a shopping bag full of warm Tupperware as you leave Sunday night dinner.
What’s surprising? What’s impressive about the French Laundry, outside of an expertly executed three-hour dinner, is that it all unspools devoid of tangible pretension. It’s a weird thing to say about a dinner that included a $150 truffle-filled macaroni and cheese dish, but it’s true. The French Laundry is quite possibly one of the Bay Area’s most fun restaurants, at least in the category of fine dining. The staff is playful. The service is attentive. More importantly, the team working the dining room is malleable, morphing their approach to the vibe of the table instead of dictating levels of enjoyment.
What to Order: The tasting menu, which changes seasonally while keeping a few classics like the Oysters and Pearls and salmon cornets, begins at $325 per person.
Hours: Dinner nightly, lunch Fri.-Sun. Reservations required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 707-944-2380
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Gialina
2842 Diamond St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Sharon Ardiana’s menu at Gialina (and its two sister restaurants, Ragazza and Ardiana) is just the right length to prevent long deliberations. Because everything is always good, all stress is removed — other than the mild angst you may feel when deciding which of the nine or so pizzas, with their ultrathin, flaky and slightly sour crusts, sound absolutely best in the moment. To pair with them, there’s always a handful of vibrant seasonal salads and sides, like blood orange and fennel with radicchio and truffled pecorino, or asparagus with Meyer lemon aioli and marinated farro.
Pro tip: The crust loses its pliancy and should be enjoyed immediately, so eat it in the restaurant rather than to go. Gialina only recently began offering reservations after more than a decade in the neighborhood. It’s a drop-in kind of place that fills up quickly with local families after the doors open at 5 p.m. and can require a wait, especially on weekends. If there’s a wait, the host can come get you at Glen Park Station, a sports bar a few doors down.
What to Order: Wild nettle pizza with pancetta and provolone ($20), Amatriciana pizza with tomato sauce, pancetta, chilies and a cracked egg ($18), little meatballs with tomato sauce and aged provolone ($11) and garden lettuces salad ($11/$22).
Hours: Dinner nightly. Other S.F. locations: Ragazza, 311 Divisadero St., and Ardiana, 1781 Church St. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-239-8500
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Great China
2190 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Guides: Wine
Great China owner James Yu has created the kind of wine list you’d be impressed to see at a restaurant with a $200 tasting menu. But this is a neighborhood Shandong joint next to the UC Berkeley campus, and Yu has kept the prices on his treasure trove of a wine list extraordinarily low. Expect to find great vintages of Burgundy for less than half the price you’d see at some other Bay Area restaurants. Longtime menu staples still feel fresh (especially when enhanced with a bottle of wine): crunchy, slippery double-skin noodles, spicy with mustard; wok-braised lamb that seems to melt on the tongue; a dreamy heap of crab meat, mixed with salty egg yolk and piled into soft buns.
Pro tip: This is a place to bring a big group and spring for some bottles — you’re unlikely to find deals this good elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine anything better suited to a pristine red Burgundy (Bruno Clair’s Marsannay bottlings are a particular steal here) than Great China’s tea-smoked duck.
What to Order: Double-skin noodles ($18.95-$34.95), fish dumplings ($12.95 for 15), half tea-smoked duck ($20.95) or the considerably larger Peking duck ($45.95), sauteed crab meat with steamed buns ($34.95) and wine and wine and wine.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. Reservations accepted for groups of six or more. Credit cards accepted. .
Phone: 510-843-7996
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Heirloom
2500 Folsom St., San Francisco
When you’re at Heirloom Cafe, you feel as if you were in the home of Matt Straus, the owner-chef-wine director of this Mission District den. That’s not only because of the yellow wallpaper, dim chandeliers and bare-bones, open kitchen. Nor is it only because of the homey, nourishing fare: for example, fettuccine with chanterelles ($23) and bacon and onion tart ($13). It’s also because you’re drinking from Straus’ personal wine cellar, a collection of wines he amassed over decades before opening Heirloom.
Who is this restaurant for? Ostensibly everyone, in the sense that it serves well-made food in a familiar California register with comfortable, unfussy service. But secretly, Heirloom is really for wine geeks eager to raid Straus’ cellar — especially those who want to drink properly aged older vintages, which are becoming harder to find on the shorter wine lists in vogue at many new restaurants.
Pro tip: Get on Straus’ email list. He’ll often alert restaurant regulars to special, informal lunches or dinners he’s spontaneously throwing on nights the restaurant is closed.
What to Order: Mussels in sherry broth ($15), bacon and onion tart ($13), black cod with couscous ($33). Or opt for the three-course prix fixe with wine pairings ($85). Wise diners will order a bottle of wine, perhaps from one of the wineries that Straus has developed a particular affinity for, like Paolo Bea, Luigi Ferrando, Clos Saron, Jacques Puffeney or Philippe Foreau.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-821-2500
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HoDaLa
5801 Geary Blvd., San Francisco
Guides: New
HoDaLa, which means “bottoms up” in Taiwanese, quietly opened in the Outer Richmond last year. Not only does it speak to the Bay Area’s profound embrace of regional Chinese cuisines, but it also provides a template for how a small restaurant can thrive with various revenue streams in this day and age. Let’s count the ways: The all-day space functions as a cafe during the day and funky dinner spot at night, churning out well-made baos and rice bowls. There’s happy hour (Taiwanese beer!) and for sweets seekers, it’s also got shaved ice, bubble tea and a tower of candy available for purchase. It has a seamless online ordering system for delivery and pickup, with thoughtful and spiffy to-go packaging (in other words, food is not just thrown into a clamshell box). And then there’s food itself: HoDaLa offers a unique product — Taiwanese fare is relatively rare here — with a menu that will keep you coming back.
Pro tip: The weekday happy hour (noon-6 p.m.) deals are very, very nice. Read: $5 chicken wings and sweet potato fries.
A cool thing: The chairs, creaky wooden contraptions with rough fabric upholstery, must have been repurposed from a high school auditorium. Still as comfy though.
What to Order: Pork belly gua bao ($8.95), kimchi pork belly gua bao ($8.95), ground pork over rice ($7.95), preserved eggs with tofu ($6.99).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-702-9510
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House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Forget all those Michelin-starred restaurants; House of Prime Rib is, hands down, the celebration restaurant for the Bay Area. This statement is particularly true for those who have who have spent years returning to proprietor Joe Betz’s bastion of beef, where blue-collar natives share a room with 49ers linebackers. The timeless theatrics of a House of Prime Rib dinner are worth the price of admission ($43.45-$49.85), its cadence well known to its devotees, from the steam of the piping hot popovers to the spin of the salad bowl. There is nothing else like it.
What to Order: This is the ultimate question, and the subject of many a local debate: Which of the tableside-carved cuts to order? Many swear by the lumbering King Henry cut, while others will opt for the sophistication of the thin English cut, or for us sensible and indecisive folks, the middle ground of the House cut. The sides, included in the order, are another matter. My preferred route is a loaded baked potato and the creamed spinach, but really, there is no wrong order here — except for maybe the fish, but to each his or her own. Don’t forget to start with a martini, though.
Hours: Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-885-4605
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In Situ
151 Third St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
A museum restaurant that is itself a museum of restaurants, In Situ is one of those concepts that are so logical and yet so genius that you wish you’d thought of it — but of course only chef Corey Lee could do it justice. Ensconced in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the restaurant is just as thrilling an intellectual exercise as browsing the gallery of American Abstract artists upstairs, the muted space just as thoughtfully paired with wildly inventive modernist works by world-renowned chefs and provocateurs Massimiliano Alajmo, Clare Smyth, Hajime Yoneda and Tim Raue. Dishes from the top restaurants in the world are replicated in this kitchen with the exactitude of professional art forgers and given a juxtaposition that would otherwise be financially and logistically impossible for people who can’t teleport across oceans.
Favorite detail: Even the inedible gestures of each individual chef are transplanted here: Before you receive Alajmo’s cuttlefish cappuccino ($18), a server lays down a transparent sheet with “first taste” written on it in cursive, because Alajmo serves it as the first course of his tasting menu at Le Calandre in Rubano, Italy. You’ve got to respect the commitment to mimicry at In Situ.
What to Order: The Jasper Hill Farm Cheesecake ($22) by Spain’s Albert Adrià is a wonderful act of deception — order that for dessert as soon as you sit down. Nathan Myhrvold’s caramelized carrot soup ($7) and Wojciech Modest Amaro’s smoked haddock ($18) are both wonderful to behold. Trust the wine pairings, matched by a key on the menu.
Hours: Dinner Thurs.-Sun., lunch Thurs.-Mon. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-941-6050
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Isla Vida
1325 Fillmore St., San Francisco
<b> Editor's Note: This restaurant is now closed </b> Isla Vida is a microcosm of how large-scale economic factors have prompted local restaurateurs to be lighter on their feet, shedding costly trappings such as European-style table service in favor of models that look more like fast food. That said, the restaurant is no McDonald’s: It offers beautiful wood-roasted chickens, honest from-scratch cooking and cuisine with an Afro-Caribbean point of view that is grossly underrepresented in the Bay Area. Sometimes you’ll find heavy green plantains weighing down the stacks of napkins on the table. The iconic fruit of the Caribbean becomes a paperweight.
Favorite detail: The shelf by the register, which features books like “The Cooking Gene” and “Cuba & Angola,” is an homage to the Fillmore’s historic and black-owned Marcus Books. Many of the employees are also longtime Fillmore residents, a fact that’s made more meaningful by the precarity of the gentrifying neighborhood.
What to Order: Jerk chicken ($8/$12/$18), garlic shrimp ($15.95), beef or mushroom empanadas ($6.50 for two pieces), any sandwich ($13-$16), shoestring fries ($6 for a whole order).
Hours: Lunch Tues.-Fri., dinner Tues.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-678-5171
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Ju-ni
1335 Fulton St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
The theater of the sushi bar is one of its great pleasures: Watching the improbable shaving of translucent slices of fish, the gift-wrapping of a slice of nori around a ball of rice and fish, the hissing flare of a blowtorch. At Ju-Ni, the actors are more like a corps de ballet. Geoffrey Lee and two other sushi chefs each lead a pod of four diners through a choreographed, $165 omakase dinner that splinters into individual improvisation only after a procession of 12 nigiri. In some regards, Lee is a purist, sourcing seafood (tiny firefly squid, baby herring mackerel) almost exclusively from Japan, but he’s also a California kid who dusts sea bream with lime zest and showers honey-marinated salmon roe on shaved, frozen monkfish liver. He doesn’t look back — he looks around.
Favorite detail: Like many of the best tasting-menu restaurants, the chef waits until the check is delivered to present diners with a menu card listing the nigiri they tried, giving diners the gift of theatrical surprise.
Hours: Seatings at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-655-9924
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Kin Khao
55 Cyril Magnin St., San Francisco
As owner Pim Techamuanvivit’s star continues to rise, Kin Khao has maintained its foothold as the city’s top Thai restaurant. In Kin Khao, she took what she loved to eat her whole life and tweaked it to highlight Northern California produce. It’s a beautiful marriage, with dishes like pad kee mao, made with flat noodles and ground pork bits; Isaan-style shelling beans; rabbit green curry; and a dessert of black rice pudding. Beyond the food and the story, the restaurant is one of the more accessible mid- to high-tier dining spaces in the city. Open for lunch and dinner, the dining room is a casual, low-ceilinged spot in the Parc 55 hotel. Its unassuming nature, though it can get loud, is a reminder of the chef’s most basic desires in the Bay Area food scene — using the recipes of her youth, mixed with local seasonal produce, in a space where all feel welcome. Techamuanvivit’s career is approaching a crescendo, but for now, Kin Khao is her local, laid-back flagship.
What’s next? Techamuanvivit’s future is brighter than ever. Not only has she taken the reins at Nahm, the famed fine-dining destination in Bangkok, but she has opened a new Kin Khao spin-off named Kamin at San Francisco Airport’s International Terminal, alongside Tartine and Cala. Soon she will open another Thai restaurant in San Francisco’s Japantown; named Nari, it will be a tribute to women.
What to Order: Mushroom hor mok ($14), Pretty Hot Wings ($14), stir-fried choy sum ($8), khao mun gai ($19), khao soi ($18, lunch only).
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-362-7456
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Koi Palace
365 Gellert Blvd., Daly City
Since 1996, Koi Palace has been the definitive pushcart dim sum experience in the Bay Area, and we love it because of how extra it is. The attractive, 450-seat interior filled with swirly design motifs and stained glass is a lot of fun for even the hardest-to-impress Asian parents. And in a time when urban centers are becoming friendlier for regional Chinese cuisine, quality institutions like Koi still give us a sense of why Cantonese was king for so long. And now the restaurant has fingers in a lot of neighborhoods here, so you don’t have to live near Daly City to get your XLB fix. Restaurateur Willy Ng anticipated the Instagram era and pushed the chefs to come up with the eye-catching dishes that have made Koi Palace (and its spawn) internet-famous. How could you blithely scroll past a photo of the restaurant’s rainbow xiaolongbao or lobster fruit salad, which looks like a crustacean exploded into a beautiful pile of diced melon?
See also: Once a lone destination, the restaurant’s reach extends to the entire Bay Area, from official Koi Palace branches in Dublin and Milpitas to distant relatives Dragon Beaux and Palette in San Francisco, and Stick and Steam in Millbrae.
Pro tip: Avoid the wait by going on a weekday morning, or head over early on a Saturday. No reservations for dim sum.
What to Order: Rainbow “five guys” xiaolongbao ($11.80), crispy fried tofu skin with shrimp ($6.95), deep-fried crab claw ($6.95), stir-fried rice roll with XO sauce ($7.95), Portuguese custard tart ($6.95). 365 Gellert Blvd., Daly City. 650-992-9000 or www.koi<DP>palace.<DP>com. Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations accepted for dinner. Credit cards accepted.
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations accepted for dinner. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 650-992-9000
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Kyain Kyain
3649 Thornton Ave., Fremont
We have a wealth of great Burmese options in the Bay Area, but Kyain Kyain is the ticket. Some places are known for their tea leaf salad, others for their curries or Chinese-style dishes. Kyain Kyain has it all, with few compromises for the spice-averse and the most well-rounded and delicious Burmese menu I’ve had so far.
What makes it special? Tucked away in a strip mall with a boba shop, lamian noodle specialist and mediocre sushi, this is the home-style place where folks of all ages in the local Burmese diaspora go for body-warming bowls of mohingya ($7.99), savory tea leaf salad ($9.99) and tender braised pork intestine with spices ($7.99). Yet the servers and cooks are happy to share little tips with newbies. Did you know that fried chiles and dried shrimp are great on buttered toast?
Pro tip: Don’t miss the Burmese milk tea, served only on weekends. And get a side of fried chile and dried shrimp ($1) to go!
What to Order: Paratha with chicken curry ($10.99), tea leaf salad, pork intestine with spices, samosas ($7.99).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-574-1819
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La Ciccia
291 30th St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine
La Ciccia is the Bay Area’s only Sardinian restaurant, but that’s not the only thing that makes it a unicorn in San Francisco. The other factors manifest during the early stages of a meal, maybe when you sit and take stock of the dining room, dated and white-tableclothed in a way that spurs you to wonder whether you stepped into a time portal somewhere between the Noe Valley sidewalk and here. You’ll see how owners Massimiliano Conti and Lorella Degan showcase the foods and wines of their homeland, the simplest ingredients in simple dishes, yet somehow transforming into ethereal creations. All the while, Conti and Degan work the cozy dining room, connecting with their regulars and earning new ones. It’s a scene that is straight out of cinema. But that’s what La Ciccia feels like. It is food like no other. It is hospitality like no other. It is a real-life fantasy of a restaurant.
What to Order: Sardinia is a rustic island, bound by mountains and myrtle bushes, with culinary influences from Africa and Spain. Much of the island is a shepherd’s domain, so at La Ciccia, don’t pass up items like pani guttiau (a traditional, cracker-like flatbread, $10), the ethereal sheep and goat cheeses, and truta de arrescottu (ricotta and saffron cake, $10). Other favorites include: prupisceddu in umidu cun tomatiga (baby octopus stew, $17); spaghittusu cun allu, ollu e bottariga (spaghetti with spicy oil, garlic and bottarga, $25); and spaghittusu cun tomatiga e casu (spaghetti with tomatoes, saffron and Fiore Sardo cheese, $18).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations recommended. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-550-8114
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Lazy Bear
3416 19th St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine Mission Bar Stars
If the dining public has grown to appreciate the chef as artist, Lazy Bear takes that idea a step further, elevating the chef to a stage actor. “We’re going to interrupt your conversation,” chef-founder David Barzelay, full of Big Dad energy, shouts to the 40 diners sitting at the two communal tables, and after that the items on the 10-odd-dish tasting menu are announced with the gusto of a medieval herald announcing the entrance of his monarch. The spectacle of it all matches the exciting vibrancy of the food: Think savoy cabbage cooked like pork cracklings, duck mousse enrobed in beet gel with a gem-like sheen and a humble stalk of asparagus cooked in its own juices to create the most intense version of itself.
Pro tip: Lazy Bear’s Den is a much less structured “nightcap” service upstairs. You can order from an a la carte menu of drinks and snacks. Reservations still required, though.
Favorite detail: In a restaurant where every detail is so thought out, which is truly the most striking? The field guide, printed fresh each day, that diners receive in lieu of a menu is so much fun and features line art of ingredients and space for jotting down tasting notes or your table mates’ Twitter handles.
What to Order: While the format is tasting menu only, the cocktail and wine list has the same creative spirit as the food. Definitely go for the beverage pairing ($95) with your meal — a nonalcoholic version ($55) is quite fun as well. Even the post-dinner drinks are incredible, from the highly curated teas to the cold-brew coffee with fluffy, sweetened whipped cream served in a glass beaker.
Hours: Seatings at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Prepaid reservations, online only, and credit cards required.
Phone: 415-874-9921
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Liholiho Yacht Club
871 Sutter St., San Francisco
Guides: Bar Stars
Flavors, textures and colors burst from the menu dreamt up by Oahu native Ravi Kapur at this Hawaiian-Asian-Californian mashup. Tender slices of pig head terrine arrive with pumpkin seed tomatillo pesto and crisp pig ears. Marinated squid over purple cabbage and cucumbers, punctuated by peanuts, make one of the city’s best salads. Silky-soft beef tongue is tucked into a soft bun with kimchi. That’s all complemented by the polished service from Kapur’s partner, Jeff Hanak (also of Nopa), as well as the tropical-modern cocktails and excellent desserts.
Pro tip: Even more than four years into its run, Liholiho is still a difficult place to get a reservation for before 9:30 p.m. unless you plan a month ahead. However, the restaurant has an online waiting list available through its reservation platform and says it keeps a third of the seats open for walk-ins.
The other cool thing: At Louie’s Gen-Gen Room downstairs, there are bar snacks with sensibilities similar to the more formal dishes upstairs, like beef tartare with waffle chips ($15.57) and hamachi poke with spicy mayo ($15.11), along with a whole different cocktail menu.
What to Order: Marinated squid salad ($17.50), kimchi fried rice with housemade spam ($17.23), baked Hawaii with caramelized pineapple ice cream ($11.44).
Hours: Dinner Mon.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-440-5446
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Lord Stanley
2065 Polk St., San Francisco
Guides: Natural Wine Vegetarian-Friendly
From a distance, Lord Stanley could look like your run-of-the-mill New California cuisine outpost: There’s a scallop appetizer, steak tartare, a fancy mushroom preparation. But in the hands of chef-owners Rupert and Carrie Blease, these modern San Francisco staples become quirky. Seed-studded tuilles might form the foundation for a deconstructed tart that accompanies a duck breast, their crunchy texture and earthy flavors amplifying the fat-bordered segment of meat. The richness of a salt cod beignet is countered by a spicy, creamy kimchi dip. For dessert, Carrie Blease might fill a tart crust with pungent blue cheese, pickles and black olives. It can get weird — and it takes chefs like these to pull it off.
Favorite detail: Lord Stanley is bringing back the sparkling-wine coupe. While these days many sommeliers turn up their noses at these shallow, wide-mouthed glasses (and don’t even get the somms started on flutes), this restaurant has sourced a collection of beautiful vintage coupe glasses, no two the same.
The other cool thing: Lord Stanley doesn’t always advertise it, but it has what is probably San Francisco’s most uncompromising natural wine program. Wine director Louisa Smith insists on serving only wines made from organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, made without additives, including yeast, and with minimal (or preferably zero) added sulfur.
What to Order: The eight-course tasting menu ($105; add $75 for the beverage pairing) is almost entirely different from the a la carte selections, and sometimes omits a couple of the Lord Stanley classics, like the translucent orbs of onion petals filled with Sherry vinegar soubise ($5) and the crispy grilled hen-of-the-woods mushrooms swimming in a creamy, nutty dip ($7).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat., plus the last Sunday of every month. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-872-5512
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Madcap
198 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo
Guides: Quiet
Here’s a newsflash: Ron Siegel remains extremely good at cooking food. Over his decades-long career in the Bay Area, the veteran chef has worked at flashy institutions created for the San Francisco elite: Aqua, Charles Nob Hill, the Ritz-Carlton, Masa’s. No longer: Madcap, a neighborhood joint set in the Marin hamlet of San Anselmo, is his own show. Whereas other chefs who came up in the 1990s may still be stuck in the world of ring molds, Siegel was so far ahead of the curve that his cooking still feels modern and exciting. Here you’ll find sublime, only-by-Siegel dishes like tortelloni filled with rabbit from nearby Devil’s Gulch and submerged in mushroom miso and Parmesan spuma. It’s the kind of dish that would be a showstopper on a triple-digit tasting menu on Nob Hill; at Madcap, it’s yours for $16.
The other cool thing: At 45 seats, including four at the marble bar and some plush booths, Madcap is one of those small restaurants that punch so far above their weight, they become regional destinations. Cozy and intimate, this is probably the best date-night restaurant in Marin, but it’s got that small-town vibe, too — the night before I went, someone rented out the whole place for a 60th birthday dinner. It does everything right.
What to Order: The menu changes regularly, but the clam shot ($4) is an ethereal two seconds of aerated soup richness. The rabbit tortelloni has become a staple, and any seafood entree, like the black cod ($46), is a strong move. Or you can go for the full Siegel and opt for the tasting menu ($88).
Hours: Dinner Thurs.-Mon. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-453-9898
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Maum
322 University Ave., Palo Alto
Who says there’s no good Korean food in the Bay Area? It’s a chestnut that many have tended to repeat in resignation, but Brian Koo, a venture capitalist and scion of a prominent business family in South Korea, took matters into his own hands. After three years in permit limbo, Maum transitioned in 2018 from a private supper club for Koo’s friends and clients into a full-fledged, 16-seat restaurant dedicated to Korean fine dining. The restaurant has met the Korean-food question with an answer that, edging on overkill, shows us exactly what we’ve been missing, and then some.
One visit isn’t enough: Maum’s tasting menu is on the affordable end of the genre, though its approach really pulls it away from the pack. The menu changes with the seasons. Keep an eye out for special collaboration dinners with chefs from around the world.
What makes it special? Presented at a communal table, the menu plays with contemporary and classic Korean dishes like galbi, jook, naengmyeon (chilled buckwheat noodles) and Choco Pie. The opening chefs, Meichih and Michael Kim, draw on the flavors of family meals and Koreatown, Los Angeles, presenting them in surprising ways that still manage to conjure a feeling of homecoming. The beverage program, developed by sommeliers Rebecca Fineman and Chris Gaither before they went on to open Ungrafted, is packed with marvels.
What to Order: The $195-225, 10- to 12-course tasting menu is seasonal. Both the alcoholic ($100) and nonalcoholic ($40) beverage pairings are highly recommended.
Hours: One seating at 7 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Reservations and prepaid tickets required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 650-656-8161
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The Restaurant at Meadowood
900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena
With a boundless depth of charm and just enough extravagance, the restaurant at Napa Valley’s Meadowood resort is a wonder. At the beginning of your meal, a chef comes out of the kitchen with a wooden crate of fresh produce and flowers, like a magician who shows you the inside of a top hat before doing magic. What comes afterward inspires similar oohs and ahs: The tasting menu features the most original presentation of ingredients you’re likely to encounter in a field already packed full of boundary-pushing culinary minds. Supporting evidence for the Bay Area’s reputation as a fine-dining hothouse can be found here, where the efforts of chef Christopher Kostow bloom into an experience that will have you singing the praises of dried kiwis and secret cheese for days. At $350 per head, the tasting menu here is the most expensive one on the Top 100, and it’s quite a time commitment if you’re driving up from the city. At this price, you’re asking for a meal that doubles as an out-of-body experience — and Meadowood delivers. This is world-class, thrilling food. The wine pairing is $300 per person (or $600 for the vault collection) and includes tastes of wines both local and far-flung, including treasures like a 1908 D’Oliveira Bual Madeira that may plunge you into a mortality crisis.
The best place to sit: Pray that they seat you at a table with an extra-large candle. No spoilers.
What to Order: The $350 tasting menu changes often and varies from table to table. You can also experience a lighter menu for $150 at the bar or a larger, 20-item one at the chef’s counter for $600.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 707-967-1205
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Mensho Tokyo
672 Geary St., San Francisco
As the only U.S. location for acclaimed Tokyo ramen chef Tomoharu Shono, Mensho Tokyo has quickly earned a reputation as the best place for ramen in San Francisco. Every component hits the mark: the chewy noodles, the gooey egg, the rich chashu. But it’s the deeply nuanced broths that leave people stunned, eagerly slurping for answers.
Pro tip: You will wait in line — the only question is for how long. If you show up by 4:45 p.m. on a weeknight, you can get in with the first seating at 5 p.m. Otherwise, you’re probably waiting at least an hour for one of 28 communal seats. Don’t even try to go with a group.
Favorite detail: The walls are covered in nerdy essays on essential ramen ingredients, like katsuobushi dashi and its umami-packed inosinic acid, which make for quality reading as you wait for dinner. Also: the comically large, paddle-esque spoons.
What to Order: Since Mensho opened in 2016, the restaurant has added some more creative bowls, like matcha and spicy lamb ramen. But if it’s your first visit, you shouldn’t pass on the classic tori paitan ($16.50), an obscenely creamy chicken soup topped with pork and duck. Vegans are in luck: With a complex, smoky broth charged with sesame and seven different nuts, the vegan tantanmen ($18) impresses people of all dietary persuasions.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-800-8345
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Mestiza
595 Bryant St., San Francisco
Deanna Sison Foster has had a hand in several important restaurants over the years in San Francisco, such as Farmer Brown and Little Skillet, but her latest, Mestiza, feels the most personal. It’s essentially a taqueria that showcases her Filipino heritage (though Cambodia and Thailand also make cameos). Tortillas are hand-pressed daily and loaded with a host of unconventional fillings: pork adobo, green papaya achara and ginger; red curry beef and pineapple-chile de arbol salsa, and an avocado-tinted lemongrass chicken. Beyond the customizable taco/burrito/bowl options, Foster offers a substantial list of smaller plates, like lumpia, ceviche, nachos, lechon, adobo empanadas and more.
Pro tip: This is a very good stop for a quick bite before a Giants game. It’s close enough to the park, about a 10-minute walk, but removed enough to avoid crowds. The food comes out quickly enough, the beer offerings are crafty (and pitchers are available), and for day games, there are sangria and mimosa options.
The best place to sit: Yes, the Ramp will always be my pick for the city’s best outdoor seating, but an afternoon on Mestiza’s sun-soaked patio is certainly in the top five.
What to Order: The chicken lumpia ($8) comes out three to an order, three long spears, closer to flautas than spring rolls. Tacos ($4 each, $7.50 for two, $11 for three). Agua frescas are delightful; flavors change daily, but may include melon or ginger-hibiscus.
Hours: Lunch daily; dinner Tues.-Fri. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-655-9187
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Minnie Bell's
5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville
Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement is a welcome story of success in a region where the black population continues to rapidly decrease and soul food operations are scrambling to stay alive. Granted, it’s not a full-fledged restaurant but rather a kiosk in Emeryville’s Public Market, a food scene far removed from the bright lights of San Francisco or even Uptown Oakland. But therein lies the beauty. Chronicle Rising Star Chef Fernay McPherson has created a dining oasis in a part of the Bay Area where few other chefs of her stature are venturing these days. There may be nothing more democratic in the culinary world than a soul food establishment. That’s especially true at Minnie Bell’s, a restaurant where the only seating is a nearby communal wooden table. McPherson grew up in the Fillmore in a household known for large dinners with family and friends. The open-door policy is palpable at her restaurant.
The bold proclamation: Fried chicken recipes are as different as snowflakes, and to fall in love with one means falling in love with the chef behind it. Minnie Bell’s rosemary chicken comes out in golden brown pieces marinated with hot sauce and freckled with spices. It is the best in the Bay Area.
What to Order: Four pieces with two sides and corn bread ($18); large macaroni and cheese ($13)
Hours: Lunch and early dinner Mon.-Sat. Dinner service ends at 7 p.m. Sunday. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-879-7199
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Miss Ollie's
901 Washington St., Oakland
Dining at Miss Ollie’s is an experience that can’t simply be quantified by a dish. Sure, the Caribbean cooking is phenomenal — spice-heavy jerk shrimp with garlic cabbage, fried chicken in mahogany-hued skin with underlying vinegared herbs — but Miss Ollie’s is more than that. There are no white tablecloths, no suit-wearing servers. It’s a space beckoning folks to come as they are. And in its corner slot at Swan’s Market, surrounded by a handful of other food outfits led by strong women of color, Miss Ollie’s has quietly, for years, been a haven for not just the Bay Area’s black community but for anyone just looking for good cooking in an environment where they feel welcome. In this sense, the restaurant has long embodied the personality of its leader, chef-owner Sarah Kirnon — a pioneer in the Bay Area, but long removed from the spotlight.
Pro tip: Go for early dinner at around 5:45 p.m. and sit at a table in the middle of the room. Make sure it’s a day with pleasant weather, so you can watch not only the restaurant hum around you but also the fading daylight, which has a gorgeous way of spilling into the dining room.
Favorite detail: On the walls are old cast-iron skillets reflecting the passage of time in a way that clocks in a dining room never could.
What to Order: Skillet-fried chicken with seasonal greens and potato salad ($26.95), salt fish and ackee ($16.75).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-285-6188
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Mister Jiu's
28 Waverly Place, San Francisco
Guides: Wine Vegetarian-Friendly
The food being served here pays respect to the Chinese American cuisine that most of us know while taking it forward, riding the new wave of Asian American cooking that has crested in community strongholds like Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York and Seattle. Chef Brandon Jew and his team throw memory and nostalgia into the pot along with the best of California’s ingredients to produce a seasonal menu that will evoke as well as challenge. See: char siu pork buns dressed up like Dutch crunch, puffy shrimp chips seasoned with salt and vinegar powder and a tangy sourdough scallion pancake.
Pro tip: With the opening of the stunning upstairs bar, Moongate Lounge, you’ll have a strong, ad hoc option for enjoying the space without having to rush for walk-in seats.
The best place to sit: Guests who grew up eating at the Four Seas banquet hall, which previously held the space for decades, may have their favorite spots, but window seats are a must for great people watching.
What to Order: Mister Jiu’s Classics ($75 per person) is a great introduction to the menu. Otherwise, don’t miss the forward-looking desserts by pastry chef Melissa Chou, especially the frozen whipped honey with pineapple sorbet ($13) and the black sesame cake ($13).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-857-9688
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Montesacro
510 Stevenson St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain Vegetarian-Friendly
This pinseria, specializing in a particular type of Roman flatbread, looks like it could be on an alley in Rome, even though it’s actually steps from Sixth Street, one of San Francisco’s most notorious streets. The spartan dining room creates a respectful bridge to its environs. Old photos and maps of Rome and rickety salvaged tables and chairs create both a feeling of escape and an appreciation for the city life outside.
Favorite detail: The restaurant space was once a bakery, and a massive blue and white bread oven takes up most of the back wall. It can’t be used, but it fits in with what seems like a continually growing collection of oddball antiques.
One visit isn’t enough: The pinse are slabs of flatbread with a thick, airy crust made of wheat, rice and soy flours topped with combinations like broccolini, spicy sausage and burrata. They’re large enough to share with a salad or a few antipasti. Italian, Spanish and local cheeses and salumi, along with pantry items like Sicilian sea salt, are available to take home or on salumi platters in the restaurant.
What to Order: Pinsa Montesacro with mozzarella, black kale, Calabrian chile and garum ($18), mortadella-stuffed focaccia ($16), and arugula and parmesan salad ($12).
Hours: Lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-795-3040
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The Morris
2501 Mariposa St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine
The Morris is about wine first and food second. It is the playground of longtime San Francisco sommelier Paul Einbund, whose personality pervades every inch of the establishment he owns. Is Chartreuse popular? No, but Einbund loves it, and he’s built up the Morris’ Chartreuse collection into one of the most impressive in the world.
Pro tip: It’s hard to see the bar when you walk into the Morris, but there is one — and the menu would lend itself well to a light (or heavy) snack if you’re not in the mood for a full dinner. The bar might also be the best spot to enjoy Einbund’s Chartreuse slushy ($10).
Meanwhile, the food: It’s good, too. And while plenty of restaurants these days are doing house-made charcuterie, chef Gavin Schmidt gets more adventurous than most, with landjäger and spicy headcheese, plus duck offal confit.
What to Order: There’s a very memorable crab porridge with lemongrass ($18) and a spicy dish of charred broccoli and squid ($16), though the Morris’ signature is its large-format smoked duck ($70 or $140). But it’s worth coming here just for a chance to peruse Einbund’s one-of-a-kind wine list, a cache that would make any wine lover drool, full of sought-after, hard-to-find bottles from wineries like Guiberteau, Clos Rougeard, Raveneau, Allemand and more. Einbund also has a thing for Madeira, offering an unheard-of 19 by the glass, including museum pieces like an 1850 D’Oliveira Verdelho ($260).
Hours: Dinner Mon.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-612-8480
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Mourad
140 New Montgomery St., San Francisco
Increasing the significance of Mourad Lahlou’s presence in San Francisco is the fact that his downtown restaurant is one of the last of its kind. With the closure of Jardinière in Hayes Valley, there remain few blockbuster spaces unabashedly bathed in opulence, built to cater to large crowds and offering such variety of menus: a la carte, tasting menu (nine-plus courses for $155) and bar. At the same time, Mourad is also one of a few North African restaurants in the Bay Area — and certainly the most ambitious in America.
One visit isn’t enough: The menu at Mourad overflows with family-style options, so it’s rare that one or two trips will be enough to get a full grasp of the menu. On one visit, it might be the breathtaking whole chicken preserved with lemon and served with turmeric-infused cipollini onions that makes the trip memorable. The next time around, maybe it’s the couscous made with saffron and maitake mushrooms, additions that spiral the dish into a complexity that could only be found at a place led by Lahlou. The time after that it might be … well, you probably get where this is going.
Favorite detail: There’s no way to talk about Mourad without discussing the restaurant’s stunning design. The space is captivatingly modern, with intricately sharp angles, tile floor and lighting diffused across various surfaces in the dining room. The century-old tree root near the door of the restaurant creates a beautiful dichotomy.
What to Order: Couscous ($26), octopus with Brussels sprouts and cauliflower ($26), braised beef served in brown butter with cabbage and vegetables ($39).
Hours: Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-660-2500
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Nightbird
330 Gough St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
While tasting menus regularly eclipse the $300 mark, Kim Alter’s Hayes Valley restaurant is a delightful palate cleanser. At Nightbird, the ultra-seasonal meal costs $125, and including small bites between larger courses, it runs about 11-12 dishes. It’s a worthy move for those who want to experience the ritual and special-occasion vibes of the tasting-menu format — the spectacle of broth poured tableside onto shaved white asparagus and escargot, and the delight of biting into a Ferrero Rocher facsimile to reveal luscious duck liver torchon. Most of all, it feels generous and special, and that’s what we want in a fancy meal.
Pro tip: The Linden Room is Nightbird’s tiny cocktail bar in the back; it is perhaps the city’s tiniest cocktail bar. It’s accessible through a separate entrance around the corner — look for the red door — and it serves some of the most beautiful drinks in San Francisco. It’s a destination in its own right.
A cool thing: There’s something to be said about a small operation where the chef is the owner and she is always there, in the kitchen, fulfilling her vision and your expectations. Nightbird delivers on its promise of delicious food, but the personal touches — transcendent fresh bread, still hot from the oven, or tiny chocolate owls to take home — show how thoughtful it is. There is no corporation behind it, just a chef who wants to showcase her talent. It’s the kind of restaurant you want to support.
What to Order: A $75 pretheater menu is served from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. The primary offering is the $125 tasting menu (a $95 vegetarian option is available). Wine pairings ($75) are optional.
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-829-7565
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Nopa
560 Divisadero St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine Bar Stars Vegetarian-Friendly
When Nopa opened on Divisadero in 2005, it busted the doors down for the many diverse restaurants that followed: Che Fico, Barvale, Namu Stonepot and Ju-Ni among them. Though it could have been overshadowed by what came afterward, Nopa is still packed with enough thrills and chills to attract crowds at dinner and brunch. Take the wood-fired oven’s offerings, for example: The country pork chop ($35), a brined and wood-grilled beast, avenges the cut’s reputation as dry and flavorless. Add to that an affordable and geeky wine list that’s a lot of fun to peruse. Who goes there? Late-night dining is still rare in San Francisco; in that way, Nopa remains a trailblazer. That’s why you’ll find cooks and chefs from around the city trickling into the dining room after they hang up their aprons.
The other cool thing: Nopa’s Civic Table Project, a series of discussion-oriented events meant to stage tough and illuminating conversations about politics and the future, takes an admirable crack at the big questions of our time.
See also: Nopalito, Nopa’s Mexican cuisine-focused little sibling with two locations (nearby on Broderick Street and in the Inner Sunset), remains a neighborhood favorite.
What to Order: Little fried fish ($15), country pork chop, wood-baked beans ($14), flatbread ($20), any of the great cocktails.
Hours: Dinner nightly, brunch Sat.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-864-8643
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Nyum Bai
3340 E. 12th St., Suite 11, Oakland
The project here is one of resurrection and reconstruction, of recapturing the music, food and culture that were almost lost to Cambodians after the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. Chef-owner Nite Yun, a La Cocina graduate, packs her tiny restaurant with cultural treasures, from Cambodian psychedelic album covers to the scent of prahok, fermented fish. Cambodian expatriates will find a particular spiritual and sustaining resonance here.
The best place to sit: The bar seats along the two short counters are great, especially if you’re eating alone — you’ll get pulled off the waiting list faster, too.
Favorite detail: The wallpaper in the restrooms, designed by local artist Ratha Nou, features Cambodian music stars like Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea juxta<HH>posed against famous landmarks of the East Bay.
What to Order: Naim chien chrouk (crisp fried rolls filled with meat, $8.50), kuy teav Phnom Penh (a pork-and-seafood broth with rice noodles, $15), cha mee sor (glass noodles tossed in a black pepper sauce, $14).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-500-3338
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Okkon
Guides: Oakland
Okkon, a pop-up run by Sachi and Satoshi Kamimae, specializes in okonomiyaki, a flavorful cabbage pancake that is hugely popular in Japan. While many casual Japanese restaurants sell their own takes on okonomiyaki here, Okkon unequivocally does it best. Satoshi makes almost every element from scratch, including the laborious sweet-and-savory brown sauce that tops the pancake. The batter is light and airy, yet packed with vegetables. Thin-sliced pork belly, rendered on the grill, is finessed into a satisfying crisp. Satoshi achieves all of this on a simple flattop grill that fits just a few of the pancakes at a time, while Sachi takes charge of the service side of the operation, often with the pair’s young daughter tugging at her apron.
A cool thing: The basic okonomiyaki, dressed in brown sauce, pickled ginger, bonito shreds, seaweed and mayo, is often enough for a good snack. But Okkon also offers add-ons like intense mentaiko, chewy mochi bits and mozzarella if you want to kick things up.
What to Order: Okonomiyaki ($10); you can jazz yours up with toppings ($2 each). They’ve recently begun to offer other side dishes like gyoza ($7), which are filled with organic pork and chicken.
Hours: Check website for pop-up hours and locations.
Phone: 510-590-0482
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Old Mandarin Islamic
3132 Vicente St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain
As the rest of the Bay Area has seen a surge in regional Chinese restaurants, the Yang family has been running Old Mandarin on the southwest edge of the city since 1997, serving Beijing and northern Chinese specialties with halal meats to a contingent of loyal customers. Lamb dishes, in particular, are special here. It certainly is, and has been for some time, one of San Francisco’s best Chinese restaurants.
Pro tip: The restaurant’s drink offerings are limited to tea, soda and beer; corkage is $8 per bottle. But there’s a reason wine geeks love to get a group together at Old Mandarin. It’s a fun game to see what pairs best with the kaleidoscope of cumin, numbing spices and chiles that populate the menu.
What to Order: The menu clocks in at more than 140 items, but some standouts include fried lamb skewers ($10.95), clear noodle salad ($9.95), lamb dumplings ($9.95), flour ball stir fry ($13.95), cumin lamb kidney ($17.95), hot braised lamb ribs ($19.95/$38.95) and fish with spicy numbing sauce ($26.95). For dine-in groups, there’s also a great Beijing-style hot pot option ($11-$15) and a lamb feast ($40 per person, minimum eight people).
Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Wed. and Fri.-Mon., dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Thurs. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-564-3481
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Original Joe's Westlake
11 Glenwood Ave., Daly City
Joe’s is still the gathering spot for its Westlake community, as it has been since 1956. Not many Bay Area restaurants can claim to be a true community hub for all demographics — old, young, blue collar, white collar — but Joe’s remains that. It was a “third space” before Starbucks, a family respite before craft-beer gardens, and a special-occasion reservation before Michelin stars reigned over the Bay Area.
Debate topic: Which Joe’s is best? Many will swear by the city’s sister outpost of Original Joe’s, which (hot-take alert) has one of several strong claims to the best restaurant in North Beach. The Italian American red-sauce-centric menus are similar — but not the same — as are the Midcentury Modern vibes and interior design. But for me, the singularity of the Doelger architecture, especially looking out the massive windows at dusk, gives the Westlake building a distinct sense of place.
Pro tip: Even with its 300 seats, Joe’s is still as busy as ever, so expect a wait if you go during peak hours (which, N.B., start about an hour earlier than you may think for some Daly City denizens). Make a reservation if you can. Otherwise, snag a seat in the spacious bar/lounge, set amid plastic grapes, while you wait; the full menu is served there, too. If all else fails, takeout is available.
What to Order: Favorites here include the chopped salad ($17.50), arancini ($12.50), eggplant Parm ($21.50), Joe’s Special ($18.50), a side of ravioli ($8.50). Not all at once, though.
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., until 11 p.m. Fri., 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat., until 10 p.m. Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 650-755-7400
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Outerlands
4001 Judah St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Lana Porcello and Dave Muller’s Outer Sunset beacon toasted its 10th anniversary this year, and in many ways, it’s come full circle over the decade. It started as a humble beachside spot, and then became a sensation under the myriad talents of chef Brett Cooper. In the years after Cooper’s departure, the restaurant evolved. In recent months, it has pared down its menu, finding its way to the happy place it now occupies: an accessible place for locals, families, couples, vegetarians and meat eaters, one that still embodies its environment as much as any restaurant in San Francisco.
The other cool thing: Outerlands was neither the first nor last awesome restaurant to open in its neighborhood, so if you find yourself spending a morning in the area — or perhaps that famed Outerlands brunch wait is too long — head on over to one of the many other lovely spots: Judalicious (vegan cafe), Thanh Long (Vietnamese stalwart), Hook Fish (sustainable fish tacos) and Celia’s (Mexican food and margaritas), just to name a few.
The best time to go: Weekend brunch draws the masses, so be a contrarian and go for weekday lunch. There’s a happy hour, and the bartenders there are among the nicest — and most talented — cocktailians west of 19th Avenue.
What to Order: Anything with bread is a good rule of thumb, like the onion and cheese toast ($14). Be a good San Franciscan and go with the bowls: granola and goat yogurt ($10) during the day, grain bowl with vegetables ($20) in the evening.
Hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-10 p.m. daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-661-6140
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Pearl 6101
6101 California St., San Francisco
Guides: Bar Stars
The beloved, diminutive Pizzetta 211 has operated on a quiet Outer Richmond block since 1999. It is a perfect kind of neighborhood restaurant, if tragically small: You get a tumbler of Italian wine, a simple salad, a tasty pizza (also small). Nineteen years later, owner Jack Murphy followed Pizzetta 211 with Pearl 6101, just around the corner; it’s larger and more elegant, with bigger wineglasses, but feels no less soulful. Both restaurants are thoughtful and worthy of a destination, without alienating longtime Richmond residents.
How does it capture the current moment? Pearl 6101 bar manager Nahiel Nazzal, a 2018 Chronicle Bar Star, conveys the spirit of contemporary California cuisine in her cocktails: indebted to local distilleries, inspired by California native plants, driven by bright acidity.
One visit isn’t enough: Return to Pizzetta 211, where the pizza selection changes biweekly: On one visit, you might get a pie topped with cauliflower, currants and salsa verde; on another, asparagus and pea tendrils with robust fontina cheese. Pearl 6101, meanwhile, throws a completely different vibe from day to night. Come for coffee and banana bread in the morning, shakshuka at midday and a hearty steak dinner at night.
What to Order: Pearl’s handkerchief pasta with white Bolognese ($19), rich cod brandade fritters ($6) and Kobe bavette steak with to-die-for horseradish ($29), plus the Coastal Scrub, Franciscan Wallflower and Pearl Martini cocktails (all $12). At Pizzetta, pizzas change frequently, but the perennial pie with San Marzano tomatoes, mascarpone cheese and pungent olive oil ($15.50) will never disappoint.
Hours: Pearl 6101: Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Pizzetta 211: Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. No reservations, Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-592-9777
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Pinoy Heritage
Francis Ang is leading the Bay Area’s contemporary Filipino food movement with his multifaceted pop-up, Pinoy Heritage. He offers a slew of experiences: modern eight-course tasting menus, traditional kamayan feasts, street-food-inspired bar pit stops. His tasting menus are the most forward-thinking and experimental, yet still rooted in familiar flavors, ingredients and recipes. Take a classic grilled chicken, ramped up with guinea hen legs fashioned into a deep-fried longanisa sausage, or a simple clam soup turned into a silky custard.
A cool thing: Don’t miss Pinoy Heritage’s stints at bars like Harmonic Brewing and Pacific Cocktail Haven. The “street food” that Ang puts out using a tiny grill and a few hot plates — chicken wings with a fish-sauce-amped glaze, grilled curls of guinea fowl skin, dumplings with turmeric sauce and bagoong — are easy to eat with a cocktail but no less compelling than his plated dinners.
What to Order: You’re getting whatever Ang makes that day. The tasting menu typically costs $80, kamayan $85 and, at bars and breweries, a la carte dishes $5-$12.
Hours: Locations vary. Follow along at www.<DP>pinoy<DP>heritage.com.
Phone: 650- 392-9851
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Piperade
1015 Battery St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet
The Financial District and its surrounding blocks are full of large-scale, sophisticated, white-tablecloth restaurants that fit the bill for a business lunch or special dinner. Places like Perbacco, Boulevard and Kokkari have been on this Chronicle list for decades, and for about $50 a head (plus drinks), you’re all but assured of getting decent meals. But for such occasions, Piperade is my favorite option, and it’s worth singling out. Not only does Piperade have a beautiful, unique dining room, with exposed bricks and beams carved out of an otherwise nondescript block off Levi’s Plaza, but it feels good to be in there, like you’ve found something special (which you have). Piperade is a worthy setting for chef-owner Gerald Hirigoyen’s impeccable Basque food. The room is relaxed enough to be comfortable, but formal enough to feel like a night out. Piperade’s Basque flavors have always held a unique space in San Francisco. Especially as San Francisco’s Spanish restaurants have faded — Contigo and Zarzuela both said goodbye this year — Hirigoyen’s food has become even more of an outlier. He’s a constant presence in the restaurant, too, fluttering to and from the kitchen, ensuring that both front and back of house are running smoothly and creating an overtly personal restaurant.
What to Order: It’s easy to overdo it on the delicious, West Coast-tinted pintxos and starters (sliced meats! mushroom tartlet! stuffed peppers! crab salad!), but it’s the heartier fare — the braises and stews — that brings the magic and will transport you to the rustic Basque countryside.
Hours: Lunch weekdays, dinner Mon.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-391-2555
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Plaj
333 Fulton St., San Francisco
Guides: Quiet Vegetarian-Friendly
Not only is Plaj the only full-service Scandinavian restaurant in the Bay Area, but it’s really, really underrated. Chef-owner Roberth Sundell takes Nordic influences, primarily Swedish ones, and puts them through his California-cuisine lens. During the height of spring, this translates to only-here-and-now flavor combinations like a Norwegian lefse potato flatbread topped with split pea “hummus” and nasturtiums, or the vegan spring barley porridge, studded with fava beans, English peas, artichokes and green garlic. This is one of San Francisco’s great unheralded restaurants. Plaj should be on the short list for all performing-arts attendees. And just like the Ballet or Opera, Sundell’s food blends artistry and technical prowess in a polished and professional setting.
But who else is this restaurant for? Vegans! Several dishes on the normal menu are vegan-friendly and marked as such, but the real revelation is that Sundell also offers an entire, dedicated vegan tasting menu. It features four courses for $49, though all dishes on this menu are also available a la carte.
The other cool thing: Plaj quietly has a fabulous bar program, offering up the city’s finest collection of aquavit (including several house-made infusions, like lemon-horseradish and blueberry), a nice selection of Nordic beers and a seasonal menu of creative cocktails that make use of a Scandinavian pantry, like lingonberry, dill shrubs or caraway bitters.
What to Order: Start with the classics to get you in the Scandi mood: Taste of Herring ($19), paired with an aquavit. Know that the breads and crackers are made in-house and are fabulous. Order a bunch of vegetable dishes as a mid-course. If you want to see Sundell at his creative best, skip the popular meatballs and opt for another entree, like the grilled saddle of elk ($38), served with mushrooms, lingonberries and juniper jus, or the wild salmon ($38) with black trumpet mushroom emulsion, sunchokes and burnt leeks.
Hours: Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-294-8925
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Ramen Shop
5812 College Ave., Oakland
Guides: Oakland Bar Stars Vegetarian-Friendly
Despite the Bay Area’s never-ending appetite for ramen, there isn’t another restaurant making ramen quite like Ramen Shop. For more than five years, Chez Panisse alumni Jerry Jaksich, Rayneil De Guzman and Sam White have put out gleaming bowls of unique, Northern California-style ramen. There are three on offer each day, each swimming with snappy, thin noodles and pristine ingredients. The vegetarian version, starring a Meyer lemon shoyu broth, is bright and sharp — it’s hard to imagine a better vegetarian ramen out there. The menu changes daily, with so much to explore beyond ramen. (Though how can you possibly go to Ramen Shop and not get ramen?) There’s also Japanese and Filipino brunch on the weekends.
The best place to sit: At the counter along the open kitchen, where you can follow the action and feel the steam cleanse your face.
Pro tip: The previously no-reservations restaurant now accepts reservations for parties of six or more, so grab some friends and avoid the wait.
What to Order: You’re here for ramen, whether it’s the vegetarian staple ($18.50) or a spin on tsukemen or tantanmen. But the salads are lovely, as are the raw fish dishes. Oh, and the fried rice! Good luck making a decision.
Hours: Dinner daily, brunch weekends. Reservations for six or more; credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-640-5034
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Red's Java House
Pier 30, San Francisco
Guides: Bargain
Perched on the edge of Pier 30 on the Embarcadero, the 89-year-old Red’s (nee Franco’s Lunch) narrowly beats the Pacifica Taco Bell when it comes to the Bay Area’s best dramatic view. Go on a blustery day and watch the waves smash into the sides of loading docks as you drink an Anchor Steam. When it’s sunny, take your burger — served here in a hollowed-out chamber of anonymous sourdough bread — outside and enjoy the old-school dock vibe. Location aside, the food at this dive is uncommonly unfussy, with the handwritten menu on the wall even proclaiming, “We Don’t Serve Lettuce or Tomato” (though, surprisingly, they have a decent vegetarian burger). That’s not to say that it doesn’t evolve: It added fries to the menu in 2001, after all. By 2019 gourmand standards, the non-name-brand food is just blah, but this kind of unique, sincere and accessible experience keeps drawing us back.
Who is this restaurant for? With tons of memorabilia and walkability to Oracle Park, this is a place made for history nerds and Giants fans, and it’s even better if you’re both. Foodies and conspicuous consumers won’t find much purchase here, but Red’s reminds us of all of the other reasons that we go out to eat: to watch the waves, to yell at the big game, to be together.
What to Order: Double cheeseburger ($9.58), vegetarian burger ($8.63), chili cheese fries ($7.88), fish & chips ($11.76)
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-777-5626
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Reem's
3301 E. 12th St., Suite 133, Oakland
Guides: Bargain Oakland Vegetarian-Friendly
Former community organizer Reem Assil opened her namesake bakery as her next form of activism, making Reem’s feel distinctly Oakland and distinctly now. Words of welcome greet you at the entrance, written in Arabic, Spanish and English. After you settle in, you can pick up a book and let the kids loose on toys. It’s a bright, bold, intensely colorful space, bucking industry trends in not only design but also the way it aims to actively support the marginalized. Food is always political, but here it’s overt — and amazing. It’s hard to decide whether the manna’eesh — crisp yet pillowy flatbreads cooked on a domed griddle — are best enjoyed open-faced, coated in za’atar or salty cheese, or wrapped around the likes of sumac-braised chicken.
One visit isn’t enough: Reem’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so you can stop in for Arab pastries and iced cardamom coffee in the morning, grab a quick to-go wrap at lunch and linger over a glass of Lebanese or Palestinian wine with a juicy lamb burger all evening. Seasonal specials keep things interesting.
What to Order: Za’atar man’oushe ($6), the seasonal veggie wrap ($12), mezze combo ($13). At brunch, shakshuka ($13).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Fri., brunch weekends. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-852-9390
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Rich Table
199 Gough St., San Francisco
Since it opened in 2012 with Evan Rich’s mission statement (“We’re going to go to the market, see what’s good and cook it”), Rich Table has been one of the hottest reservations in San Francisco. And for good reason. Evan and Sarah Rich, along with chef de cuisine Brandon Rice, consistently put out novel, relaxed and expertly crafted fare. They’ve carved out a unique culinary style, often mixing sweet and savory (burrata, strawberry and green tomato) and blending traditions (bucatini with harissa, English peas and carrots), and in the process, they’ve set the standard for the modern San Francisco bistro.
Pro tip: Can’t get a reservation? Go early or late, and try to snag a seat at the bar, where the full menu is served.
What to Order: The sardine chips ($2 each) are as good you’ve heard, and along with the porcini doughnuts ($9), they’ve earned permanent status on the constantly changing menu. The salad (and salad-adjacent) and pasta dishes are consistently interesting, and worth loading up your table with, but make sure to save room for Sarah Rich’s desserts ($13).
Hours: Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-355-9085
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Rico Rico Taco
3205 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland
Guides: Bargain Oakland New Mexican Vegetarian-Friendly
This comfy, light-filled taco joint came about through the joining of two venerable East Bay taco truck families, Tacos El Gordo and Taqueria Sinaloa. Their respective children, Ricardo and Marisol, married and developed a brick-and-mortar taqueria that incorporates the best of both worlds: real al pastor meat on a trompo (a rarity in the Bay Area), sharp pickled carrots on every plate, carnitas that are equal parts chewy and crisp and composed tacos that come dressed to order. Their fresh-pressed yellow corn tortillas are among the best in the Bay Area, with a powerful cornflake flavor. They’re also hefty enough to only require one per taco.
Favorite detail: The decor is bright and modern, but not without personality: The booth seating along a dining room wall is upholstered with embroidered Otomi craft textiles, a pattern of rainbows in the shape of jungle birds. It’s charming, fresh and devoted to great technique that nods to tradition, much like the restaurants in hip Mexican beach towns like Sayulita and the other San Francisco.
Thoughtful touches: Not only are Rico Rico Taco’s chairs uncommonly comfortable, but they’re also lovely because they were repurposed from Tacos Sinaloa as a tribute to Marisol’s family.
What to Order: Fish taco ($4), huarachito ($8), chicken flautas ($10.95), al pastor taco ($3.50), carnitas burrito ($9.95).
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-922-8262
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Rintaro
82 14th St., San Francisco
Guides: Mission
Rintaro is a perfect restaurant. Since my last meal there, I’ve been trying to piece together why I feel that way. The Japanese izakaya is the brainchild of Sylvan Mishima Brackett. Since opening in 2014, Rintaro has only become a more distilled version of itself. As the procession of small plates arrives at your table one by one — konbu-cured San Francisco halibut sashimi, flanked by Half Moon Bay wasabi; a platter of house-made silken tofu; two spears of char-kissed chicken oysters — they create a tangible emotional effect. A meal at Rintaro is exhilarating, but not in the exhilarating Led Zeppelin guitar riff way of State Bird or the brash E-40 lyricism of Mission Chinese Food. No, a meal at Rintaro is more like a symphonic tour de force that leaves you refreshed and inspired. Just as the opulence of a restaurant like Quince makes you feel fancy, Rintaro’s distinct beauty — the majesty of the interior’s woodwork was crafted by Brackett’s father, Len Brackett (author of “Building the Japanese House Today”) has a tangible impact on your mental and emotional well-being.
When to go? Lunch and dinner here are two distinct experiences, but both honor an intense commitment to seasonality. During the evening hours, the menu breathes into a full izakaya slate of offerings, with a handful of sashimi options (including a host of local seafood), yakitori (starring chicken from Riverdog Farm), a handful of fried and vegetable dishes, and sublime house-made udon options. It’s a refined, California vision of izakaya fare.
Pro tip: The lunch menu, served Friday through Sunday, eschews the izakaya small-plates format in favor of teishoku sets: Diners select one of six entrees ($23-$29), and it appears with a full collection of side dishes, like nanbanzuke (marinated local anchovies) or Tokyo turnip doused in a mustard-miso dressing.
What to Order: For lunch, any of the sets will be a winner, but the oyako don (chicken and egg over rice) is an exhibition of elegant simplicity. For dinner: Local, seasonal sashimi ($18-$20) is a noble start, followed by fresh tofu ($10) or a selection of yakitori ($8-$12). Finish with a bowl of chewy hand-rolled udon in a bowl of dashi broth ($11).
Hours: Dinner nightly, lunch Fri.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-589-7022
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Rooh
333 Brannan St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
There are just a handful of restaurants that attempt to meld Western cuisine with the complexity of spices that give Indian food its identity. None does this better in the Bay Area than Rooh, where attention to detail and thoughtfulness are readily apparent. Rooh combines the full onslaught of regional Indian flavors with fine-dining techniques that elevate the experience far beyond the conventional. Here dahi puri is an experience, rather than a simple street food to keep your mouth occupied. Lamb keema is surprisingly light, and a vegetarian taco is actually satisfying.
Thoughtful touches: Playful elegance effuses in the form of peacock-plume-colored velvet cushions, a cocktail menu that looks like a map of constellations, and flower-adorned drinks.
Pro tip: Get the most out of the sizable menu by going with a group of friends, particularly for something celebratory like a birthday. The small plates are great to share, and there are lots of options for vegetarians.
What to Order: Jackfruit taco ($16), lamb keema ($17), duck seekh kebab ($19).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-525-4174
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San Jalisco
901 S. Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain Mission Mexican
Run by Dolores “Josie” Padilla-Reyes and multiple generations of her family, the restaurant has been around for three decades. Its name is a hybrid of San Francisco and Jalisco, the Mexican state where Padilla-Reyes’ parents were born. The high-ceilinged room somehow combines coziness, with its ceramic jugs and framed photos, and cafeteria-style openness. Its large tables and expansive menu add to the feeling that you could step inside at any time and find something you’re going to want to eat.
One visit isn’t enough: Served all day, breakfast at San Jalisco is an infinitely repeatable option, particularly the chilaquiles. In the Chilaquiles Veronica, fried tortilla pieces are tossed in red salsa, nopales, chorizo, scrambled eggs and sour cream to merge into a perfect equilibrium of sauciness and crispiness. It’s also worth trying special dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, like an appetizer of enfrijolada (a corn tortilla bathed in a thin coating of refried beans and topped with crema) and the weekend-only birria — order it “wet” for the soupy version of long-cooked goat meat, a specialty of Jalisco.
Pro tip: The regular wait staff, including Padilla-Reyes’ sister, Margarita, bring nonstop coffee refills, but the gigantic Michelada is an even better option, arriving in a frozen Tajin-rimmed glass mug with your choice of beer.
What to Order: Chilaquiles Veronica ($10.95), Michelada ($7.50).
Hours: 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-648-8383
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Saul's Restaurant & Deli
1475 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Despite a sizable Jewish population, the Bay Area is not particularly well known for Jewish delis. And despite a few new spots cropping up over the years, my favorite continues to be the O.G.: 33-year-old Saul’s. It’s vibrant, fun and always full of regulars, cooing over peppery pastrami, smoked fish and soft rugelach shimmering in the deli case. At all hours of the day, it feels like a true community gathering spot.
A cool thing: A commitment to using top-notch products from local farms and artisans isn’t necessarily what you’d expect from an old-school deli, but it does reflect its location in North Berkeley, with neighbors the likes of Chez Panisse and the Cheese Board. It speaks to how Saul’s is much more than a New York-style Jewish deli copycat.
What to Order: You can’t go wrong with any of the classics. The latkes ($4.95) achieve ideal crispy levels. The pastrami sandwich ($15.75-$23) is probably the best in the entire Bay Area. The matzo ball soup ($6.25-$8.95) will rival your bubbe’s version. But the sleeper hit is the sabich pita ($8.25), an Israeli sandwich stuffed with fried eggplant, boiled eggs, latke, tahini, herbs and pickles.
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. No reservations; credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-848-3354
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The Sentinel
37 New Montgomery St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain
Striking in its modesty, the Sentinel is a true hole-in-the-wall that spits out unique, scratch-made sandwiches to passersby. When there are so many great bread options in the city, chef-owner Dennis Leary and his Sentinel crew still insist on making all of the bread in house, and it’s perfect for the sandwiches, which run on the juicy side. The bread is spongy like brioche, yet strong enough to withstand mayo-monsters like the deviled egg salad ($8.50). The pickles are self-serve, offered in a jar at the counter so you can fish one out with a plastic fork. And in old-school fashion, they send you off with a complimentary Andes mint.
Replay value: Come back often for the breakfast sandwich, as dependable as NYC’s great BECs (bacon, egg and cheese), and the rotating specials, which you can find listed online on DoorDash and Ritual. Each of the 10 lunch offerings has a distinct flavor and style, from the sloppy-Joe-like lamb sandwich with chickpeas to the barbecue pork sandwich that serves as a nod to the banh mi.
The best place to sit: There is no seating here. The best option is the Yerba Buena Gardens Esplanade, under a live oak tree.
What to Order: Breakfast sandwich ($6), lamb and eggplant sandwich ($11), roast beef sandwich ($12).
Hours: Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Fri. Walk-ups only; no seating. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-769-8109
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Single Thread
131 North St, Healdsburg
Guides: Quiet
In its second year of operation, this Healdsburg prodigy scored three Michelin stars, up from two awarded just 10 months after it opened. And the inspectors are right to notice. Everything about this restaurant has been meticulously planned from the get-go, from the strong, Japanese-inflected concept, which chef Kyle Connaughton studied for decades both in California and Japan, to the 5-acre farm, guided by sustainable farmer Katina Connaughton, that produces most of the ingredients on the menu. To eat at Single Thread now is to enjoy the sometimes literal fruits of all that labor and time. Everything, from the moss on your amuse plating to the cameras monitoring the guests’ progress, is aimed toward perfecting this vision. Get there early so you can have drinks on the rooftop lounge, which has incredible views of the surrounding countryside, as well as an enviable garden.
Favorite detail: The 12 beige woven screens placed around the dining room are an exercise in extreme farming geekery: Each has been custom made to represent a single vegetable from a single month of the year. How? As abstract representations of their DNA strands, of course.
What to Order: The $330 tasting menu is your only option, though the $100 nonalcoholic beverage pairing by “wizard” Han Suk Cho is a highly original detour. Otherwise, wine director Evan Hufford’s wine pairings ($270 or $500 for reserve options) are a trove of hard-to-find local gems.
Hours: Dinner nightly, lunch Sat.-Sun. Reservations required. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 707-723-4646
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Soba Ichi
2311-A Magnolia St., Oakland
Soba Ichi employs Koichi Ishii, one of the country’s few artisan soba makers, who mills his own buckwheat flour and painstakingly rolls out the dough by hand. The resulting noodles are so, so special: nutty, chewy, delicate. Ordering them cold, with a quick dip in a soy-dashi-mirin sauce, lets you best marvel at their texture. And when you finish, your server will bring over a nifty red pot of starchy water to turn the remaining sauce into a highly comforting, delicious soup. The restaurant also offers some simple small plates, but the noodles are the key draw here. Buddhist priest, celebrated woodworker and restaurant partner Paul Discoe designed the calming space, outfitted with partitions in the vein of the team’s other — and also very good — restaurant, Ippuku in Berkeley. With a quiet bamboo fountain outside, the waiting area makes for an unusually relaxing place to feel your hunger compound.
Pro tip: Make a reservation or prepare to wait. And if you want one of Soba Ichi’s 20 servings of gluten-free, 100 percent buckwheat noodles, make sure you snag a table right when the restaurant opens at 5 p.m.
What to Order: Soba, obviously. The 100 percent buckwheat soba ($16) and slightly glutinous soba ($14) are both lovely straight up. For a hot, brothy version, try the nameko-oroshi soba ($17) with mushrooms. Don’t forget the soba tea mousse ($7) for dessert.
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-465-1969
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SPQR
1911 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine
Restaurants like SPQR, State Bird and Rich Table are part of the wave of restaurants that have subverted fine dining in a way that’s very good for diners, bringing high-end, high-effort cooking to more accessible settings. In any other era, SPQR chef Matthew Accarrino’s complex dishes — chicken liver mousse with balsamic gelatina ($18), handmade Meyer lemon linguine with abalone and bottarga ($34) — would be confined to a prix-fixe format, not an a la carte menu.
Pro tip: As at sister restaurant A16, you’ll be hard pressed to recognize most of the wines on the list at SPQR, so let the staff guide you.
Favorite detail: Do note how tiny the SPQR kitchen is. That’s it. Nothing else. Then note how sprawling the a la carte menu is — with dessert, more than three dozen dishes. And then, for the last part, note how many labor-intensive components go into each plate, and how nearly everything is made in house. Accarrino and his team perform miracles to put out this menu from that kitchen.
What to Order: Pasta, pasta, pasta. In particular, opt for any lasagna dish. I’m also partial to the dishes that combine creative extruded pasta with a deep braise and some textural tricks, like the mustard capellini with guinea hen ragu, savoy cabbage and mimolette cheese, or bucatini with blue cheese, walnut, kale and sage brown butter. These are familiar flavor profiles, set in unexpected ways — part of the reason that San Francisco has become a center for creative pasta in the United States.
Hours: Dinner nightly, lunch weekends. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-771-7779
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Standard Fare
2701 Eighth St., Berkeley
Guides: Bargain Vegetarian-Friendly
I want to eat at Standard Fare every single day. The best part is that, hypothetically, I actually could. That’s because unlike a lot of restaurants people tend to fawn over, Standard Fare is both relatively affordable and relatively healthy. I could return again and again for a thick slice of frittata, blackened in a cast iron, or a sandwich, potentially turned into a salad — each containing all kinds of delicious fermented, pickled, pureed and crunchy goodness that taste much better than they sound. I don’t know of any other restaurant that can make me feel genuine excitement over a carrot and collard greens sandwich. The breakfast and lunch menus change daily, but they’re always short, simple and a reflection of Berkeley. Naturally, the food comes from a former Chez Panisse chef, Kelsie Kerr, and carries a similar dedication to sourcing, seasonality and produce-forward eating.
The other cool thing: Too often, this sort of food is equated with many dollar signs. Standard Fare’s unusual setup keeps it accessible. First of all, it’s super tiny. Like, a few-stools-along-a-counter tiny. But there’s room outside, and on rainy days, Kerr sets up extra tables in a barren hallway — the restaurant is in a warehouse full of fellow food businesses like Third Culture Bakery. As such, it’s counter service, but the daily entree — perhaps milk-braised pork shoulder over polenta or crispy fried sole with fermented daikon aioli — always looks far more composed and elegant than you’d expect from a place that shouts your name when it’s ready. That’s also part of the fun. Those few stools along the counter are pressed right up against the spacious kitchen, where a diverse team often chats and laughs while slicing carrots and tossing lettuce. I only wish it were open for dinner.
What to Order: Any sandwich ($12.25 vegetarian/$12.75 omnivorous), frittata ($6.25), daily lunch special ($15.75 or so). For brunch on Saturday, the sticky bun ($4.50) is a must.
Hours: Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Fri., brunch Sat. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-356-2261
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State Bird Provisions
1529 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
State Bird Provisions is the San Francisco dining zeitgeist that won’t die. Eight years after Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski opened their Fillmore Street restaurant, the Californian-Japanese register of their food feels just as original, the dim sum format is just as much fun and, yes, a reservation is just as difficult to get. Without feeling rushed, meals here are fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping affairs.
Favorite detail: There’s an uncommonly thoughtful beer list here, thanks to beer director Ben Henning. This would be a good place to spring for a 750ml bottle (or a split, if you’re planning to follow it with wine) or a food-friendly, complex, hard-to-find sour beer — Henning’s specialty.
Pro tip: Dim sum lovers are familiar with the predicament: How much should you order off the menu when you don’t know how many delectable goodies will be passing by your table? At State Bird, three menu items (at least one of which needs to be a pancake) is usually a good place to start before supplementing with items from the dim sum cart. You must save room for Krasinski’s desserts.
What to Order: Pancakes are obligatory; the classic SBP pancake is made with sourdough and stuffed with sauerkraut, Pecorino and ricotta ($7). From the “commandables” (main dishes) section of the menu, don’t skip the carrot mochi, which seem to melt around bonito and umeboshi ($20). Highlights from the dim sum cart include guinea hen dumplings in a bright Meyer lemon broth ($3), a little bowl of silken tofu with savory, smoky black cod ($6) and potato chips with a creamy-crunchy smoked trout dip ($12). For dessert, order whatever granita is on offer, its fruity ice laid over barely sweet tapioca pudding ($12), and the ice cream sandwich du jour ($12), and wash it down with a shot of peanut muscovado milk ($3).
Hours: Dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-795-1272
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Swan Oyster Depot
1517 Polk St., San Francisco
The hospitality at this 100-year-old seafood counter is remarkable, whether you’re a regular or newcomer dreaming of fresh Dungeness crab. The staff at Swan are patient, with a gentle condescension that makes them seem less like gatekeepers than preschool teachers whose ultimate joy is to teach the uninitiated. They’re confident in their expertise, yet they fall all over themselves to make sure you’re taken care of. Swan’s hidden menu is well documented and includes delights like the Sicilian sashimi ($20/$30/$40), a raw scallop sashimi called a Dozen Eggs ($20/$30/$40) and the formidable Crabsanthemum ($20/$39), a plateful of flaky Dungeness crab leg meat arranged like a grotesque yet stunning flower. The Dozen Eggs in particular is a beautiful preparation that highlights the creaminess of the sea scallops, sliced against the grain so that they melt under the lightest pressure. A dot of Sriracha sauce on each pale round brings to mind the elegance of nai wong bao, the Chinese steamed custard buns. All of these items can be ordered in various sizes.
Pro tip: Show up at 10 a.m. and you’ll likely be able to get in when they open the doors at 10:30 a.m. Otherwise, bring a good book, because you’ll be standing in line for a while.
What to Order: Crab back ($6), Dozen Eggs or thin-sliced raw scallops in ponzu ($20/$30/$40), Sicilian sashimi ($20/$30/$40), combination seafood cocktail ($15).
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (counter service winds down at 4:45 p.m.) No reservations; cash only.
Phone: 415-673-1101
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Taqueria El Castillito
2092 Mission St., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain Mission Mexican
After spending a quarter century building a small chain of taquerias across San Francisco, Alfredo Bello sold off a few of the locations, but importantly, he passed the flagship El Castillito to his daughter, Edith, a culinary-school grad. She did not fancy it up, though the flat-screen TV in the corner that plays soccer games is rather new. She did not make the menu organic. The Bellos felt no need to reinvent the Mission taqueria, because they were doing it right the first time.
The thing you need to know: With apologies to readers who do not eat pork, El Castillito serves one and only one perfect thing: the carnitas burrito. Not only do they braise the pork to a quiver and then brown it in its own fat, they spoon all the caramelized bits from the griddle into the burrito, larding each bite with the crunch of onions and crackling flecks of densely meaty pork. Rice, beans, salsa are seasoned enough to amplify the flavor of the carnitas instead of smother it. The only thing that could make the burrito any porkier is if you order refritos instead of whole pinto or black beans.
What to Order: Regular carnitas burrito ($8.99) or super carnitas burrito ($10.99).
Hours: 10 a.m.-2 a.m. daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-621-6971
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Tartine Manufactory
595 Alabama St, San Francisco
Guides: Natural Wine Vegetarian-Friendly
Tartine Manufactory is the perfect place to bring out-of-towners, whether they’re from Seoul or Sioux Falls. (And loaves of bread make for great souvenirs, of course.) Like a thesis statement, the 5,000-square-foot restaurant encapsulates much of what makes Bay Area food special, from its challenging wine list to the near-deification of its bread-baking craft, with racks full of loaves and the enormous German-made oven displayed in the dining room. So much of what we love about modern Bay Area cooking today comes down to transparency: an active appreciation for labor and craft that refuses to stay tucked away in a basement or back room.
The other cool thing: One of the city’s best drink programs resides at Tartine Manufactory. In addition to the produce-heavy cocktail list (created by Los Angeles bartender Julian Cox), the Tartine wine selection is a vibrant snapshot of what’s exciting in wine today, mixing classics like Domaine Eden with natural-wine heroes like Frank Cornelissen. It still gets the input of recently departed wine director Vinny Eng, who sees wine lists as a way to elevate the voices of marginalized groups.
One visit isn’t enough: With a dinner menu that shifts monthly, it’s worth coming back just to try whatever else they’re putting on that perfect bread.
What to Order: At brunch, coddled eggs and trout roe with grilled bread and za’atar ($16), pain au jambon ($6.25) and emmer porridge ($12). At dinner, steak tartare with sunchoke chips ($16), smorrebrod ($9-$12), and anything with duck.
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-757-0007
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Terra Cotta Warrior
2555 Judah St., San Francisco
Terra Cotta Warrior is significant, sure, because it’s the most polished restaurant in the Bay Area serving the food of Shaanxi province in north-central China. But you could also make the case that it’s serving some of the most precise Chinese cooking around. The cold plates are seasoned with just the right balance of sour, salty and hot. So is the crimson broth for the Qishan minced pork noodles ($9.95), the signature dish of owner David Deng’s hometown. Even the most subdued of dishes, the pita bread soaked in a clear lamb soup ($10.95), is anything but dull.
Pro tip: Get there early, not just because the wait can get long but also because the mian-pi, or springy wheat-starch noodles ($5.25), tend to run out.
Off-menu highlights: One of the best reasons to order the biang-biang noodles in sizzling oil ($9.95), which is spiritually linked to spaghetti cacio e pepe, is that it is spare enough for you to work your way through the entire condiment station, with the chef’s custom vinegar and toasted-chile blends.
What to Order: Celery slices with bean-curd skin ($5.95), lotus root slices ($5.95), and cumin lamb burger ($5.95).
Hours: Dinner Tues.-Sun., lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-681-3288
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Tommy's Joynt
1101 Geary Blvd., San Francisco
Guides: Bargain
It’s the last hofbrau in town! Oddly enough, as that genre of restaurant goes extinct, everyone is opening quick-service restaurants. But we all really know that Tommy’s, with its cafeteria-style service, was the original quick-service restaurant. Dear readers, let’s appreciate it.
One visit isn’t enough: Maybe because it’s open late, or maybe because even when there’s a line, there’s never a long wait to get food, or maybe because it was across the street from the movie theater (RIP), but of all the restaurants in San Francisco, I’m guessing I’ve frequented Tommy’s Joynt the most.
A cool thing: Plopped at the thoroughfares of Van Ness and Geary, Tommy’s Joynt surely has the most idiosyncratic restaurant exterior in the city. There’s a giant neon sign on the marquee, bisecting the entryway. Along the walls, the treasures continue: painted menu items, buffaloes, a Jeremy Fish mural, the HOT CORNED BEEF COCKTAILS sign in the window and that gorgeous old-school cursive lettering. And, just for good measure, the humble corner building is now eclipsed by towering high-rises on all sides, prompting our colleague Peter Hartlaub to dub it the real-life equivalent of the “Up” house.
What to Order: Buffalo stew ($11.75), carved turkey or corned beef sandwich ($8.80, add hot mustard). Don’t forget the free pickles.
Hours: 10 a.m.-1:30 a.m. daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-775-4216
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True Laurel
753 Alabama St, San Francisco
Guides: Bar Stars
Lazy Bear sequel True Laurel is certainly more bar than restaurant; the food menu stresses that point in the nomenclature of its three categories: Small Items, Items That Are Also Small, and Small and Sweet. Executive chef Geoff Davis is putting out some of the best bar food in San Francisco. We’re not talking restaurant food in a bar setting, but actual bar food: a trio of broiled oysters ($13), bar nuts ($6) better than they have any right to be, a dip-like beef cheek and aged cheddar fondue ($16) cast alongside a host of seasonal vegetable preparations; and a sublime burger disguised as a patty melt ($14). The intricacies of that burger. It comes out as a simple thing, a patty between two slices of toast. Or so it seems. The bread is griddled in aged beef fat. The patty is a flavor explosion, a rich umami bomb of round, chuck, aged navel and fat, boosted by pickles, American cheese and onions. The composition is a worthy pedestal for the beef.
Pro tip: No reservations. And it’s the kind of fancy bar where you need a seat.
A cool thing: We haven’t discussed the cocktails ($15) yet. Which is a very bad oversight because the singular cocktails by Chronicle Bar Star Nico Torres are designed to be the star of the True Laurel show. Indeed, without spoiling the fun too much, many are made with showmanship in mind.
What to Order: Food: Bar nuts, fondue, patty melt. Drinks: Grandma’s to Blame (Islay gin, clarified grapefruit, manzanilla, lavender, honey ferment), In the Pines, Under the Palms (toasted coconut rye, Terroir gin, vermouth, absinthe, redwood tips), Mai O Mai (Panamanian rum, lime, pistachio orgeat, curacao, coffee-rum float). This is also a very good place for nonalcoholic cocktails. There’s one on the menu — Spice & Everything Nice ($10), made with Seedlip, chamomile, pink peppercorn and pear vinegar — but the bartenders can usually make you something custom, too.
Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. daily; kitchen open 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Brunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-341-0020
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Verjus
528 Washington St, San Francisco
Guides: Natural Wine
Verjus is inspired by the casual, drop-in wine and pintxos bars that owners Michael and Lindsay Tusk fell in love with in Europe. It’s part restaurant, part wine bar, part retail shop, and how you enjoy the space is all up to you. The wine list focuses on organic and native-yeast-fermented bottles by indie winemakers, making Verjus a must-visit for natural-wine geeks. Yes, they offer tinned seafood to accompany your native-fermented glass of Grüner Veltliner. The staff’s pairing advice is exceptional.
The best place to sit: At dinner, Verjus is divided into a cocktail/tapas lounge in the front room and a sit-down dining room. Go for the latter so you can order from both menus.
Favorite detail: Look up. The ceiling is painted bright red, shiny as a Cadillac just off the factory floor.
What to Order: Menu changes daily, though the gildas ($2.50/piece), tiny skewers of anchovy, olive and pickled pepper, are a must-order.
Hours: Dinner Mon.-Sat., lunch Tues.-Fri. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-944-4600
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Vientian Cafe
3801 Allendale Ave., Oakland
The crispy rice salad arrives with an almost unfathomable amount of fresh herbs. The khao poon is almost sultry with coconut milk. The papaya salad looks black and tastes like fire. The mok pla, steamed, custardy catfish, blooms with lemongrass and dill. The sticky rice, grabbed with your hands and swiped into smoky, funky jeo bong (Lao chile paste), is all you want and more. Why yes, this just might be the best Lao restaurant in the Bay Area. Occupying the ground floor of a lime green house in a residential neighborhood, Vientian basically blends into its surroundings. It’s pure East Oakland, and the local Southeast Asian community always shows up — as do a lot of popular local chefs, who seemed to have made it their unofficial hangout spot.
Pro tip: As with most of the Bay Area’s Lao restaurants, Vientian serves a whole lot of Thai food. For the best experience, stick to the Lao dishes. Some are buried within the lengthy main menu, but there’s also a separate, one-page “Lao specialties” list that you should consider required reading.
What to Order: Fill up the table with kao poun ($8.50), mok pa ($5), jeo bong ($5), nam kao ($8.95), Lao-style papaya salad ($7.95-$12.95).
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. No reservations; credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-535-2218
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Vik's Chaat
2390 Fourth St., Berkeley
Guides: Bargain Vegetarian-Friendly
There may be no more dramatic dish at Vik’s than the cholle bhature, a pebbly, golden balloon of fried bread bigger than the average throw pillow, which collapses in a cloud of steam once someone dares to pick off the first piece to swab in spiced chickpeas and lemon pickle. But most of the chaat (snacks) offer some thrill, whether it’s the herb-doused crackle of bhel puri (puffed-rice salad) or the swirls of sweet tamarind chutney, tangy cilantro relish and yogurt that smother the dahi papdi chaat. Over-ordering isn’t just easy, it’s practically a moral imperative. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Vik’s is that in the quarter century that Amod Chopra has owned this West Berkeley market and restaurant, it has expanded three times — without sacrificing quality. The warehouse-size dining room is always a crush of bodies, but the pakoras and pani puri fly out of their respective kitchen stations, often arriving just after you’ve scored a table.
Pro tip: Most out-of-towners come for weekend chaat, or snacks, but locals know that the ever-changing lunch plates are an affordable weekday feast. To carry the meal home, pick up dosa and idli batter from the refrigerator case in the market.
What to Order: On the weekends, the spice-crusted koliwada fish with a carrot slaw and the dhokla (steamed chickpea-flour cake) are favorites among the regulars.
Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-644-4412
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Wojia Hunan Cuisine
917 San Pablo Ave., Albany
Guides: New
I admire the restaurant’s commitment to plumbing the depths of Hunanese cooking, characterized by smoked meats, chile peppers and preserved ingredients; the kitchen has dreamed up a thrilling menu that reaches from the farmhouse to the banquet hall. One would expect a lot of sameness from a menu with a hundred items, but it’s packed with surprises.
Pro tip: Bring a group of hungry friends and family. Order dishes that emphasize different centerpiece ingredients; sample a variety of cooking techniques; and don’t underestimate the heft of the vegetable dishes. Most importantly, share everything.
One visit isn’t enough: You’ll want to keep coming back to try new dishes, since there’s no way to get a representative sample on one visit. Because Wojia’s menu includes many cooking techniques and main ingredients, mixing and matching your own banquet is a lot of fun.
What to Order: Griddle-cooked sliced potatoes ($9.95), steamed enoki mushrooms with chopped pepper ($9.95), steamed fish head ($32.95), Hunan fried noodles ($10.95).
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 510-526-9088
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Yamo
3406 18th St., San Francisco
For newcomers to Burmese cuisine, there’s hardly a better introduction than Yamo. The clarity of its menu and approach make it one of the top Burmese restaurants in the Bay Area; it’s an archetypal hole-in-the-wall shop that produces food that should cost two or three times as much. Walking into the 20-year-old space transports you to the steam-filled, elbow-room-only world of “Bladerunner,” which was in turn inspired by the real-life Kowloon Walled City. The setup is utilitarian in the way of street food vendors in Asia: a short counter, bare walls, a cash-only menu, staff who don’t waste time on frivolities. Your job is to put your head down, eat and then get the hell out. Still, a line forms outside every day, full of groupies who fawn over Yamo’s tea leaf salad, house noodles and Burmese-Chinese specialties. The thick, savory noodles are garnished with chopped fried garlic so that every bite bites back. When it comes to bold notes — crunchiness, garlic flavor, funkiness — the kitchen at Yamo steps on the gas pedal, hard. You get a sense that, even at this price point, the cooks aren’t taking shortcuts; rather, they’re experts in the field, satisfied with perfecting the same recipes day after day.
What to Order: The tea leaf salad ($6), made from shredded cabbage and fermented tea leaves crushed into a near-paste, is the best in the city. Dressed in fish sauce, garlic and chile oil with sesame seeds, fried alliums, nuts, dried shrimp and little fried beans, its soft-to-crunch ratio mimics that of a well-layered plate of nachos. For the funky-breath fans, the Yamo house noodles ($6) are a must.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. No reservations. Cash only.
Phone: 415-553-8911
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Yuanbao Jiaozi
2110 Irving St., San Francisco
Yuanbao Jiaozi doesn’t just introduce San Franciscans to dumplings from the far northeast of China (though the pork with three flavors and fish/green pepper versions are particularly delicious). The bright, order-at-the-counter restaurant also makes clear that the best dumplings are made fresh and never frozen, and here, a crew of white-aproned cooks stuffing dumplings to order yields smoother, more tender wrappers and fillings with prismatic flavors.
Pro tip: The restaurant is tiny, and since the dumplings are freshly made to order, they’re not coming out in a blink of an eye. As the place has gotten more and more popular, the lines have gotten longer. You can skirt the line if you order takeout online.
What to Order: There are no misses on the compact menu, but surely you want dumplings ($9.71 for 12).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. No reservations. Credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-702-6506
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Z&Y Restaurant
655 Jackson St., San Francisco
Guides: Vegetarian-Friendly
Z&Y was among the first restaurants in San Francisco to join the second wave of Sichuan cuisine in America, and it is arguably still the finest. Chef-owner Lijun Han emerged from the rigors of Beijing’s kitchen brigades with a consciousness of detail: the delicate balace of dried red chiles and Sichuan peppercorns in his mala (spicy-numbing) dishes, the silky texture of braised beef tendon or hot and sour bean jello. For all the heat contained in the hottest dishes on his menu — which are not chile-shy — what also distinguishes Han’s cooking from that of other Sichuanese chefs in the Bay Area is how aromatic it is.
The other cool thing: Call the restaurant ahead of time to see when Xumin Liu, a master of the balletic art of pouring tea from whirling, long-necked brass kettles, might be performing.
Off-menu: Ask (or, really, press) the waiter for the vegetable dish of the day, which often contains less common pairings, and makes a good antidote to the spice.
What to Order: The menu is larded with Chinese American standards, but get the Couple’s Delight ($7.50), the spicy fish with flaming chile oil ($18), the very Sichuan version of twice-cooked pork ($12.50), and the dry sauteed string beans.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-981-8988
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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market St., San Francisco
Guides: Wine
Zuni Cafe is a study in timelessness, perhaps the culinary study in timelessness. Some older restaurants, be they 10 years old or 100 years old, feel dusty and dated. Not Zuni. A meal there, whether you get the hits (anchovies, Caesar, chicken, espresso granita) or the seasonal riffs (a nettle risotto, perchance?), makes you ponder the things that make it feel so current: simplicity, execution, ingredients, deliciousness. But then you realize that it’s more than that — that it’s the eccentric room, all angles where there shouldn’t be any, and the smell of wood fire and poultry drippings that wafts down the block. Or maybe it’s the elegant prose in the late Judy Rodgers’ Zuni cookbook that reminds you what good food writing can be, and shows you how to taste and appreciate everything that goes into a heartfelt dish.
Who is this restaurant for? Zuni serves old hippies, gastro-tourists and young paramours, all set to white tablecloths with a backbeat of counterculture. People love it, and love to argue about it. People think the chicken is too expensive, and people think the chicken is the best dish in America. It’s the kind of restaurant for which you gain more appreciation with each subsequent visit. In other words, this restaurant is for San Francisco.
What to Order: To go the signature route, start with the anchovies ($12) and Caesar salad ($15). The roast chicken is a bucket-list item, so get it if you haven’t had it before. If you’re not up for spending $63 on a chicken, my move is a salad, the Wagon Wheel pizza ($19, daytime only) and Zuni’s ever-regal shoestring fries ($9).
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. Reservations and credit cards accepted.
Phone: 415-552-2522
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