Must-see restaurants in San Francisco

  • The Chairman

    San Francisco

    Top-notch dim sum on the run: baked buns and clamshell bao (steamed buns) with gourmet fillings.

  • Burma Love

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    For flavors that hug your tongue, then deliver a swift kick, it must be Burma Love. Salad gets upgraded to the main event here, and is frequently mixed…

  • Patron sitting in window of Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe in North Beach.

    Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe

    North Beach & Chinatown

    A boho North Beach landmark on Washington Sq, Mario's gave up smoking in the 1970s and turned to piping-hot panini. Generations of artistic movements have…

  • Street Taco

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Haight skateboarders swerve here for legit Mexico City fare on handmade organic tortillas. Flavors come on strong with fresh house-made salsa, but that…

  • Fisherman's Wharf Crab Stands

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Men and women in rolled-up sleeves stir steaming cauldrons of Dungeness crab at several side-by-side takeout crab stands at the foot of Taylor St, the…

  • Lazy Bear

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Dinner at Lazy Bear actually requires quite a bit of (worthwhile) effort. Tickets for the supper club must be purchased in advance and tend to sell out…

  • Scoma's

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Enjoy a flashback to the 1960s, with waiters in white dinner jackets, pine-paneled walls decorated with signed photographs of forgotten celebrities, and…

  • Old Jerusalem

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Foodies scouring the Mission for the ultimate taco shouldn't overlook this outpost of Middle Eastern authenticity, complete with a Dome of the Rock mural…

  • Arguello

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Located within the Presidio Officers' Club, this lively Mexican restaurant by James Beard Award–winner Traci Des Jardins features cooking techniques and…

  • Locanda

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Friends, Romans, San Franciscans – join the crowd for Roman fried artichokes, pizza bianca, prosciutto, blood orange and beet salads, and scrumptious…

  • Mara's Italian Pastry

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Join early risers for double shots of espresso and crostata (jam tart), or wander in at night between bars and Beach Blanket Babylon for torta di mandorla…

  • Dynamo Donuts

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Wrapping your head around chef Sara Spearin's freak flavors may take a hot minute – but your taste buds immediately grasp the appeal of raspberry-black…

  • Serpentine

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Owner/chef Tommy Halvorson took the helm of this lofty, converted tin-can factory in 2017 and shook things up with a dash of cajun seasoning, some…

  • La Folie

    San Francisco

    Casually sophisticated La Folie has bravely upheld French standards in laid-back California since 1988. Courses are leisurely paced and chef-owner Roland…

  • Italian Homemade

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    You'd be hard-pressed to find pasta fresher than this – cooks roll out sheets of dough right in the window. The formula is simple: pick your pasta, add a…

  • Poki Time

    San Francisco

    For fresh, wallet-friendly meals, it's always Poki Time. Order a bowlful of kale or brown rice, plus your choice of marinated sushi-grade fish (the house…

  • El Techo

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Savor Latin street food six floors above Mission St, with views over cinema marquees, palm trees and bodegas all the way downtown. Sunny brunches call for…

  • Tosca Cafe

    North Beach & Chinatown

    After this historic North Beach speakeasy was nearly evicted, devotees like Robert DeNiro and Johnny Depp rallied – now chef-owner April Bloomfield's in…

  • Udupi Palace

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Tandoori in the Tenderloin is for novices – SF foodies queue for the bright, clean flavors of Udupi's South Indian dosas (light, crispy lentil-flour…

  • Ristorante Ideale

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Other North Beach restaurants fake Italian accents, but this trattoria has Italians in the kitchen, on the floor and at the table. Roman chef-owner…

  • Halu

    San Francisco

    Nibbling creative yakitori (skewers) at this snug six-table joint plastered with Beatles memorabilia is like dining aboard the Yellow Submarine. Twin…

  • Warming Hut

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    At the Warming Hut, wet-suited windsurfers and Crissy Field kite fliers recharge with fair-trade coffee, organic pastries and hot sandwiches while…

  • Orson's Belly

    San Francisco

    The fastest way to a San Franciscan's heart is through Orson's Belly, where Coastal Trail–blazers devour Turkish breakfasts of feta, organic eggs and…

  • Manna

    San Francisco

    As Korean grandmothers and other Sunset District dwellers will tell you, nothing cures fog chills like home-style Korean cooking. Manna's kalbi (barbecue…

  • Hunan's Home

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Find something for everyone at this bustling Chinatown joint with a vast, crowd-pleasing menu – choose anything with Hunan-style vinegary-savory sauce or…

  • Tortas Los Picudos

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Mexico City’s signature street food gets re­invented to satisfy famished Potrero del Sol skateboarders. These sandwiches are stuffed with farm-fresh…

  • Leopold's

    San Francisco

    Polk St was once better known as Polkstrasse by German immigrants and Leopold's pays homage to neighborhood heritage with lip-schmacking Austrian-German…

  • Cassava

    San Francisco

    Early risers and park joggers are rewarded with SF-roasted Ritual coffee and Cassava's housemade, multilingual breakfasts – choose from a Japanese…

  • Bar Crudo

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    An international idea that's pure California: choice seafood served raw in the Italian style, with pan-Asian condiments and East–West beers. Start with…

  • Blue Barn Gourmet

    The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers

    Toss aside ordinary salads. For $13.95, build a mighty mound of organic produce, topped with six fixings, including artisan cheeses, caramelized onions,…

  • Magnolia Brewery

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Organic pub grub and home-brew samplers keep conversation flowing at communal tables, while grass-fed burgers satisfy stoner appetites in booths – it's…

  • Mama's

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Generations of North Beachers have entrusted the most important meal of the day to Mama and Papa Sanchez, whose sunny Victorian storefront diner has…

  • Iza Ramen

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Bay Area chef Ritsu Tsuchida caters to San Francisco's picky eaters with vegetarian miso ramen and tsukemen (noodles for dipping, not soaking in soup)…

  • Dinosaurs

    San Francisco

    Monster banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) stomp hunger with your choice of beef, lemongrass chicken, portobello, or pork with pâté on crusty French bread…

  • Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza & Slice House

    North Beach & Chinatown

    Fuggedaboudit, New York pizza loyalists: in San Francisco, you can grab a cheesy, thin-crust slice from nine-time world-champion pizza-slinger Tony…

  • Union Larder

    San Francisco

    For wine with a side of food and people-watching, Union Larder sets the scene with backlit wine bottles rising to the ceiling and vaulted windows…

  • Mission Chinese

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Mission barflies and globetrotting gourmands find common ground at Danny Bowien's cult-food dive. Kung pao pastrami burritos, lamb dumplings with Greek…

  • Pretty Please Bakeshop

    San Francisco

    Since you asked nicely, pastry chef Alison Okabayashi will hand over your choice of all-American treats: mini apple pies, carrot cupcakes and sculpted…

  • 4505 Burgers & BBQ

    The Haight & Hayes Valley

    Sure, you could get the Cobb salad, but go the whole hog for the smoked-rib plate – 4505 butchers its own humanely raised pork and grass-fed beef, so ribs…

  • El Tonayense Taco Truck

    The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill

    Entire Mission street-art movements have been fueled by El Tonayense tacos over the past 25 years. Burritos and quesadillas are generous to a fault, and…

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