Best restaurants in San Francisco

Just around the corner from restaurant siblings the Progress and State Bird Provisions is Anchovy Bar, where the anchovies of the world get ample time onstage. And during our local anchovy season, which runs roughly from April to October each year, the restaurant brings in the fresh catch, devoting hours of labor to cleaning each anchovy. Whether local or imported from Spain, each preparation highlights the individuality of a fish so often used as a seasoning in bigger dishes. They might be pickled and curled over coconut sambal, tucked into nests of fried onion and quail eggs ($22), or perched atop the ultimate deviled egg ($9).

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-796-2710

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After creating a phenomenal takeout and delivery menu that allowed diners to (sort of) replicate the experience of dining at Atelier Crenn at home, the Michelin-starred restaurant has now returned to the joyful narrative culinary style it was known for in the Before Times. Diners can now enjoy a 14-course pescatarian tasting menu ($365) that Crenn has put together using produce from the restaurant’s farm in Sonoma as well as other local purveyors of sustainable ingredients. Here, you’ll find a delicate tart with koji rice cream and sturgeon caviar; spot prawn essence condensed into a shockingly muscular shot of broth; and clever desserts by pastry chef Juan Contreras.

Also featured on the Top Splurge Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-440-0460

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The tasting menu ($288) at San Francisco’s Avery is one of the hidden gems of the city’s dining scene. At this minuscule restaurant on Fillmore Street, chef and owner Rodney Wages and his skeleton crew serve exquisite and imaginative haute cuisine: tortellini as delicate as cats’ ears; Harbison cheese tarts; and miniature Toaster Strudels with lingonberries. Japanese culinary touches manifest subtly, as tempura-fried nettle leaves, a takoyaki-like oyster “aebleskiver,” and silken chawanmushi with umami-rich abalone. While sake is a particular focus of the beverage program, the nonalcoholic drink pairing is full of surprises, like a drink of fermented pineapple with sauerkraut essence that goes great with cured Iberico ham.

Also featured on the Top Splurge Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-817-1187

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Top 25 Restaurants

Top 25 Wineries

Top Chinese Restaurants

Samir Mogannam’s debut restaurant Beit Rima, an ode to his Palestinian heritage, was one of 2019’s most compelling openings; since the pandemic, his team has been hustling, offering shakshuka meal kits, building a humongous patio on Church Street and packaging food for takeout and delivery. The format at Beit Rima has stayed consistent throughout, with a very al fresco-friendly emphasis on mezze like the luxurious fava bean ful ($9) and hummus topped with smoky spiced beef ($12). The large plates, like the glorious whole fried branzino with tahini, are great for sharing, too. There's also a location in Cole Valley.

Also featured on the Top Middle Eastern Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-703-0270

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For a glimpse of the sublime, go to Benu. Precision seems to be the reigning virtue of this kitchen, manifesting as a rainbow of vegetables sequestered inside fingerprint-size mussels, tendrils of carefully sliced tofu floating in a clear broth and delicate morsels of jellyfish-wrapped prawns. While modern in presentation, the cuisine here nevertheless relies on old-style techniques, like fermentation in Korean earthenware and the Hunanese tradition of curing century eggs. Opened in 2010 by fine dining veteran Corey Lee, the restaurant earned three Michelin stars in 2014 — a first for a San Francisco establishment. The eight-course tasting menu ($375, plus 20% gratuity) can accommodate a variety of dietary needs.

Also featured on the Top Splurge Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-685-4860

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You’ll find loaves of spongy, yet chewy milk bread, buns filled with coconut-pandan kaya cream and Korean cheesy cornbread stuffed with eggs at this bakery, a San Francisco take on Chinese and Filipino pastry traditions. Opened by Atelier Crenn alums Katherine Campecino-Wong, Clement Hsu and James Wong in 2018, Breadbelly is known for its indulgent seasonal Viennoiserie and Mt. Tam cheesecakes ($13), but the strong and seasonal savory menu, led by Wong, is nothing to scoff at, either. During blustery seasons, the bakery serves hot mushroom broth infused with the roasty flavors of barley and filled with noodle-like enoki mushrooms and bok choy. Another dreamy option is a sandwich made with creamy egg salad ($14.50) and a crisp tempura of shredded vegetables, stuffed into a squishy milk bread bun.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants and Top Bakeries lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Soft drinks

Hours: Breakfast and lunch Thursday-Monday

Phone: 415-349-0969

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Californios adds a distinctly Latin American set of flavors to the local fine dining scene. Chef and owner Val Cantu turns seasonal produce and heirloom corn varietals into refined but cozily familiar dishes like stone fruit ceviche and chile-spiced squab tacos. That approach makes Cantu’s lengthy, multicourse menu ($287-$307) one of the most unique fine dining splurges you can find on this side of the border. The modern, darkly painted space, designed by co-owner Carolyn Cantu, sparks contemplation as you soak it all in. Beverage pairings ($197), smartly chosen by sommelier-owner Charlotte Randolph, elevate the meals.

Also featured on the Top Splurge Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-757-0994

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Sure, Capital's crisp salt-and-pepper chicken wings ($11.95), fried with thin slices of jalapeño, should be on every San Franciscan's bucket list. (Note: They make for a very welcome potluck item.) But the menu's broad selection of Cantonese specialties, overlooked by many, is worth highlighting. One of the most memorable is the egg tofu with spicy ground pork ($12.95). In this dish, thick rounds of smooth and soft egg tofu are deep-fried and topped with saucy pork and chopped bell peppers.

Also featured on the Top Chinese Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Soft drinks

Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-397-6269

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The Che Fico team spins farmers’ market produce into gorgeous renditions of rustic Italian and Roman-Jewish cuisine. The menu of antipasti, including house-cured bresaola ($24) and gooey figs ($24) matched with 15-year balsamic vinegar and gorgonzola dolce, is especially appealing. Also try the startlingly original pizzas ($30), their edges so puffed they look like giant Werther’s caramels. The space is a visual feast as well. The converted body shop looks peacefully post-apocalyptic, with lush green vines trailing over the wooden beams of the ceiling. Since the pandemic, the restaurant has adopted a more equitable business model to ensure a better working environment for its staff, and the vibe in the dining room is palpably lighter. The food has become much stronger as well.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-416-6959

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After Lindsay and Michael Tusk earned three Michelin stars with their Jackson Square fine dining restaurant, Quince, they opened Cotogna next door. The restaurant’s stately brick walls and blazing wood-fired oven give the impression of an old-style tavern, though the cuisine is anything but old-school. In addition to a full a la carte menu, the restaurant has prix fixe menus for times when your party just wants to feast. Selections include sensational seasonal centerpiece plates like smoky, hearth-cooked Watson Farm lamb ($135) and whole roasted duck with plum mostarda ($130), served with sides like zucchini fritters, grilled shelling beans and arugula salad with whipped ricotta.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants, Top Italian Restaurants and Top Outdoor Dining lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-775-8508

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The ultimate Korean comfort food, kalbijjim ($56) is a belly-warming beef short rib braise that is made for chilly, lonesome nights. Daeho has mastered the homestyle dish, enhancing it with refreshing add-ons like gooey rice cakes, tender carrots and daikon radish, a mountain of shredded cheese, and a spice level that ranges from mild to tear-jerking. Alternating bites of rich, soy sauce- and sugar-braised beef with the restaurant's sharp napa cabbage kimchi is the best way to experience the food. The Japantown restaurant (which also has locations in Milpitas, San Mateo and H Mart in San Francisco) regularly hosts long lines of beef lovers, but grabbing takeout from here is a straightforward and speedy endeavor. Also worth trying is the seolleongtang ($14), a fortified ox marrow bone soup that you season to your taste with salt and pepper.

Also featured on the Top Korean Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and soju

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Phone: 415-563-1388

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The lush patio and indoor dining room are now open at this Lower Nob Hill pizzeria known for its chewy and blistered Neapolitan pizza crusts. Toppings are spare, so as to not overburden the pies, but maximize flavor nonetheless. The potato ($20) is topped with creamy rounds of Yukon Gold potatoes and sharp-tasting slivers of red onion; a sprinkle of rosemary wakes up the taste buds with its piney aroma. Antipasti like garlicky, yogurt-marinated cucumbers and hakurei turnips ($14) will round out your meal, and a specialty list of biodynamic wines will please any natural wine geek. The restaurant is also selling frozen pies ($78 for six) that were already pre-baked in the restaurant's centerpiece wood-fired oven. In less than 10 minutes, you'll be able to have a fresh-baked Del Popolo pizza at home, complete with the char and chew you know and love.

Also featured on the Top Italian Restaurants and Top Pizza Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-589-7940

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Foreign Cinema's dining room and magical patio, where countless patrons have noshed on brandade and oysters while watching Nicolas Cage thrash around on a projector screen, is open again, outfitted with plenty of heaters to make those sunset 35mm movie screenings perfectly comfortable. Over the past two decades, chef-owner Gayle Pirie and owner John Pirie have made their restaurant a mainstay of California cuisine, with a menu that constantly straddles the line between old-school and new. Here, beef carpaccio ($18) is pounded flat by hand, in the old Italian style, but served with Chinese garlic chives and Maui Waui waffle potato chips. And do not miss the expansive selection of oysters from around the continent, which you can also have on a grand seafood platter arrayed with cold poached lobster and prawns ($75). It sure beats popcorn.

Also featured on the Top Brunch Restaurants and Top Outdoor Dining lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Brunch and dinner Saturday-Sunday, dinner only Monday-Friday

Phone: 415-648-7600

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For a long time, Sharon Ardiana has kept things old school with Gialina, her family-friendly neighborhood pizzeria just steps away from the Glen Park BART station. Her menu of about a dozen thin crust pizzas ranges from a classic, by the books margherita ($16) to limited seasonal offerings like a pie with juicy local asparagus ($24) paired with ricotta, smoked bacon and preserved lemon. Add an organic egg ($2.50) to any pie to give yourself an extra jammy, gooey present. As a bonus, any pie can be made gluten-free for a $4 upcharge.

Also featured on the Top Italian Restaurants and Top Pizza Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner daily

Phone: 415-239-8500

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Yes, there's always a line here, and yes, you might get yelled at for taking too long to order, but we all deal with this for good reason. Good Mong Kok Bakery has the best takeaway dim sum in Chinatown; that said, few of the sit-down places can really compete, either. Come here to get your plump siu mai ($3), long ropes of steamed rice rolls ($2.75), softball-size char siu bao ($1.40), and har gow stuffed with big pieces of shrimp ($3). The bakery is very close to Portsmouth Square, which is a great place to eat your dim sum al fresco.

Also featured on the Top Dim Sum Restaurants and Top Chinatown Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: No beverages

Hours: Breakfast and lunch daily

Phone: 415-397-2688

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This classic vegetarian restaurant, which renovated after a kitchen fire in 2018, takes a multifaceted, global approach to the menu with dishes like an elote asado-like corn pizza with lots of chile peppers and feta ($23) and refreshing hummus plates ($14) flavored with green garlic and toasted pumpkin seeds. The relative quiet of Fort Mason has lent Greens a small advantage in the outdoor dining realm, though its proximity to lots of waterfront space means that grabbing food to go isn't so bad, either. Now that the dining room is open again, you can enjoy the restaurant’s incredible sunset views of the Marin Headlands during dinner.

Also featured on the Top Vegetarian Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-771-6222

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One exciting addition to North Beach's food scene is Hilda & Jesse, a former pop-up that opened in its own space on Washington Square in 2021. Founded by fine dining veterans Kristina Compton and Rachel Sillcocks, the restaurant is a fun aesthetic mishmash of chrome-accented diner chairs, gorgeous mural work and vintage mirrors. Compton leads the kitchen with an approach that's Californian with a little bit of Latvian influence. She finds room to improvise with the five-course Chef's Adventure menu ($85), served at dinner on Fridays and Mondays. You might find shredded celery root molded into tater tots, a cheeky take on avocado toast and delicately plated crudos. Of course, you've got to try her pancakes, an adorable tower of fluffy discs overflowing with a sauce of grilled strawberry and maple syrup.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Brunch Friday-Sunday, dinner Friday and Monday

Phone: 415-872-7023

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If you're looking to get the meat sweats, Hing Lung has got you covered. The shop's crisp-skinned and succulent Peking duck and roast pork represent old-school Cantonese barbecue at the top of its game. Each of the meats is great eaten on its own, though using them to enhance homemade fried rice and congee is the way to go if you've got leftovers. During the pandemic, the shop jumped onto the delivery apps under the name Go Duck Yourself, and is now offering rice plates with the roasted meats served alongside garlicky greens and jus. Even through third-party sites, the shop will customize your order to your specs. (Want only the fattiest pork? They can do that!)

Also featured on the Top Chinatown Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Soft drinks

Hours: Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-397-5521

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Intimacy is key to the appeal of this NoPa sushi restaurant, where each chef is responsible for just four people at a time. That means there’s hardly a wait for anything in the 12-course omakase menu ($147), in which masterful nigiri and maki are put together in a matter of seconds. It also leaves ample space for diners to ask them questions about the menu — like, what’s the difference between typical sea urchin roe and “nama uni”? What makes the bluefin tuna sustainable? Chef Geoffrey Lee’s menu is stripped-down and precise, with little adornment to get between you and the melt-in-your-mouth pieces of fish and seafood. Notably, the slightly sweet miso soup served at the finish line, intense with kelp flavor, is likely the best cup of soup you’ll ever have.

Also featured on the Top Sushi Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-655-9924

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Since 1972, Miguel Jara and his family have been producing high-quality burritos from their Mission District shop, which eschews the popular local style in favor of a denser, rice-free burrito. Order your burrito “dorado-style,” and the cooks will sear the exterior on the grill until the outer layer becomes crisp and golden-brown. While technically optional, a seared exterior — and the contrast it creates between the relatively wet filling and the flaky tortilla — is essential for maximum enjoyment. Meats are aggressively seasoned here, and you can’t go wrong with carne asada or carnitas. But my most frequent order at La Taqueria has to be the dorado-style vegetarian super burrito ($7.55), which includes toothsome whole pinto beans, three cheeses, avocado and sour cream.

Also featured on the Top Mexican Restaurants and Top Burrito Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer

Hours: Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-285-7117

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Once the hottest pop-up in town, this Mission District fine dining restaurant is known for its super-seasonal tasting menu ($275-295/person) and cozy lumberjack-chic vibes. Part of the restaurant's charm lies in how it plays with nostalgia. You might find that feeling in the opening shot of herbal tisane, served in a glass teapot that looks like something out of a fairytale; in tempura-fried soft shell crab dusted with the restaurant's own, localized blend of Old Bay-like spices; or in a mignardise plate's gummi bear, explosive with concentrated passionfruit flavor.

Also featured on the Top Splurge Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415- 874-9921

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Mister Jiu’s, led by chef and owner Brandon Jew and wife Anna Chet Jew-Lee, continues to impress with a menu of contemporary Chinatown cuisine. The high-ceilinged space has enviable hilltop views of Chinatown streets, while the angular lime green parklet in front of the restaurant reveals the restaurant’s flair for the dramatic. Jew’s take on the food of his youth integrates dishes like mapo tofu ($18) and shellfish with sweet and salty lap cheong with Californian seasonal produce, so you’ll see them with additions like hand-peeled fresh fava beans and green garlic.

Also featured on the Top Chinatown Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-857-9688

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For a guarantee of a great night out, go to the Morris, a neighborhood restaurant where the food, drinks and even the bathroom are top-tier. Chef Gavin Schmidt's menu works hand-in-hand with owner Paul Einbund’s novelette-size wine list, which features wines from local vineyards like Peay as well as numerous European bottles that he imports himself. Try Schmidt’s house-made charcuterie, charred broccoli with squids ($18) in a tangy chile-lime sauce, and spicy pork cracklings for sure, and always order the brilliant hickory-smoked duck ($75 for half). The restaurant's location, in a quiet pocket of the Mission District, grants its outdoor dining setup an uncommon tranquility, and the wooden parklet is one of the most romantic in the city. There are always new offerings in store through exciting collaborations with winemakers and purveyors like Cathy Corison, Five Dot Ranch and seafood specialist Stephanie Mutz.

Also featured on the Top Outdoor Dining list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-612-8480

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When it reopened its sophisticated dining room, Nari introduced a very generously portioned chef’s choice family-style menu ($115/person) in addition to its stellar a la carte options. Led by restaurateur Pim Techamuanvivit and chef de cuisine Meghan Clark, the menus change weekly with an eye toward whatever produce is in season: You might find mussels cooked in curry with charred stone fruits, cucumbers made up like papaya salad or glutinous rice dumplings flavored with strawberry essence. The star of the current menu is the miang pla ($42), a branzino that’s diced up and fried, its crisp pieces flavored with curls of lemongrass, ginger, whole peanuts and chile peppers.

Also featured on the Top Thai Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-868-6274

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In a corner space in San Francisco’s Richmond District, married couple Yoko and Clint Tan have worked tirelessly to bring their dream of top-quality ramen into reality. The noodles are the centerpiece of a fascinating tasting menu experience ($175) that walks the diner through the flavors of modern Japanese cuisine. You’ll find the noodles served in different forms depending on the type of soup (or lack thereof): as ebi shio, in a translucent salt-seasoned broth paired with spot prawns and meaty New Caledonian blue shrimp; or tossed with rich Wagyu beef fat in an indulgent take on abura soba. It’s been a long journey for the self-taught chefs, who made a name for themselves by hosting pop-ups on Feastly and even competing in a global ramen competition. This restaurant is a culmination of all that effort, and the Tans’ enthusiasm is palpable in every course.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants, Top Splurge Restaurants and Top Ramen Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer, wine and sake

Hours: Dinner Sunday-Wednesday

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This neighborhood restaurant has been offering the staples of northern Chinese cuisine for decades in the breezy Outer Sunset. This is the place to try Muslim Chinese cuisine, which is rarely seen in the Bay Area. Old Mandarin Islamic's mom-and-pop team, Feng Wang and husband Xuqun Yang, is known for tender handmade dumplings, cumin-scented lamb ribs ($27.95) and a phenomenal Beijing-style hot pot that fills the dining room with its piquant aroma.

Also featured on the Top Chinese Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Soft drinks

Hours: Lunch and dinner Wednesday and Friday-Monday; dinner only Tuesday and Thursday

Phone: 415-564-3481

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On the fancier end of the dim sum spectrum, Palette, with its amiable service and upscale ingredient highlights, is ideal for brunch blowouts. Dim sum classics have a little extra oomph here: Lobster substitutes shrimp in har gow, and simmered kabocha squash makes chicken feet more of a meal. Try the umami-packed abalone sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, its acorn-fed Iberico pork char siu, and pork belly that glistens with an aromatic shaoxing wine glaze. Palette's spacious patio, with stunning views of Fisherman's Wharf and the San Francisco Bay beyond, is an ideal setting for a lazy Sunday-morning meal.

Also featured on the Top Dim Sum Restaurants, Top Chinese Restaurants and Top Outdoor Dining lists

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Phone: 415-347-8888

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Pearl has remained consistent, serving its focused California-Mediterranean menu to anyone who wants to brave the Richmond District weather at its al fresco tables. The chilly, ocean-scented tendrils of fog pair well with the restaurant's cocktails, especially the Pearl Martini, mixed with Oakland Spirits Co.'s nori-infused sea gin. It's a good place to quaff a few cocktails and pick over snacks from chef Mel Lopez. Of note are the bitter roasted shishito peppers ($12) with romesco sauce or the halibut and strawberry crudo ($15), dressed with a puckery and briny nuoc cham vinaigrette. The budget-conscious will appreciate that the restaurant's heartier dishes, like the wood-fired pork chop festooned with sweet farmers' market nectarines and toasted hazelnuts, are all less than $30 apiece.

Also featured on the Top Italian Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-592-9777

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This brightly colored Mission District restaurant serves a vast array of wholesome Arab pastries, mezze dishes and flatbreads via takeout and delivery. Hearty pastries, like the triangular, spinach-filled fatayer sabanikh ($3.50), make an ideal breakfast with a cup of mint tea. But it's the mana'eesh ($6-$15), cooked on a dome-shape grill called a saj, that are the highlight of the menu. Thin, crisp and snackable, they're topped with ingredients like za'atar spices, creamy labneh and chicken marinated in tart sumac berry. Plus: $10 pay-it-forward meals allow diners to help subsidize the business' work feeding neighbors in need. Reem's also operates a kiosk in the Ferry Building.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants and Top Middle Eastern Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday, lunch only Sunday

Phone: 415-780-1953

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Owners Sarah and Evan Rich serve inventive Californian cooking in a cozy dining room and spacious parklet in bustling Hayes Valley. In the outdoor seating area, each table is secluded in its own nook. The $125 per person chef's choice menu, which is always a good call, brings you Rich Table classics like the savory aged beef dumplings and cacio e pepe pasta with sea urchin roe, as well as dishes made with whatever's in season at the moment. Otherwise, a great way to enjoy the restaurant is to sit at the bar and order all of the snacky items, like the fried sardine chips ($3.50 each), caviar plate ($38) and salads, and make your way through the cocktail list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-355-9085

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You can order a la carte at Rintaro, but the $75/person set menu is one of the best gourmet deals in San Francisco. It features owner Sylvan Mishima Brackett's Californian take on Japanese izakaya staples, like sashimi plates stacked with jewel-like pieces of locally caught fish and pickled wasabi leaves, smoky yakitori skewers and hand-rolled udon noodles made fresh every day. The enclosed, private courtyard is spacious and filled with plants, like the peppery sansho shrub, while the interior includes booths made from redwood wine casks and walls made of smoothed-down red clay.

Also featured on the Top Japanese Restaurants, Top Seafood Restaurants and Top Outdoor Dining lists

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-589-7022

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Since it opened in 2017, Rooh has continued to put forth a distinctly soigné vision for what Indian cuisine could be in this country where, as far as many customers are concerned, chicken tikka masala is king. That means potato tikki ($16) arranged in a bird’s nest of pakora-fried kale, dotted with mint and tamarind gel; and tender beef short ribs ($34) draped in a velvety curry, with kofta balls made with gelatinous beef marrow. Rooh’s outdoor dining setup is one of the best in the city, featuring a roomy courtyard and sidewalk seating, gas-powered heat lamps and branded fleece blankets that you can buy if you're really feeling the chill. Indoor seating in the high-ceilinged, clubby space is also available, though reservations are recommended if you feel strongly about either option.

Also featured on the Top South Asian Restaurants andTop Outdoor Dining lists

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner daily

Phone: 415-525-4174

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In the open kitchen of San Francisco’s Saison, bundles of herbs hang from ceiling-mounted racks and sparks fly as the cooks stoke the grand wood-fired grill. Around the dining room, mounted antelope and deer heads, seemingly frozen mid-bleat, preside over the scene. Saison’s hunting lodge-chic aesthetic and its pursuit of a more combustive take on California cuisine immediately distinguished it in cosmopolitan San Francisco when it opened in 2008, and the menu continues to impress under the leadership of chef de cuisine Richard Lee. The food here is showy, but just-so: caviar is unwrapped tableside from a pouch of kelp; tea is steeped with floral bouquets fit for a fairy’s wedding; and smoke-kissed duck hearts are theatrically skewered on twigs of pine. The full tasting menu is $328, while the abridged version is $228.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants andTop Splurge Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-828-7990

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Launched as a pandemic takeout operation, San Ho Won opened in the Mission District in November. Ferried by the promise of high-end grilled meats as well as the reputation of its owner, the chef behind Michelin-starred Benu, the restaurant has been one of the region’s tougher reservations to snag. Juicy beef tongue ($48), thick slabs of short rib galbi ($46) and whole Cornish hens ($36) are grilled over odorless lychee wood charcoal and served with best-in-class banchan and dipping sauces. A “house menu” ($94) of family-style dishes comes with a flurry of meats and smaller dishes, like a wobbly egg soufflé (gyeranjjim), which gets an oceanic overtone with seaweed sauce and anchovy broth.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants and Top Korean Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer, wine and soju

Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-868-4479

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Born of a desire to model a more sustainable way to enjoy sushi, this Mission District izakaya is a showcase of all the ways one can manipulate a vegetable. Chef team Kin Lui and Ray Wang ferment, pickle, sear and simmer produce to create a diverse menu of plant-based items to satisfy your sushi cravings. Here, nigiri is topped with pristine slices of poached tomato ($8) flavored with ginger and soy; ramen ($16) is topped with chewy and savory bean curd chashu; and California rolls ($9) get their heft from crab-like shredded tofu. Reservations are required for the dining room.

Also featured on the Top 25 Restaurants, Top Sushi Restaurants andTop Vegetarian Restaurants lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Dinner daily

Phone: 415-678-5767

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The debut restaurant of young sushi chef Ingi Son, the Shota is a jewel box of a sushi bar in San Francisco’s Financial District. Attentive service is the main attraction here: The chefs behind the counter are personable and chatty, eager to answer any questions you might have about the fish. The 15-course omakase ($295) leans heavily on classically prepared Edomae sushi, but there are some fun surprises mixed in, like an oceanic sea urchin pate and grilled mushrooms with crunchy toasted quinoa and black cod. Beverage pairings, by general manager Shar Guillermo, are presented in gorgeous and vibrantly colored artisan-made glassware.

Also featured on the Top Sushi Restaurants andTop Splurge Restaurants lists

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer, wine and sake

Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 628-224-2074

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The dishes on chef Alexander Hong's seven-course tasting menu ($165) sometimes hint at the Italian influence of his culinary training, with stunning and tender pasta always being a highlight. Filled pastas, like cappelletti tinted bright emerald green with wild nettle puree, are arranged on the plate like precious gems. The name of the restaurant, a reference to the wild sorrel that proliferates in the lawns and wooded trails of the Bay Area, captures its devotion to foraged products, like fiddleheads and kelp, as well as the very Californian embrace of everything seasonal.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Wine

Hours: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-525-3765

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Square Pie Guys' Detroit-style pie shop in SoMa had refined its takeout and delivery game before the pandemic, and with its popularity, has expanded to outposts in Oakland and Ghirardelli Square. The shop's quadrilateral pizzas, anchored in a thick and fluffy focaccia-like dough, are well-suited to hanging out in a cardboard box for a few minutes. Try the Plant Squares 2.0 ($23), a bountiful vegetarian pie that’ll silence any broccoli pizza doubters in your midst.

Also featured on the Top Pizza Restaurants list.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Phone: 415-872-9290

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Opened by couple Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza in 2012 — and now led by chef de cuisine Gaby Maeda — State Bird Provisions quickly became known for its uniquely flamboyant and well-seasoned take on Californian farm-to-table cuisine. Many dishes are styled through a Japanese lens, like ohitashi ($6) made of cooked farm greens and doused in Meyer lemon ponzu, or perhaps quail eggs ($9) marinated in soy sauce. Always try the petite sourdough pancakes ($14 for four), with a center of ricotta that bursts in the mouth. Service at the restaurant is modeled after Cantonese dim sum establishments, where dishes are pre-made and offered to diners on platters. You can now dine in cozy little cabanas outside of the Fillmore restaurant or inside its buzzy dining room.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Phone: 415-795-1272

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It's always worth sitting at the century-old marble counter of this Polk Gulch seafood haven to quietly take in the sounds of cracking crab claws and ripping sourdough bread. Run by the Sancimino family since 1946, the restaurant has a no-nonsense charm to its service style that is at once nostalgic and refreshing. Its fresh seafood dishes — sweet raw clams on the half shell ($14 for six), Sicilian sashimi ($35) draped in fruity olive oil and sprinkled with capers, and cracked Dungeness crabs ($24) — are among the choicest in the city.

Also featured on the Top Seafood Restaurants list.

Payment options: Cash only

Drinks: Beer and wine

Hours: Lunch Monday-Saturday

Phone: 415-673-1101

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For the vegan-curious, Wildseed is the perfect place to dip your toes in those waters. You'll want to eat family-style so you can try a variety of the restaurant's globally inspired and trend-conscious vegan dishes, like the impressive mezze platter ($19) with herby falafels and marinated non-dairy feta, and the over-the-top, texturally rich salads. The menu offers a compelling and delicious argument in favor of the plant-based diet, and it also helps that the servers are also happy to indulge your curiosity about the nuances of various vegan cheeses. Seating is now available on the parklet as well as indoors.

Also featured on the Top Vegetarian Restaurants and Top fries lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Phone: 415-872-7350

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At lunch, scale Zuni's shoestring potato mountain ($9), in addition to picking up its beloved hamburger ($20) made with Stemple Creek Ranch beef. House-cured anchovies in olive oil are a fun and off-the-beaten-path snack, especially when accompanied by a set of celery, Parmigiano Reggiano and Coquillo olives ($16). The menu changes often according to what’s available, so expect nourishing soups with tender greens ($12) in the springtime and juicy warmed figs with goat cheese ($16) in the fall.

Also featured on the Top Burgers and Top fries lists.

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Drinks: Full bar

Hours: Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Phone: 415-552-2522

Website

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Originally published on Jan. 3, 2023

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