San Francisco is without a doubt one of the top cities in the world for food. You can’t go wrong here, whether you’re a Michelin star connoisseur or just looking for great affordable food. San Francisco’s greatest restaurants range from modern and inventive to traditional and cosy. From The Mission to Chinatown, the city has a plethora of fantastic food options crammed into just 7 square miles.
It can be difficult to decide where to eat in San Francisco. But we’re here to help, with our recommendations for the city’s greatest restaurants. These establishments are innovative, new, dependable, and most importantly, unforgettable. The menus make use of California’s natural riches as well as traditional culinary methods. Thai cuisine, substantial vegetarian meals, American classics, gourmet dining, Mexican comfort food, Instagram-worthy dim sum, and more can all be found here.
It can be difficult to decide where to eat in San Francisco. But we’re here to help, with our recommendations for the city’s greatest restaurants. These establishments are innovative, new, dependable, and most importantly, unforgettable. The menus make use of California’s natural riches as well as traditional culinary methods. Thai cuisine, substantial vegetarian meals, American classics, gourmet dining, Mexican comfort food, Instagram-worthy dim sum, and more can all be found here.
Make your appointments for these best San Francisco restaurants immediately, and you’ll be in for a delicious meal. After you’ve conquered the dining scene, you’ll be ready to tackle our list of the Top 10 Restaurant In San Francisco.
1: ONE65
ONE65, a six-story French dining destination a block from Union Square, with a patisserie and café, bistro, bar and lounge, fine dining restaurant, and private dining room. Each floor offers a unique and enticing experience. The ground floor serves as an all-day cafe, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as homemade chocolates, excellent pastries, and ice cream. The fine-dining restaurant’s luxurious nine-course prix fixe menu ($250) includes three outstanding caviar compositions, while the bistro has a lengthy chef’s counter where customers can see most of the dishes created “a la minute.”
2: Liholiho Yacht Club
From the bright yellow open kitchen to the “Aloha” spelt out in blue tile underfoot, Liholiho brings a cheery dose of Hawaii to fog-shrouded San Francisco. Small, medium, and large plates are available on the menu, all of which are meant to be shared. Tuna poke on nori crackers, scallops with misoyaki pork belly, walnuts, squash, and grapes, and kimchi fried rice with smoked egg yolk, house-made spam, and clamshell mushrooms are just a few of the dishes on the menu. Save room for the Baked Hawaii, a light and airy take on the classic Baked Alaska with caramelised pineapple ice cream and vanilla chiffon.
3: Nari
Chef Pim Techamuanvivit’s most recent restaurant is Nari. The restaurant is headed by largely women, including chef de cuisine Meghan Clark and bar director Megan Daniel Hoang, and is a touch more refined in both decor and cuisine than her former place, Kin Khao. Chefs at this contemporary Thai restaurant substitute locally grown seasonal ingredients for traditional Thai ingredients while maintaining classic flavour qualities. Rich curries with lamb, eggplant, pork belly, and Cornish game hen are among the large format items suitable for sharing on the menu.
4: Acquerello
Although Acquerello is one of the oldest eateries on this list, it is far from stale. The Italian classic stays fresh by displaying promising new chefs alongside master chef-partner Suzette Gresham’s skills. Diners can enjoy a prix fixe ($115 for three courses, $135 for four, $150 for five) or seasonal tasting menu ($225) featuring delicacies like the sumptuous Dungeness crab risotto with asparagus, cured egg yolk, and oxalis in one of the city’s most Old World sophisticated dining rooms. Acquarello, a two-star Michelin restaurant, is not just a location to celebrate, but its cuisine is a celebration in and of itself.
5: Campton Place
Chef Srijith Gopinathan develops Cal-Indian food by combining traditional Indian spices with ingredients from the farmer’s market. Since 2011, he has been awarded at least one Michelin star for his innovative, high-end take on Southern Indian cuisine. Maine lobster in a curry broth, duck breast with rhubarb and basil, and slow-cooked lamb served over basmati rice, snap peas, and cumin-lime yoghurt are among the items on the Spice Route prix fixe menu ($167). (In a genuine tandoori oven, the lamb and game bird meals are prepared.) Check out the weekend brunch service for a more reasonable yet still luxurious experience.
6: Angler San Francisco
This waterfront restaurant by chef Joshua Skenes of Saison fame, located on the Embarcadero, celebrates the flavour of the sea with a raw bar and specialities such as Monterey abalone, huge octopus, and scorpion fish cooked over an open wood bonfire. Angler’s earthy delights, such as smokey, luscious cordycep mushrooms, the famous radicchio salad with vegetarian XO sauce, and hot fried quail, should come as no surprise given the walls covered in taxidermied animals.
7: Aziza
It’s come back! Aziza has reopened after a long hiatus, this time as a more neighborhood-focused contemporary California restaurant with Moroccan elements. Classic Moroccan delicacies like basteeya, beef tagine, and hand-rolled couscous with aged butter are still available, as are exciting new dishes like cured saltwater fish with citrus, avocado, and marash pepper. With blue-green tiling, a gleaming new bar is stunning. If you want a calmer experience, ask to be seated in the quaint back room, which is adjacent to the main dining area.
8: El Buen Comer
In a bright, relaxed setting, this Bernal Heights cafe serves traditional Chilango food from Mexico-born chef Isabel Caudillo. Housemade tortillas, beans, and rice accompany a rotating menu of guisados, which include slow-cooked stews such tinga (pulled chicken stewed in tomato, onion, and chipotle) and albondigas, as well as a range of mole recipes. Chicharron with salsa verde, rajas con crema, and papas con chorizo are served on tacos, sopes, and tostadas. Irresistible chilaquiles covered in red or green sauce are served for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.
9: Benu
At this three-Michelin-starred restaurant, dried fruit, flowers, and herbs hang from the ceiling, and the kitchen is visible through clean glass. Corey Lee, a James Beard Award winner and former head chef at French Laundry, created the French-meets-Asian cuisine. A thousand-year-old quail egg, lobster coral soup dumplings, and abalone-stuffed chicken wings are among the items on the nightly tasting menu, which focuses on seafood and vegetables. More than 300 bottles of wine are available on the wine list.
10: Cala
Gabriela Cámara, a renowned Mexican chef, chose San Francisco to open her seafood-focused wunderkind, Cala. In an elegant warehouse facility in Hayes Valley, Cala serves refined coastal delicacies like fish tostadas with chipotle, avocado, and fried leeks and mussels over toast with carnitas and shaved egg. Sangria Aneja (anejo, jamaica syrup, and fresh citrus) is a delicious Latin American-inspired beverage that goes perfectly with the cuisine. If you’re looking for a quick bite, head to the back of the restaurant, where the semi-secret Tacos Cala serves CDMX-style guisado tacos just for lunch in a tiny, standing-room-only taqueria.