Napa Valley
Locals crowd this tiny storefront bistro, beloved for its earthy Cal-Italian cooking: homemade pasta and risotto, crispy sole and soft polenta. Expect a…
Must-see restaurants in Northern California
North Coast & Redwoods
Head here for the best breakfast in these parts, ranging from a hearty bowl of organic black beans with avocado and poached egg to moist and delicious…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Bring your sweet tooth to Hookers, named in honor of generations of sweet and salty Tenderloin sex workers. Get lemon blueberry bread pudding and an…
North Coast & Redwoods
Creamy and wonderful flavors inspired by organic seasonal ingredients. Try the vanilla almond rose. Check out the carousel-style rocking 'rabbit' and…
Gold Country
A lovely deli-style place dishing up well-cooked farm-fresh food with a Mediterranean feel, alongside homespun fare such as duck confit raviolo. It…
Russian River Area
Underwood draws accolades for Mediterranean-style small plates and Californian bistro cooking, and bon vivants fill the hoppin' bar. This is a great place…
San Joaquin Valley
The bright, crisply designed on-site restaurant of Wine & Roses draws on locally sourced ingredients in an elegant preparation. There's often live jazz in…
Napa
Housemade salumi (cured meat) and pastas, and wood-fired Naples-style pizzas are the stars at always-busy Oenotri, which draws crowds for daily-changing,…
Napa Valley
An enormous open-truss barn with big leather booths and rocking-chair porch, Farmstead draws an all-ages crowd and farms many of its own ingredients –…
Oakland
This impeccably hip spot does steaming bowls of ramen – ranging from green garlic beef shoyu broth to a vegetarian bowl – as well as rice dishes, served…
Katy’s Smokehouse & Fishmarket
North Coast & Redwoods
Makes its own chemical-free and amazingly delicious smoked and canned fish, using line-caught, sushi-grade seafood; the tuna has been voted number one in…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Long-standing mom-and-pop deli where the service couldn't be sweeter and the sandwiches still cost under $7. It's perfect for picnic supplies, and the…
Russian River Area
At Santa Rosa's culinary vanguard, this casual market-driven restaurant makes its own bagels, cheese and charcuterie meats. The diverse tapas-like small…
Napa
This long-running favorite roadhouse serves modern-Italian pastas, crispy pizzas and wood-roasted meats. Weekends get packed – and loud. Request a…
San Francisco
Buttery, flaky Argentine empanadas (pastry pockets) with decadent, savory fillings. To find where your empanada is right now, follow El Sur's vintage 1970…
Napa Valley
Celeb-chef Richard Reddington's casual Italian trattoria serves outstanding homemade pastas, salumi and tender-to-the-tooth pizzas from a wood-fired oven.
Coastal Highway 1
Part of the Sacred Rock Resort, sweet, little Bridget Dolan’s serves straight-forward cookin’ like pot pies, grilled cheese melts and bangers and mash.
San Francisco
Ingenious: with a built-in rotisserie, this truck turns out perfectly roasted free-range chicken and organic potatoes with lavender and sea salt.
Napa Valley
Bouchon makes as-good-as-in-Paris French pastries and strong coffee. There's always a line and rarely a seat: get it to go.
North Coast & Redwoods
Tops for vegetarians, this tiny storefront serves fab frittatas, pancakes and curries, and big crunchy salads.
San Francisco
Top-notch dim sum on the run: baked buns and clamshell bao (steamed buns) with gourmet fillings.
Northern Mountains
It's not often you can eat in an architecturally unique venue, but the Wigwam Room is just such a place. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of the…
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…
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…
Oakland
Mac 'n' cheese, the ultimate in American comfort food, gets a long-overdue ovation at this quirky restaurant with a primary-school theme. A menu of…
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…
Oakland
Wood Tavern's side venture steals the show with its gobstopping meatball and pork-belly sandwiches. This busy storefront eatery has only a few tightly…
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…
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…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
What do you get when you cross a croissant with a muffin? Hint: it's not a muffant. It's a cruffin, people! In late 2014, this tiny Tenderloin bakery…
Coastal Highway 1
Located just north of Salt Point State Park, this may be the oldest continuously family-run business west of the Mississippi (it opened in 1868). New…
The Peninsula
The crowds are always overflowing out the door at this kitsch, old-fashioned seafood shack by Pillar Point Harbor. Broiled rock cod, San Francisco-style…
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…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Would you like a side of humanitarianism with that lamb shank? Brave the Tenderloin and check out San Francisco's only Sudanese restaurant, owned and…
The Peninsula
You’ll rub shoulders with fancy-pants foodies, spandex-swathed cyclists and dusty cowboys at this casual, surprisingly unpretentious fourth-generation…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
To do in San Francisco: see Golden Gate Bridge; ride cablecar; develop opinion on Red Hawk, the distinctively stinky, washed-rind cheese that put Cowgirl…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
Most Thai eateries stick to familiar favorites, but Lers Ros imports regional Thai cooking with bold spicing and wild ingredients – house specialties…
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…
Yosemite National Park
Occupying the space of the former Degnan's Deli, off Village Dr, this thoroughly updated version mixes contemporary decor with deli-style sandwiches, a…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
What began as a catering business out of a VW Westfalia graduated into this beloved cafe and Belgian-Californian bakery, now set in a bright, industrial…
