Restaurants in San Francisco
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A
Escape from New York Pizza
The Haight’s obligatory mid-bender stop for a hot slice. Pesto with roasted garlic and potato will send you blissfully off to carbo-loaded sleep, but the sundried tomato with goat cheese, artichoke hearts and spinach will recharge you to go another round.
reviewed
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B
Swan Oyster Depot
Superior flavor without the superior attitude of most seafood restaurants. The downside is an inevitable wait for the few counter seats, but the upside of the high turnover is unbelievably fresh seafood. On sunny days, place an order to go, browse Polk St boutiques, then breeze past the line to pick up your crab salad with Louie dressing and the obligatory top-grade oysters with mignonette (wine/shallot) sauce. Hike or take a bus up to Sterling Park for superlative seafood with ocean views.
reviewed
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C
Chef Jia's
All three of the sauces on the menu here make nostrils flare in eager anticipation: spicy black bean sauce, tangy brown vinegar sauce, and savory-salty oyster sauce. Mix and match your choice with standbys of chicken, pork, and squid and/or green beans, eggplant, or yams. Dishes are generous to the point of embarrassing, but don't neglect the sublime onion cakes with peanut sauce.
reviewed
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D
Dottie’s True Blue Café
Consider yourself lucky if you stand in line less than an hour and get hit up for change only once – but fresh baked goods come to those who wait at Dottie’s. Cinnamon pancakes, grilled cornbread, scrambles with whiskey fennel sausage and anything else off the griddle are tried and true blue.
reviewed
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E
House of Nanking
Meekly suggest seafood, nothing deep-fried, perhaps some poultry - and your server nods, snatches the menu, and returns within minutes with meltaway scallops, minced squab lettuce cups and a tea ball that blossoms in water. Come prepared to wait, and bearing cash.
reviewed
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F
Fleur de Lys
Long before celebrity chef Hubert Keller took his show on the road to Vegas and Top Chef Masters, this was the ultimate over-the-top SF destination. There’s nothing subtle about the swanky sultan’s tent interiors, but it’s oddly suited to princely repasts involving gnocchi graced with chanterelles and hazelnut-encrusted scallops and halibut crowned with rhubarb coulis and truffle, and a king’s ransom of foie gras on every other dish. Prix-fixe options for omnivores begin at $70 for three courses, while vegetarians are entitled to a five-course feast for a surprisingly reasonable $68.
reviewed
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G
La Mar Cebicheriá
Business lunches here could lead to some very untoward office behavior: the key ingredient in these collaged plates of Peruvian cebiche is leche de tigre, the ‘milk of the tiger, ’ a marinade of lime, chili and brine that ‘cooks’ the fish without a fire, and is said to have aphrodisiac properties. Sunny days are prime for seats by the bay and a plate of pristine, spicy cebiche classico of California halibut, habañero, Peruvian corn and yam – or go with the Pacific Rim flair of cebiche chifa, with peanuts, daikon, ginger and mango.
reviewed
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H
Millennium
If all vegan food could be this satisfying and opulent, there could be cattle roaming the streets of SF and no one would give them a second glance. Seasonal first courses include grilled semolina flatbread topped with caramelized onions, wilted spinach and a flourish of almond romesco, followed by a peppery pastry roulade that opens with a fork’s touch to reveal a creamy center of golden potatoes and smoky achiote (chili) chard, and a saffron-scented rice pudding with mango sorbet. Book ahead for aphrodisiac dinners and vegetarian Thanksgiving.
reviewed
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I
Lefty O’Doul’s
Wood paneling and lamp-warmed roast beef welcome you to Lefty's, a dimly lit family spot that seems largely unchanged since the 1950s. It's campy, crowded with tourists and at the lower rung of San Francisco's culinary ladder, but for old world atmosphere and a shot-and-a-beer break from the swish department stores of Union Square, it's hard to beat.
Join the crusty old timers in a toast to Francis Joseph 'Lefty' O'Doul, the former San Francisco Seal for whom the joint is named.
reviewed
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J
Gelateria Naia
Chinatown and North Beach cross-pollinate with creamy concoctions that improve on the ordinary, elevating the usual Chinese green tea or Italian pistachio ice cream options to a decadent choice of Kyoto maccha tea or locally roasted California pistachio gelato. Local, seasonal flavors and constant experimentation introduce entirely new sorbet and gelato obsessions with flavors ranging from white peach to black sesame.
reviewed
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K
La Palma Mexica-Tessen
Follow the hand-slapping sound of tortilla-making in progress to La Palma, and hit the take-out counter for still-hot tortillas, handmade tamales, hunks of carnitas (slow-roasted pulled pork) by the pound, queso fresco (Mexican cheese) and La Palma’s own tangy tomatillo sauce. Now all you need is a small army to finish off that meal you’ve assembled…
reviewed
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L
Park Chow
Cozy up by the fireplace downstairs or the patio heat lamps upstairs, and shake that fog-belt chill with reliable, California comfort food like mild curry Smiling Noodles, stalwart spaghetti with meatballs, and caramel gingerbread with pumpkin ice cream. This is one of the most kid-friendly and pet-positive restaurants in the city, with booster seats and water bowls by the door.
reviewed
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M
Boulevard
The 1889 Belle Epoque styling of the quake-surviving Audiffred Building is a fitting locale for Boulevard, which remains one of San Francisco’s most consistently creative and widely respected restaurants. Chef Nancy Oakes has a light, easy touch with juicy pork chops, enough local soft-shell crab to satisfy a sailor, and chocolate ganache cake with housemade bourbon ice cream.
reviewed
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N
Lovejoy’s Tea Room
All the chintz you’d expect from an English tea room, but with a San Francisco point of view: art curators talk video-installation art over Lapsang souchong, scones and clotted cream, while dual dads take their daughters and dolls out for the ‘wee tea’ of tiny sandwiches, a petit four and hot chocolate.
reviewed
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O
Rainbow Grocery
The legendary cooperative attracts masses to buy eco/organic/fair-trade products in bulk, drool over the bounty of local cheeses, and flirt in the hemp-based skincare aisle. To have your questions about where to find what in the Byzantine bulk section answered, ask a fellow shopper – staff can be elusive.
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P
Axum Cafe
When you’ve got a hot date with a vegan, the hunger of an athlete, and/or the salary of an activist, Axum’s vegetarian platter for two with spongy injera bread is your saving grace. Dig in with your bare hands, and try not to hog the lip-tingling red lentils and mellow yellow chick peas.
reviewed
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Q
Yuet Lee
With a radioactive green paint job and merciless fluorescent lighting, this so-hideous-it’s-cool seafood diner isn’t for first dates, but for drinking buddies and committed couples who have nothing to hide and are willing to share outstanding batter-dipped salt-and-pepper calamari and tender roast duck.
reviewed
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R
Red's Java House
All the cheap diner classics you'd expect from a waterfront shack that's been dishing out hearty fare to dockworkers and the terminally hung-over since 1812: restorative greasy-spoon breakfasts, double cheeseburgers, chili cheese fries, even a deli Reuben on rye a New Yorker wouldn't refuse.
reviewed
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S
Pancho Villa
The hero of the downtrodden and burrito-deprived, delivering a worthy condiments bar and tinfoil-wrapped meals the girth of your forearm. The line moves fast going in, and as you leave, the door is held open for you and your newly acquired Pancho’s paunch.
reviewed
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T
La Taquería
No debatable tofu, saffron rice, spinach tortilla or mango salsa here: just classic tomatillo or mesquite salsa, marinated, grilled meats and flavorful beans inside a flour tortilla - optional housemade spicy pickles and sour cream are highly recommended.
reviewed
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U
Underdog
For $4 to $5 organic meals on the run in a bun, Underdog is the clear winner. The roasted garlic and Italian pork sausages are USDA certified–organic, and the smoky veggie chipotle hot dog could make dedicated carnivores into fans of fake meat.
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Pier 39
With the notable exception of sea lions gleefully belching after fish dinners at Pier 39, most piers are packed with landlubbers attempting to digest sourdough-bread bowls of gloppy clam chowder (don't bother: it can't be done).
reviewed
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W
El Tonayense Taco Truck
The best meal on wheels in SF. Burritos and quesadillas are generous to a fault, but the $2 tacos are an easy gourmet meal on the go – especially the al pastor (marinated roast pork) and lengua (beef tongue).
reviewed
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X
Home
There's no place like it, especially if you enjoy comfort food - mac 'n' cheese, roast chicken, pot roast - served fireside, with a gaggle of gym-fresh men and $4 Homegirls (aka Cosmo plus Champagne) during the 4pm to 7pm happy hour.
reviewed
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Y
Rosamunde Sausage Grill
Impress a dinner date for $10: load up classic Brats or fig-duck links with complimentary roasted peppers, grilled onions, wholegrain mustard and mango chutney, washed down with one of 50-plus microbrews at Toronado.
reviewed
