San Francisco's 20 Most Iconic Dining Rooms

In the tradition of Iconic Dishes and Iconic Drinks, here are San Francisco's 20 most iconic dining rooms. Some of them are very well-established restaurants, others are relatively new, and all of them are worth checking out over a cup of tea or a full three course meal at least once.

Grid View

• Opened in 1999, the industrial chic Foreign Cinema pays homage to the former San Francisco theatre district in the heart of the evolving Mission district. Foreign and independent films are screened in a covered outdoor courtyard as the sun goes down. Insi
• The only high-rise roof garden restaurant in SF’s Chinatown, and the first to make Chinese dining elegant, The Empress of China brings us back to the Han Dynasty, complete with views of North Beach and the Bay. The impressive octagonal pavilion, a 50-ton
• This historic landmark dining room was once the carriage entrance to the Palace Hotel. After the 1906 earthquake, the building was renovated and by 1909, the entrance became the glass-domed atrium Garden Court we know today. Enjoy afternoon tea or brunch
• Pat Kuleto has a flare for the dramatic when designing his restaurants, and Waterbar is no exception. With 19-foot tall, floor-to-ceiling aquarium columns filled with Pacific marine life, and the hand-blown glass "caviar" chandelier hanging above the hors
• It’s not only San Francisco’s oldest restaurant, but also, allegedly, California’s. Art Deco brass and milk-glass light fixtures have been hanging unchanged from the tall ceiling since 1967, with dark wood paneling and mirrors covering the walls. Starched
• Pat Kuleto was channeling some French bubbly when he designed Jardinière. The inverted champagne glass dome with twinkling lights certainly makes a statement in the two-tiered dining room. Lit champagne buckets line the balcony, and sweeping curtains exp
• 1940’s nostalgia rules this FiDi establishment as live jazz flows through the two-story interior. With ornate columns, original art pieces and white table cloths meeting a gorgeous mahogany bar up front, it’s no wonder Bix has been featured in several fil
• Husband-and-wife visual artist team David Muller and Lana Porcello opened Outerlands in 2009 in their often-neglected SF neighborhood. Capturing the spirit of the Outer Sunset, the interior’s D.I.Y. aesthetic includes salvaged fence wood covering the wall
• Palm and banana trees line the dining areas at this FiDi alleyway restaurant. With rattan ceiling fans that circulate above patchwork tile floors and vintage photographs of turn-of-the-century Saigon that adorn the walls, Le Colonial evokes the elegant tr
• Whimsical commissioned frescos and costumed Venetian figures dance along the dining room and the ceiling at this Marina restaurant, owned by Bay Area pastry master, Gary Rulli, who turned this space from a quaint café into full-blown restaurant in mid 201
• Opening in 1979 as a vaguely Mexican café with about a quarter of the current space, Zuni struggled for a few years. However, with the help of chef Judy Rodgers, including her suggestion of putting a brick oven in the center of the dining room, the café s
• Fly Trap, the 106-year-old San Francisco dining institution, became Zaré at Fly Trap in late 2008 when beloved Bay Area chef Hoss Zaré purchased and revamped the SoMa space. In homage to the original décor, Zaré kept the whimsical botanical prints outlin
• The Cliff House has been perched on the same overlook since the Civil War, where diners can take in the crashing waves of the Pacific at Sutro’s. Named after SF millionaire-mayor Adolph Sutro, who once owned the building, the restaurant boasts a two-story
• The first high profile vegetarian restaurant in the US, Greens is located in a converted warehouse at historic Fort Mason. Floor to ceiling windows with panoramic views of the Bay and beyond line the dining room, built by San Francisco Zen Center carpente
• Opened in 2010, SF's first LEED-certified Gold building has gone on to win numerous design awards. The 4,000 square-foot space has both an industrial and other-worldly appeal with state-of-the-art commissioned light sculptures, and a single concrete ribbo
• From bank to laundromat to several years of vacancy, the 4,000 sq. ft. space underwent an extensive remodel and went on to kick off the renovation of an entire neighborhood. After restoring the 12-foot tall windows, the owners added a wood-fired brick ove
• Damaged by a kitchen fire in 2001, a $4 million dollar renovation gutted the Fleur de Lys space before recreating it as a burgundy print-drenched dining room with an intimate cloth tent ceiling, Venetian chandelier, tall flower arrangement, and ornate wal
• Park Tavern’s address has served as a wood and coal yard, a furniture store, a maple shop, and most recently Moose’s restaurant, by the late “The Lord of North Beach,” Ed Moose. In 2011, Anna Weinberg and chef Jenn Puccio reconfigured the space—inspired b
• With its heavy iron chandeliers hanging from wood-beamed ceilings and rounded arches, Aziza’s sexy yet sophisticated approach to dining temporarily transports you to Morocco all without having to leave the fog. The decor arftully incorporates tables tuck
• Another Pat Kuleto classic, Boulevard opened in 1993 inside the historic 1889 Audiffred Building, built in the 19th century French Masard style, and was one of the few downtown structures to survive the 1906 earthquake. The Belle Epoque details at the ent

—Sophia Lorenzi Foreign Cinema
Empress of China
The Garden Court
Waterbar
Tadich Grill
Jardiniere
Outerlands
Bix
Le Colonial
Ristobar
Zuni Cafe
Zare at Fly Trap
Sutro's at The Cliff House
Greens
Bar Agricole
Nopa
Fleur de Lys
Park Tavern
Aziza
Boulevard