The One Word That Defines SF's Restaurant Scene in 2016

Welcome to Year in Eater 2016, Eater’s annual ritual of eulogizing the past 12 months through input from the city’s top food writers. For 2016’s final week, we’ll be posting questions daily about the Bay Area’s restaurant scene in the past year, with answers from those who know it best. Today’s prompt: Sum up the 2016 restaurant world in one word.

Jay Barmann, SFist editor

Overpriced.

Stefanie Tuder, Eater SF senior editor

Staid.

Paolo Lucchesi, The Chronicle food editor

Ether.

Marcia Gagliardi, Tablehopper

Omakase.

Ellen Fort, Eater SF editor

Tenuous.

Rebecca Flint Marx, San Francisco magazine food editor

Downturn.

Carolyn Alburger, Eater cities director

Expensive.

Anna Roth, Eater contributor

Predictable.

Trevor Felch, Zagat SF editor

Instagram.

Pete Kane, SF Weekly food critic

Sorry, Eater, this is the hard one. I feel like everyone has said “expensive” since like 2011, so I’ll go with the equally bland “diverse.”

Hillary Dixler, Eater National senior reports editor

RENT.

The Dapper Diner, local blogger

Closures.

Jonathan Kauffman, The Chronicle food reporter

Fragile.