The SF Food World’s Biggest Dining Surprises of 2017

Welcome to Year in Eater 2017, Eater’s annual ritual of eulogizing the past 12 months. For 2017’s final week, Eater SF will be posting questions daily about San Francisco’s restaurant scene in the past year, with answers from those who know it best: Eater editors.

Today’s topic: What was the biggest dining surprise of 2017?

Carolyn Alburger, Eater Cities Director

The devastation of the North County fires was a horrible shock, but it was also a reminder of the great strength in our community of restaurants, chefs, and wine industry pros.

Hillary Dixler Canavan, Restaurant Editor, Eater National

I didn't see a full-service Ayesha Curry restaurant coming, let alone one that people seem to love so far.

Greg Morabito, Pop Culture Editor, Eater National

The shuttering of Una Pizza and Pete Wells’s takedown of Locol.

Rachel Levin, Eater SF Critic

A sushi place doing local fish. Why’d it take so long??

Caleb Pershan, Reporter

It’s pretty wild that a big name Bay Area chef like Jonathan Waxman had to close his namesake restaurant in such a hurry this year, but that could just have been related to the restaurant’s super poor location (Ghirardelli square).

Ellen Fort, Eater SF Editor

The amount of openings in a city that makes it very hard for operators.

• All Year in Eater Coverage [ESF]