/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70246305/nicolaparisi_izzys_steakhouse_dessert_0373_Edit.0.jpg)
For better or worse, we’re just a few weeks away from bidding adieu to 2021 and diving headfirst into an entire new year. And whether you’re planning to toast the turning of the calendar at midnight or roll into 2022 from the comfort of your own bed, this December 31 there’s no shortage of options for excellent dining, drinking, and reveling at San Francisco restaurants and bars.
Of course, the pandemic is still ongoing, so there are a couple of options for takeout in the mix this year. But our guide focuses primarily on restaurants offering special menus and a few options for those feeling a little more festive who may be in search of a place to raise a glass when the clock strikes 12. In San Francisco, proof of vaccination is required for indoor dining and drinking and masks should be on in most indoor settings, except for when actively drinking and eating.
Make New Year’s Eve reservations here
If you want a no-fuss New Year’s Eve, Flour + Water Pasta Shop has you covered with a special snack menu and sparkling wines by the glass — or head next door to Penny Roma for a five-course Italian prix fixe. The family-style menu costs $104 per person with reservations bookable through Resy.
Castro neighborhood Spanish spot Canela is fittingly offering a $79 per person tapas tasting menu for New Year’s Eve with stuffed olives, bacon-wrapped dates, gambas al ajillo, and seared sea bass. Sip it with either a wine pairing menu or a selection of reserve bottles, which will be available by the glass. Reservations are available on OpenTable.
The Marina’s chic Cafe Boho has a five-course dinner with a glass of Champagne planned for New Year’s Eve, with two seatings (6 p.m. at $80 and 9 p.m. at $115) or the option to go for just Champagne, caviar, and oyster service for two ($190).
Now through New Year's Eve, Izzy’s Steakhouse welcomes groups of four to 12 to book a table and indulge in the Holiday Mixed Grill, a three-course family-style dinner extravaganza. For $90 per person, they’ll lay out a meaty spread including prime rib, a double-cut pork chop, grill prawns, duck sausage, plus appetizers and a smattering of sides. The meal concludes with a flaming tableside Baked Alaska, and cocktails can be purchased separately. Reservations are available through OpenTable Experiences.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22743199/SF_patio_tent_7.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23073738/Nisei_truffles3.jpg)
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9729511/FoodOctavia_PChang_0610.jpg)
Black truffle at Nisei
Chef David Yoshimura’s fine dining Russian Hill restaurant Nisei will make for an elegant New Year’s Eve, serving luxurious takes on classic Osechi Ryori, or traditional Japanese New Year foods. Highlights include oxtail ozoni, or New Year mochi soup; datemaki and caviar, a New Year’s version of the sweeter rolled egg; and King crab with truffle miso. The tasting menu costs $275 per person, with wine pairings available for an additional $162 per person. Prepaid reservations are required for parties of 1 to 5 and can be made online here.
Go for six courses of caviar, truffles, Dungeness crab, and 45-day dry-aged New York Steak this New Year’s Eve at chef Marissa Perello’s Octavia. The menu costs $140 per person with optional wine pairings. Reserve a seat on OpenTable.
Place takeout orders for New Year’s Eve at home
Chef Nico Delaroque and the Maison Nico team are offering two sizes of duck pithivier, a dramatic round pie of pastry dough stuffed with filling, for your New Year’s Eve table. A petit pithivier serves two to three ($85), or you can go for the grand, which serves four to six ($105). A bottle of 2015 Petit St. Vincent ‘Les Poyeaux’ Saumur-Champigny Loire Valley, France ($45) makes a classic pairing.
And it’s back, baby: The very Internet-famous DB Crab Fried Rice at Lily on Clement returns in all its audacious glory for New Year’s. Reserve a table on Resy or place an order to take the crab and truffle-topped wonder home for the night.
Raise a glass to 2022 at these parties
Of course, the rowdy revelers at Bar Part Time are planning a party for New Year’s Eve. Doors to the Eater Award-winning wine bar’s 2022 party open at 9 p.m. with a $20 cover. Expect “big pours from big bottles” per the bar’s Instagram and music from a trio of super cool DJs.
Rise above San Francisco’s famous fog at Charmaine’s, the rooftop bar above the mid-Market Proper Hotel, where single admission to the “Disco Divine” party costs $125 per person and includes a complimentary champagne toast at midnight plus late-night bites. Reservation on Tock.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11498209/ScenesCharmaines_PChang_9727.jpg)
Both Monk’s Kettle and Monk’s Kettle Terra Linda are hosting all-you-can-eat-and-drink soirees from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Tickets cost $100 per person and include rounds of passed heavy apps plus a dessert course at the end. Naturally, there will be a toast at midnight, along with an open list of draft beer, wine, and cider to keep you on the dance floor even after the clock strikes 12. Reservations are available for both Monk’s Kettle and Terra Linda on Tock.