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“God’s Own” coconut variation dessert at Copra.
Patricia Chang

14 San Francisco Restaurants Where You Should Never Skip Dessert

Restaurants where sweets steal the show

by Lauren Saria and Eater Staff Updated
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“God’s Own” coconut variation dessert at Copra.
| Patricia Chang
by Lauren Saria and Eater Staff Updated
1 comment / new

In a city flush with Michelin-starred restaurants, we've turned our eye to what may be dinner's most overlooked event: dessert. Here, we've selected the San Francisco restaurants with the most delicious desserts — if you happen to dine at one of these destinations, you'd do well to turn your after-meal attention to the sweet side of things. You'll discover some of the most artful, sugar-spun creations that San Francisco has to offer. These desserts may enchant your taste buds even more than your dinner.

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Atelier Crenn

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Pastry chef Juan Contreras's sugary additions to Dominique Crenn's whimsical, three Michelin-starred menu have included desserts like Aubergine Fumée, a confection of smoked eggplant and chai spices that seemed part pastry, part performance piece as it arrived to the table on an elevated plate emitting a plume of steam.

3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 440-0460
(415) 440-0460
Lauren Saria

Cotogna

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Cotogna is known best for its giant raviolo with a golden egg yolk buried in the center, as well as other fresh and filled pastas and spit-roasted meats. But the Cali-Italian favorite also has a deceptively simple dessert menu, courtesy of Quince & Co. executive pastry chef Jenn Felton. It showcases produce from the restaurant’s own farm in rustic crostatas and gelatos. 

490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 775-8508
(415) 775-8508
Gelato at Cotogna Cotogna

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Octavia

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Octavia chef-owner Melissa Perello's mastery doesn't end when it comes to dessert. Her after-dinner menu features lemon verbena semifreddo with strawberries and buckwheat graham, as well as a malted chocolate cremeux with hazelnuts and salted muscovado chantilly.

1701 Octavia St, San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 408-7507
(415) 408-7507
Patricia Chang

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Copra

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Chef Srijith Gopinathan’s newest San Francisco restaurant is an ode to his home state of Kerala in southwest India, and specifically to the dried coconut ingredient that’s commonly used in cooking there. But the chef’s God’s Own coconut variation dessert might be the most outright representation of that vision. In it, the chef showcases coconut in four ways: as an icy coconut snow, a creamy coconut porridge, coconut milk, and caramelized coconut. Candied basmati puff and sabja seeds add texture to a cool dish that’s a light way to end a meal.

1700 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 873-0795
(415) 873-0795
Lauren Saria

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State Bird Provisions

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Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s small plates menu is just as delicious when it comes to dessert. There’s always a selection of items like an olive oil ice cream sandwich with lemon macarons and pluots, along with a strawberry roll cake that bundles fluffy sponge cake up with slow-roasted strawberries. The "World Peace,” a creamy shot of peanut muscovado milk, is absolutely unmissable.

1529 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 795-1272
(415) 795-1272
State Bird Provisions

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Brenda's French Soul Food

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You can make an entire menu of beignets, those deep-fried pastries made famous in New Orleans, at Brenda’s French Soul Food. The savory crawfish beignets could be an appetizer or a light meal, if you so choose, and even come in a flight alongside sweet variations flavored with powdered sugar, apple, or chocolate. Keep your eyes open for specials, too, such a bright purple ube beignet stuffed with coconut jam and white chocolate.

652 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 345-8100
(415) 345-8100

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Aphotic

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Chef Peter Hemsley’s Aphotic has made quite a splash since its opening in March 2023, having already gained a coveted Michelin star and an award for its sustainability efforts. The menu swarms with seafood from start to finish, including dessert. Pastry chef Deirdre Balao Rieutort-Louis offers up an already-infamous and elegant oyster ice cream served in a delicate half-shell and paired with an airy citrus foam intended to echo the usual mignonette.

816 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 865-0529
(415) 865-0529
A quenelle of ice cream in an oyster shell topped with foam and a sea bean. Aphotic

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Prik Hom

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There are only a pair of desserts on the menu at this understated but Michelin Guide-recognized Thai restaurant on the west side of town. But the signature offering is the smoked young coconut ice cream, which gets its smoky flavor from traditional Thai candles. The balance between the gently sweet coconut ice cream and that deep, earthy smoke gets broken up with crunch from poached palm seeds and fluffy sweet rice.

3226 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 689-0652
(415) 689-0652
Thai ice cream at Prik Hom. Lauren Saria

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Rich Table

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It's not without reason that Food & Wine Magazine dubbed Rich Table pastry chef Sarah Rich the "Best New Pastry Chef" of 2014 — her artful interpretations of sugary American classics display a cultivated craftsmanship that will work wonders on your palate, from a white chocolate and rose panna cotta with peaches and streusel, to a cherry ice with almond milk “ice cream” and candied almonds.

199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 355-9085
(415) 355-9085

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Zuni Café

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Zuni Cafe gets lots of love for its iconic roasted chicken, but don’t sleep on the ever-evolving menu of desserts, which often includes some 10 different options — an impressive feat considering the general lack of formal pastry teams in restaurant kitchens these days. The flourless chocolate cake, listed as Gateau Victoire, has been a dessert menu staple for decades, with bold and just-the-right-amount of bitter chocolate flavor and a heaping of airy whipped cream.

1658 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 552-2522
(415) 552-2522
Lauren Saria

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Californios

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In its new SoMa location with a spacious patio, chef Val M. Cantu’s Michelin-starred restaurant features inventive, mind-bending, regularly-changing desserts on its Mexican-inspired menu like pineapple paletas spun in coconut sugar and an entire course of chocolates.

355 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 757-0994
(415) 757-0994
Desserts at Californios. Lauren Saria

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Ernest

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The short dessert menu at this modern, globally inspired restaurant from chef Brandon Rice stars a gorgeous, gooey Basque-style cheesecake. But regulars know not to skip the soft serve sundae. It’s a nostalgic indulgence, a leaning tower of vanilla and roasted hazelnut soft serve, piled high in artful swirls then draped in a layer of hazelnut praline and covered, tableside, with a thin coating of homemade chocolate Magic Shell. You can’t not smile as you dig in.

1890 Bryant St Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 829-2961
(415) 829-2961
Soft serve from Ernest. Ernest

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The Morris

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As it nears a full decade in business, the Morris remains a beloved dinner destination, particularly for industry folks. There’s perhaps no better place to sit at the bar and enjoy a causal dinner, starting with a Chartreuse slushy (or something more obscure), followed by a couple of duck heart skewers or a whole roasted duck, then ending with the restaurant’s well-loved buckwheat doughnuts served with warm creme Anglaise. Light, fluffy, and none too sweet, there’s a good reason they’ve become the stuff of San Francisco dessert legend.

2501 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 612-8480
(415) 612-8480
Lauren Saria

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Lazy Bear

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Consider yourself warned: You will be incredibly full by the time you finish the many savory courses and two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear. But you must not give up because the restaurant’s desserts are just as thoughtful and technically sound as the rest of the menu, while also maintaining the restaurant’s endlessly playful spirit. You might enjoy a warm plate of cookies with a cold brew coffee, housemade gummy bears, or a summer fruit cobbler in a tiny cast iron skillet. Or perhaps it’ll be an elegant miniature rolled honey cake inspired by the iconic offering from the now-closed 20th Century Cafe.

3416 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 874-9921
(415) 874-9921
Lauren Saria

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Atelier Crenn

3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123

Pastry chef Juan Contreras's sugary additions to Dominique Crenn's whimsical, three Michelin-starred menu have included desserts like Aubergine Fumée, a confection of smoked eggplant and chai spices that seemed part pastry, part performance piece as it arrived to the table on an elevated plate emitting a plume of steam.

3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 440-0460
(415) 440-0460
Lauren Saria

Cotogna

490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Cotogna is known best for its giant raviolo with a golden egg yolk buried in the center, as well as other fresh and filled pastas and spit-roasted meats. But the Cali-Italian favorite also has a deceptively simple dessert menu, courtesy of Quince & Co. executive pastry chef Jenn Felton. It showcases produce from the restaurant’s own farm in rustic crostatas and gelatos. 

490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 775-8508
(415) 775-8508
Gelato at Cotogna Cotogna

Octavia

1701 Octavia St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Octavia chef-owner Melissa Perello's mastery doesn't end when it comes to dessert. Her after-dinner menu features lemon verbena semifreddo with strawberries and buckwheat graham, as well as a malted chocolate cremeux with hazelnuts and salted muscovado chantilly.

1701 Octavia St, San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 408-7507
(415) 408-7507
Patricia Chang

Copra

1700 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Chef Srijith Gopinathan’s newest San Francisco restaurant is an ode to his home state of Kerala in southwest India, and specifically to the dried coconut ingredient that’s commonly used in cooking there. But the chef’s God’s Own coconut variation dessert might be the most outright representation of that vision. In it, the chef showcases coconut in four ways: as an icy coconut snow, a creamy coconut porridge, coconut milk, and caramelized coconut. Candied basmati puff and sabja seeds add texture to a cool dish that’s a light way to end a meal.

1700 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 873-0795
(415) 873-0795
Lauren Saria

State Bird Provisions

1529 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s small plates menu is just as delicious when it comes to dessert. There’s always a selection of items like an olive oil ice cream sandwich with lemon macarons and pluots, along with a strawberry roll cake that bundles fluffy sponge cake up with slow-roasted strawberries. The "World Peace,” a creamy shot of peanut muscovado milk, is absolutely unmissable.

1529 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 795-1272
(415) 795-1272
State Bird Provisions

Brenda's French Soul Food

652 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94102

You can make an entire menu of beignets, those deep-fried pastries made famous in New Orleans, at Brenda’s French Soul Food. The savory crawfish beignets could be an appetizer or a light meal, if you so choose, and even come in a flight alongside sweet variations flavored with powdered sugar, apple, or chocolate. Keep your eyes open for specials, too, such a bright purple ube beignet stuffed with coconut jam and white chocolate.

652 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 345-8100
(415) 345-8100

Aphotic

816 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Chef Peter Hemsley’s Aphotic has made quite a splash since its opening in March 2023, having already gained a coveted Michelin star and an award for its sustainability efforts. The menu swarms with seafood from start to finish, including dessert. Pastry chef Deirdre Balao Rieutort-Louis offers up an already-infamous and elegant oyster ice cream served in a delicate half-shell and paired with an airy citrus foam intended to echo the usual mignonette.

816 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 865-0529
(415) 865-0529
A quenelle of ice cream in an oyster shell topped with foam and a sea bean. Aphotic

Prik Hom

3226 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118

There are only a pair of desserts on the menu at this understated but Michelin Guide-recognized Thai restaurant on the west side of town. But the signature offering is the smoked young coconut ice cream, which gets its smoky flavor from traditional Thai candles. The balance between the gently sweet coconut ice cream and that deep, earthy smoke gets broken up with crunch from poached palm seeds and fluffy sweet rice.

3226 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 689-0652
(415) 689-0652
Thai ice cream at Prik Hom. Lauren Saria

Rich Table

199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102

It's not without reason that Food & Wine Magazine dubbed Rich Table pastry chef Sarah Rich the "Best New Pastry Chef" of 2014 — her artful interpretations of sugary American classics display a cultivated craftsmanship that will work wonders on your palate, from a white chocolate and rose panna cotta with peaches and streusel, to a cherry ice with almond milk “ice cream” and candied almonds.

199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 355-9085
(415) 355-9085

Zuni Café

1658 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Zuni Cafe gets lots of love for its iconic roasted chicken, but don’t sleep on the ever-evolving menu of desserts, which often includes some 10 different options — an impressive feat considering the general lack of formal pastry teams in restaurant kitchens these days. The flourless chocolate cake, listed as Gateau Victoire, has been a dessert menu staple for decades, with bold and just-the-right-amount of bitter chocolate flavor and a heaping of airy whipped cream.

1658 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 552-2522
(415) 552-2522
Lauren Saria

Californios

355 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

In its new SoMa location with a spacious patio, chef Val M. Cantu’s Michelin-starred restaurant features inventive, mind-bending, regularly-changing desserts on its Mexican-inspired menu like pineapple paletas spun in coconut sugar and an entire course of chocolates.

355 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 757-0994
(415) 757-0994
Desserts at Californios. Lauren Saria

Ernest

1890 Bryant St Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110

The short dessert menu at this modern, globally inspired restaurant from chef Brandon Rice stars a gorgeous, gooey Basque-style cheesecake. But regulars know not to skip the soft serve sundae. It’s a nostalgic indulgence, a leaning tower of vanilla and roasted hazelnut soft serve, piled high in artful swirls then draped in a layer of hazelnut praline and covered, tableside, with a thin coating of homemade chocolate Magic Shell. You can’t not smile as you dig in.

1890 Bryant St Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 829-2961
(415) 829-2961
Soft serve from Ernest. Ernest

The Morris

2501 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110

As it nears a full decade in business, the Morris remains a beloved dinner destination, particularly for industry folks. There’s perhaps no better place to sit at the bar and enjoy a causal dinner, starting with a Chartreuse slushy (or something more obscure), followed by a couple of duck heart skewers or a whole roasted duck, then ending with the restaurant’s well-loved buckwheat doughnuts served with warm creme Anglaise. Light, fluffy, and none too sweet, there’s a good reason they’ve become the stuff of San Francisco dessert legend.

2501 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 612-8480
(415) 612-8480
Lauren Saria

Lazy Bear

3416 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110

Consider yourself warned: You will be incredibly full by the time you finish the many savory courses and two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear. But you must not give up because the restaurant’s desserts are just as thoughtful and technically sound as the rest of the menu, while also maintaining the restaurant’s endlessly playful spirit. You might enjoy a warm plate of cookies with a cold brew coffee, housemade gummy bears, or a summer fruit cobbler in a tiny cast iron skillet. Or perhaps it’ll be an elegant miniature rolled honey cake inspired by the iconic offering from the now-closed 20th Century Cafe.

3416 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 874-9921
(415) 874-9921
Lauren Saria

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