Chef Francis Ang’s Abacá brings contemporary Filipino cuisine to a sunny space on the ground floor of a Fisherman’s Wharf hotel, the plant-filled restaurant further brightened by sunflower yellow banquettes and woven baskets from the southeast Asian archipelago. The dinner menu gives familiar dishes a modern California update — think, seafood pancit topped with smoked bay scallops, and longganisa pork sausage skewered on a thin stick and served with egg yolk and cane vinegar for dipping. Weekend brunch is a real treat, when you can truly appreciate Ang’s pastry skills in dishes like a chewy pandan mochi waffle and savory ensaymada French toast. 

San Francisco is a city that loves a serious sandwich, and this old-school Italian-American deli has been slicing and stacking them since 1929. The salami hangs from the ceiling, the wheels of cheese weigh down the shelves, and everyone has a favorite special, from the #1 Italian Combo with salame, ham, mortadella, and provolone, to the Pat Burrell roast beef with pepper jack and peppers. The pro move is to grab a sandwich for lunch and a box of ravioli to take home for dinner.

Locals and tourists swarm to Sotto Mare for an exemplary taste of San Francisco’s famous seafood creation: cioppino, an Italian-American stew likely adapted by Ligurian immigrants in North Beach. It’s on nearly every table at this old-school, kitschy establishment, served in heaping silver bowls for two that brim with slightly spicy tomato broth, Dungeness crab, assorted Pacific shellfish, and some penne pasta thrown in for good measure. Other seafood staples like Louie salads round out the meal.

George Chen’s massive Chinese food emporium is certainly an elevated way to experience all that San Francisco’s Chinatown has to offer. But if you want to try a wide variety of dishes — from fried scallion pancakes to soup dumplings to Peking duck to charred Chinese broccoli — this is probably your best bet for a one-stop shop. Plus, the open kitchen means you can watch the culinary team at work, wrapping dumplings and wok-frying rice. On your way out don’t forget to stop at the marketplace to stock up on housemade condiments, and if you’re looking to extend the night, try the upstairs bar Cold Drinks Bar, where the menu centers around smokey scotch-based cocktails. 

A fire in the hearth and chickens twirling on the spit set the tone for this warm and rustic Greek tavern, a longstanding destination between the business lunches of the FiDi and the date-night dinners of historic Jackson Square. The grilled whole fish of the day and lemon-oregano lamb riblets are always a treat, as are the crispy zucchini cakes and quintet of creamy and fishy dips.

It was a big deal for San Francisco when James Beard Award-winning chef Brandon Jew took over the historic Four Seas banquet hall space and opened an ambitious Chinese-American restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. The dining room remains a green-and-white gem of the neighborhood — and a destination for some of San Francisco’s best roast duck served with peanut butter hoisin, along with cocktails, beer, and cider.

This 70-year-old Nob Hill classic is a trip back to a time when plating with tweezers was not yet a thing. The name says it all: House of Prime Rib serves one thing and one thing only, and it does that roast prime rib very, very well. The only choices to make are: meat temperature, cut thickness, mashed or loaded baked potatoes, and martini or Manhattan. Each plate comes with a salad (prepared tableside), creamed spinach, Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes — and of course a hulking piece of beef cut from one of the wheeled meat carts.

Following an extensive redesign from star designer Ken Fulk, this classic San Francisco restaurant bounced back from the pandemic more impressive than ever. Settle into a luxurious peacock blue booth under the golden glow of romantic spot lighting and let the smooth service staff usher you through a multi-course prix fixe menu from chef and owner Nancy Oakes and chef Dana Younkin. Dishes rotate frequently but stick to the California ethos of seasonal and local, though you can never go wrong with the Berkshire pork chop, served on the bone and cooked over a live fire to a perfect obsidian char. 

Pastry superstars Belinda Leong and Michel Suas continue to dominate both California Street — where the duo operates B. Patisserie, b. on the Go, and their latest full-service restaurant Routier — and the San Francisco pastry scene. There’s no shortage of excellent bakers in this city, but Leong’s impossibly buttery and flakey kougin amann are truly iconic. On a first visit, it’s hard to stray from the classic iteration, but when the seasons change it’s an excellent idea to explore the fruit and black sesame variations.

At this Korean hotspot in San Francisco’s Japantown, the wait for a table during peak dinner time can stretch long as two hours, and almost every dish on the menu features some kind of preparation of beef: kalbitang (or beef rib soup); beef bibimbap; seolleongtang, the cloudy-white ox bone soup with its noted hangover-curing properties; and, if you think all that won’t be enough, boiled beef brisket that you can order as an appetizer. But the star of the show — and perhaps of the city’s entire Korean restaurant scene — is the kalbijjim, the slow-braised, spicy-sweet, fall-off-the-bone beef short rib stew that is Daeho’s claim to fame.

San Francisco is one of the great Burmese restaurant cities in the U.S., and, though it isn’t the flashiest or the most crowded, Mandalay might be best of the bunch — certainly it’s the one that makes the least compromises to accommodate Western palates, which in general means bigger, punchier flavors. Try the homey samusa soup or any of the fragrant noodle dishes, but whatever you do, don’t skip the best fermented tea leaf salad in town — a rendition of the classic that’s available without lettuce or cabbage to tamp down the deliciously pungent flavors or diminish the outrageous crunch of the nuts and seeds.

There’s a growing number of Asian-American bakeries in and around San Francisco putting fresh twists on classic baked goods and infusing French pastries with sweet ube and meaty chashu. But if you’re only going to check out one, make it Breadbelly, where a team of James Beard Award-nominated fine-dining alums have truly perfected the art of marrying Asian flavors with modern California tastes. The signature lime-green kaya toast topped with coconut-pandan jam and big snowflakes of sea salt is a revelation, but savory sandwiches and daily pastries deserve attention, too. Still closed for indoor dining, Breadbelly offers online ordering for pick-up starting at 10 a.m. — and click quick, as items sell out fast.

Vietnamese-style roast crab, drenched in a metric ton of butter and garlic, is one of the signature dishes of the San Francisco dining experience, and no one does it better than this Richmond District institution, where any weeknight dinner can feel like a special celebration if you splurge on a couple of those crabs and a big plate of garlic noodles.

Chef Mourad Lahlou has two striking restaurants: Mourad offers a Michelin-starred fine dining experience downtown, while Aziza serves Moroccan comforts out in the avenues. There’s no wrong choice between the two, but Aziza delivers at a higher level than a neighborhood restaurant has any need to. For dinner, start with addictive harissa cashews and a trio of spreads with pillowy flatbread before taking on plates of hand-rolled couscous, whole branzino, or braised lamb shank. Of course, never skip the basteeya, which comes wrapped in a flaky dough and stuffed with chicken confit and spiced almonds. For weekend brunch, the Moroccan pancakes are not to be missed. 

Stepping off the busy Divisadero Street sidewalk and into Brenda’s Meat and Three is like stepping into another world: one where the grits are always cheesy, the biscuits impossibly flaky, and the potatoes expertly mashed. This casual spot serves three square meals a day – an impressive feat in and of itself – but supper is when you’ll see owner Brenda Buenviajé’s New Orleans roots on full display. High up on the wall a menu board displays the day’s meat options, which always includes some of the city’s best fried chicken plus rotating choices like fried catfish and shrimp etouffée.

Though the small enclave of Russian markets and businesses in the Richmond has contracted over the years, Cinderella Bakery & Cafe endures, thanks in large part to its fresh baked loaves of rye bread, puff pastry perogies, and delicately layered slices of honey cake. On the savory side, don’t skip the Russian dumplings called pelmeni, which can and should be enjoyed with broth and plenty of sour cream. 

Besides “the” chicken, Zuni's burger, Caesar salad, and bloody mary have all been called the best in the city at various points in the restaurant’s illustrious, 40-plus-year career. Sitting on the edge of Hayes Valley, it’s the utility belt of San Francisco restaurants: good for brunch, for late-night dining, for oysters and a cocktail at the bar, or for a lovely sit-down meal with a date. The chicken, meanwhile, deserves every last bit of praise.  During the pandemic, Zuni started serving takeout for the first time in its storied history — and became the first restaurant in the city to switch over to all reusable takeout containers.

Under swinging lines of cerulean papel picado, chef Nick Cobarruvias presents a veggie-forward menu of tacos, tostadas, and large plates that’s delightfully fresh and flavorful. There are meaty options, too, including slow-cooked carne con guajillo chile wrapped in soft tortillas made from masa that’s nixtamalized in house. But don’t overlook the hen of the wood huarache, showered with a tangle of tender and savory mushrooms, or the unexpectedly vibrant charred cabbage, sporting dark spots of char and dusted with toasted pecan dukkah. Cocktails are unfussy but well executed; you can’t go wrong with a spicy margarita sipped on the wooden parklet off Haight. 

Val Cantu’s two-Michelin-starred Californios came roaring back in spring 2021 with a new home and the same ambitious tasting menu of exquisite cuisine rooted in Mexican traditions. In the former Bar Agricole space in SoMa, Cantu and his team honor Mexican ingredients and cooking techniques – elevating masa to new heights through in-house nixtamalization for handmade tortillas and taking creative liberties with dishes like a puffed pieces of black masa topped with sea urchin and a grilled banana served with a dollop of caviar.

On a sunny afternoon or a cool San Francisco evening, there’s perhaps no better place to find comfort than on Biet Rima’s flower-lined patio or inside its cozy dining room with a generous mezze spread before you and a cold Arabic beer in hand. Owner Samir Mogannam turns seasonal produce into simple yet stunning vegetarian-friendly dishes like delicata squash in brown butter with tangy labneh and pine nut dukkah, while the meatier entrees including tender beef kabob and yogurt marinated chicken lend the menu some weight.

This family-run Mission District regional Mexican mainstay specializes in Yucatecan and Mayan-inspired cuisine, which means lots of smoky, citrus-marinated pork, deeply flavorful turkey mole (served, in the Yucatecan style, as an ink-black soup), and wonderful handmade tortillas. Service could scarcely be more attentive and kind.

Step inside this neighborhood wine bar and restaurant and you’ll likely feel like you stumbled into a hidden gem. This isn’t to say that Palm City Wines hasn’t gotten its share of media attention, but rather, that despite being lauded as one of the best places to get a Philly-style hoagie outside of Philadelphia, it retains a laid-back vibe befitting its home in the quiet and notoriously foggy avenues. Roll through (there are no reservations) for a glass of something fun and funky like a dark and fruity Blaufränkisch or a fresh and zippy Sicilian white to pair with one of the massive sandwiches. The Italian American makes a solid choice: Built on a sesame-seeded roll it sports a spread of spicy nduja aioli plus layers of finocchiona, mortadella, mozzarella, arugula, onions, and a dusting of parmesan cheese. 

Reborn at its location in the Mission last year, San Francisco’s only Guamanian restaurant continues to provide newcomers to Chamorro cuisine with a delicious education: stroganoff-like tinaktak with egg noodles, pork ribs over red rice, and an assortment of the Guamanian-style ceviches known as kelaguen — served here on flatbreads, like a taco.

You can’t go wrong with any of chef Corey Lee’s restaurants, whether it’s the black-and-white French bistro Monsieur B in Hayes Valley or his three Michelin-starred Benu in SoMa. But his latest, San Ho Won in the Mission, is where the chef takes things back to his Korean American roots, working with chef Jeong-In Hwang to prepare meticulously charcoal grilled double cut galbi and tender beef tongue. This is a Korean barbecue restaurant unlike any other with elegant seasonal banchan, sizzling stews, and flaky blood sausage and green onion pancakes served in an austere space wrapped in warm woods. 

It’s hard to pinpoint the best cocktail bar in a city with such a deep drinking scene, but what sets True Laurel apart from the crowd is the fact that it’s not only one of the best places to knock back a couple of drinks but also serves a tight food menu that’s totally worthwhile. Both lists rotate frequently, though you can check the website for the current offerings, but the milk-washed Mai O Mai has become a local classic with a coffee-rum float and a sweet-nutty blend of lime, pistachio orgeat, and curacao. If you’re eating, don’t miss the crispy mushrooms and the absolutely iconic patty melt served on toasted beef fat pan de mie.