It’s undeniable that the Fisherman’s Wharf of today may not quite live up to the rose-tinted memories of years gone by. But things remain reliably and pleasantly the same at Scoma’s, the nearly 60-year-old restaurant on the literal dock of the Bay. The menu will satisfy all your touristy seafood cravings for oysters, Dungeness crab cocktail, clam chowder, and cioppino, though the lengthy selections also include a spicy chicken sandwich and pasta with red sauce. Almost as much as the food, the space itself is the draw, whether you sit outside with the sound of lapping waves in the background or inside the wood-paneled dining room decorated with oodles of local sports paraphernalia.

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 the pastry skills of both Ang and James Beard Award-nominated pastry chef Vince Bugtong in dishes like a chewy pandan mochi waffle and savory ensaymada French toast. 

Californios alum David Yoshimura channels his Japanese-American upbringing into Nisei, his Michelin-starred debut restaurant where Japanese soul food gets the fine dining treatment. The dining room is a zen retreat with white booths and inky black walls splashed with vibrant local art. In the kitchen, Yoshimura and his team nestle a fresh oyster in a foamy bed of English peas and wasabi and wrap sweet Brentwood corn, fermented blueberries, and buttery uni in sheets of shiny nori. The culmination of the tasting menu may be an array of tsukemono set beside a small cup of bone broth miso soup with duck fat rice and a tender rack of lamb.

Earlier this year City View, one of the city’s favorite spots for dim sum, relocated to this new home at 33 Walter U. Lum Place in Chinatown, in the shadow of Portsmouth Square. It’s a dark and elegant space with comfortable booths and dramatic spotlighting above each table. There are no carts, but the food still shines, including bouncy shrimp and pork-stuffed shumai, impossibly thin and crisp scallion pancakes, and fluffy buns that explode with salted egg yolk custard. Service is prompt and polite making this a good option for a quicker sit-down meal. 

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, even following a light renovation earlier this spring. Jew also introduced a new prix-fixe menu format with the option to add on banquet-style plates like some of San Francisco’s best roast duck served with peanut butter hoisin, along with cocktails, beer, and cider.

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. 

These days it might be slightly easier to get a seat at this incredibly exclusive (read: just 10 seats) omakase counter, but for the most part, you’ll need to plan in advance. The effort of getting in the door, however, will be rewarded with an evening of exquisitely decadent small plates and sushi in a surprisingly relaxed and lively atmosphere. Dining at Michelin Guide-listed Friends Only feels almost like attending an intimate dinner party — if your dinner party host served black truffle-topped chawanmushi and a rainbow of uni on a single piece of nigiri. The price tag is a steep $300 before beverages and gratuity, but chef Ray Lee’s other restaurant Akikos makes a slightly more affordable option starting at $150 for lunch or $250 for dinner. 

New Nordic feels remarkably fresh at Sons & Daughters, the fine dining destination that’s been doing the damn thing near Union Square for more than a decade now. But there’s a new executive chef in the kitchen, Harrison Cheney, and he’s blending the acidic, fermented flavors he picked up while working at two Michelin-starred Gastrologik in Stockholm, with Northern California’s pristine seasonal produce. The result is an intimate tasting menu experience that’s elegant, surprising, and warm.

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.

Kin Khao, the more casual sister restaurant to Nari in Japantown, holds a single Michelin star, and for good reason. Here chef Pim Techamuanvivit and chef de cuisine James Slagle give diners a taste of Thai cooking with no holds barred in terms of flavor. Don’t miss the steamed jar of spicy curry mouse called mushroom har mok or the charred local squid, a tart and smoky dish scattered with peanuts and cilantro. Open for lunch and dinner in a hotel near Union Square, the restaurant doesn’t offer as elegant an atmosphere as Nari, but the addictingly bold flavors more than make up for anything you might find lacking in the decor. 

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.

This spacious and airy food hall brings a handful of bright and delicious options to the Tenderloin. Choose from savory menus spanning po’ boys stuffed with golden fried shrimp and andouille sausage; North African dishes from chefs Wafa and Mounir Bahloul; and momos (Nepalese dumplings) from Bini’s Kitchen. Hours are somewhat limited (it’s open for lunch only Monday through Friday) but cocktails are available at La Paloma bar until 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday nights. 

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. 

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.

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.

Rintaro feels like a secret hideout in the Mission, with a lovely front patio guarded from the street by a bamboo fence. Enter, and find an inviting, wood-clad izakaya from Chez Panisse alum Sylvan Mishima Brackett, whose menu has long drawn a bustling, stylish crowd that lines up before the restaurant even opens for business. Gyoza, yakitori of all kinds, pristine sashimi, and the platonic ideal of fried tori katsu (fried chicken stuffed with Cowgirl Creamery cheese) are all on order.

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.

There’s a full menu of Chinese American food on offer at this Inner Sunset gem, but the main draw, by far, has to be the dry-fried chicken wings — which we named among the best fried chicken dishes anywhere in the county. Though the restaurant remains takeout only, you can place an order online for pick-up and be rewarded with a Styrofoam box stuffed with sticky chicken wings, scented with garlic and chile.

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. 

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. The covered outdoor patio means every meal feels something like a beachy party, particularly when the sun in shining on this Mission District restaurant.

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. 

Following a handsome redesign late last year, Flour + Water reopened with a refined new look and the same menu of stellar handmade pasta in February. The pasta tasting menu remains the anchor, spinning diners through an array of uncommon shapes like balsamic vinegar drizzled scarpinocc and fastidiously folded tortellino swimming in an impossibly rich broth. But the a la carte menu offers plenty to explore as well, including a mosaic of fresh crudo, bubble-crusted pizzas, and more fresh pasta options, all of which can be paired with a list of wines focused on Italy and California.