Chef and owner Pim Techamuanvivit’s Nari, located on the ground floor of the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown, earned its first Michelin star in June thanks, no doubt, in part to the talents of chef de cuisine Meghan Clark. In an elegant and airy dining room, the Nari team draws diners with sharable portions of chicken stir-fried with sweet and spicy curry paste or eggplant in bumbai curry. For a full taste of what the restaurant has to offer, opt for the $125 chef’s pick menu.

This Thai restaurant is tucked inside the Parc 55 hotel near Union Square, but it’s no tourist trap — Kin Khao received a Michelin star in 2015. Chef-owner Pim Techamuanvivit and chef de cuisine Adam Sproat pack plenty of flavor into California-ized versions of familiar Thai dishes like the mushroom har mok made with coconut cream and served with crispy rice cakes or the plah pla muek, a tangy plate of charred local squid.

Venture to this humble restaurant in the Tenderloin, allegedly a favorite of movie star Keanu Reeves, classic and unabashedly spicy Thai cuisine. Per the San Francisco Chronicle, the most famous dish on the menu is the barbecue pork shoulder, which gets coated in a fish sauce marinade before being grilled. The restaurant offers delivery in-house (though in a limited capacity due to staffing) and is available via Doordash.

Muukata6395 might be San Francisco’s first and only restaurant specializing in mu kratha, a style of Thai barbecue where diners grill their food on a table-top charcoal grill. Open since March 2023, it keeps the lights on until midnight — a serious boon to the Richmond District’s night owls — and diners can choose between a small or large set for barbecue. Each includes a chef’s choice assortment of raw meat, seafood, and vegetables cooked on the metal mu kratha pan, with broth and two dipping sauces for the meats.

Lers Ros Thai sports three locations across the city, making it a popular option for a casual weekday lunch or takeout option for a night in. The all-day menu can only be described as sprawling, spanning dozens of options for appetizers, salads, noodles, and curries. Owner-chef Tom Silargorn doesn’t shy away from serving some unexpected protein options (think quail in chile paste or sir-fried frog legs) but you can also order pad see ew, green and yellow curry, or tom yum soup.

This growing chain has planted outposts across the Bay Area, plus in Los Angeles and Portland, and remains popular for noodle soups, red and green curries, rice paper rolls, and house specialties like Thai southern-style fried chicken. But what Farmhouse might be best known for is its highly aesthetic design — think faux flowers that crawl up the wall, glowing neon signs, and colorful cocktails tailor-made for Instagram.

For years, fans had to head to the East Bay for a taste of chef Supasit Puttikaew’s Thai comfort food at Funky Elephant. But as of July, there’s an outpost in the city on Valencia Street. The favorites include party wings and yum kai dao, or fried egg salad, along with Puttikaew’s take on kao mun gai, a poached chicken dish with a fermented soybean sauce.