Chef Francis Ang’s hotly anticipated first brick and mortar arrived in early August, bringing contemporary Filipino cuisine to a space on the ground floor of a hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s perhaps not where you’d expect the face of the Bay Area’s modern Filipino food movement to set up shop, but the plant-filled restaurant is utterly drenched in sunlight and further brightened by sunflower yellow banquettes and woven baskets from the southeast Asian archipelago. On the menu: a selection of sharbale plates including sticky barbecue skewers, a light and refreshing tomato and peach salad, and, of course, a whole pastry case filled with fresh baked delights. And with a cocktail menu by Kevin Diedrich (Pacific Cocktail Haven, Kona’s Street Market) the colorful concoctions demand attention, too. 

Chef Kaitlynn Bauman (Cotogna, Presidio Social Club, Greens) previously owned a cafe under the same name, but the new Norcina is her first full-service, sit-down restaurant. And it’s a big pizza and pasta party in the Marina, with full flights of spritzes and torch-it-yourself s’mores.

Another rowdy spot from the Westwood team, Wilder kicked open in April with brunch and happy hour for the Marina’s hungry crews. Decorated in antlers and birch wallpaper, it’s now serving a serious kobe burger, lobster mac and cheese, and bone marrow with the option to add on a whiskey luge.

The Sushi Hon team is in expansion mode, opening not one but two new restaurants within a month this spring. Sushi Hakko is another affordable omakase counter, serving up six rounds of bites for $90, and featuring fish flown in from Japan, and microgreens from California. Across town, Izakaya Hon in SoMa is also now serving sake and snacks. 

The Empress by Boon grandly reopened in June, bringing modern Cantonese fare to the historic banquet hall in Chinatown. Chef Ho Chee Boon is coming from Hakkasan, but this is his first solo project. He’s starting with a prix fixe menu for $68 to start, starring shrimp dumplings topped with caviar, crispy quail, hand-pulled noodles, and more.

Chao Pescao is a new restaurant that’s taken over the Soluna space. It’s from the same owner, but more casual and colorful. The restaurant blasted open in June, serving a mix of Colombian and Cuban comforts, including arepas and empanadas filled with garlicky pork and plantains or sweet potatoes and beans.

The Lee brothers of the Namu Restaurant Group have taken the former Perennial space and transformed it into not just a home for Sunset Square Pizza, but also a beer hall with several different menus, as well as a digital art gallery. Choose from Sunset Squares’ sourdough pizza, Namu Stonepot’s sizzling rice and veggies, and Uncle Tito’s silog specials, as well as dank local beer.

The Colorado brewery best known for Fat Tire Ale opened its first taproom in San Francisco, and its first full restaurant. It’s a massive space in Mission Bay, just across the short bridge from the ballpark. In addition to the brand’s bestselling Belgian-style beers, local brewer Ramon Tamayo (Russian River Brewing Company, Anchor Brewing) is brewing some fresh West Coast IPA and crisp pilsner on site, and star chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz (Noosh) crafted the menu of stuffed wagyu burgers and bacon-wrapped hot dogs.

Fiorella has brought its popular pasta and pillowy pizza to the Inner Sunset, with a new third location close to Golden Gate Park, which might truly be the latest and greatest, featuring a full bar, wood-burning fireplace, and foggy fresh rooftop deck. Never fear, the burrata pie is here, as well as some fresh menu items, including a new housemade farfalle with octopus ragu and king salmon crudo. 

In a city with many great dim sum brunch options, Valencia Street was surprisingly deprived of dumplings. Until now: Enter Bao, a sweet new restaurant on Valencia at 17th, now serving crispy fried hargow, green-tinted wasabi sticky rice, swan puffs filled with mango custard, and coconut milk pudding shaped like bunnies.

Abanico is a sweet new coffee shop in the Mission. It’s the cafe dream of Ana Valle, a wholesale coffee roaster who’s finally opening her first storefront. She grew up in El Salvador, sipping cafecito with her grandmother, and wants to bring that comfort to the Mission. The beans are beautiful, but the specialty drinks are truly special: Cafe con leche, cafe con morro, and cafe coco y choco are swirled with condensed milk, horchata, or coconut milk, and sprinkled with cinnamon or cacao.

The popular Peruvian food truck with nearly a decade-long following finally found a permanent home on Valencia Street, opening doors on April 15. Chef Carlos Altamirano is serving excellent sandwiches, including a lomo saltado stuffed with beef tenderloin, sweet potato fries, and aioli, as well as skewers, salads, and alfajores.

Chef Daniel Evers (Al’s Place, Cotogna) and partner Min Park (Rooster and Rice, Bonchon) teamed up to open a modern Italian restaurant in the Mission, taking over the Bar Obispo space on 24th Street. Due to the pandemic, they backed into the their business plan and started with pizza delivery, but they finally opened for indoor dining on August 5, debuting the full vision for raw crudo and fresh pasta.

The opening of Chisai Sushi Club is a bit of a homecoming for chef Erik Aplin, who formerly worked as chef de cuisine at Ichi, the Mission Street sushi restaurant once located in the sliver of space Chisai now calls home. But Aplin is setting a new tone with his self-described affordable omakase menus: he infuses Western influences into his open-face temaki filling sheets of nori with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado and offers a “deli-style” hand roll with cured carrot “lox” on the restaurant’s vegetarian tasting menu. If you nab a reservation in the tiny dining room, take a moment to gaze up at the painting of Ocean Beach and the Cliff House of a bygone era. 

A new izakaya sizzled open in Bernal Heights in May. Shokudou is a new restaurant from Chef Stewart Chen, who also owns Umi sushi restaurant in nearby Potrero. Shokudou stars kushiyaki grilled skewers and plenty of sake and beer, including crispy hamachi collars sweetened with miso, and steak wrapped around green onions, asparagus, or enoki, then skewered and grilled.