SF food

SF food

Best Burrito? Best Night Market? Best Clothing Store? Best Date Restaurant? You know best, and we're extending Best of the Bay Readers' Poll voting through Friday so you can show the Bay your love.

Perhaps no cuisine is as frustratingly scarce in the Bay Area as the one I was born into - Armenian food. While San Francisco once boasted a world-famous Armenian restaurant, you can't find so much as a food truck now with an officially Armenian menu. As if taunting me, Los Angeles with its larger diaspora population has a thriving Armenian food scene, including one restaurant in the Michelin Guide.

Crossing the threshold into the San Francisco brunch restaurant, Early to Rise brings an instant feeling of comfort - a direct reflection of the spirit of Southern hospitality it aspires to embody. After operating for eight years as a meandering pop-up, this eatery from chef Andrew McCormack finally settled into its permanent home within the San Francisco restaurant scene in 2024.

A guide to the best restaurants in the Mission is a daunting task. The historically Hispanic/Latinx neighborhood is filled with more great restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the city thanks to its diverse population and sheer size. But we've trimmed down the options for you to include 31 of the neighborhood's most unmissable restaurants, from iconic taquerias and Japanese cafes to excellent spots for pasta. Now go forth and explore them all.

Our very serious formula takes into account important factors like menu variety, wrapper chewiness, and soup-to-meat ratio of xiao long bao. Bonus points for alliteration (hi, Dumpling Dynasty), or names that make us want to sign a lease and move in (love you, Dumpling Home). If you're looking for all of our favorite dumpling spots in SF, regardless of what they're called, we've got a guide for that, too.

Ernest chef-owner Brandon Rice, whose Mission District restaurant continues to be a hot ticket after four years, is ready to expand with a second spot, tenatively called Lawrence. As the SF Business Times reports via liquor license activity, Rice is taking over the former Alexander's Steakhouse space at 488 Brannan Street. He won't yet share any details about the new concept, but did confirm to the publication that it is int he works.

"I did a lot of pizza festivals over the years. I did one in New York. I was in Naples. I was in Chicago. Then I said San Francisco really has to have a pizza festival but COVID happened, so I couldn't do it. But right out of COVID, I started it. And thought, let's add a beer component. Let's add a bagel component. And here we are," Gemignani said.

The team continues to grow their Hayes Valley footprint with a casual offshoot called RT Bistro. It'll be right next door to their original Rich Table and is their third concept after nearby RT Rotisserie (with another location in NoPa). Expect wood-fired vegetables, icebox pies with roasted fruit, and a burger topped with toma cheese and bacon jam.

San Francisco earned the nickname 'Paris of the West' due to its early French immigrants who contributed to the city's culture, cuisine, and architecture.

Sushi options in San Francisco are abundant. There are casual joints with novel-length sushi menus, neighborhood staples that go above and beyond, and extravagant omakase counters perfect for big deal occasions. The one thing all the places on this guide have in common-they're where you want to go for excellent fish, whether you're looking to drop $30 or $300. Read on for the 20 best sushi restaurants in the city.

Check out George's Donuts drool-worthy Che Fico collab, Salt & Straw's apple delights, and Bonjour Bakehouse's French pastries. Treats also abound at celebrations across the city: it's time for cake with Claude the Alligator at the Cal Academy of Sciences, Duboce Park, and Project Open Hand, and edible spreads for Malaysia Day at Damansara, Latin American Heritage Month at Mago, and Cheese Fest at the Ferry Building.

If you find yourself in need of a seafood recommendation in Fisherman's Wharf, chances are you'll be directed to the Codmother Fish & Chips food truck, where a humble, affordable basket of battered fried fish will instantly win you over. For nearly 15 years, the popular San Francisco food truck has been a favorite among tourists and locals alike, who make a point to stop by its permanent location at the corner of Jones and Beach streets for a basket of classic fish-and-chips.

Mouth-tingling, lip-numbing heat is a major theme in Sichuan cuisine, and the menu at Z&Y Restaurant puts it front and center. Red-hot chilies and Sichuan peppercorns work hand-in-hand (a combination called má là), treating your taste buds to an explosion of burn before soothing them with a mild buzz. These vibrant dishes that don't hold back on flavor - like duck blood with pickled vegetables and vermicelli, griddle-cooked intestine stew,

I messed around with bagels here and there and realized that out of all the stuff I made, they were my favorite thing to eat,

There are a lot of certainties to life in SF, such as a Waymo taking 15 minutes to turn onto Mission St., daily Allbirds sightings, and a line at Neighbor Bakehouse. The bakery has built up a well-deserved reputation for mastering all things laminated-they make one of our favorite savory croissants in the city. But it's not just about a flaky pastry filled with glistening barbecue pork. The rest of their pastries are also what'll have you ordering "just one more" at the counter.

At first glance, this Peruvian spot in the Sunset looks like any one of the sports bars you'd expect to see around the city. The difference is Lomo Libre serves ceviche with fish we'd guess were caught earlier that day from Ocean Beach, oysters with a tangy mango mignonette, and a hearty lomo saltado with crispy french fries. Pull up to one of the bar stools and watch a soccer game on one of the many wall-mounted TVs. Don't forget to get a pisco sour.

Nara (not to be confused with the previously affiliated Nara on Polk) is a Lower Haight staple for casual sushi dinners. The dining room is big enough to double as a roller skating rink, so it's also a great choice for spur-of-the-moment group get-togethers. Dishes like daily nigiri specials and mainstay rolls topped with seared butterfish get the job done, especially if you're in the area and urgently need fish and rice.

Mission Bay, often perceived as sterile with its biotech buildings, hides its charm in unexpected experiences like enjoying a gourmet meal next to a hot dog stand.

Join us for a day of celebration in the street supporting our local Front Street bars: Schroeder's, Harrington's Bar & Grill, and Royal Exchange.

The breakfast sandwiches from this Mission spot are what dreams are made of, including the BEC, a gooey hand-held concoction with American cheese, bacon, a fried egg, and a poppy seed roll.

"After much reflection, we've come to realize that the most important thing we can do right now is to step away and focus fully on spending time together."

The former Marlena space in Bernal Heights is now Precita Social, a bistro with a seasonally changing menu, featuring dishes like handrolls with lobster and uni.

Balingit emphasized the creative journey of opening Tropa, stating that Filipino cuisine is culturally diverse, deeply influenced by Spanish, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese flavors.

Chef JB Balingit's newest restaurant is Tropa, a modern Filipino restaurant located in Lafayette. The menu reflects a rich blend of Filipino flavors influenced by various cultures, including Spanish and Indian.

Our 43rd season of Free Shakespeare in the Park brings you Shakespeare's romantic comedy 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza. Since 1983, we've brought our Free Shakes production to audiences around the SF Bay Area; no tickets or Shakespeare experience required!

The exhibition features an array of classic telephones from the late 1800s to the 1990s, showcasing designs from Art Deco phones to 1960s Picturephones and a 1958 Touch-Tone prototype.