San Francisco Restaurants, Bars and Dining Guide

Restaurants Guide

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Restaurants Guide (critics' picks are listed first) Reset Search


1550 Hyde Cafe and Wine Bar				Write a Review
1550 Hyde (at Pacific)	California cuisine, Greek/Mediterranean	$$$, $$$$	Nob Hill/Russian Hill
A charming neighborhood restaurant that's worth a drive from yours. The short but generally reliable menu (about seven starters, about the same number of main courses) features seasonal California cooking with a Mediterranean influence, complemented by a thoughtful and interesting wine list.... More >>

Absinthe				Write a Review
398 Hayes (at Gough)	California cuisine, French	$$$, $$$$	Hayes Valley/Tenderloin
You can get anything you want including absinthe (now that it has been legalized) at this extremely pleasant French restaurant in Hayes Valley's restaurant row, which services the Opera House and Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. Every gustatory desire, from exquisite cocktails through ripe... More >>

Angkor Borei				Write a Review
3471 Mission (at Cortland)	Asian Other, Cambodian/Burmese	$, $$	Mission/Bernal Heights
This family-run, Outer Mission/Bernal Heights favorite is worth the trip from anywhere in the city for its charming service and unique food. For a meal you won't find elsewhere, stick to the Cambodian specialties, including the "stewed ground pork" (prahok), a warm dip strongly flavored with... More >>

Bar Jules				Write a Review
609 Hayes (at Laguna)	Breakfast/Brunch, California cuisine, Greek/Mediterranean, New American	$$, $$$	Hayes Valley/Tenderloin
A charming small restaurant in Hayes Valley that changes its entire menu virtually every day (check the blackboard on the Web site to find out what’s cooking), in response to what’s fresh and local and the whim of owner-chef Jessica Boncutter. The menu is tightly focused: usually... More >>

Bar Tartine				Write a Review
561 Valencia (at 16th St.)	California cuisine, Dessert, Greek/Mediterranean	$$$	Mission/Bernal Heights

Battambang				Write a Review
850 Broadway (at Eighth St.)	Asian Other, Cambodian/Burmese	$, $$	East Oakland
This place is a find: a truly wonderful Cambodian restaurant, whose pleasant, small, and immaculate dining room doesn't begin to suggest the wonders served up there on a daily basis (well, it's closed Sunday). We've enjoyed literally everything the kitchen serves, especially soups made with... More >>

Bix				Write a Review
56 Gold (at Montgomery)	American, California cuisine, French	$$$, $$$$	Union Square/Financial District
Bix is San Francisco's closest approximation of a supper club, with a superb bar and very good food that ranges from tony snacks (potato puffs with caviar, chicken hash, a truffled hamburger) to more serious dining (starters of foie gras, grilled marrow bones, and thoughtfully composed salads... More >>

The Blue Plate				Write a Review
3218 Mission (at 29th St.)	American, California cuisine	$$$, $$$$	Mission/Bernal Heights
Inventive, well-prepared takes on classic dishes -- like a flatiron steak with huckleberry potato salad and a pork chop with baby mustard greens and hominy -- are followed by homey desserts like chocolate cake and banana cream pie. More >>

Bocadillos				Write a Review
710 Montgomery (at Columbus)	Spanish, Tapas/Small Plates	$, $$, $$$	Embarcadero
This small, chic spot is the latest venture of Gerald Hirigoyen. Its ambitions are much more modest than his Fringale, Pastis, or Piperade, but the food is as big in flavor. The lunch menu is mostly bocadillos, small but hearty sandwiches that you order two at a time from a list of a dozen; at... More >>

Boulevard				Write a Review
1 Mission (at Steuart)	American	$$$$	Embarcadero
It's nearly impossible to go wrong at tony, wildly popular Boulevard, from the sumptuous interior by Pat Kuleto to Nancy Oakes' flawlessly executed New American menu. The offerings are seasonal but can include appetizers such as super-fine asparagus wrapped with serrano ham, ahi tartare with... More >>

Brenda's French Soul Food				Write a Review
652 Polk	American, Cajun/Creole, Southern/Soul Food	$, $$	Hayes Valley/Tenderloin
Charming small Creole spot, serving breakfast from 8 to 3 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday brunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Well-cooked specialties include beignets both sweet (stuffed with chocolate or chopped apples) and savory (yummy crawfish spiced with cayenne),... More >>

Burma Superstar				Write a Review
309 Clement (at Fourth Ave.)	Asian Other, Cambodian/Burmese	$$, $$$	Richmond (Inner)
Cozy Clement Street restaurant features stunningly good Burmese cuisine, itself a blend of Thai, Chinese, and Indian influences. Start with the moo hing nga (fish porridge), the samusa soup, or the elaborate, 22-ingredient rainbow salad. Then order a side of rice (coconut, spicy Indian-style, or... More >>

Cafe at Chez Panisse				Write a Review
1517 Shattuck (at Cedar)	California cuisine	$$$$	North Berkeley
The (slightly) less expensive upstairs adjunct to Chez Panisse proper features the cooking for which Alice Waters' establishments are justly famous amid casual, wood- and copper-heavy Mission-style décor. The daily menu -- which, unlike that downstairs, is a la carte -- is focused on... More >>

Caf� Rouge				Write a Review
1782 Fourth St. (at Virginia)	California cuisine, French, Steakhouse	$$$, $$$$	West Berkeley
Superb aged steaks, house-made charcuterie, and excellent fresh oysters are among the best things to eat at this always-reliable, comfortable, and airy Berkeley eatery. (There's a butcher shop on the premises, where you can choose from among 17 different sausages, salt-cured foie gras, and prime... More >>

Canteen				Write a Review
Commodore Hotel, 817 Sutter (at Jones)	California cuisine, French	$$, $$$	Nob Hill/Russian Hill
Chef Dennis Leary, late of Rubicon, cooks every dish in a tiny open galley kitchen, in this once-diner, now modern eatery, which features 4 booths and 7 counter stools. The three dinner seatings fill up a week or two in advance, because his seasonal fare (menus change weekly) is amazingly... More >>

Chapeau!				Write a Review
1408 Clement (at 15th Ave.)	French	$$, $$$	Richmond (Inner)
The French food served in this snug, cozy little Clement storefront is intelligently conceived (whether classical or more modern fare), generously portioned, and an amazing bargain. There's a three-course prix fixe that allows choices from almost everything on the menu, with supplements for such... More >>

Chenery Park				Write a Review
683 Chenery (at Diamond)	American, New American	$$$	Twin Peaks/Glen Park
One of San Francisco's dining gems (semihidden in its cozy neighborhood), Chenery Park manages to be at once sophisticated and homey, in both its art-lined trilevel setting and its menu. Its cuisine features classic American dishes (special fried chicken, mac and cheese) and eclectic New... More >>

China Village				Write a Review
1335 Solano (at Ramona)	Chinese	$$	Albany
Ignore the generic, brightly colored laminated menu and go for the simpler, though still lengthy, one that lists the spicy Sichuan specialties (happily, in English) that are the glory of this Albany spot. Among our favorite dishes are dumplings with homemade sauce, spicy boiled beef and... More >>

Chow				Write a Review
215 Church (at Market)	California cuisine	$, $$, $$$	Castro/Noe Valley
This small chain has parlayed a simple and admirable formula -- interesting, seasonal, eclectic food, well-prepared and affordable -- into three busy, useful restaurants. The original location is always hopping, and attracts a young crowd. More >>

Cinderella Bakery and Café				Write a Review
436 Balboa	German/Polish/Russian	$, $$	Richmond (Inner)
This modest, wonderful neighborhood spot -- in business since 1953 -- offers a large menu of Russian specialties. We love anything dough-based (piroshki, Siberian pies, blintzes, blini, pelmeni, vareniki) and Cinderella's soups, deli salads, and smoked fish appetizers. The main courses aren't as... More >>

Coi				Write a Review
373 Broadway (at Montgomery)	California cuisine, French	$$$$	North Beach/Chinatown
Coi is the home of gifted, adventurous chef Daniel Patterson, who showcases his refined and sophisticated California-French cooking in two nightly prix-fixe dinners, a multi-course tasting menu and a four-course meal with several choices per course. The dining room is calm, windowless, suffused... More >>

Ducca				Write a Review
50 Third Street	Italian/Pizza	$$$, $$$$	South of Market
Located in the newly renovated Westin Hotel just off Market, Ducca offers top-notch Italian cooking inspired by the Veneto (the region around Venice), in a formal dining room accented with Murano glass chandeliers and a lovely patio (open for lunch). Best dishes include the cichetti (Venetian... More >>

Emporio Rulli Gran Caffé				Write a Review
2300 Chestnut (at Scott)	Bakery, Coffeehouse/Cafe, Italian/Pizza	$, $$	Marina/Cow Hollow
This new addition to the Emporio Rulli miniempire (the original bakery-cafe in Larkspur, a small cafe in downtown San Francisco, two coffee bars at SFO, and a mail-order business) adds terrific Italian dinners to the superb baked goods, panini, and coffee drinks it's known for (and which are... More >>

Farallon				Write a Review
450 Post (at Powell)	New American, Seafood	$$$$	Hayes Valley/Tenderloin
The years have been kind to Farallon, whose over-the-top under-the-sea décor, fresh and wacky in 1997, now feels like a classic. The vaulted ceilings and huge sea-urchin light fixtures are almost worth the (hefty) price of admission alone. (The three-course lunch menu is a bargain,... More >>

Farina Focaccia & Cucina Italiana				Write a Review
3560 18th St.	Italian/Pizza	$$, $$$	Mission/Bernal Heights
Chic, whitewashed, high-ceilinged room in the Mission, featuring the cuisine of Liguria, a region of Italy whose capital is the seacoast town of Genova. Unusual dishes include the focaccia di Recco, pizza-like dough served with toppings including stracchino cheese and ham, or tomato sauce,... More >>