The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Dosa Express
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Rank 1. Dosa Express
Southern Indian
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Rank 2. Bun Appétit
French
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Rank 3. Afghan Awasana Kabob
Afghan
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Rank 4. Shugetsu
Japanese
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Rank 5. Mingala Restaurant
Burmese/Malaysian
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #58 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
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Rank 6. Keeku da Dhaba
Indian
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Rank 7. Los Carnalitos Restaurant
Mexico City Mexican
Two brothers transformed their food truck into a Mexico City outpost, where house-made tortillas wrap squash blossoms and huitlacoche, and a guajillo-soaked pambazo arrives seared to gilded perfection. Bright Aztec murals frame the dining room as $2 tacos of suadero and al pastor arrive with the quiet confidence of people who know exactly what they're doing.
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Rank 8. Tutuli
Sonoran
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Rank 9. Tacos Mamá Cuca
Sonoran
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Rank 10. Tacos Mama Cuca
Sonoran Mexican
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Rank 11. Quattro Restaurant and Bar
Modern Italian
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Rank 12. The Village Pub
Contemporary New American
Behind a modest roadside name lies a polished dining room where the kitchen works with precision: a raviolo bursts with runny yolk and potato; duck breast arrives seared and austere. The wine list tilts toward serious French bottles, but the meal's true anchor is warmth—those Parker House rolls, buttered and golden, arriving at every table.
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Rank 13. Eylan
Contemporary Indian
Chef Srijith Gopinathan's Menlo Park dining room marries regional Indian technique with California ingredients—a flatbread of Dungeness crab and fennel-poppy sauce announces the approach immediately. Wood-fired cooking lends char and smoke throughout, whether to gulf shrimp or whole sea bream, each plate balanced enough to stand alone.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #70 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 14. The Sea by Alexander's Steakhouse
Modern Seafood
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Rank 15. Ettan
Upscale Indian
Srijith Gopinathan's upscale Indian restaurant occupies an airy, skylit bi-level space in Palo Alto where indigo fabrics and floral wallpaper set a refined stage. Kulchas stuffed with seasonal peas and ricotta arrive alongside bright green kale chutney, while crisp branzino meets green garlic and chili—each plate built around local ingredients and a cook's genuine conviction.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Srijith Gopinathan
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 17. Alexander's Steakhouse
American/Japanese
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Rank 18. Zareen's
Indian
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Zareen Khan
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Palo Alto Restaurants
- Eater The 17 Best Restaurants in Palo Alto
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A wood-fired hearth and copper vessels warm this central Palo Alto dining room, where grilled vegetables emerge smoky and tender, lamb souvlaki stays impossibly moist, and pumpkin cheesecake balances sweetness with poached fruit. The scene runs formal and prices follow accordingly, though lunch offers a lighter touch.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Palo Alto Restaurants
- Eater The 17 Best Restaurants in Palo Alto
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- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #3 · U.S. Barista Championship · Jason Yeo
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
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Rank 21. Selby's
Classic New American
A wood-paneled room where old Hollywood lingers: Selby's conducts its modern American menu with genuine ease, from a butter-poached Maine lobster crowned with golden gnocchi to steaks of austere perfection. The kitchen draws from its own ranch, and even the popovers arrive warm from the oven, as if hospitality were still the point of dining out.
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Rank 22. Madera
Contemporary
Madera's vaulted dining room overlooks the Santa Cruz Mountains while an almond wood-fired grill lends restrained smoke to ingredient-driven pastas and steaks. Silicon Valley's power brokers come here less for ostentation than for quietly confident cooking and the hotel's tranquil, mountain-lodge sophistication.
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Rank 23. Mazra
Jordanian
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jordan Makableh and Saif Makableh
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #81 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 24. Protégé
Contemporary New American
Chef Anthony Secviar, a French Laundry alum, pairs refined but unfussy cooking—think sablefish with sweet onion dashi, morel lasagna—with a sommelier's wine list in a relaxed modern room. The lounge's à la carte and trolley desserts balance the tasting menu's ambition without pretension.
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Rank 25. Little Blue Door
Cal-Indian
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Rank 26. Zola
French
Zola trades pure formality for the ease of a French bistro steeped in California light. Mussels swim in vermouth cream; a soft egg breaks over Parisian gnocchi thick with mushrooms; filet mignon arrives with pommes purées and sauce Périgueux. The room splits between intimate dining and a livelier bar where cocktails and a wine list balancing Bordeaux with Napa feel equally at home.
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Rank 27. Range Life
Californian
Range Life, a Livermore outpost from husband-and-wife team Bill and Sarah Niles, pairs rustic warmth and arched windows with a staff whose enthusiasm feels genuinely earned. The cooking—fig toast with olive oil, delicately fried squash, cod with flageolet beans—trades metropolitan pretense for straightforward pleasure.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Tri-Valley Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
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Rank 28. Rooh
Progressive Indian
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Rank 29. Ethel's Fancy
Californian New American
Chef Scott Nishiyama trades fine dining for casual California cooking, crafting a small shared menu where swordfish katsu meets spiced kumquats with understated grace. Rustic-elegant rooms and desserts like hojicha tapioca pudding with rice cracker bark make this Palo Alto spot feel like a refined dinner at a friend's table.
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Rank 30. Bevri
Georgian Eastern European
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Rank 31. Ramen Nagi
Japanese Noodles
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Rank 32. Coconuts
Caribbean
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Rank 33. Plumed Horse
Californian New American
An elegant room in a seventies-modern cottage on the peninsula, where Chef Peter Armellino builds his California cuisine around house-made pastas and the occasional flourish—a black pepper soufflé gilded with uni and crab, vegetables treated with the same conviction as beef cheek ragu. The wine program, visible through glass behind the bar, suggests a proprietor unafraid of depth.
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Rank 34. LeYou Ethiopian
Ethiopian
The dining room at LeYou breathes with tall plants and coffee-bag tables under glass, a contemporary setting for chef Aida Taye's lighter take on Ethiopian cooking. Her tuna kifto and crisp, chili-dusted kategna suggest a kitchen intent on reimagining tradition rather than merely preserving it.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #46 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 35. Mrs Khan Uyghur Cuisine
Uyghur Middle Eastern
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #94 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 36. Kajiken
Japanese Noodles
A Nagoya import serving abura soba—noodles without broth, alive instead with housemade oil and sauce—where the springy strands taste compelling on their own, though nine topping varieties invite endless tweaking. Watch the noodles being pulled through the window while you adjust your bowl with house vinegars and hot sauces, the kind of small control that makes eating here feel like collaboration.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #35 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #87 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
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Rank 38. 10 Butchers Korean BBQ
Korean Barbecue
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #74 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 39. Sabio on Main
Californian New American
The dining room glows with arched wood panels and backlit wine, a theatrical setting for cooking that pivots sharply with the seasons. Dishes like spring garlic velouté with Livermore olive oil and za'atar-roasted romanesco show a hand attuned to local produce and regenerative sourcing. The food arrives with clarity and restraint, letting ingredients speak rather than overwhelm.
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Rank 40. Wakuriya
Japanese
Katsuhiro Yamasaki commands the counter at this eight-seat temple of kaiseki, where each monthly menu threads classical technique with California's seasonal bounty—a silver spoon might cradle lobster in dashi gelée, soft-boiled egg, crisp kombu. The steamed black cod arrives flawless, the sashimi course assured, each plate a studied conversation between tradition and the chef's singular vision.
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Rank 41. Fikscue Craft Barbecue
Barbecue
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Fik Saleh and Reka Saleh
- Eater 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 42. Mi Rinconcito Oaxaqueño
Oaxacan Mexican
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In San Jose
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 43. Commis
Contemporary
James Syhabout's calm neighborhood tasting room on Piedmont Avenue moves with the precision of someone drawing from Thai and Chinese traditions while sourcing obsessively local. A slow-poached egg yolk in malt cream, raw fish dressed with aged soy and fermented plum—each plate announces itself as both familiar and strangely refined.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · James Syhabout
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Rank 44. Oyo Restaurant & Jive Bar
South American
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Rank 45. Duc Huong
Vietnamese
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In San Jose
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Rank 46. Bombera
Contemporary Mexican
Housed in a former fire station, Bombera channels wood-fired intensity into refined Mexican cooking, with house-made blue corn tortillas and mole verde that reveals layers of nutty complexity. Chef Dominica Rice-Cisneros builds each dish from heritage techniques and local ingredients, never announcing either.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #25 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 47. Kunjip
Korean
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #67 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bakeries of the Bay Area
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Rank 49. Petiscos
Portuguese Mediterranean
At a corner bar alive with the hum of Portuguese conversation, small plates arrive meant for sharing—broa, octopus salad, grilled sardines—each one a study in restraint and imported authenticity. The braised pig ears, dressed in citrus and herbs, taste like home cooking elevated just enough to matter.
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Rank 50. Burma! Burma!
Burmese
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Rank 51. Amakara Sushi
Japanese
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Rank 52. Vientian Cafe
Lao/Thai/Vietnamese
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #95 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
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Rank 53. Yafa Hummus
Mediterranean
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Rank 55. Bo Ne Phu Yen
Vietnamese
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #42 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 56. Sushi Yoshizumi
Edomae Sushi
Eight cypress-lined seats, a silent chef, and the methodical construction of Edomae sushi—each piece a small argument for restraint. Chef Akira Yoshizumi's nigiri arrives barely dressed, the fish doing the talking: tender bluefin, creamy ankimo, seasonal buri finished with a brightness of green onion. This is sushi for people who've thought about sushi.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Akira Yoshizumi
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 57. Esin Restaurant & Bar
American/Mediterranean
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Rank 58. Top Hatters Kitchen & Bar
Vietnamese-Californian New American
In a San Leandro suburb far quieter than the freeway it borders, this former hat shop channels its name into millinery-themed cocktails and a kitchen that merges Vietnamese and Californian sensibilities. Chef Vu's crunchy rice cakes and braised oxtail over creamy grits possess an uncommon depth, settling toward lemon-ricotta zeppole that lands like a pillow.
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- Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In San Jose, California
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
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Rank 60. El Tacostao
Mexican
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Rank 61. Royal Thaali
Vegetarian Indian
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Rank 62. Annachi Kadai
Chettinad-Style
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Rank 63. Viridian
Northern Californian
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- Punch 2025 · Best New Bartenders · Kat Parsons
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
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Rank 64. A Slice of New York
NY-Style
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Rank 65. Spinning Bones
Californian American
An industrial rotisserie in Alameda where koji-marinated meats spit over flame to a rosy finish, flanked by Napa slaw and corn fritters with strawberry jam. The counter kitchen and indigo ceiling set a casual stage for umami-forward cooking that draws equally from California, Hawaii, and Japan—desserts like butter mochi cake arrive featherlight, almost apologetically so.
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Rank 66. Le Papillon
European
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- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
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Rank 68. Naschmarkt
Austrian/German
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Rank 69. Wildseed
Californian
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Rank 70. Telefèric Barcelona
Spanish
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Rank 71. Star Chaat Cuisine
Indian
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Rank 72. Sun of Wolf
Mexican
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Rank 73. Mediterranean Wraps
Mediterranean
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Rank 74. Terún
Neopolitan
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Rank 77. Yeobo, Darling
Korean Contemporary
In a Menlo Park storefront, Meichih and Michael Kim channel Korean and Taiwanese influences through small plates designed for sharing: a crisp potato jeon crowned with uni and prosciutto, lasagna layered with soy-braised pork, wagyu kalbi with house-made banchan. The cooking is precise and playful, comfort and technique in constant conversation, finishing with creamy soft serve and seasonal fruit.
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Rank 78. Camper
Californian New American
Corner windows flood this Menlo Park kitchen with light while it pursues Californian cooking with real depth—a ten-hour ragù, potato soup with green garlic pesto, buttermilk fried chicken. The caramelized milk jam pudding finishes what the buzzing room and open kitchen promise.
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Rank 79. Vina Enoteca
Italian
An Italian owner's passion project in an industrial-chic space with soaring ceilings and soft leather chairs. House-made pastas—particularly spinach tagliatelle wound with local pork and beef ragù—anchor a kitchen that sources heavily from Stanford Education Farm and crafts its own breads and pizzas. Friendly, efficient service whether you're at the bar or the table.
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Rank 80. Tamarine Restaurant
Modern Vietnamese
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Rank 81. Banh Mi Ba Le
Noodles
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
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Rank 82. Sekoya
Mediterranean
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Rank 83. President's Terrace
Californian
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Rank 84. La Viga Seafood & Cocina Mexicana
Seafood Mexican
A cheerful room wedged between industrial Redwood City and downtown serves seafood with the urgency of a market stall. Fried snapper tacos arrive with chipotle crema; tallarines con mariscos pile al dente noodles, pristine shellfish, and spicy tomato into something generous and cheap. The kitchen trades precision for volume and heat—a philosophy that works.
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Rank 85. LUNA Mexican Kitchen
Mexican
The moon rises over San Jose in the form of a kitchen where owner Jo Lerma-Lopez sources Rancho Gordo beans and Mary's chicken, then presses fresh tortillas by hand for crisp fish tacos and sizzling parrilladas that taste of real conviction. The cantina hums with the ease of a place built on principle rather than trend.
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Rank 86. Sun Moon Studio
Californian New American
Inside a modest Union Street unit, Alan Hsu and Sarah Cooper execute a seasonal tasting menu of technical precision and quiet personality, letting Californian products—Dungeness crab with yuzu kosho butter, silken tofu, wild mushrooms—speak first. The baked goods, from savory egg tarts to steamed brioche, are revelations. A destination that whispers rather than shouts.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu
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Rank 87. 88 Bao Bao
Chinese
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Rank 89. Sushi Shin
Omakase Sushi
Chef Jason Zhan works the counter at this understated Redwood City spot with the focused grace of someone who knows exactly what he's doing. His omakase unfolds through carefully sourced seasonal fish—tempura greeneye dusted with matcha, soy-marinated snail, pristine nigiri—each piece a small argument for restraint and precision over spectacle.
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Rank 90. Macarena
Spanish
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Rank 91. Oklava
Turkish
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Rank 92. Meyhouse
Turkish
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Rank 94. Saint Michael's Alley
Californian
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Kao Saelee's Oakland restaurant marries Thai fundamentals with playful irreverence—drunken noodles meet barbecue brisket, laab seasons a pork burger. The kitchen calibrates heat levels while the cocktail program matches the kitchen's creative ambition.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Intu-on Kornnawong
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
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Rank 97. Sifu Wong Kitchen
Chinese
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Rank 98. Pausa
Venetian Italian
A bright, late-lit room overlooks the charcuterie aging behind glass while Chef Andrea Giuliani's Venetian cooking—porchetta pizza with gorgonzola, house-cured guanciale in the amatriciana—arrives with the confidence of someone who knows his region inside out. The salumi boards and wood-fired pizzas suggest a place built on a few things done very well, without pretense.
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Rank 99. Flea St. Cafe
Farm-to-table New American
A converted house in Menlo Park where chef Jesse Dunford Wales sources vegetables from nearby farms for unfussy, ingredient-driven cooking. The small rooms and eclectic artwork preserve the intimate feeling that has defined the place since 1980.
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Rank 100. INDO Restaurant & Lounge
Indonesian