The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Fikscue Craft Barbecue
-
Rank 1. Fikscue Craft Barbecue
Barbecue
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
- Eater 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Fik Saleh and Reka Saleh
-
Rank 2. Utzutzu
Omakase Sushi
An unmarked staircase in Alameda leads to an eight-seat counter where the kitchen orchestrates an omakase of quiet precision: blanched vegetables in dashi, delicate nanbanzuke, seared whitefish. A humble fried eggplant, crowned with bonito flakes and finished with black sesame ice cream, announces the chef's willingness to let technique serve surprise rather than spectacle.
-
Rank 3. 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.
-
Rank 4. Cenaduria Elvira
Traditional Mexican
-
Rank 5. Banh Mi Ba Le
Noodles
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 6. Pena's Bakery
Mexican Bakery
-
Rank 7. 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.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · James Syhabout
-
Rank 8. 3 Bottled Fish
Vietnamese
-
Rank 9. 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
-
Rank 10. 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
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
-
Rank 11. 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
-
Rank 12. El Paisa
Mexican
-
Rank 13. Popoca
Salvadorian
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times 2025 · Guaca-mol With Tortilla and Asiento · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
-
Rank 14. Mama’s Boy Pizza
NY-Style Pizza
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #7 · 50 Top Pizza Slice USA
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
-
Rank 15. Vientian Cafe
Lao/Thai/Vietnamese
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #95 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
-
Rank 16. Tarts de Feybesse
French Bakery
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Monique Feybesse and Paul Feybesse
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Monique Feybesse
-
- Wine Enthusiast 2025 · Top 50 New Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #73 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #4 · U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Championship · Tim Tran
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
-
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
-
Rank 20. Mama Oakland
Italian
A husband-and-wife venture with dark green walls and brass chandeliers offers a three-course prix-fixe without reservations, each course a binary choice leading to house-made pasta. The kitchen returns often to braised pork and beef in tomato sugo—the dish that inspired the restaurant—paired with a wine list curated by the owners' adjacent shop.
-
Rank 21. Burdell
Southern
Geoff Davis's Temescal restaurant, named for his grandmother, serves soul food refracted through a contemporary lens—collard greens spiked with berbere, fried chicken brined in pickle, halibut crudo with buttermilk and grapefruit. The wine list is notably thoughtful, the kind of place where fried chicken and champagne feel inevitable.
- Food & Wine 2025 · #1 · The Top 15 US Restaurants
- Food & Wine 2024 · Restaurant of the Year
- Food & Wine 2024 · Roast Duck · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
-
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
-
- Food & Wine 2025 · Les Eggs · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar Program
-
Rank 24. Tacos Oscar
Mexican
Shipping containers painted in primary colors ring a courtyard strung with café lights where a chalk menu pivots daily between braised pork shoulder with avo-tomatillo salsa and charred broccoli tostadas with soy-cashew cheese. The kitchen treats vegetables and meat with equal ingenuity, as evidenced by a smoky baba ghanoush that competes on flavor alone. Arrive early with a beer and expect lines.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #11 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 25. Ming's Tasty Restaurant
Chinese
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #89 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
-
Rank 26. Joodooboo
Hyper-Seasonal Korean
- Food & Wine 2025 · Steve Joo · Best New Chefs
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Steve Joo
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #41 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 27. Soba Ichi
Japanese Noodles
A noodle counter tucked into West Oakland's industrial stretches, where handmade soba in two buckwheat ratios arrives in austere bowls—cold tenseiro with gossamer tempura shrimp, or kamo nanban, its broth deepened by duck breast. The wait stretches past forty minutes most nights, but the garden drinking space and unhurried hospitality make the pilgrimage feel deliberate rather than punishing.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #16 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
-
Rank 28. El Tacostao
Mexican
-
Rank 29. Horn Barbecue
West Coast Barbecue
Matt Horn's warehouse outpost channels West Coast barbecue through a lineage of family smoking traditions: brisket and pulled pork arrive unfussy and rich, anchored by pit beans and Granny's potatoes. The industrial room—all exposed brick and a defiant steer mural—moves fast, but the wait rewards those hungry enough to endure it.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- Esquire 2021 · #5 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
-
-
Rank 32. Bake Sum
Cantonese Bakery
- The New York Times 2024 · Croissubi · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bakeries of the Bay Area
-
Rank 33. Lucky Three Seven
Street Food Filipino
-
-
-
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
-
-
Rank 38. Poppy Bagels
California-Style
- Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bagels in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #100 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 39. Chuan Yu
Sichuan Chinese
A narrow second-floor room in Pacific Renaissance Plaza serves serious Sichuan cooking from a stripped-down space where a bottle wall glows and white booths line the right. The lotus root salad arrives bright with ginger and garlic; the mapo tofu and chongqing chicken deliver the heat and numbing spice the menu promises. Portions demand company, and the food rewards the trip upstairs.
-
Rank 40. Snail Bar
Natural Wine Bar
The perpetually crowded natural wine bar trades pretense for precision: Chef Andres Giraldo Florez's concise, seasonal menu moves from raw bar to crudités with the restraint of fine dining. Snails arrive in their shells, glossed in garlic confit and cashew miso, crowned with kumquat—a dish that sums up the place's confident, unfussy intelligence.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #15 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
-
Rank 41. Bardo Lounge & Supper Club
Supper Club Cocktail Bar
Bardo wraps you in mid-century alcoves and punch bowls while a capable kitchen updates retro comfort—broccolini casserole spiked with lemongrass vinegar, porcupine meatballs finished with mint aïoli. Earnest service and potent cocktails complete the time-slip, leaving you content to surrender to the "Dinner Party Menu" and let the kitchen decide.
-
-
Rank 43. JollyJolly Coffee & Kitchen
Caribbean/African
-
-
Rank 45. Delage
Omakase Japanese
Delage occupies a modest counter near Swan's Market where an omakase chef moves through eight seasonal courses with unhurried precision, pivoting between nigiri and kaiseki. The cooking pivots on contrast—grilled apricot against sashimi, miso against seared duck—and the result feels less like performance than intimate conversation.
-
-
Rank 47. Shandong Restaurant
Chinese
-
Rank 48. Parche
Colombian
A riot of Latin music and saturated color announces Parche before you cross the threshold, but the real draw is cooking that honors Colombian tradition while threading in African and Lebanese threads—labneh with yuca buñuelos, tahini-spiked leche de tigre. It's loud, convivial, and uninterested in restraint.
-
Rank 49. The Salty Pearl
Seafood
-
Rank 50. Lana's
American
-
Rank 51. World Famous Hotboys
Nashville Southern
-
Rank 52. Teni East Kitchen
Burmese
At Tiyo Shibabaw's bright Temescal cafe, Burmese classics meet California ingredients—tea leaf salads arrive with kale, coconut curries steam over rice noodles, and flaky roti arrives in generous piles. The lunchtime specials trade fuss for flavor at prices that feel like a bargain, each plate generous enough to justify the wait.
-
-
-
Rank 55. Smelly’s
Cajun & Creole
-
-
Rank 57. Mägo
Colombian/S. American
-
Rank 58. FOB Kitchen
Filipino
Janice Dulce's Filipino restaurant commands a narrow Temescal space with whimsical wallpaper and an island ease, where a cocktail at the bar softens the wait. The menu pivots between steady keepers and specials like coffee-rubbed ribs with banana ketchup and sinigang that justify the crowds.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #97 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 59. Pomet
New American
A farmer-chef's appreciation for ingredient quality shapes every plate at this Oakland fine-dining spot, where oysters meet Niitaka pear and cider mignonette, and pasta cradles mushroom puree in celery root miso butter. Aomboon Deasy's sourcing—drawing from his own orchards and a web of local growers—permits a cooking style of deliberate restraint, letting seasonality speak louder than technique.
-
Rank 60. Daytrip Counter
Californian
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Finn Stern
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
- Bon Appétit 2022 · America's Best New Restaurants
-
Rank 61. Mensho
Noodles
-
Rank 62. Ok's Deli
Asian-American
-
Rank 63. Alem’s Coffee
Ethiopian
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #90 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
-
Rank 64. Aman Cafe
Malaysian
-
Rank 65. Tacos Mi Reynita
Mexican
-
Picnic tables draped in bright plastic and unhurried service conjure a Thai roadside kitchen, where grilled meats and fiery green papaya salad arrive with uncompromising punch. The curries and drunken noodles respect your heat tolerance, but the mango sticky rice—coconut-sweet, gently cooling—suggests the kitchen knows when restraint matters most.
-
Rank 67. Cafe Colucci
Ethiopian
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #82 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
-
-
Rank 69. Hawking Bird
Southeast Asian
-
Rank 70. Belotti Ristorante e Bottega
Piemontese Italian
A neighborhood enoteca on Rockridge's main stretch where the owner holds court in Italian and regulars claim bar stools like reserved seats. House-made pastas anchor the menu—spaghettini with tomato and burrata, brasato over polenta finished with nebbiolo—alongside smaller surprises: butter lettuce with pine nuts, a truffle-touched spinach flan. Casual and convivial, built for lingering.
-
Rank 71. Pucquio
Contemporary Peruvian
-
Rank 72. Sfizio
Italian
-
-
Rank 74. 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.
-
Rank 75. Wood Tavern
Italian-inflected New American
At the heart of Rockridge, Wood Tavern draws a mixed crowd to its copper bar for wine and conversation amid the organic grocers and bookstores. Seasonal California cooking with Italian inflections—a butcher block of house charcuterie, bucatini bolognese, pan-roasted chicken with fingerlings—arrives without pretense, while crème brûlée cheesecake with yuzu curd offers a graceful close.
-
Rank 76. Oken
Japanese/Korean
-
Rank 77. Mujiri
Japanese
-
Rank 78. Boichik Bagels
NY-Style
-
Rank 79. Barcote Ethiopian Restaurant
Traditional Ethiopian
The chef-owners at Barcote layer spice and warmth into their Ethiopian cooking with the ease of people who've cooked this way their whole lives, whether you're eating kitfo or misir wot under the front patio's trees. The food lingers—not because it's slow, but because each dish asks you to stay awhile.
-
Rank 80. Tanzie's
Thai
- The New York Times 2025 · Khanom Krok · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- Eater Restaurant Where We'd Want to Be Regulars
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
-
Rank 81. Lemat Restaurant
Ethiopian
-
Rank 82. Saison
Californian New American
A warehouse devoted to the hearth, where Chef Richard Lee orchestrates playful, earnest cooking—tuna tartlette, rabbit with morels, antelope with blueberries—for San Francisco's elite. The wine program is exceptionally deep, the crowd studiously cool, the setting rustically refined.
-
Rank 83. Benu
Asian
Chef Corey Lee's tasting menu unfolds with technical precision, each course a miniature study in restraint and refinement. A roasted quail, glazed tableside with maple and soy, epitomizes his gift for marrying tradition with invention.
-
Rank 84. Kaokao Grill
Chinese-American
-
Rank 85. Emilia's Pizzeria
NY-Style
-
Rank 86. Great China
Chinese
Great China appeals equally to students, families, and style-conscious diners with refined ingredients and generous portions at modest prices. The tea-smoked duck and mung bean noodle platters shine; arrive early or expect a wait.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 87. Kiraku
Japanese
-
Rank 88. Ippuku
Japanese
Low wooden tables and extensive sake selection conjure a Tokyo izakaya in downtown Berkeley. Yakitori emerges from the binchotan with smoky char—thighs, necks, hearts, gizzards—while Dungeness crab korokke and caramelized yaki-imo arrive golden and crisp. A discreet entrance rewards those who find it.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #91 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
-
Rank 89. Miller & Lux
Steakhouse
Tyler Florence's steakhouse rises improbably elegant near the waterfront, all vintage mirrors and modern angles. Oysters arrive from an in-kitchen saltwater tank; dry-aged beef is seared mahogany-dark and finished with barley; tableside Caesar and Dover sole meunière arrive with ceremony. A splurge worth making.
- World's 101 Best #25 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
-
Rank 90. Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya
Japanese
Chef Asuka Uchida's modern izakaya dispenses skewers, karaage, and sando with equal precision from a sleek blue storefront. Green bean fritters dusted with sansho and silken tofu ginger showcase technique that extends across every corner of the menu.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
- Esquire 2021 · #38 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #50 · 50 Top Pizza USA
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #13 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
-
Rank 92. Vik's Chaat
Indian
A spare Berkeley canteen where chaat and tandoori chicken share counter space with a grocery market, each bite carrying authentic char and spice. Lunch specials offer serious value; the kitchen closes early, so arrive hungry and on time.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #62 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
-
Rank 93. Quince
Contemporary
In a refreshed early 1900s room in Jackson Square, Chef Michael Tusk builds menus from his partner farm's seasonal bounty with surgical precision: silky broth married to guanciale and clam, agnolotti tender with white asparagus, lamb from the fireplace scattered with favas and edible flowers. The cooking is restrained and confident, letting each ingredient declare itself.
-
Rank 94. The Cultured Pickle Shop
Asian-Inspired
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #59 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Berkeley Restaurants
-
Rank 95. Angler
Seafood
A hunter's lodge aesthetic frames the view along the Embarcadero, where an open fire drives the menu—embered oysters with smoked chili butter, a radicchio salad that demands a knife, aged black cod with seaweed-buttered rolls. The kitchen's restraint and deliberation show in every char and sauce, building toward soft-serve sundae in warm salted caramel and cocoa nibs.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- The Infatuation Soft Serve Sundae · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
-
Rank 96. Atelier Crenn
Contemporary French
Crenn's white-walled atelier channels a painter's precision, each seafood course glazed in silken sauces that speak to her Breton roots and California present. A grandmother's brioche and vegetables from Sonoma orchards anchor the pescatarian tasting menu in something tactile and real, even as desserts from Juan Contreras push toward pure invention.
-
Rank 97. Sons & Daughters
Contemporary
Harrison Cheney's tasting menu moves through fermented vegetables, foraged mushrooms, and carefully butchered seafood with the precision of Nordic technique and the warmth of British comfort—a quail egg wrapped in sausage, rutabaga noodles glossed in pork fat and brown butter. Service matches the cooking's generosity.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Harrison Cheney
-
-
Rank 99. La Marcha Tapas Bar
Spanish
The team behind Ñora Cocina Española brings paella and tapas to a lively San Pablo Avenue room where head-on garlic shrimp and salt cod croquettes arrive alongside inventive rice dishes like pork-heavy "tres cerditos." Groups congregate around sizable pans while solo diners work the L-shaped bar, each finding their angle on Spanish food executed with clear technical skill and generosity.
-
Rank 100. Lazy Bear
Contemporary
A warehouse dressed as a hunting lodge stages nightly tastings that toggle between nostalgia and ambition—oysters arrive two ways, one bright with gooseberry, another charred and glazed; butter-soft A5 ribeye meets oxtail and sour cherry tart with architectural precision. The cooking trades subtlety for swagger, and it lands.