The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near The Progress
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Rank 1. The Progress
Nordic-Californian New American
Sunlit and wood-lined near the Fillmore Theater, The Progress marries California ingredients with Nordic sensibility in boldly seasoned, share-friendly dishes. Burrata arrives with fried butter beans and strawberries; seaweed noodles swim in brown butter and dashi. The Liberty Farms duck, crowned with crispy peanut fried rice, is a showstopper designed to turn heads.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 2. State Bird Provisions
Californian New American
At State Bird Provisions, carts wheel through a packed dining room while diners pluck small plates in real time—dumplings, liver mousse, savory pancakes—assembling their own sequence of California cooking. The choreography of choice matters as much as the thoughtful, shifting menu itself.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
- Esquire 2021 · #15 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 4. Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement
Southern
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation #23 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
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Rank 5. Copra
Kerala Indian
Chef Srijith Gopinathan channels Kerala's coastal traditions in a lush Fillmore Street dining room designed for lingering. A shell-on Konkan crab curry glistens with tamarind and dried chiles; fried chicken carries the perfume of street-food memory. The food wears its nostalgia unselfconsciously, indifferent to the room's contemporary gloss.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Srijith “Sri” Gopinathan
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 6. 7 Adams
Californian New American
Serena and David Fisher cook with unhurried confidence in this railway-style room, where a seasonal menu balances technique with restraint. Handmade pasta and carefully calibrated broths reveal a distinctly Californian sensibility, one that favors support over spectacle.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 7. Bansang
Korean
At Bansang, a centuries-old Korean communal dining tradition meets an unapologetic contemporary sensibility—parmesan and chorizo slide alongside kimchi fried rice and mulhwe, a raw seafood broth of chilled fermented chili. The soy-lime glazed fried chicken arrives with a craggy, shattering crust and juicy meat so compelling you'll want to abandon all pretense of sharing.
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Rank 8. Nari
Contemporary Thai
A dramatic room inside Hotel Kabuki sets the stage for Chef Pim Techamuanvivit's refined take on Thai cooking, where California ingredients meet intense aromatics and a deft hand with heat. A brick-red bumbai curry arrives with crispy fried eggplant and ethereal roti; grilled squid shares the plate with sticky-sweet pork jowl and chili-lime dressing. Family-style dining elevated.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- The Infatuation #14 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 9. 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.
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Rank 10. Acquerello
Italian
Suzette Gresham's A-frame dining room has sheltered ambitious Italian cooking since 1989, where handmade pastas and pristine seafood arrive with equal finesse and daring. The mignardises cart alone—stacked with housemade chocolates and caramels—suggests a kitchen that understands generosity as a form of rigor.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- AAA Four Diamonds
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Italian Cuisine Restaurant
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Rank 11. Hed 11
Thai
In a corner of the Kimpton Hotel Enso, Chef Saint Boonprasan orchestrates an eleven-course Thai tasting that weaves regional tradition with contemporary technique, sweet against savory in disciplined succession. Coconut pancakes with caviar and lime, scallop-crowned rice noodles, Thai cheesecake with fried onions—each course arrives as part of a deliberate whole, never indulgent, always precise.
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Rank 12. The Happy Crane
Modern Chinese
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Eater 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
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Tucked into a Japantown mall corner, this sushi counter barely interrupts the foot traffic, yet the nigiri here—silky fish, clean technique—competes with more visible operations. A lightly torched wild star butterfish dissolves on the tongue; a handroll of chopped bluefin and pickled daikon crackles with nori. Five to twelve pieces, reasonable prices, no pretense.
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Rank 14. Best Boy Electric
Coffee
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Rank 15. House of Prime Rib
Steakhouse
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- Esquire 2025 · Martini · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 16. Yuji
Japanese
A nine-seat counter in Japantown where punctuality matters—the meal starts without stragglers. Yuji moves through a twelve-course kappo progression of delicate, seasonal bites: pristine sashimi, crispy fried tilefish, rice enriched with hairy crab, finishing with silky matcha custard. Intimate enough that you watch the work unfold mere inches away.
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Rank 17. Kiln
Nordic New American
Chef John Wesley's spare warehouse tasting menu channels Nordic preservation techniques—curing, drying, fermentation—into deceptively simple dishes of intricate craft. A puffed beef tendon or squab lacquered in burnt honey reveals the kitchen's balance of rusticity and refinement across each course.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 18. Maruwu Seicha
Japanese
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Rank 19. Smuggler's Cove
Tiki Cocktail Bar
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Rank 20. SPQR
Italian
A narrow room with skylights and open kitchen hums with the energy of a packed house. Chef Matthew Accarrino marries Italian technique and California produce—crespelle with pork belly and persimmon, squid ink pasta with octopus cream—in a five-course menu that moves between kitschy charm and genuine culinary ambition.
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Rank 21. Octavia
Elevated New American
Melissa Perello's restaurant sits among Victorian storefronts in Lower Pac Heights, all cream-colored walls and neighborhood warmth that belies its ambition. She works with pristine local ingredients—crispy fried artichokes, hand-rolled pasta with morels, quail balanced with grapefruit—each dish spare but considered, letting the raw material speak. The bread alone justifies a reservation.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Melissa Perello
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Rank 22. Super Mira
Japanese
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Rank 23. Jules
Sourdough Pizza
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation 2025 · #3 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 26. Routier
French
On California Street, Routier marries French bistro traditions with what the Bay Area grows best: Dungeness crab atop buttery potato pavé, pork cheeks on creamy lentils with mustard greens and apple. Chef JP Carmona's cooking is casual yet precise, the room welcoming, and the desserts—sourced from neighboring B. Patisserie—deserve their own reservation.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation Chocolate Mousse · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
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Rank 27. Rich Table
Californian New American
A compact Hayes Valley room with distressed wood and farmhouse ease fills nightly without pretense. The kitchen moves Californian ingredients through global techniques—salmon tostada with avocado purée, lobster chow mein with charred corn—with the precision of fine dining and none of its stuffiness. Arrive at the bar if a table is gone.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #3 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
- The Infatuation Coffee Crunch Cake · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
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Rank 29. Sorrel
Contemporary
Chef Alexander Hong coaxes uncommon depth from pasta—smoky zlikrofi with plum mostarda, silken gnudi crowned with fried sage—using herbs from the rooftop garden. Duck breast arrives with crackling skin and kuri squash; the small plates show equal restraint and precision.
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Rank 30. Spruce
Modern New American
Spruce pairs California's seasonal bounty with refined technique, as in roasted duck breast crusted with coriander and pistachio. Dinner elevates the experience with careful balance; lunch keeps things approachable, anchored by impeccable ingredients.
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Rank 31. Pizzeria Delfina
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 32. Outta Sight Pizza
Thin-crust Pizza
- The Infatuation #19 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
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Rank 33. Nightbird
Californian New American
Behind a carved wooden door in Hayes Valley sits a narrow dining room where Chef Kim Alter composes small plates with deliberate artistry—roasted duck breast arranged with summer squash and gooseberry compote, a spiced broth to follow. The menu pivots with the seasons; house-made breads arrive at strategic intervals, each one another small flourish in a meal designed to sustain surprise.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Kim Alter
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 34. jū-ni
Omakase Sushi
Chef Geoffrey Lee's twelve-seat omakase delivers pristine nigiri with precise flourishes—sakura masu crowned with salt-cured cherry blossom, buttery scallop, ikura finished with frozen monkfish liver. The meal unfolds with studied restraint, from vegetable courses to a gentle mochi finale.
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- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 18 Best Restaurants In NoPa
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Rank 36. Ken
Japanese
An unmarked door on Divisadero opens into Chef Ken Ngai's six-seat counter, where Hong Kong training meets Bay Area sensibility through nigiri topped with cured egg yolk and preserved plum alongside composed plates of silky chawanmushi and poached ikura in ume broth. The cozy intimacy here feels earned rather than affected.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #6 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 14 Best Restaurants In The Lower Haight
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Rank 37. Zuni Café
California New American
A copper-barred corner institution where wood-fired chicken and Caesar salad draw San Francisco regulars, though the reputation sometimes outpaces the meal. The space—angular, art-lined, perpetually crowded—matters as much as what arrives from the kitchen.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #10 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 38. Che Fico
Italian
An airy, stylish room on Divisadero where reservations vanish fast and the bar proffers cocktails spiked with green walnut and basil. The kitchen balances rustic instinct with refinement: house-made salumi, saffron spaghetti with 'nduja, pizzas with blistered crusts, whole fish from the wood-fired oven. Smart cooking that tastes like it's having fun.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · David Nayfeld
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 18 Best Restaurants In NoPa
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- The Infatuation 11 Of The Best Donuts In America
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Doughnuts in the Bay Area
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The modest storefront in NoPa fills with the smell of wood smoke and yeast by seven in the morning, its counter lined with bagels and challah pulled from an in-house oven. Nearly everything arrives from the kitchen—the bacon, the butter, the ambition—which gives the place the feeling of a breakfast operation that refuses to outsource its care.
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Rank 41. Stoa
Cocktail Bar
- Punch 2024 · Best New Bars
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Eater Best New Bar
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Rank 43. Saigon Sandwich
Vietnamese
- The Infatuation #8 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
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Rank 45. Azalina's
Malaysian
In a Tenderloin storefront designed like a tropical sanctuary, Chef Azalina Eusope interprets the Malaysian cooking of her childhood through a California lens—economy noodles topped with barbecued quail and toasted hazelnuts, steelhead trout wrapped in banana leaves. Her seasonal prix fixe menu moves with precision and wit, from savory to a pandan custard finale that shows serious pastry work.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Azalina Eusope
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 46. Nopalito
Mexican
A tiny, no-reservation spot on Broderick where locals queue for blue-corn tacos of spicy-smoky marinated fish and corn tortillas wrapped around melting pulled pork. The reclaimed-wood room glows with bright green accents, the menu moves through chilaquiles verdes and empanadas with equal ease, and the kitchen approaches its ingredients with visible care. Expect to wait, and to be grateful for it.
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Rank 47. Friends Only
Sushi
A sushi counter still wrapped in exclusivity despite open reservations, where the steep price tag underscores relentless attention to sourcing and technique. House-aged fish meets inventive touches—cherrywood-smoked eel, grilled spot prawn with ramp butter—that feel earned rather than showy.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #27 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 48. Cordon Bleu
Vietnamese
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Classic Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 49. Loquat
Jewish
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Kristina Costa
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bakeries of the Bay Area
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An airy dining room built around an open kitchen where Chef Ravi Kapur marries Hawaiian ingredients with Californian technique, drawing crowds who order halibut kinilaw and fried game hen across a bar loud with cocktail chatter. The house-made Spam in kimchi fried rice signals a kitchen unafraid of culinary contradiction.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #57 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 52. Sungho
Traditional Korean
In a Tenderloin corner, Sungho serves grandmother's recipes: fall-apart pork stews, hand-cut noodles in beef broth, crisp seafood pancakes meant for sharing. The house-made kimchi and lively K-pop soundtrack frame dishes that taste less like restaurant fare than like comfort borrowed from someone else's kitchen.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation 2025 · #10 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 53. Le Comptoir
Pescatarian French
At a marble counter beside Atelier Crenn, a handful of diners watch the kitchen plate delicate courses that weave French technique through California seafood and vegetables. The meal builds toward moments of studied refinement—caviar on buckwheat, brown butter on agnolotti—where restraint and precision feel like the entire point.
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Rank 54. b. Patisserie
French
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Rank 55. Dumpling Home
Chinese
At a corner spot in the Theater District, chefs hand-fold soup dumplings with supple skins and clear, concentrated broth—pork, chicken, beef, or a Sichuan-spiced numbness that lingers on the tongue. Pan-fried baos and hand-pulled noodles round out a casual menu where bamboo steamers stack higher than ambition.
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Rank 56. Beit Rima
Palestinian Middle Eastern
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- The Infatuation #18 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
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Rank 57. Anomaly
Contemporary
An unmarked door on a quiet residential stretch opens onto a hushed, clandestine dining room where Chef Mike Lanham composes tasting menus built on seasonal produce and precise technique—halibut crudo with yuzu bavarois, asparagus in multiple preparations—without descending into modernist affectation. The plates arrive exquisitely plated, each one a study in texture and restraint.
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Rank 58. Gioia Pizzeria
Pizza
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Rank 59. Kopê House
Asian-Influenced
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- 50 Best 2026 · #41 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Kevin Diedrich
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Rank 61. Dingles Public House
Gastropub
Tucked into a Hayes Valley hotel, this pub trades nostalgia for precision, plating beer-battered fish and chips alongside a Scotch egg with a jammy center and panko crust that arrives with the care of a composed dish. The beverage program moves with equal restraint—draughts, wines, cocktails—each chosen rather than exhaustive, setting a tone that feels both convivial and intentional.
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Rank 62. Ssal
Modern Korean
The Baes' tasting menu inhabits a middle ground between Korean tradition and French technique, moving deftly through dishes like sweet potato puffs crowned with caviar and scallop mousseline wrapped in cabbage with spiked beurre blanc. It's cooking that trusts restraint and clarity over elaboration, which in San Francisco's dining landscape reads as its own kind of statement.
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Rank 64. Sato Omakase
Sushi
A serene counter where butter-poached lobster and soy-marinated tuna demonstrate the chef's command of both luxury and restraint. The hamachi nigiri, touched with yuzu, and the wasabi-crowned sashimi suggest that true indulgence lies not in abundance but in precision—each ingredient allowed to speak, each technique invisible until you taste it.
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Rank 65. Izzy's
Steakhouse
A San Francisco steakhouse that has preserved its original warmth while refining itself for a new era, with dry-aged beef cooked over open flame and a bar that anchors the neighborhood's social life. The dining room balances timber and brass against understated polish, though service can waver.
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- Sprudgie Awards 2025 · Honoree · Sustainable Cafe or Coffee Roaster
- Sprudgie Awards 2025 · Honoree · Sustainable Cafe or Coffee Roaster
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Rank 67. Third Wheel Coffee
Coffee
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Rank 68. Brenda's French Soul Food
Soul Food
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Rank 69. Eddie's Cafe
American
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Rank 70. Maria Isabel
Mexican
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Rank 71. The Mill
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 72. Birdsong
Contemporary
Open flames and assembly-at-table theatrics define Christopher Bleidorn's cooking, where lacquered quail arrives with grilled rolls to be built like Peking duck. The whimsy persists through each course—from creek trout roe suspended in kelp kombucha to lemon mochi concealing blueberries and crème fraîche—a kitchen that treats fire and precision as equal partners.
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Rank 73. Californios
Mexican
In a cavernous room alive with color and music, Chef Val M. Cantú channels Mexico's culinary depths through meticulous technique and daring reinvention. Tortillas—whether sourdough crisped with mezcal-battered cod or corn kissed with sesame—become the vehicle for a vision of Mexican cooking that feels both rooted and urgent.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- 50 Best 2025 · #14 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Val M. Cantú
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Rank 74. RT Bistro
American
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Rank 75. Presidio Kebab
Mediterranean
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Rank 76. Beretta
Italian
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Rank 77. Bar Crudo
Seafood
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Rank 78. Hayes Street Grill
San Francisco
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Rank 79. Nisei
Japanese
Chef David Yoshimura balances Japanese tradition with American invention—buckwheat tartlets with date miso, uni in almond dashi—with technical assurance and personality. Service is personable, sake pairings thoughtful, and the wagashi cart a delicate finale.
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Rank 80. Flores
Mexican
Patterned tiles and bright murals set the scene at this Cow Hollow mainstay, where young families and Marina regulars crowd in for handmade corn tortillas wrapped around tender carnitas and oozy huitlacoche quesadilla. The kitchen treats Mexican cooking with seriousness—generous portions and modest prices suggest ambition beyond the usual neighborhood cantina.
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Rank 81. Lucinda's Deli & More
Sandwiches
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Rank 82. Goldenette
Diner
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Rank 83. Nopa
American
A corner restaurant on Divisadero that shifts its menu with the seasons, Nopa manages the difficult trick of feeling both casual and considered. The cooking—roasted meats, vegetable-forward plates, the occasional inspired flourish—suggests a kitchen that knows what it does and doesn't second-guess itself.
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Rank 84. Katsuo + Kombu
Japanese
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Rank 86. Swan Oyster Depot
San Francisco
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Rank 87. Mymy
American
In a Nob Hill corner thick with weekend crowds, Mymy pulls off the trick of casual brunch without the rushed feel that usually comes with it. Lemon pancakes arrive puffy and sharp, corned beef hash arrives crisp, and the whole thing tastes like someone actually wanted to cook for you.
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Rank 88. 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.
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Rank 89. Hahdough
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 90. Sorella
Northern Italian
The younger sibling to Acquerello trades formality for exuberance, its kitchen channeling Northern Italy through a Californian lens. A gem lettuce salad might showcase Dungeness crab with anchovy dressing; house-made pasta arrives in intricate forms like beef-and-Comté timballo. The bar hums with cicchetti and cocktails, though the dining room is where the kitchen's ambitions fully unfold.
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Rank 91. Sandy's
Cajun & Creole
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #22 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 92. Tiya
Modern Indian
Tiya fuses seasonal California produce with contemporary Indian technique, turning squash blossoms and ramps into something genuinely unfamiliar. The elegant dining room and neighborhood-named cocktails elevate what could be gimmick into genuine sophistication.
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Rank 93. Kin Khao
Thai
Chef Pim Techamuanvivit's restaurant, wedged into a hotel alcove, forgoes fancy surroundings for something more valuable: Thai cooking that honors tradition while sourcing from local farms and letting each ingredient speak. A curry mousse arrives fragrant and studded with mushrooms; even green curry becomes an event when built around slow-cooked rabbit. The spice here pulls no punches.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Pim Techamuanvivit
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #58 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 94. Kibatsu
Sushi
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Rank 95. YH - Beijing Duck House
Chinese
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Rank 97. NARA
Japanese
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Rank 98. Mộng Thu Cafe
Vietnamese
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Rank 99. Dumpling Union
Dim Sum
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Rank 100. Purple Rice
Korean