The Top 35 Breakfast Near City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
-
Rank 1. Hilda & Jesse
Fine dining
A Michelin-starred brunch spot where the menu is a surprise, because they don't hand you one. The team has serious fine dining pedigree, and it shows in a cooking style that's bold and a little chaotic in the best way, big flavors and genuinely unexpected combinations. The room feels like a modernist diner, bright and unpretentious, and the crowd shows up dressed like they might have places to be later but aren't sure.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #32 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 2. Bon Délire
French
A Paris-channeling bistro on the Embarcadero where brunch comes with a DJ and butter is basically a food group. The horseshoe bar is gorgeous, the crowd is dressed to be noticed, and the vibe runs on hip-hop and French classics done right. The team handles croque madame and steak frites with real confidence, and the baked-to-order madeleines at the end are genuinely hard to argue with.
- Sunset 2025 · Fabulous French · Where to Eat and Drink
- San Francisco Chronicle Best French restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 3. Abacá
Filipino
Filipino cooking done with real creativity, not just nostalgia. Abacá sits inside the Kimpton Alton Hotel in Fisherman's Wharf, and it draws the kind of crowd that actually dresses for dinner but keeps things relaxed. The kitchen roots itself in traditional flavors and techniques, then goes somewhere interesting from there. If you can't decide, let them decide for you and go family-style. You'll eat well either way.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Vince Bugtong
- The New York Times 2022 · The Restaurant List
- Esquire 2021 · #28 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
Rank 4. Mymy
American
-
Rank 5. Goldenette
Diner
-
Rank 6. Reem’s
Middle Eastern
Reem's is an Arab bakery and cafe in the Mission that earned its James Beard Award by doing something simple really well. The star is the mana'eesh, flatbreads cooked on a dome-shaped grill called a saj, thin and crisp and genuinely hard to stop eating. The bright dining room draws a neighborhood crowd that looks like it actually lives here, which in the Mission these days is saying something.
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Reem Assil
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
-
- Time Out The best bakeries in America
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
-
Rank 8. Foreign Cinema
Californian New American
Foreign Cinema is a Californian restaurant on Mission Street with a secret courtyard out back where foreign films flicker on a 35mm projector while you eat. It's romantic in a way that feels genuinely accidental rather than engineered, and it's earned a James Beard Outstanding Restaurant nod to prove it's not just atmosphere. The crowd runs heavy on first dates and anniversaries, everyone quietly pleased they found the place.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle Best seafood restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
-
A sunny, easygoing brunch spot in NoPa with antique stained glass and the kind of vibe that makes you linger way past your second cup. The Southern-leaning menu means French toast loaded with seasonal fruit and a rotating doughnut worth ordering while you wait. The owner wanders the room with a coffee pot like someone who genuinely wants you to stay. Weekend warriors and neighborhood regulars pack the place, all equally unhurried.
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 18 Best Restaurants In NoPa
-
Rank 10. Plow
American
Plow is the kind of neighborhood breakfast spot that earns a genuine line out the door without trying too hard. The menu is short and focused, which in brunch terms means the kitchen actually knows what it's doing. The signature plate gets you eggs, potatoes, meat, and their famous lemon ricotta silver dollar pancakes, which are light and custardy in a way that'll make you rethink the whole genre. Locals in weekend clothes, nobody in a rush.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
-
Rank 11. El Mil Amores
Mexico City-style Mexican
El Mil Amores is a Mexico City-style brunch spot in the Mission that draws a devoted weekend crowd of locals who clearly know something you don't. The move is the chilaquiles, made with thick, dark mole instead of the usual salsa, and the kind of dish that makes you question every brunch decision you've made before now. Grab a michelada at the newer location down the street and you've got a full morning sorted.
- The Infatuation #21 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
-
Rank 12. Aziza
Moroccan Mediterranean
Mourad Lahlou is one of those celebrity chefs casual diners actually know, so his return to the Richmond district after years away is worth paying attention to. Aziza is a proper sit-down Moroccan restaurant with a California accent, pale walls, and a colorful bar that says "date night" without trying too hard. The staff knows the menu cold and doesn't make you feel like a tourist for asking. The basteeya alone justifies the trip.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
-
Rank 13. Piglet & Co
Taiwanese
- Eater 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
-
Rank 14. Kantine
Scandanavian-Inspired
A Scandinavian café on Market Street that takes baked goods very seriously, which is exactly the energy you want at 9am. The cardamom buns and gingery caramel cookies taste like someone spent a long, dark winter perfecting them. Grab a tartine on sprouted rye or post up on the sidewalk with coffee and watch the full spectrum of San Francisco walk past. The crowd is relaxed, laptop-friendly, and definitely in no rush.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best bakeries in San Francisco Bay Area
-
Rank 15. Piccino Presidio
Italian
-
Rank 16. Causwells
American
-
Rank 17. Outerlands
American
Way out near the beach, this cozy neighborhood restaurant built from reclaimed wood has a cult following that started with the bread and never really left. The sourdough here is genuinely the reason people cross the city, and the rest of the seasonal menu, simple and hearty and very good, keeps them coming back. Weekend brunch draws a mellow, fleece-heavy crowd who've learned to arrive early and order the sticky bun without being asked.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
-
Rank 18. Zazie
French
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
-
Yo También! Cantina is a cozy all-day café where the brunch food is genuinely good for you but doesn't make you feel like you're being punished. Think vegan rice bowls piled with vegetables, tamales with avocado and a jammy egg, and nonalcoholic micheladas that actually taste like something. The crowd is pure San Francisco, Patagonia puffers over athleisure, and they are absolutely right to be here.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #98 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
The Mission has no shortage of wellness-coded cafes where everyone's on some kind of kick, but this lifestyle restaurant quietly does something genuinely worth the trip: a proper Turkish breakfast spread on weekends. It's portioned for two and arrives in a fleet of little dishes, cheeses, spreads, dips, the works. The kaymak alone, clotted cream pooled in honey and dusted with pistachio, will make you forget you were ever pretending to eat healthy.
-
Rank 21. Lokma
California-inspired Turkish
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The Best Turkish Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
-
Rank 22. Hong Kong Lounge
Chinese
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
-
Rank 23. The Front Porch
Southern
-
Rank 24. Smoke Soul Kitchen
Southern
-
Rank 25. Tur
Thai
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
-
Rank 26. Tanzie's
Thai
Brunch spots that actually surprise you are rare, and this cozy Berkeley cafe pulls it off by rooting the whole thing in northern Thai cooking from Chiang Mai. The room feels like someone's living room, painted mint green, filled with regulars who clearly know what they're doing. Flavors run sour, spicy, and deeply fragrant, nothing like the pad thai you were expecting. Dinner is now on the table too, for the adventurous.
- 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 27. Tacos Oscar
Mexican
Tacos Oscar is a taco spot built inside a cluster of painted shipping containers in Oakland, with café lights strung overhead and a chalk menu that changes whenever it feels like it. The vegan options are genuinely as good as the meat, which is a sentence you rarely mean. Expect a line of people who look like they bike to work and care a lot about it. Get there when the doors open, grab a beer, and thank yourself later.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Bon Appétit 2019 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
-
Rank 28. FOB Kitchen
Filipino
Filipino food done with real personality, FOB Kitchen is a tiny Temescal spot that started as a pop-up and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand without getting precious about it. The room fits maybe a few dozen people, the wallpaper is cheerful, and the crowd is the kind that actually talks to each other. Grab a cocktail at the bar while you wait, because you will wait, and it's worth it.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Oakland
-
Rank 29. Alem’s Coffee
Eritrean
This Eritrean cafe in Oakland has been a neighborhood anchor for years, and it shows. Regulars linger outside with bold coffee while newcomers wander in and immediately feel like they belong. Come for breakfast and get the shihan ful, a fava bean stew you scoop with crusty bread that will quietly ruin you for other mornings. Lunch holds its own too, but the breakfast alone is reason enough to make the drive from the city.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best Ethiopian restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #90 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Sam's Log Cabin is exactly what it sounds like, a breakfast and lunch spot built around an actual log cabin, with all seating outside under a wood pergola surrounded by greenery. It feels less like a restaurant and more like someone's very well-fed backyard. The menu is hearty diner food, cornmeal pancakes, corned beef hash, a solid Reuben. Ask about the weekly specials. Best enjoyed on a sunny day, with nowhere to be.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants for outdoor dining in the Bay Area
-
Jewish delis are a rare breed in the Bay Area, and Saul's has been holding it down in North Berkeley for years. It's a proper sit-down deli, the kind where regulars never bother with the menu and the raspberry jam is already on your table. The latkes are genuinely crunchy in a way that feels personal, and the pastrami earns its reputation. Bring your parents, bring a hangover, bring anyone who thinks brunch has to involve avocado toast.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best Berkeley restaurants
-
Rank 32. Rasa
Indian
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Palo Alto, San Jose, the Peninsula and South Bay
-
Rank 33. Parekoy Lutong Pinoy
Authentic Filipino
-
Rank 34. Pearl
Eastern Mediterranean
A daytime cafe on Petaluma's waterfront doing Eastern Mediterranean breakfast and lunch in a cozy seafoam green room with hammered metal ceiling tiles and shelves full of cookbooks. The menu shifts with the seasons, the Turkish coffee hits harder than it has any right to, and the brunch crowd here looks like they actually live here, not like they drove an hour to Instagram it. Gratuity is already built into the prices, so the bill just is what it is.
- San Francisco Chronicle Best brunch restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best Middle Eastern restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Sonoma County
-
Filipino breakfast done right, in a casual bistro that the San Francisco Chronicle called out for having some of the best brunch in the Bay Area. The move here is a tapsilog plate, garlic rice and a fried egg piled under whatever protein you're feeling, and the crispy pork hock is genuinely hard to argue with. The crowd is relaxed, the mimosas come in calamansi and mango, and nobody's dressed up for it.