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Californios
Mexican
Servers arrive tableside with trays of heirloom corn varieties and raw mole ingredients before a single plate lands, which tells you exactly the kind of evening this is going to be. Californios is a two-Michelin-star tasting menu restaurant where Val Cantú runs Mexican culinary tradition through fine dining without flattening either one. The room is enormous and nearly black, more concert hall than chapel, and the 14 courses move from masa to mole to dessert without feeling like a lecture.
The awards strongest first
- Michelin Guide 3 Stars
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in America
- Los Angeles Times The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation #7 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle Best fine dining restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle #26 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Val M. Cantu
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Val M. Cantú
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Val Cantu
- The 50 The 50 Discovery
- The Infatuation The 24 Best Restaurants In SoMa
One number, weighted & current 96
How we scoreThe dishes from the writeups
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Sweet tamal
“the sweet tamal, made of yellow masa and enrobed tableside with semisweet ganache and hazelnut crème anglaise”
San Francisco Chronicle
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