The Top 100 Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 1. 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 2. True Laurel
Modern Cocktail Bar
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2025 · #64 · World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best 2026 · #14 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 3. 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
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Rank 4. 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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Rank 4. Mister Jiu's
Modern Chinese
Brandon Jew's Cantonese cooking at Waverly Place marries Bay Area seasonality with classical technique—scallion milk bread that dissolves on the tongue, silken tofu studded with maitake and Sichuan pepper. His Peking duck arrives with whipped liver mousse, a flourish that captures his gift for taking tradition seriously without pretending it needs apology.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Chinese Cuisine Restaurant
- Time Out The best Chinese restaurants in America
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Rank 4. 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 Restaurateur · Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - Atomic Workshop
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Rank 7. 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
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Rank 7. Niku Steakhouse
Japanese Steakhouse
A gold door admits you to Niku, where Chef Dustin Falcon tends his coals behind an 18-seat counter in a wood-lined room designed for theater. The beef tartare and bone marrow are preludes to steaks—a Tomahawk for two, an Imperial Wagyu filet with aged kimchi and bordelaise—executed with the precision of someone who understands that luxury steakhouse cooking is about restraint, not excess.
- World's 101 Best #49 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- The Infatuation #20 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
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Rank 7. 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 7. 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 7. 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 12. House of Prime Rib
Steakhouse
- Esquire 2025 · Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
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Rank 12. 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
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Rank 12. 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 2024 · Restaurant of the Year
- Food & Wine 2025 · #1 · The Top 15 US Restaurants
- Food & Wine 2024 · Roast Duck · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
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Rank 12. 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 16. Alexander's Steakhouse
American/Japanese
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 16. Quattro Restaurant and Bar
Modern Italian
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Rank 16. 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 16. Tony's Pizza Napoletana
Neapolitan Pizza
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #3 · 50 Top Pizza USA
- Sunset 2025 · Inspired Italian · Where to Eat and Drink
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
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Rank 16. Verjus
French
Michael Tusk's wine bar near the Pyramid trades in seasonal French bistro cooking that pivots around impeccable seafood and produce—razor clams with celery and Meyer lemon, a pâté studded with pistachios. The crowd at the bar and counter suggests the kitchen's skill runs deeper than the menu's apparent simplicity.
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
- The Infatuation 2025 · #9 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 16. 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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Rank 24. San Ho Won
Korean
At this minimalist room where Corey Lee and Jeong-In Hwang command the grill, the crowd hums with the electricity of a place that's difficult to book for good reason. Refined technique marries Korean tradition with novelty—kimchi arrives with surpassing depth, beef with purity, pork jowl with the weight of home cooking.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jeong-In Hwang
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- Time Out The best bakeries in America
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
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Rank 24. 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 24. Foreign Cinema
Californian New American
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
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Rank 24. Reem’s
Middle Eastern
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
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Rank 24. Yank Sing
Dim Sum Chinese
Yank Sing rolls out cart after cart of dumplings and buns in a dining room where the pace is brisk and the prices reasonable. The silken xiao long bao and paper-thin har gow announce themselves through their fillings, while the Peking duck arrives with lacquered skin that justifies the wait.
- Time Out The best Chinese restaurants in America
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 24. The Morris
New American
A former sommelier's Mission bistro named for his father, where wine knowledge and warm service frame unfussy California cooking built on house-made charcuterie, grilled squid, and a signature smoked duck with burnished skin and silken meat that justifies its reputation.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Paul Einbund
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 24. 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 24. 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 New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 33. Madcap
Contemporary
Chef Ron Siegel's upscale dining room in San Anselmo trades pretension for precision across a prix fixe of small, carefully composed plates. A quenelle of tuna tartare yields to crisp rice; charred octopus sits over fermented pimentos; trout arrives skin-on with a tableside dashi pour. The cooking is restrained and Japanese-inflected, where each element earns its place.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #36 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Marin County Restaurants
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Rank 33. 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
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Rank 33. Dalida
Eastern Mediterranean
In the Presidio's leafy quiet, Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz have built something unmissable: a restaurant where Istanbul's flavors—borek, short rib kebabs with sweetbreads, a rolling spread of olives and pickles—arrive at tables meant for sharing. The pita, baked to order in the hearth, arrives pillowy and toasty, a small daily miracle that sets the tone for everything that follows.
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Laura Ozyilmaz and Sayat Ozyilmaz
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 33. Four Kings
Contemporary Cantonese Chinese
A packed Chinatown counter where Franky Ho and Michael Long riff on Cantonese tradition with claypot rice studded with bacon and eggplant that sings with fermented chili heat. The room thrums with energy and the kind of crowd that camps out before opening; reservations vanish within minutes, but the cooking rewards whatever patience you muster.
- Esquire 2024 · Restaurant of the Year · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Food & Wine 2024 · Squab · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
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- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #56 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation 2025 · #9 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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- 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
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Rank 33. 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
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Rank 33. 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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Rank 33. Ernest
Contemporary
Finding the entrance requires a scavenger hunt, but inside this Mission corner spot, Chef Brandon Rice's playful cooking rewards the effort: kaluga caviar crowns tater tots, oysters share a menu with snacks, mains pivot on seasonal ingredients. The kitchen's family-style format lets you taste nearly everything; the bar takes walk-ins for cocktails.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Brandon Rice
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #89 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 33. 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
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Rank 33. 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 33. 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
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Rank 33. 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 33. Rintaro
Japanese
At Izakaya Rintaro, redwood and cedar enclose a kitchen that treats humble ingredients with reverence: crispy chicken wings dusted with sansho pepper, charcoal-grilled tsukune, soft tofu infused with bergamot. The approach is produce-centric and precise, each plate a small argument for restraint and care.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Sylvan Mishima Brackett
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 33. Kitchen Istanbul
Turkish
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- The Infatuation The Best Turkish Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #55 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 33. 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 49. 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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Rank 49. Lunette
Cambodian
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Nite Yun
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 49. 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 49. 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
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
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Rank 49. 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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- 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
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Rank 49. Aziza
Moroccan
Chef Mourad Lahlou returns with pale interiors and a restless menu that folds California ingredients into Moroccan spices—the phyllo-wrapped basteeya with chicken and almonds proves some dishes need no reinvention. Bone-in chicken thigh arrives with crisp potato and house curry, a dish that tastes like a chef remembering what he does best.
- 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
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Rank 49. 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 49. Prubechu
Guamanian
- The Infatuation #25 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #53 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 49. Boulevard
American
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Rank 49. 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 49. HK Lounge Bistro
Cantonese Chinese
A modest storefront in SoMa, rebuilt after fire destroyed its beloved predecessor, draws regulars for pleated Shanghai dumplings heavy with broth and crab, baked pork buns with crackled tops, and silken egg tarts. Dinner expands to roast duck and steamed seabass, but the soul of the place lives in its dim sum service—the artful work of a kitchen that understands both precision and comfort.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #47 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 49. La Taqueria
Mexican
The line outside Miguel Jara's Mission Street counter never quite disappears, a mix of neighborhood regulars and Sunday families drawn by carne asada burritos that need no introduction. Order the off-menu Dorado taco—a corn tortilla crisped on the plancha, doubled with cheese, then loaded—and you understand why simplicity, when executed this well, requires no apology.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation The 11 Best Burritos In San Francisco
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Rank 49. The Laundromat
Pizza
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bagels in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #85 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 49. 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
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Rank 49. Mandalay
Burmese
A narrow dining room on California Street fills nightly with the particular warmth of a place that has earned its regulars over four decades. Mandalay's kitchen moves through Burmese cuisine with the confidence of long practice, each plate arriving as proof of that steadiness.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · America's Classics: California
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation #4 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
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Rank 49. Taquería El Farolito
Mexican
- The Infatuation The 11 Best Burritos In San Francisco
- The Infatuation #5 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
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Rank 49. Hilda and Jesse
Modern New American
A modernist diner where brunch becomes an argument between restraint and excess, Hilda and Jesse serves a surprise tasting menu that pivots on bold flavor and fine technique. The cooking is brash and unmanicured—a riot of stellar ingredients in unexpected combinations—while the room maintains a disarming warmth that matches the hospitality.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Kristina Liedags Compton
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #92 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 49. Cotogna
Italian
An open kitchen framed by exposed brick and copper gleams behind wooden tables where Michael Tusk's pastas—agnolotti stuffed with rabbit and veal, rigatoni with guanciale and chanterelle—arrive with the ease of something both refined and casual. The room moves at the tempo of a neighborhood trattoria, though the cooking never settles for rustic shorthand.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
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Rank 49. Itria
Modern Italian
Chef Daniel Evers strips Italian cooking to its essence—dayboat scallops with preserved lemon, house-made mafaldine with pecorino—letting simplicity speak. A welcoming Mission spot where modern technique and classical restraint make each dish feel inevitable rather than fussy.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #72 · Top 100 Restaurants in 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 49. Outerlands
American
At the edge of the city, in a weathered wood room, Outerlands bakes sourdough that draws pilgrims from across San Francisco—mahogany-dark, thickly sliced, served with house-cultured butter. The seasonal kitchen keeps things simple: roasted chicken with market vegetables, ragu Bolognese with tagliatelle, weekend pastries—each dish a vehicle for ingredient quality rather than technique.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 49. Flour + Water
Californian Italian
Handmade pastas marry California ingredients with Italian technique in this perpetually crowded Mission dining room. Each dish—sea lettuce chitarra, ginger-filled caramelle—demonstrates the kitchen's restless creativity within disciplined simplicity.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #9 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 49. 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 49. Ocean Subs
Sandwiches
- The Infatuation #24 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
- The Infatuation 2025 · #2 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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A sleek izakaya where every plate is vegan, yet the kitchen's technical command is unmistakable: tofuna rolls crackling with chili and topped with avocado arrive as compelling as their seafood predecessors, while tempura shiitake mushrooms stuffed with plant-based crab sing with umami depth. The place earns its seat at the table regardless of dietary conviction.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #99 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #99 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 74. Via Aurelia
Tuscan Italian
- Esquire 2025 · Via Aurelia Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #66 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 74. 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 74. 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 74. 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
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Rank 74. Rooh
Indian
Rooh fuses Indian flavors with modern techniques—oysters meet tandoori spices, burrata finds curry leaf. Jewel-toned dining room and inventive cocktails frame small plates designed for sharing and desserts that riff on subcontinental tradition.
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Rank 74. Cinderella Bakery
Russian Bakery
- The Infatuation Honey Cake · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Classic Restaurants in San Francisco
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 74. La Ciccia
Sardinian Italian
A narrow Sardinian room in Noe Valley where the kitchen moves with unhurried precision, each dish arriving as though the chef has been considering it all morning. The handmade pasta here tastes of somewhere specific—sea urchin, guanciale, the weight of tradition—and demands a reservation weeks ahead.
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #33 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
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Rank 74. 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
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Rank 74. 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 74. 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 74. Shoji
Japanese
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The Best Matcha Lattes In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops In SF
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Rank 74. 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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Rank 74. Bombay Brasserie
Indian
-
Rank 74. Beit Rima
Palestinian Middle Eastern
- The Infatuation #18 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
-
Rank 74. Abacá
Filipino
Chef Francis Ang channels Filipino tradition through a prism of California produce and playful technique—pork belly adobo with pineapple, lumpia with pear ketchup—in a sunlit dining room that feels less important than what arrives on the plate. The kitchen's confident hand, honed through years of pop-up work, suggests that restraint is not part of the vocabulary here.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Vince Bugtong
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
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Rank 74. Thanh Long
Vietnamese
- The Infatuation #22 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Classic Restaurants in San Francisco
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
-
Rank 74. Yuanbao Jiaozi
Chinese
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- The Infatuation #13 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
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Rank 74. Regalito El Mil Amores
Mexico City-style Mexican
- The Infatuation #21 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation 2025 · #12 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 74. 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
-
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
-
Rank 74. Yank Sing
Cantonese
-
Rank 74. Pizzeria Delfina
Neapolitan Pizza
- Sunset 2025 · California Classics · Where to Eat and Drink
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
- Time Out The 12 best restaurants in the Mission
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Rank 97. 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
-
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
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Rank 97. Good Good Culture Club
American
Southeast Asian flavors collide with California ingredients in small plates like fried chicken wings stuffed with egg roll filling and mango-glazed. The open kitchen hums with energy, and a walk-in bar seat rewards early arrivals with creative cocktails and a version of halo halo topped with shiso ice.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- Bon Appétit 2022 · America's Best New 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
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Rank 97. 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 97. Banh Mi Ba Le
Noodles
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In Oakland
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 97. 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 97. Kaiyō Rooftop
Peruvian Japanese
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Danny Louie
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
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Rank 105. Insalata's
Mediterranean
Lemon-yellow walls and paintings of abundance frame a Marin restaurant honoring its namesake founder through Mediterranean-inflected cooking. Watercress potato-leek soup arrives velvety and vivid; grilled lamb skewers rest on crisp salads with cumin yogurt. A casual kitchen turns out boxed lunches and house-baked bread with the same care as its dining room.
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Rank 105. El Buen Comer
Mexico City Mexican
Isabel Caudillo's Mission outpost trades technique for the unhurried pleasures of Mexico City home cooking—pork ribs braised until they collapse into salsa verde, chiles rellenos, warm corn tortillas meant for mopping. The menu is small and deliberate; the chocoflan alone justifies the trip.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
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Rank 105. Saigon Sandwich
Vietnamese
- The Infatuation #8 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
-
Rank 105. Stonemill Matcha
Japanese
- The Infatuation Matcha Cream Pie · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
- The Infatuation The Best Matcha Lattes In San Francisco
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Rank 105. 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.
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Rank 105. Anchor Oyster Bar
Old-School Seafood
Diners queue out the door of this bare-bones Castro seafront, where a stool at the counter remains the best seat in the house. The menu is small but precise: briny oysters need no mignonette, Dungeness crab arrives on a sesame bun, and the cioppino—rich, silken, paired with garlic bread—justifies the wait. A place that has earned its reputation through constancy rather than pretense.
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Rank 105. The Big Four
American
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The Best Martinis In San Francisco
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Rank 105. Sushi Ran
Sushi
In a cottage tucked into Sausalito's quieter streets, Sushi Ran's counter glows with the understated confidence of a place that has earned its regulars. Fresh hamachi and toro arrive without fuss, their flavors speaking plainly; a thoughtful sake list and steady hand on technique sustain the meal without spectacle. This is sushi that knows what it is—dependable, unadorned, honest.
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Rank 105. Village Sake
Japanese
Village Sake brings Tokyo's cramped-table energy to Fairfax with takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and silky hamachi tataki that taste like they were made to be eaten standing up. The live-edge counter and Japanese staff set the scene; the shima aji nigiri seals the argument.
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Rank 105. Zazie
French
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
-
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
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Rank 105. 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 105. 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 105. Tur
Thai
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
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Rank 105. Pig in a Pickle
Barbecue
Damon Stainbrook's suburban barbecue counter takes sourcing seriously—each humanely raised cut traced on a chalkboard—and executes with equal conviction: pulled pork that dissolves on the tongue, brisket after eighteen hours of smoke, ribs with a precise dry rub. Even the mac-and-cheese arrives tended rather than tossed aside, its richness balanced by bite. Worth the drive.
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Rank 105. Restaurant Naides
Filipino
Chef Patrick Gabon's tasting menu distills Filipino tradition through a Californian lens—fluffy brioche pandesal with braised chicken gizzards, dry-aged duck adobo with horseradish—each dish as visually composed as it is flavorful. The small room hums with the ease of two people who know their craft, and the cooking feels like an argument that refinement and boldness need not be at odds.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
-
Rank 105. Rose Pizzeria
Pizza
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
-
Rank 105. Piccino Presidio
Italian
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Rank 105. 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
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Rank 105. 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 105. Z & Y Peking Duck
Sichuan Chinese
A narrow Chinatown dining room where the cooking announces itself before you sit down: dried chilies heap atop fried chicken; chili oil slicks bean jelly noodles alive with numbing pepper. The space wears its age without apology, service moves at its own pace, but every plate arrives calibrated and uncompromising. Come hungry for heat.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #72 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
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Rank 105. Mission Chinese Food
Chinese
-
Rank 105. Original Joe's
Italian
- The Infatuation Zanze’s Cheesecake · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
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Rank 105. Bodega SF
Vietnamese
- The Infatuation #11 · The 25 Best Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation Mochi Pandan Bar · The San Francisco Dessert Bucket List
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Rank 105. 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 130. DAMNFiNE pizza
Pizza
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
-
Rank 130. Manakish Oven & Grill
Mediterranean
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Walnut Creek Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
-
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 130. 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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Rank 130. Loló
Californian Mexican
- Esquire 2024 · Mandarini · The Best Martinis in America
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. West
- Time Out The 12 best restaurants in the Mission
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Rank 130. Piglet & Co
Taiwanese
A narrow Mission storefront conjures the clatter and steam of a Taipei night market, serving reimagined Asian comfort food that tastes both familiar and surprising. The brunch menu, studded with house-made dumplings and tender braised pork, arrives in quick succession, each plate a small vindication of nostalgia.
- 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
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Rank 130. Besharam
Vegetarian Indian
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #83 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Heena Patel
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Rank 130. La Vaca Birria
Mexican
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #40 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
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Rank 130. 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 130. Bon Délire
French
- Sunset 2025 · Fabulous French · Where to Eat and Drink
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 130. 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.
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Rank 130. Chez Panisse
Californian New American
The open kitchen and wood-burning oven anchor a dining room where the four-course menu shifts daily, its dishes tethered entirely to what the Bay Area's markets offer that season. Waters' foundational principle—that ingredient purity and timing matter more than technique—remains the throughline, whether you're eating spring peas or August figs.
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Rank 130. 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 130. 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 130. 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
-
Rank 130. Scoma's
Seafood
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #78 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Classic Restaurants in San Francisco
-
Rank 130. Esin Restaurant & Bar
American/Mediterranean
-
Rank 130. Maillards
Burgers
- The Infatuation The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
-
Rank 130. Arizmendi Bakery
Bakery/Cafe
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
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Rank 130. The Marshall Store
Coastal Californian
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Marin County Restaurants
- The New York Times 2021 · The Restaurant List
-
- The Infatuation The 13 Best Pasta Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
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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 130. Volcano
Japanese
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Meals For Under $15 In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
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Rank 130. Waterbar
Seafood
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 130. XICA
Mexican
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
-
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #60 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Marin County Restaurants
-
Rank 130. Elena's
Mexican
-
Rank 130. 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 130. Pizzetta 211
Pizza
- The Infatuation The 19 Best Pizza Places In San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
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Rank 130. Taqueria Cancún
Mexican
- The Infatuation The 11 Best Burritos In San Francisco
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 130. La Mar
Peruvian
- The Infatuation The 21 Best Outdoor Dining Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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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 130. Hong Kong Lounge
Dim Sum
- The Infatuation The 20 Best Brunch Spots In SF
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
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The wood grill perfumes this San Francisco taverna with charred meat and citrus, where attentive servers navigate tables and fireplaces with easy grace. Bizelosalata arrives bright with feta and scallions; chicken souvlaki emerges from the rotisserie burnished and simple. A galaktoboureko of semolina custard and pistachio ice cream closes the meal with crisp filo and sweet restraint.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 130. Turquaz
Turkish
- The Infatuation The Best Turkish Restaurants In SF
- The Infatuation 2025 · #11 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 130. Masa's
Sushi
Chef Takatoshi Toshi works the counter at this spare sushi shop in downtown Novato, breaking down whole fish while chatting with neighbors across the worn wood. Lunch brings affordable chirashi bowls and nigiri sets; the evening omakase reveals nigiri tastings, albacore rolls, and kinmedai smoked over cherry wood. A neighborhood place that feels like one, unhurried and unpretentious.
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Rank 130. Pearl 6101
Cal- Italian
A lively neighborhood spot housed in a vintage drugstore, Pearl 6101 pairs an airy dining room and warm service with a sharp Italian wine list and Cal-Italian cooking. Handkerchief pastas swim in creamy Bolognese, caramelle burst with crescenza, and roasted sweet potato arrives dressed in miso tahini—each plate feels both rustic and considered.
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Rank 130. Harborview
Cantonese Chinese
A vast Cantonese dining room commands the Embarcadero with bay views from its sun-soaked patio and a polished interior that shifts between brightness and intimate shadow. The kitchen moves fluidly from dim sum carts at lunch to a showstopping Peking duck at dinner—lacquered mahogany skin, house-made sauce, the whole deliberate machinery of a room built to impress.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 130. 3rd Cousin
New American
Greg Lutes's Bernal Heights dining room sits quietly uphill from the city's noise, where hand-rolled pastas and unexpected luxuries—uni crème brûlée with caviar, Wagyu with maitake—signal a chef uninterested in convention. The intimacy here feels earned, built on the steady work of someone who knows how to close a meal, whether with truffle ravioli or pistachio cake.
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Rank 130. Juanita & Maude
Seasonal New American
Scott Eastman's debut in downtown Albany mixes sculptural charm and craft cocktails with a deliberately unfussy communal spirit, the room itself as welcoming as the seasonal cooking. Veal Bolognese carries the weight of his Corso years, while summer squash and halibut sing without pretension, trailing into creamy banana custard that tastes like restraint finally rewarded.
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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
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- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #89 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Oakland Restaurants
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Rank 130. 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 173. Lily
Vietnamese
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #45 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Richmond
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Rank 173. Cenaduria Elvira
Traditional Mexican
-
Rank 173. Gumbo Social
Soul Food Cajun & Creole
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Francisco Restaurants
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
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Rank 173. 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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- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Classic Restaurants in San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 17 Best Restaurants Near The Embarcadero & Ferry Building
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Rank 173. Mujiri
Japanese
-
Rank 173. Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant
Northern Chinese
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Francisco
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
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Rank 173. JollyJolly Coffee & Kitchen
Caribbean/African
-
Rank 173. Sfizio
Italian
-
Rank 173. Caché
Seafood French
- The Infatuation 2025 · #7 · San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants
- The Infatuation The 25 Best Restaurants In The Sunset
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Rank 173. Kiraku
Japanese
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Rank 173. El Tacostao
Mexican
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Rank 186. 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 186. 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.
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Rank 186. Little Original Joe’s
Italian
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Rank 186. Comal
Mexican
Comal's open kitchen showcases wood-fired tortillas and bold Mexican cooking built on pristine ingredients, anchored by smoky rock cod tacos with avocado aioli. An excellent cocktail program and extensive agave selection keep the industrial-chic Berkeley dining room perpetually packed.
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Rank 186. New Dumpling
Chinese
Dumplings arrive from an open kitchen at this cheerful shop where the chalkboard menu pivots between traditional fillings and offbeat pairs—sweet corn and chicken, scrambled egg and tomato—each parcel a complete meal. The peanut salad crackles with celery and carrots, but it is the dumplings themselves, bursting and abundant, that justify the trip and spare your wallet.
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Rank 186. A16
Italian Pizza
A16's wood-fired pizzas and seasonal pastas draw crowds eager to watch cooks work the open kitchen, with the smoky Vesuvio and maccaronara with ragu napoletano worth the reservation fight. The wine list roams Italy's lesser-known regions, while desserts—fig crostata, house-made gelato—finish the meal with care.
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Rank 186. 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
- Esquire 2021 · #5 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 186. Little Original Joe's
American Italian
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Rank 186. 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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Rank 186. Playa
Mexican
Playa transports Mill Valley diners to a Baja state of mind with margaritas and mezcal served beneath blown-glass lights and colorful tile. The al pastor tacos—layered with caramelized pineapple and charred meat—and crispy chorizo empanadas confirm the kitchen takes its Mexican cooking seriously.
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Rank 186. 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.
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Rank 186. 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 186. 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 186. China Village
Sichuan Chinese
A bright, modernized dining room with contemporary art and a sleek bar sets the stage for incendiary Sichuan cooking. The dry-fried chicken arrives crackling with chilies and numbing peppercorns; the five-spice pork shoulder, a house specialty, sits fork-tender in fiery chili oil alongside bok choy and scallions. A casual neighborhood favorite that takes its heat seriously.
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Rank 186. Okane
Sushi
The younger sibling to a sushi institution next door, Okane keeps the same rigor with Japanese-sourced fish but trades formality for communal energy—Adobe engineers and large parties share sake bottles over small plates. Pristine nigiri anchors the menu, though the sake-marinated cod and broiled salmon aburi with ikura deserve equal attention.
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Rank 186. Pizzeria Delfina
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 186. 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
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Rank 186. Pizzeria Delfina
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 186. 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 186. 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 206. RT Bistro
American
-
Rank 206. El Metate
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Hillstone
American
-
Rank 206. La Corneta Taqueria
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Don Chuys Mexi-Mercado
Mexican
-
Rank 206. TBD izakaya
Japanese
-
Rank 206. Rice Roll Express
Chinese
-
Rank 206. Super Star Restaurant
Filipino
-
Rank 206. Taqueria Guadalajara
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Komeya No Bento
Japanese
A narrow Japanese counter in the Marina where matcha arrives as a ritual and bento boxes are packed with the care of someone who learned the practice decades ago. The place fills quickly before people head to Fort Mason, which tells you something about what locals trust to carry across a park.
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Rank 206. Tadaima
Japanese
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Rank 206. Joujou
French
-
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Rank 206. The Brazen Head
American
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Rank 206. Yo Yo's
Japanese
-
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Rank 206. Blue Plate
American
-
Rank 206. Super Mira
Japanese
-
Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. Fiorella Sunset
Italian
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Rank 206. 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 206. Hog Island Oyster Co.
Seafood
Tourists and locals queue at this Ferry Building outpost for Tomales Bay oysters—briny, plump things worth eating plain, though lemon and mignonette stand ready. The kitchen handles crudo and seafood stew with similar care, but the Manila clam chowder is the sleeper, deep and generous; eat it facing the bay.
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Rank 206. Presidio Kebab
Mediterranean
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Rank 206. Gialina
Pizza
-
Rank 206. Penny Roma
Italian
-
Rank 206. Fu Hui Hua
Chinese/Japanese/French
-
Rank 206. 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 206. Gioia Pizzeria
Pizza
-
Rank 206. Causwells
American
-
Rank 206. World Famous Hotboys
Nashville
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Rank 206. Hi Hat
Pizza
-
Rank 206. The Front Porch
Southern
-
-
Rank 206. Three Star Restaurant
Chinese
-
Rank 206. Hamburguesa Bar
Burgers
-
Rank 206. um.ma
Korean
The patio at Um.ma, tucked into the Inner Sunset, hums with the kind of casual energy that makes strangers feel like regulars. Korean classics arrive with the confidence of a kitchen that knows what it's doing, each plate a small argument for why this corner matters.
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Rank 206. Goldenette
Diner
-
-
-
Rank 206. Barberio Osteria
Californian Italian
-
Rank 206. 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 206. Caffè Macaroni
Italian
-
Rank 206. House of Pancakes
Chinese
-
Rank 206. Hawaiian Drive Inn
Hawaiian
-
Rank 206. Balboa Cafe
American
Balboa Cafe trades in the currency of Cow Hollow visibility, a room where the crowd matters as much as what fills the glass. The espresso martini arrives with the confidence of a drink that knows exactly what it is.
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Rank 206. Tadich Grill
Seafood
-
Rank 206. Zevi Cafe
Turkish
-
Rank 206. Maria Isabel
Mexican
-
Rank 206. El Castillito
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Prospect
New American
A soaring ground-floor space in a Spear Street high-rise, Prospect trades fuss for clarity: burnished wood, room to breathe, cocktails that justify their price. The cooking—burrata with roasted cherry tomatoes, bavette with creamed corn—stays straightforward and competent, letting ingredient and technique speak without apology.
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-
Rank 206. Yamo
Burmese
-
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Rank 206. Delfina
California Italian
-
Rank 206. Constanso's
Sandwiches
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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.
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Rank 206. Capital Restaurant
Cantonese
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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 206. Brenda's French Soul Food
Soul Food
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Rank 206. Palette Tea House
Chinese
Palette Tea House occupies Ghirardelli Square with a dining room alive in colored light and tilework, where dim sum arrives as theater—pork and duck puffs sculpted into swans, silken rice rolls with XO sauce. The kitchen moves beyond Instagram spectacle with dishes like cognac-glazed Ibérico char siu that justify the elegance of the room.
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Rank 206. La Palma Mexicatessen
Mexican
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Rank 206. Origin Lab
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 206. Pasta Moon
Italian
A lively room with vaulted ceilings and views of creek and garden, Pasta Moon trades pretense for the straightforward pleasures of house-made pasta, crisp thin-crust pizza, and layered eggplant Parmesan that knows exactly what it is. The kitchen's commitment to artisanal products shows in its soppressata pie and in desserts finished with restraint—vanilla affogato crowned with candied peel.
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Rank 206. Woods Cole Valley
Brewery
-
Rank 206. Best Boy Electric
Coffee
-
Rank 206. Do-Re-Mi
Japanese
-
Rank 206. Montesacro
Pizza
-
Rank 206. Heartwood SF
American
-
Rank 206. Plow
American
-
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Rank 206. Basa Seafood Express
Seafood
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Rank 206. Damansara
Malaysian
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A sourdough pizzeria in the Dogpatch that treats its dough with the gravity of a baker's craft, not a shortcut. The pies emerge from the oven with the kind of restraint and care that makes simplicity feel like an achievement.
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Rank 206. Kapari Restaurant
Turkish
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Rank 206. 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 206. Cafe Reyes
Wood-Fired Pizza
Two wood-fired ovens turn out crusty pies named for local landmarks—the Farallon arrives layered with roasted garlic, crisp pepperoni, and melted mozzarella—in a barn-like room stacked high with seasoning wood. This Point Reyes Station fixture suits day-trippers and groups equally, its rusticity offering no pretense, only honest cooking.
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An industrial warehouse outfitted with live tanks and hanging buoys serves as both fish market and restaurant, where the lobster roll arrives in three iterations—mayo-dressed, butter-naked, or seasonal with avocado and bacon—but the main event is the whole lobster plate, available from one to four pounds, preceded by creamy lobster-corn chowder that devotees buy frozen by the quart.
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Rank 206. Frances
Californian New American
Melissa Perello's neighborhood spot moves with the seasons, serving California produce in Mediterranean-leaning dishes—roasted beets with chickpea dukkah, whole wheat pasta with ramp pesto—that favor rustic satisfaction over technique for its own sake. The cozy room fills nightly with families and couples alike, drawn to food that tastes like careful cooking rather than ambition.
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Rank 206. Hamano Sushi
Sushi
At Hamano, a neighborhood sushi counter in Noe Valley splits into two distinct experiences: casual diners order à la carte maki and sashimi in the open room, while omakase devotees at the front bar watch Chef Jiro Lin dress salt-cured tile fish and aged hamachi with assertive wasabi and chili. Both tiers demand respect for their ingredient quality, though only one asks for boldness in return.
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Rank 206. Holbrook House
American
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Rank 206. wonderful
Hunanese Chinese
A cramped Hunanese spot where carved wooden booths face the open kitchen, revealing the work behind dishes of aggressive flavor: smoked pork with leeks, hand-cut noodles topped with fermented black beans and pickled chilies, a whole fish braised in red chili sauce so bright it seems alive. This is Chinese cooking that doesn't whisper.
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. Fikscue
Indo-Tex Barbecue
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Rank 206. Genova Delicatessen
Italian
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Rank 206. Saru Sushi Bar
Sushi
A narrow Noe Valley sushi counter where the energy builds as you squeeze in: nigiri of kampachi and snow crab, seared ankimo with scallions, a tempura-fried seaweed cracker topped with spicy tuna. The kitchen respects Japanese foundations while slipping in a grilled shishito with ponzu, the kind of small gesture that suggests confidence rather than confusion about what it is.
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Rank 206. 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 206. Guesthouse
Contemporary New American
Chef Jared Rogers brings polished Marin sensibilities to his Kentfield neighborhood spot, where grilled king salmon and flourless chocolate cake arrive in a barn-turned-luxury-lodge setting. Soft leather booths, jewel-toned wallpaper, and tropical cocktails complete the cavernous, convivial retreat.
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Rank 206. 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 206. Oken
Japanese/Korean
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Rank 206. Saffron
Indian
The dining room opens like a familiar refuge—all breezy ease and quiet style—while the kitchen draws from across India's regions with dishes both rooted and restless. A slow-braised lamb curry spiked with two dozen spices, or kale pakoras in chickpea batter with chutneys, suggest cooks who respect tradition while reaching for texture and surprise.
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. Tony's Seafood
Seafood
Tomales Bay spreads out beyond the windows of this sun-soaked oyster bar, where Hog Island's daily catch—briny shells, steamed mussels in spicy tomato, a silken clam chowder—arrives still tasting of local water. Grilled oysters wear barbecue char or garlic butter with equal grace. The setting does half the work; the seafood does the rest.
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Rank 206. 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 206. Merchant Roots
Creative
A dinner here unfolds like a theater piece, with advance tickets and custom sets that change with the seasons. The cooking—visually inventive and genuinely flavorful—matters as much as the spectacle; a Mad Tea Party might begin in a hedge maze before unfolding across multiple rooms. Service has charm if not polish, and the whole affair rewards a willingness to be delighted.
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Rank 206. Rêve Bistro
French
A gated patio strung with lights and greenery opens onto a spare dining room where exposed brick and chandeliers strike an easy balance. Chef Paul Magu-Lecugy's bistro menu moves from delicate house-made gougères to venison in puff pastry, each plate executed with the confidence of someone who understands French tradition without feeling bound by it.
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Rank 206. Donaji
Oaxacan Mexican
Chef Isai Cuevas brings his farmer's market tamales into a cheerful brick storefront, where masa-forward Oaxacan cooking unfolds with the precision of a man who has mastered his craft over years. The handmade tortillas and deeply layered mole negro that bind the enchiladas together suggest a kitchen that understands restraint and flavor as the same thing.
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Rank 206. Picco
Italian
A hilltop dining room with exposed brick and soaring ceilings sets the stage for Bruce Hill's Italian cooking rooted in Marin's produce: duck tortelli studded with fresh turnips, risotto made to order, kale salad brightened with Meyer lemon yogurt. The service moves with practiced grace, the atmosphere warm without pretense, a place where locals and visitors alike feel equally at home.
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Rank 206. Mägo
Colombian/S. American
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Rank 206. 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 206. Havana
Miami-Cuban
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Rank 206. La Cigale
French
Chef Joseph Magidow runs this Glen Park kitchen solo, sourcing whole animals with Southwest French technique and restraint. A daily prix fixe might offer rabbit saddle stuffed with pork belly, cooked with the precision of someone who learned to respect ingredient.
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Rank 206. Tacos Mama Cuca
Sonoran Mexican
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Rank 206. Breakwater Barbecue
Barbecue
Inside a repurposed railroad station north of Half Moon Bay, Breakwater Barbecue channels coastal cowboy swagger with smoke-heavy conviction. The Texas Trinity—brisket, ribs, and spicy sausage links served on thick bread—arrives as the kitchen's plainspoken argument for why tradition still matters.
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Rank 206. La Costanera
Peruvian
Half Moon Bay's coastal charm extends to this Peruvian dining room, where Chef Carlos Altamirano channels tradition and invention through boldly seasoned plates: avocado halved and stuffed with crispy chicken, ceviche singing with aji rocoto heat, seafood-studded rice that satisfies without pretense. The cocktails matter here, though a glass of chicha morada works just as well.
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. 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 206. 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.
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Rank 206. GADA
Sandwiches
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. Tacubaya
Mexican
A Berkeley counter-service taqueria animated by locals streaming in for breakfast chilaquiles and limeade, its festive dining room and front patio hung with pink papel picados. The enchiladas arrive draped in smoky guajillo-tomatillo sauce, the quesadillas stuffed with kabocha squash and pecan cream—food that tastes like it has earned its perpetual line.
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Rank 206. Tacos Mamá Cuca
Sonoran
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Rank 206. ATWater Tavern
American
-
Rank 206. Poesia
Italian
-
Rank 206. 3 Bottled Fish
Vietnamese
-
Rank 206. All Good Pizza
Pizza
-
Rank 206. Panchita’s #2
Salvadoran
-
Rank 206. Taqueria El Buen Sabor
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Perbacco
Italian
-
Rank 206. Angie’s Pizza
Pizza
A narrow storefront on 16th Street holds the kind of casual Mission romance that unfolds over thin crust and wood smoke. The pizzas arrive properly charred, the sundaes arrive properly cold, and the whole affair feels engineered for the particular pleasure of two people sharing.
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Rank 206. Bix
American
-
Rank 206. SHOWA
Japanese
-
Rank 206. Star Chaat Cuisine
Indian
-
Rank 206. Ok's Deli
Asian-American
-
Rank 206. Yo También! Cantina
Mexican
-
Rank 206. 11th Tiger
Thai
-
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Rank 206. Babushka Market, Deli & Cafe
Eastern European
-
Rank 206. Burma! Burma!
Burmese
-
Rank 206. La Espiga De Oro
Mexican
-
Rank 206. Iyasare
Japanese
Japanese technique meets California produce in a buzzing Berkeley room where small plates—grilled vegetables with black garlic, hamachi with wasabi snow, clams in sake broth—shift seasonally but never disappoint. The wine and sake lists anchor an evening built for sharing.
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Rank 206. All Spice
International
All Spice strings together colorful dining rooms and seasonal tasting menus with theatrical flair, favoring polished technique over novelty. A strip loin arrives surrounded by confit mushrooms and smoked kale, the kind of assured execution that justifies the prix-fixe format.
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Rank 206. Amakara Sushi
Japanese
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Rank 206. 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 206. Movida
Persian-inflected Mexican
Near Oracle Park, this stylish dining lounge marries Mexican and Persian cuisines with halibut in tomatillo aguachile and tahdig tostadas topped with spiced lamb birria. The drinks—mezcal with carrot juice and chiles—match the kitchen's savory ingenuity.
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Rank 206. Smoke Soul Kitchen
Soul Food
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Rank 206. Tato
Mexican
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Rank 206. 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.
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Rank 206. Keeku da Dhaba
Indian
-
Rank 206. Lita
Caribbean-Latino
-
Rank 206. Oyo Restaurant & Jive Bar
South American
-
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Rank 206. Yafa Hummus
Mediterranean
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Rank 206. 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 206. Burmatown
Burmese
A bright-orange bungalow in Corte Madera serves authentic Burmese cooking that sidesteps fusion platitudes. Tea leaf salad arrives nutty and crunchy; potato samosas and egg noodles with barbecued pork and fried garlic sustain across seasons. Local families pack the tables nightly, tended by warm staff—the laid-back charm rewards a pilgrimage north.
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Rank 206. 88 Bao Bao
Chinese
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Rank 206. Patio Filipino
Filipino-Spanish
-
-
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Rank 206. Taishan Cuisine
Cantonese Chinese
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Rank 206. Kan Kiin
Modern Thai
A strip-mall Thai restaurant in Daly City where brunch turns out hat yai fried chicken alongside waffles and the dinner menu pivots to spicy clay pot catfish and hand-made curry puffs with gossamer crusts. Bold seasoning and careful technique elevate what could have been routine into something worth the drive.
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Rank 206. Khao Tiew
Thai
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Rank 372. Pucquio
Contemporary Peruvian
-
Rank 372. Sam Wo Restaurant
Chinese
-
Rank 372. Avatar's Restaurant
California-Indian
-
Rank 372. Swan Oyster Depot
San Francisco
-
Rank 372. Benchmark Pizzeria
Neo-Neopolitan
-
Rank 372. Carnitas Poblanas El Canelo
Puebla-Style
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- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in San Francisco Right Now
- Esquire 2022 · #34 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 372. El Paisa
Mexican
-
Rank 372. World Famous Hotboys
Nashville Southern
-
Rank 372. Sam's Grill and Seafood Restaurant
San Francisco
-
Rank 372. Hawking Bird
Southeast Asian
-
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-
Rank 372. Las Cabañas Mexican Grill & Taqueria
Chaipas-Style
-
Rank 372. Pupuseria Blankita
Salvadoran
-
-
Rank 372. Kaokao Grill
Chinese-American
-
Rank 372. Le Garage
French
-
Rank 372. Lana's
American
-
Rank 372. Le Soleil
Contemporary Asian
-
Rank 372. Emilia's Pizzeria
NY-Style
-
Rank 372. Turtle Tower
Northern Vietnamese
-
Rank 372. Grégoire
French
-
Rank 372. FAVA
New American
-
-
Rank 372. El Burro Veloz
Guadalajara-Style
-
Rank 372. Mensho
Noodles
-
-
Rank 372. Tacos Mi Reynita
Mexican
-
Rank 372. Tommy’s
Mexican
-
-
-
Rank 372. Shugetsu
Japanese
-
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Rank 372. Hayes Street Grill
San Francisco
-
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Rank 372. Moya
Ethiopian
-
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Rank 372. Annachi Kadai
Chettinad-Style
-
Rank 372. Chibog
Filipino
-
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Rank 372. Lucky Three Seven
Street Food Filipino
-
Rank 372. Shandong Restaurant
Chinese
-
Rank 372. Smelly’s
Cajun & Creole
-
Rank 372. El Mono
Peruvian
-
Rank 372. Hon’s Wun-Tun House
Cantonese
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Rank 372. Dosa Express
Southern Indian
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Rank 372. Gold Mirror
Italian
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Rank 372. Han Sang
Korean
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Rank 372. Lemat Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 372. John's Grill
San Francisco
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Rank 372. Aman Cafe
Malaysian
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Rank 372. Rasa
South Indian
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Rank 372. Sol Food
Puerto Rican
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Rank 372. Los Moles
Mexican
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Rank 372. Parekoy Lutong Pinoy
Filipino
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Rank 372. Beit Rima
Middle Eastern
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Rank 437. The Yellow Submarine
Sandwiches
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Rank 437. Thai Nghiep Ky Mi Gia
Vietnamese
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Rank 437. Toyose
Korean
A converted garage in the Outer Sunset holds a Korean kitchen that rewards groups arriving late, when the energy shifts from polished to pleasantly rowdy. The food won't astonish you, but the informal joy of it—the sense that everyone's here for the same uncomplicated reason—makes the place work.
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Rank 437. Day Moon
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 437. The Mill
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 437. Kevin & Chris’s Noodle House
Vietnamese
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Rank 437. Cielito Lindo
Mexican
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Rank 437. Cantina Los Mayas
Mexican
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Rank 437. Banh Mi Crunch
Vietnamese
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Rank 437. Prik Hom
Thai
Siblings run this quiet Geary Boulevard newcomer with a compact menu that distills Bangkok fine-dining technique into vibrant, approachable Thai food. Hand-pounded curry pastes and a smoke-finished coconut ice cream signal a kitchen attuned to aroma and detail.
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Rank 437. 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 437. Good Luck Dim Sum
Dim Sum
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Rank 437. NARA
Japanese
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Rank 437. San Tung
Chinese
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Rank 437. Dragon Beaux
Dim Sum
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Rank 437. Wako
Japanese
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Rank 437. Otra
Mexican
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Rank 437. Rusty Ladle
American
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Rank 437. Kibatsu
Sushi
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Rank 437. Mini Potstickers
Chinese
A narrow Sunset storefront where pan-fried pork buns arrive no bigger than a thumbnail, each one a vehicle for rendered fat and ginger-forward filling. The dumplings here—steamed, boiled, fried—suggest a kitchen that has spent decades perfecting pleats and ratios rather than chasing trends.
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Rank 437. Katsuo + Kombu
Japanese
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Rank 437. SAIGONESE CAFÉ
Vietnamese
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Rank 437. Palm City
Sandwiches
A wine-forward sandwich shop tucked into the Outer Sunset where the counter service feels like catching up with a friend who knows what you need. The arm-length hoagies arrive with the casual confidence of something that has earned its reputation through repetition, not fuss.
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Rank 437. Beretta
Italian
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Rank 437. Koi Palace
Cantonese Chinese
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Rank 437. My Tofu House
Korean
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Rank 437. Bar Crudo
Seafood
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Rank 437. Dumpling Union
Dim Sum
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Rank 437. Zentarou
Sushi
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Rank 437. Limón
Modern Peruvian
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Rank 437. Han Il Kwan
Korean
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Rank 437. Dabao Singapore
Singaporean Hawker Food
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Rank 437. Moku Yakitori-Ya
Japanese
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Rank 437. Hook Fish Co
Seafood
The counter at Hook Fish Co glimmers with the casual precision of a neighborhood spot that knows what it does—poke bowls and fish tacos executed without fuss or pretense. What emerges is the kind of eating that feels both immediate and considered, a reminder that restraint and freshness need no ceremony.
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Rank 437. New Eritrea Restaurant
Eritrean
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Rank 437. Manna
Korean
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Rank 437. Burger Littles
Burgers
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Rank 437. Koi Palace
Cantonese Chinese
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Rank 437. Tarragon Cafe
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 437. Purple Rice
Korean
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Rank 437. Lucinda's Deli & More
Sandwiches
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Rank 482. China Live
Chinese
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Rank 484. Rise Over Run
Rooftop Cocktail Bar
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Rank 485. Cafe Ohlone
Ohlone