14 Best Restaurants in San Francisco, California

Celebrated local chef Nancy Oakes' high-profile, high-priced eatery in the historic 1889 Audiffred Building has been attracting well-dressed locals and flush out-of-towners since 1993. A striking belle époque interior (originally designed by Pat Kuleto and later touched up by Ken Fulk, both star local architects) is the setting for sophisticated American food with a French accent and a distinct local California produce twist. The main dining room has a three-course set menu with several options in each course, while most of that menu is available à la carte in the bar area.

Chef-owner Marc Zimmerman's first personal restaurant project is the city's most compelling beef-centric dining experience. Elaborate small dishes, several of which incorporate prestigious Wagyu beef elements (blood, fat, or obscure parts, for example), make up a captivating tasting menu served to diners, most of whom are seated at a U-shaped counter that overlooks a centerpiece robata grill.

Immaculately fresh seafood and a wood-burning hearth are the centerpieces of this bustling yet luxurious sibling to Saison. The menu descriptions might be brief, but it's really all about the ingredients and impeccable technique—whether it's a grilled hand-dived scallop or the signature thinly sliced potato with Sonoma cheeses—fulfilling their full potential on the plate with a few smart embellishments.

With its Bay Bridge views and stellar Spanish tapas, celebrity chef Michael Chiarello's San Francisco restaurant is a big hit that’s equal parts rustic and chic, a lively destination for both small bites and larger meals. Toothpicked pintxos (small snacks) like quail egg with sausage are a tasty way to start, but the real draws are the inventive cocktails, luscious paella, and dazzling selection of cured meats.

"Epic" describes it all, from the outsize dining room and the mile-wide bay view to the slabs of meat grilled over an open fire, and, alas, the prices. For an Epic experience at a fraction of the price, head upstairs to the Quiver bar for the "3 B's," a half-pound burger, a brownie, and a Bud.

The team behind French baking sensation Le Marais serves some of the greatest savory buckwheat galettes and sweet crêpes in the Bay Area at a kiosk on the water side of the Ferry Building. It's the perfect stop for breakfast, lunch, or a dessert snack. Fillings range from traditional ones like Nutella or ham and Gruyère, to more atypical choices such as cherry tomatoes and burrata.

A thriving oyster farm north of San Francisco in Tomales Bay serves up its harvest at this raw bar and restaurant in the Ferry Building, where devotees come for impeccably fresh oysters and clams on the half shell. Other mollusk-centered options include first-rate clam chowder, grilled oysters, and steamed mussels and clams; the kitchen also makes one of the city's best grilled cheese sandwiches.

Right on the water's edge, this casually chic outpost, global mega-chef Gastón Acurio's first outside Peru, imports the signature flavors of his home country's cuisine to San Francisco. Fresh seafood is a big draw here, including a long list of ceviches and the can't-miss causas (whipped potatoes topped with a choice of fish, shellfish, or vegetable salads).

A three-decade-old favorite for business lunches and special dinners, this white-tablecloth spot caters to suits brokering deals and well-dressed romantic dates, who carve their way through upscale dishes accented by local produce and often intricate sauces. Its menu skews seasonal and meaty, and its largish bar, which offers its own food menu of New York deli–style dishes and numerous cocktails, is popular for Financial District/pre-commute happy hour.

San Francisco has very few Caribbean restaurants, but luckily locals and tourists can try some excellent Jamaican cuisine from Shani Jones' catering company-turned-permanent kiosk on the Embarcadero sidewalk side of the Ferry Building. Homemade patties (savory pastries filled with meats or vegetables) are the namesake signature dish, complemented by the island's iconic jerk chicken and frequently a hearty stew or two.

Beer arrives at your table in buckets at this waterfront café-saloon, which has ample seating at plastic tables on a wooden deck. Although you'd expect to sit elbow to elbow with fishers, you're more likely to share the space with twenty- and thirtysomethings drawn by the cocktails and casual seafood and sandwiches from the kitchen, and of course the prime vantage point for gazing across the bay.

This contemporary-minded younger sibling of Boulevard, one of the city's most beloved dining institutions, deserves to be known for its own virtues. The food menu rotates frequently based on the seasons and is a nice mix of elevated snacks like outrageously good chicken-fried oysters and more refined small plates, entrées, and pastas. Cocktails are a particular strength at the lively bar, led by the "Prospector" (scotch, Madeira, and Bénédictine). 

For a real cup of joe without any sense of pretension, join the savvy dock workers, carpenters, and young suits at decades-old Red's Java House, where the coffee typically follows a cheeseburger and a beer and the gorgeous view of the East Bay is priceless.

Come for seafood with a view: sky-high aquariums dominate the dining room, and the bay is just beyond, but the biggest attraction is the food. Every fin and shell of the sea, from the oak-roasted striped bass to the black cod from the Mendocino Coast, is sustainably sourced. Speaking of that view, no restaurant has a more prime vantage point of the Bay Bridge than this one, though the full dining-with-a-view experience is more enjoyable on the patio or in the spacious front dining room than in the rather dim rear dining area. For a steak house with a view, head to Waterbar's next-door sibling, EPIC Steak.