1438 Best Restaurants in California, USA

Step inside this restaurant, part of a tropical-style hotel complex and concert venue on Shelter Island, and discover a dining room that’s contemporary in look and outlook with amazing vistas of bobbing sailboats, seabirds, and sunsets. Hotel guests, concertgoers, yachties, and a few locals enjoy the contemporary menu featuring classic American fare like crab cakes, macadamia-crusted halibut, and Angus beef filet. After sharing an in-house dessert, stop by the bar next door to work off the calories dancing to live music.

Reservations are needed during concert nights; check the website for schedule.

Francesco Covucci brings his concept for a modern, casual Italian pizzeria with quality-driven imported Italian ingredients to storied North Beach. Although hailing from Calabria (an agricultural region of Southern Italy neighboring Campania, Italy's pizza bastion), he has created an authentic Neapolitan-style pizzeria. Also look for appetizers involving imported buffalo milk mozzarella and burrata. There's a second location in the Castro.

One of two Paso establishments owned by chef Santos MacDonal and his wife, Carole, this Italian restaurant entices diners with complex flavors and a contemporary space featuring art deco overtones. Consistent crowd-pleasers often on the menu include the beef carpaccio with white truffle cream sauce and shaved black truffles and the pappardelle with wild boar ragù.

Serving pizza, café staples, and some grab-and-go options, Il Parco is a newer spot with incredible views in the Tunnel Tops park. The faster items are also among the more tasty. The pizza is not a traditional style and feels closer to bread than crust. The desserts and bakery items are fresh and delicious.

One of North Beach's last blue-collar eateries has immense character, as if a rosticceria (a type of casual roast meat eat-in or take-away) was plopped here from a small quarter of Rome. This is a simple spot to get classic, hearty meals like half a roasted chicken and sides. Known as a beacon for chicken, Il Pollaio also does roast rabbit, lamb, pork, and rib eyes. They have a few simple wine options but allow BYOB in case you have a bottle snagged from a day of browsing among the neighborhood's independent food and bottle shops. There's another location in the Mission.

Drop in any day from 7 am to 5 pm to use the free Wi-Fi and score a quick cold brew or strong pour-over made from freshly roasted beans at this corner location. There’s indoor and outdoor seating where you’ll find a respite from Hollywood Boulevard. The small bites menu includes locally made pastries, oatmeal, and quiche.

Ayesha Curry teamed up with the city's most prolific chef/entrepreneur, Michael Mina, on this hip spot inside the glitzy Millennium Tower. Don't call it a barbecue restaurant—it's more of an open flame, smoke-driven style of cooking inspired by various global cuisines. Every table has an order of Curry's freshly baked cornbread (SF's best) and one of the different smoked ribs offered.

An organic oasis, this deli, restaurant, and taproom offers a true taste of the Point Reyes foodshed. Classic sandwiches, breakfast bites, burritos, grilled Niman Ranch beef, wild-caught salmon, and vegan burgers are all prepared with fresh local ingredients. Rotating specials abound throughout the week, including weekend fish and chips. IP Market is committed to conserving the area's energy and limited water resources, as shown by the solar tube lighting, the fully compostable tableware used in the taproom, and the no-flush toilets.

Decked out in dinosaurs and featuring a mosaic dragon on the wall, The Invigatorium is as much a showcase for tasteful whimsy as it is for tasty treats. A partnership between brewery/coffee roaster Modern Times and local restaurateurs CH Projects, the East Village spot is essentially two small eateries in one: the eponymous coffee and breakfast bite purveyors as well as its sibling bar, J & Tony's, which serves up Italian cold-cut sandwiches and classic cocktails while vintage vinyl spins on the hi-fi. Show up early enough to ensure you walk out with a breakfast taco—they go fast. Or come after sundown for some tinned fish and a round of negronis.

More Tokyo street chic than standard sushi house, this izakaya—the Japanese equivalent of a bar with appetizers—is decked with bamboo-screen booths. Servers pour an impressive array of sakes and shōchū and serve up satisfying fare. Savvy diners make reservations and arrive early for the best selection. Several small plates are made in-house and are a must-order, including pickles, gyoza dumplings, and tofu.

Hundreds of piranhas cover one wall of this soaring, nautically themed dining room dedicated to fresh seafood in all its guises. At the raw bar with its refrigerated metal top, a half dozen or more varieties of oysters are available for slurping, along with drinks from the booklet-size cocktail menu. Platters for sampling and sharing—a mix of oysters, shrimp, mussels, and lobster—can be ordered for up to eight people. For entrées, day-catch fish caught by local fishermen and lobsters just plucked from a tank can be savored grilled or à la plancha. Other specialties range from smoked trout dip to a hefty lobster roll slathered with brown-butter mayo.

Two restaurants in one share this enviable spot on the shore of Harbor Island: the splurge-worthy Island Prime steak house and the relaxed C Level with a choice terrace. Both venues tempt with unrivaled views of Downtown San Diego's skyline. Island Prime's surf-and-turf dinner menu offers a trio of fillets topped with blue cheese, wild mushrooms, and Alaskan king crab. At C Level, sharable plates are often Asian fusion-inspired, like the ahi stack with mango salsa and taro chips, or comfort food like lobster and fontina BLT. Of the nearly dozen desserts, don't miss the potted brownie banana split: homemade peanut butter ice cream over a warm brownie with dulce de leche, fudge, and brûléed bananas.

In Italy, the bastion of fresh pasta is Emilia-Romagna, and a trio of entrepreneurs hailing from the region give respect to its claim to carb fame in a mini-empire of fast-casual pasta eateries, with the one in North Beach as its flagship. Come for treats like slabs of lasagna that fool you into thinking you're calorie-loading in Bologna, as well as stuffed ravioli and gnocchi. The space itself is nothing fancy and looks like a deli, but grab your cutlery and a seat and enjoy your feast. While much of North Beach's Italian identity has eroded over the years, new-generation businesses like this one are bringing some of that soul back.

A former chef from the Mission District's acclaimed Al's Place (which sadly closed in 2022) is the culinary talent at this fantastic, dimly lit oasis near the hectic 24th St.-Mission BART station. The menu's focus is on two trendy Italian cuisine items—pasta and fish crudo—that might be hip clichés now, but this kitchen does them as well as anyone in town and always with a unique spin.

Reservations are recommended at this hot spot where the outdoor seating is ideal for people-watching and the Japanese country food is uniquely prepared. Locals come for seasonally changing, eclectic dishes made with a blend of local ingredients, such as perfectly delicate vegetable tempura and tamari-kombu cured salmon or a wonderful salad combining various kinds of sashimi with a spicy miso dressing.

Situated next to grassy Powerhouse Park, Jake's feels like Southern Californian dining at its best—a beachfront location coupled with beautiful ocean views and the freshest ingredients. In a true aloha spirit, friendly servers are ready to tempt with cucumber margaritas and starters like macadamia-crusted calamari as well as items from the main menu, which is split "by garden," "by sea," and "by land," with options like the seafood pot, the chef's burger, and the filet mignon. Just steps from the sand, this is one of San Diego's best restaurants for mai tai sunsets.

Housed alongside a handful of other small businesses in The Space, a warehouse-like shopping center, James Coffee Co. and its aromas of fresh-brewed house roasts might very well prove too enticing for nearby shoppers to pass up. Take a seat while waiting for a cup of flavorful pour-over coffee, frothy espresso, or a variety of teas, and savor a morning bun or a flaky, buttery croissant. Or if you're on the go, they offer a seasonal rotation of different bagged roasts for you to take with you.

Stop into this bright spot for their famous avocado mash, homemade baked goods and cookies, and coffee from beans roasted in-house. Look for other Janes around the city, including on Larkin Street in the Tenderloin and Jane the Bakery on Geary Street in Japantown.

This excellent, festive restaurant (part of celebrity chef Gastón Acurio's global group) presents a concise menu of Peru culinary staples like ceviche and flaky empanadas. You won't miss the obligatory pisco sour (Jaranita doesn't have a full liquor license), because the "Nikkei Sour" with citrus sake is just as special.

If the kids want burgers, but you want bourbon, Jason's has a full bar along with nachos, wings, and fried calamari starters; French onion soup and clam chowder; a dozen-plus sandwiches and burgers; and steak, chicken, seafood, and baby back ribs entrées. The whole place is wood, from floor to ceiling, lending it an ultrarustic feel.

Take a break from waterfront and State Street explorations at Jeannine's, revered locally for its wholesome sandwiches, salads, and baked goods, made from scratch with organic and natural ingredients. Dine in the expansive dining room or on the patio, or pick up a turkey cranberry or chicken pesto sandwich to go and picnic on the beach or nearby Chase Palm Park. Jeannine's also has outlets in Montecito, Uptown, and Goleta.

Award-winning local chef Jeff Wiesinger and his wife Kathleen opened this casual eatery, tucked in a hidden courtyard a block from downtown City Park. Feast indoors or out on made-to-order sandwiches, hearty mac-and-cheese bowls, house-made potato chips, fresh salads, craft beer, and local wines while listening to throwback soundtracks from the ’60s and ’70s.

Tucked bayside between Harbor and Shelter islands, Jimmy's Famous (JFAT for short) draws hungry boaters and sea lovers with its marina views and elevated backyard-barbecue faves like the Cowboy burger with crispy onion rings and pecanwood bacon. The interior blends varnished wood with industrial-chic I beams and garage-style doors, plus there's a patio facing the water. Happy Hour 3–6 draws a crowd for $10 cocktails and $13 burgers. Bottles of the company’s zesty chipotle ketchup can now be purchased to take home.

Come to the Japan Center early to pick up Jina's innovative French-Korean pastries, savory like the kalbijjim short rib croissant or slightly sweet like the mochi-filled injeolmi croissant dusted with soybean flour. The bakery's popular cream puffs are only available Friday to Sunday, and it's strictly takeout every day.

Los Angeles is known for wonderful hole-in-the-wall eateries tucked inside tiny strip malls, and family-owned Jitlada is Exhibit A, specializing in delicious, spicy, southern Thai dishes. Consider this experience a dive deep into Thai cuisine made with the freshest ingredients. If the colorful yet low-key dining area doesn’t astound you, then the menu with more than 300 options just might.

Founded in 1980 and by many accounts Sonoma County's first farm-to-table restaurant, this dress-up multiroom establishment was also among the first to tailor its cuisine to the region's wines. Though eclipsed as a destination-dining locale by rivals in Healdsburg and elsewhere, John Ash remains a worthy stop for well-crafted dishes that might include pork belly and scallops with butternut squash puree and Pacific halibut with clams, chorizo, and basil-potato gnocchi.

Assemble a beach picnic like a Malibu local at this humble, health-conscious spot where sandwiches include the Surfer Princess (turkey and avocado) and the salads include the Quinoa Queen. You can also choose from smoothies and juices, salads, acai bowls, snacks, drinks, and more.

Sausalito's popular beer hall and rotisserie offers ample, open, airy indoor seating at long tables and expanded outdoor deck dining with exceptional views of the bay. It's a relaxing spot to enjoy burgers, sandwiches, guacamole with housemade tortilla chips, and salads along with a selection of local brews on tap. With free parking nearby and easy access for cyclists and kayakers, it's easy to see why this is a local favorite.

Off-roading enthusiasts and locals tend to congregate at The Joint, considered the center of the action (or maybe the only action) in town—with live music on weekends, pickleback shots, and a chalkboard menu reading “Soup of the Day: Whisky.” Dating from 1905, the adobe building originally served as a German steam bakery, and today the bar/restaurant is operated by Neil and Hollie Shotwell, the third generation to keep the family-owned saloon alive since 1955. Stop by on Saturday for guest vendors serving tacos or burgers on the grill. Picnic tables line the dusty road, or you can grab a barstool indoors where flags and currency cover the walls and ceiling.

Bringing Taiwanese food made with California ingredients to a Central American--dominated neighborhood may sound ambitious, but Joy has long made it work by keeping close ties with the community, preserving its building's history, and serving comforting, affordable classic Taiwanese dishes. Pine & Crane's sister restaurant uses spices and flavors that are more accessible to less adventurous food lovers, but the unfussy dishes on its small menu are still comforting, wholesome, and familiar to those who grew up eating some versions of them. Prepare to share small bites and mains with a small group; Joy's dan dan Noodles and pork belly rice are must-have items. Expect modest lines during the weekends, but the food rolls out quickly.