40 Best Restaurants in San Francisco, California

As the American child of a Japanese immigrant—the definition of nisei— Chef David Yoshimura wants us to know that there's more to Japanese cuisine than ramen and sushi. At his new, low-key and elegant black-walled restaurant—already awarded its first Michelin star—Yoshimura puts his own creative spin on washoku, traditional seasonal Japanese cooking, to deliver what he calls "Japanese soul food." The multicourse tasting menu may include examples of the bold flavors and stark contrasts he favors such as banana dorayaki (filled pancakes) with caviar and black curry with sweetbreads. The wine pairing is a good bet, as the chef is also a sommelier.

In an immaculate setting boasting a long communal table, firewood as decor, and an enormous open kitchen, chef-owner Seth Stowaway's complex and invigorating tasting menus change their concept every few weeks. However, the firewood is a hint at the overarching theme of every experience: live-fire cooking incorporated into every dish. That touch of flames might be demonstrated by a more subtle smoke influence in a sauce or delicate, direct grilling for an elaborate meat or seafood centerpiece.

The 2024 opening of this standout hip-yet-refined concept, attached to the Jay Hotel, is a key figure in changing the narrative that downtown's restaurant scene is fading. Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones carefully ties together culinary influences from the South with California (not Southern California—think Mississippi River meets the SF Bay). The entire menu is wonderfully put together and full off signature dishes, like smoked catfish dumplings, the city's best grits, and a shockingly great orange creamsicle and ambrosia salad for dessert.

The second, grander restaurant from the chef-owners of State Bird Provisions is hardly just a little sibling: it features its own type of exciting, seasonally driven cooking, with no shortage of global influences. The lofty, bustling setting within an early-20th-century theater is a stunner of a backdrop, and some regulars love to sit at the small, cheery bar at the front and enjoy their dinner like an audience watching a grand dining-room stage.

The classic Japanese omakase experience (the chefs select the sushi and other small bites) gets a seasonal Californian influence at Adam Tortosa's hip, modern restaurant. The raw fish preparations are magnificent, and it's a relative deal where diners can name the price between $109 and $209, depending on their desire to splurge.

This two-Michelin-starred restaurant is one of the city's greatest dining destinations and might even deserve the very highest honor. The culinary team, led by executive chef Richard Lee, teases the deepest flavors from premium ingredients in a tasting menu that focuses on open-fire hearth cooking. (Saison was a leader of this trend at a gastronomic level over a decade ago.) The wine program and cocktails from the suave bar are as good as it gets in the city. Located in a brick-and-timber 19th-century building, this is definitely a special, high-wire-act dining experience.

A lychee-wood charcoal grill in the open kitchen is the star of this excellent contemporary Korean dining destination. Most of the menu is similar to its Korean barbecue peers but given a little twist—homemade soondae (blood sausage) adorns green-onion pancakes and unique banchan (side dishes) like jellyfish and hot mustard. The modern wood-and-concrete-accented room is always bustling and split between counter seats overlooking the grill and generously sized tables.

This elegant restaurant caters to an older crowd who sink happily into its oversized faux-ostrich leather chairs. The tasting menu is equally refined, with ingredients often sourced from the restaurant's farm south of the city and charcuterie made in-house; celeriac velouté with brandied-chestnut mousseline and salmon with horseradish soubise reflect the contemporary Californian menu's elegant French leanings. Excellent, artistic desserts are some of the most spectacular ways to end a meal in the city. The adjacent takeaway counter serves cookies, a popular English-muffin burger, and coffee drinks.

Originally a pandemic pivot for outdoor dining, this "Garden" concept (really a tented patio on part of the spacious plaza of one of SF's tallest skyscrapers) is fortunately a permanent fixture featuring excellent seasonal California cuisine and a few elevated comfort classics that help lift this destination into the upper tier of downtown dining options. And the garden's indoor sibling, the Vault Steakhouse, is well worth a visit for excellent steaks and martinis.

Come for seafood with a view: sky-high aquariums dominate the dining room, and the bay is just beyond, but the food should be an equally notable attraction. Every fin and shell of the sea, from the oak-grilled octopus to the black cod caught in the ocean right outside of San Francisco, 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 special occasion steakhouse with a view, head to Waterbar's next-door sibling, EPIC Steak.