129 Best Restaurants in San Francisco, California

Plenty of locals come to this tidy space known for remarkably friendly service and the dry chicken wings fried in garlic and roasted red peppers, as well as for thinly sliced Mongolian beef and dan dan noodles. Run by two former Hong Kong restaurant owners, it specializes in mostly southern Chinese fare, like Cantonese cuisine, and has a few Sichuan specialties, too.

With coffee, sandwiches, and salads by day, and superb drinks at night, this spot right by the California Street cable car terminus is a charming place to visit. Its sunlight-filled atmosphere is refreshingly low-key for FiDi—the rare downtown establishment that feels like a true neighborhood gathering place.

Repeatedly crowned the World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Tony Gemignani is a carb-friendly legend in the city for his flavorful dough and myriad versions. The multiple gas, electric, and wood-burning ovens in his casual, modern pizzeria turn out many different styles of pies—the famed Neapolitan-style Margherita, but also Sicilian, Roman, and Detroit styles—with salads, antipasti, homemade pastas, and calzone rounding out the menu. They don't take reservations, and wait times are notoriously long, so add your name to the online wait list (very) early.

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.

This hip, bustling Union Street destination proves that plant-based cuisine can be exciting and delicious, along with being virtuous for the body (well, at least most dishes are) and better for the environment. The highly eclectic menu includes dishes from wild mushroom "zeppole" fritters to a spicy yellow Thai curry. The plant-filled space has a fun, breezy vibe with a bar on one side, plus plenty of sidewalk seating, and many seats are filled by diners who don't follow vegan or even vegetarian diets.

This standout sandwich shop wonderfully balances a menu of signature Vietnamese banh mi and other sandwiches given a unique spin with ingredients from different Asian cultures. At dinnertime, there's a comforting ginger chicken jook (porridge), Japanese curry, and more. Daytime tends to be more for takeout, while dinner is usually a sit-down affair.

San Francisco's signature Sichuan restaurant is a wonderful place to sample the often spicy, mouth-numbing (that's the "mala" heat, then the cooling effect of the peppers and chilies) cuisine of that northern China region. It's a long menu, so ask for advice from the servers. Be sure to book in advance for dinner, as the place is equally popular with visitors and diners from all over the Bay Area.

One of the city's best Wagyu beef briskets is served in an unassuming (from the exterior) former factory in trendy Dogpatch. Several American styles—Kansas City, Texas, and the Carolinas—are showcased on an extra-large chalkboard that lists daily specials, priced by the pound. The 10,000-square-foot warehouse has been strikingly redone by New York design firm Nothing Something, which has thoughtfully elevated the old in a steampunkish vibe. The lion’s share of footage is for Magnolia Brewery, with tanks in the back room. When the tech set descends, the volume cranks, which can be a plus for families—frankly, a tantrum would probably go unnoticed.