2 Best Restaurants in San Francisco, California

Locals make the trek to the "Avenues" for this perennially crowded spot's flavorful Burmese food, including its extraordinary signature tea leaf salad, a combo of spicy, salty, crunchy, and sour tastes that is mixed table-side. The modestly decorated, no-reservations restaurant is small and lines can be long during peak times, so leave your number and wait for the call. Or walk a couple blocks east to B Star (127 Clement St.), owned by the same people but often less crowded and with a welcoming patio.

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.