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We've compiled the best of the best in San Francisco - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Some of San Francisco's most exquisite French pastries are baked daily at this serene, cheery shop. On the savory side, most choices tend to be some form of pâté-filled pastry and are presented with all the artistry of haute cuisine; sweets are split between croissant-type items and proper dessert treats. Lunch seekers will be satisfied by the tiny selection of quiche, salads, and sandwiches.
Dominique Crenn’s sumptuous salon decked out with fur-draped bar stools, chandeliers, and lush velvet drapes is really a bar only in name. Yes, there's a bar pouring outstanding wines and it’s possible to graze on warm gougères (savory cheese puffs) and oysters. Its forte, though, is the petite haute gastronomic French menu available as a tasting menu or à la carte. Low tables make eating properly a challenge and your credit card will take a hit, but take it for what it is and it’s a magnificent way to spend an evening.
With a strong joie de vivre in a spectacularly chic setting, mini croque monsieurs, and juicy steak frites, there's a distinct French Riviera vibe nowadays along the Embarcadero with Bon Délire's arrival in 2024. A dramatic horseshoe-shaped bar anchors the intimate waterfront space (though you can't actually see the water inside) that ultimately toes the line between a bistro, a café, and a cocktail bar with great French cuisine bites. Quietly and surprisingly, the desserts are the best part of the menu.
A husband-and-wife team serves up classic French cooking and wines at this warm neighborhood bistro where you may run into romantic couples on date night or a small but convivial pre-wedding party. Favorites like bouillabaisse and filet mignon are beautifully served with loving attention. Servers are polite and friendly without being stuffy, and tables are set with white tablecloths and fresh flowers each night.
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 Comté, to more atypical choices such as cherry tomatoes and burrata.
It's hard to describe this ode to France's many culinary specialties without a map diagram, as this is a full six-story, four-concept venue just a block from Union Square. The shimmering gem of the house is upstairs, the exquisite fine-dining tasting menu space O' by Claude Le Tohic (tasting menu from $210); the other floors house a modern cocktail bar (Elements), a ground-floor bakery and patisserie, and a more casual and worthwhile bistro and grill.
The award for San Francisco's most visually prominent menu board goes to the one that is as wide as the immaculate open kitchen at the casual-chic wine-centric sibling of Cotogna and Quince. Verjus is one of the city's best examples of either a wine bar with excellent food or a hip, energetic bistro with a strong list of minimal intervention wines—it doesn't really matter which it's framed as. Either way, it's always a festive vibe in the dimly lit, loud space, and the France-meets-California plates are consistently satisfying.
