A bit of backstory…
When my family moved from the Bay Area to the suburbs of Atlanta in 2004, I made a promise to return to San Francisco as much as possible. I was Pissed AF™️ about the move so I made a silent promise to myself that I’d return at least once a year. Every summer I’d beg my parents to let me go back and stay with my aunt and uncle for as long as I could. Truthfully, I hated everything about Atlanta when I first moved (and to be fair, I just hated the suburbs).
My mom’s job comped three months of dining out while we lived in an apartment and shopped for a new home. Our South San Francisco home had sold in just a few weeks which expedited the moving timeline. Dining out had always been a treasured family activity. My parents didn’t have a lot in common but they both seemed to align on trying new restaurants around the city. We had our go-to Thai restaurant in Outer Richmond, Sunday brunches at Stacks or Copenhagen Bakery in Burlingame, or if we really wanted to celebrate — a full spread at the Stinking Rose in North Beach.
Moving to Atlanta Alpharetta, I got to know chain restaurants pretty quickly. They felt like big, branded, almost cartoon-like experiences. So much of the dining experience wasn’t focused on the actual food at all. It took a while for us to get used to the multi-chapter storybook menus and massive portions. Chain restaurants are not categorically bad. In fact, I loved going to Olive Garden for the salad and breadsticks combo (aka the perfect Sunday post-evening mass supper), but often times the dishes were uninteresting, lacked balance, or were virtually flavorless. There were many things about the move from the West to East coast that were disorienting, but the lack of good food threw even 11-year-old me for a loop.
For the next 10-15 years, I would hold onto my over-romanticized memory of San Francisco, treasuring it as my hometown, rejoicing in the things I loved, and severely overlooking its issues.
For as much as “The City” has changed, I still think it sits in the most geographically beautiful nook of the country. You have the beach, mountains, wine country, and an incredibly diverse history and community. I’ll always be grateful to have been born and raised in the Bay Area, and when I think of all the things I love to eat and drink, much of the foundation for my palate was laid there. Whenever I get to go back and visit, I’m much less interested in what’s new, and more focused on my nostalgia-fueled food tour so that I can pay homage to the places and dishes that sowed within me this desire to eat and drink well.
If you’re ready and willing to travel the peninsula via Uber, BART, Muni bus, or even self-driving car, here’s my guide on dining through the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Guide
The only way for me to think through this guide is to assume you’ve just arrived at SFO (Oakland & San Jose are fine too, but for me, it will always be SFO). There are two things I crave when I land and this is mostly dependent on the time of day. If you’re landing before 4:00 p.m., let’s go to Tartine Manufactory.
Tartine Manufactory
Bread is really important to me. If we’ve eaten together, then you’ve probably seen me pick up a piece of bread and smell it at some point. When my parents introduced me to sourdough, I was immediately intrigued. It wasn’t like any of the sweeter Filipino breads or “pan de sal” that I was used to eating. They said it was called sourdough because it smells and tastes a little bit sour. Anytime I eat sourdough, I’m looking for 3 things: smell, moisture, and crust. The smell should be tangy and yeasty, complimented by a moist (sorry!) gummy interior, and a thick, chewy crust that feels sturdy enough to be a container for soup (RIP pre-touristy Boudin clam chowder in a bread bowl). Tartine is my gold standard for sourdough. As for the rest of the food, the menu changes often but generally centers around pastry (holy shit, so much good pastry), sandwiches, toasts, bowls, salads, and soups… it shouldn’t really require any persuasion at all to go eat at Tartine.
Now, if you’re arriving at SFO after 4:00 p.m.,you have to go to In-N-Out.
In-N-Out Burger
We’re not going to have any shocking revelations talking about In-N-Out. You’ve either had it or you haven’t! You either know the meaning of “animal style” or you don’t. When the Daly City In-N-Out opened, my life was never the same. It’s the best fast-food burger in America (this is not up for debate, I am right, you are wrong), and in case you’re wondering, here’s my order:
Animal-style hamburger (double-double if I’m *starving*), animal-style french fries with chopped chilies, a side of regular fries (for balance), and a strawberry milkshake.
I’ve met folks over the years who disagree, mostly claiming that the fries are bad, or that they think it’s overrated. And that’s fine! I would say there are worse hills to die on, but there are not.
Moving onto the dinner category (those first two are intended to be late lunches) — there are a few things I *have* to have when I’m in the Bay and then others that are classic Bay Area meals.
Filipino Food, period.
My mom is from the Kapampangan region of the Philippines, renowned for its cooking. I think because of this, she was always intent on making sure I grew up eating a lot of Filipino food during the week so that the weekends could be spent dining out and catching up with family. If I’m on the peninsula, I’ll go to Patio Filipino, or if I’m in East Bay visiting family, we’ll eat at Isla Restaurant (which is technically a chain and has a massive storybook-like menu but remember, chain restaurants are not categorically bad!). They both offer many of my favorite dishes growing up: Bangus Sinigang, Pancit Palabok, Bistek, Pinakbet, and Bangus or Pork Belly Sisig. And yes, I love Balut too.
Burma Superstar
During the summers I’d stay with my aunt and uncle, my older cousin Khristine was attending culinary school. I owe a lot of my exposure to good restaurants to her, and she had a talent for bringing together large groups around tables at very popular restaurants. She showed me Burmese cuisine and if you’re craving something *new*, you can’t really go wrong with Burma Superstar. Burmese food reminds me of Indian dishes bred with Vietnamese/Thai/Lao flavors. Normally I’d hate to say that anything is a “party in my mouth”, but that’s what my first bite of the rainbow salad felt like. Plus, this is a good spot to cosplay as Anthony Bourdain and let the staff pick for you. Look at you, you’re so cultured!
State Bird Provisions
Something to be aware of when you go to San Francisco is that it’s not a very fashionable town. When the majority of the wealth in the city comes from tech, the concept of “dressing up” isn’t really a thing. For that, I think a lot of the newer, upscale dining experiences sort of follow the same suit. State Bird’s dim-sum style service begs the questions, “What if we could serve a zillion delicious dishes in a highly functional format?” and “What if we also offered a menu of tiny, savory pancakes because we can?”. It’s incredibly consistent and the most “worth it” One Michelin star meal I’ve ever had. Don’t sleep on its sister spots The Progress or Anchovy Bar next door.
Flour + Water
Pasta, not really native to SF in any way, somehow feels like it was perfected at Flour + Water. Living in New York, I’ve been spoiled with really good Italian food, but when you apply Northern California produce and principles (farm-to-table, California cooking, etc.), there’s something really elegant yet approachable about Flour + Water. If you’re good to splurge, 10/10 would recommend the pasta tasting. Everything tastes and feels technically prepared. The dishes are precise, the flavors are bold, and enough restraint is shown that the dishes exude originality without feeling bullshitty.
Chez Panisse
I’ll be honest — I’ve only eaten at Chez Panisse once. I went for my birthday a few years ago because it felt like a rite of passage and like I was paying my dues. Without Alice Waters, a lot of the restaurants and chefs I adore wouldn’t exist. It’s beautiful produce treated with the utmost care. The dishes are simple and might not justify the price per seat, so I’m generally on the fence about recommending it to people who are looking for something with a bit more va-va-voom. The restaurant looks like it hasn’t been touched by time and you will be surrounded by the most tenured faculty at UC Berkeley, but who cares! If it’s good enough for Samin Nosrat and Michael Pollan, it’s good enough for me.
In search of prix-fixe treatment and culinary prestige but located in the city and ideally a bit younger? Head to Petit Crenn.
Scoma’s
Listen, you can’t go to San Francisco without having a bowl of cioppino on the waterfront. You simply cannot. There are only two restaurants in this list that I would normalize being touristy for (because they’ve been serving the same thing for 50+ years), and it’s Scoma’s and Swan Oyster Depot. Sure, it’s incredibly basic but it does the job better than most and you get the full old-school San Francisco pre-tech invasion experience. I want Crab Louie, prawn cocktail, linguine con vongole, and puttanesca, and I want Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra playing in the background. Am I asking for too much?
Zuni Cafe
Searching for the words to describe how much I love Zuni feels impossible so I’ll go with three: Chicken. For. Two. Death Row meals are problematic by nature, but if I had to narrow it down, mine would be the roast chicken, a plate of shoestring fries, a dozen Hog Island oysters, paired with a bottle of champagne (this one will do), and a gin martini with a twist, for good measure. I watched two old French men eat and bicker together over this exact meal and “relationship goals” took on a whole new meaning. In my eyes, Zuni Cafe is a perfect restaurant.
Wow. It’s a new day, already? Let’s move onto daytime dining — lunch, brunch, and snacks.
Swan Oyster Depot
Honestly, I’m feral for Swan Oyster Depot. It’s deserving of any and all hype, especially if you love seafood. My best recommendation would be to go early and just plan for an early lunch. (If you’re reading this, stay in line!) This is the kind of meal you have to plan your day around. The best way to sum it up is to imagine yourself eating some of the freshest seafood (minimal cooking/intervention) in the city and being served by a lineup of Carmen Berzatto variants. No website, cash only, champagne (jk, Schramsberg, but close enough), Swan Oyster Depot might as well be my version of a strip club.
Copenhagen Bakery & Café
For when all you want is a sandwich. Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe is probably the most sentimental restaurant on this list. It’s not particularly chic, going to rank on any lists, or any awards but locals adore it. My obsession with sandwiches was born here. Brunches after church in sunny Burlingame meant risking a trip to the dentist for shrimp salad, roast turkey, or tuna salad on Dutch crunch bread with a side of potato salad. I’ve watched my family members try dozens of other items on the menu and my order has stayed the same.
La Tapatia
Probably the OG of this entire list. I don’t think I realized how much I loved to eat until I had my first burrito from La Tapatia in South San Francisco. My childhood best friend’s grandpa owned it so her mom would drop off lunch from time to time, and she’d become the envy of the school cafeteria. If you’re looking for a proper Mission-style burrito and bodega that’s been serving the neighborhood for over 30+ years, look no further.
Note: I know La Taqueria on Mission is where everyone and their mother will tell you to go. La Taqueria is exceptional, but hey, this is my list!
Souvla
TBH, I almost didn’t put this on here because I actually can’t speak to the food at Souvla. Mostly due to circumstances, I’ve only ever gone for the frozen Greek yogurt with olive oils, sour cherry drizzle, and baklava crumble because I’m looking for a treat in between shopping in and around Hayes Valley. As far as fast casual spots go, I know it’s good, but I’m not wasting one of my meals on fast-casual Greek food when I’m in the Bay. Tea!
Hung to Seafood
How unhinged would it be if I didn’t list a single dim sum restaurant? Truthfully, there’s a lot of good dim sum in San Francisco so you can’t really go wrong. However, there are a few basic rules for dim sum: it has to be a weekend lunch, you can only drink hot tea, and you can’t skip your vegetables (steamed gai lan or Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce is a must). Be bold! Pick up something that scares you! Order something other than five rounds of pork and shrimp shumai! Don’t sleep on the taro-filled sesame balls!
Oracle Park
Surprise! We’re going to a baseball game. How do you visit SF between the months of April - September and not go to a Giants game? Are you out of your mind? Why would you pass up an opportunity to have a hotdog, garlic fries, and a beer (Sierra Nevada IPA) in one of the most beautiful baseball parks? You do not have to be a fan of baseball, the Giants, or sports in general to have a good time in Oracle Park.
I thought I could get through this list without mentioning “trendier” spots, but these last three are worth it as honorable mentions:
Palm City Wines. Hoagies and wine. Need I say more?
Arsicault Bakery. A really, really good croissant.
Salt & Straw. Incredibly fun, inventive ice cream.
Sightglass Cofee. No wi-fi, just good coffee.
The Mill. For when you’re dying to spend $20 on toast.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. For that, you’ve earned access to the full map (updated annually!).
I love you, San Francisco.