Here are a few places I, a bona fide local, enjoy: Alamo Square Seafood Grill; Castagna; SPQR; Jardiniere (highly recommend their Monday fixed-price menus); Dobbs Ferry; Miss B’s Patisserie
With the exception of SPQR and Jardinere, these are not high-end destination places. They are restaurants that serve good food and drink where local people meet for dinner and lunch.
How do you like Kiraku vs Yuzuki / Hina Yakitori?
I haven’t been to Yuzuki in about 1 year but have really enjoyed my meals there. But I think Kiraku is a step above it. I don’t think I’ve been to Hina Yakitori yet, a couple of years ago I did visit a place in the area that I thought was decent but I am not sure if it was Hina.
We went to Kiraku last night and had another stellar meal. One dish we had that we had not tried yet was the SHIME SABA (Torched Mackerel Sashimi). The Mackeral was deeply flavored and oily but not at all strong or fishy tasting. We had this dish on our recent trip to Japan and I think the Kiraku version was at the level or better than the better versions we had at Japan.
Not for any particularly challenging cuisine, but for a feel of the real “heart” of The City, consider a lunch or brunch at Delancey St.Not too long ago I had a fine fried chicken and gritcake brunch for about $9, and you won’t get a cheaper bay vista. You can do good while eating well.
At the wharf, The Codmother is great! (I usually get just the fish, no chips, no shrimp).
I also enjoy the Argentinian empanadas from the Tanguito truck that used to be the Codmother’s neighbor and is still thereabouts. Haven’t tried their choripan.
Sounds fantastic!!
Thanks so much for your notes; I’m writing everything down and looking forward to visiting soon!
This is an updated list I made for former CHers visiting SF. It is very Mission-centric, and San Francisco-centric, because that’s where i eat 99% of the time.
This Argentinian-ish place is right around the corner from me and one of our favorites. I take everyone I know there, and I think I’m averaging 2 times a month now. Natascha loved it! And it’s not all steak, they have a lot of other really great dishes. And wonderful cocktails. I walk home from work in the evenings smelling their wood fired ovens and swoon…
http://lolindasf.com/menus/dinner-menu/
for me, absolutely the best Thai (not street food). There are three locations, one in the Mission, on in the Tenderloin, on in Hayes Valley. My least favorite is the one in Hayes. (another Natascha and Greg favorite.)
This is one of my new favorites (new to me) that I’ve been to like 15 times in the last year. Fabulous cocktails, great food, love the space, the service, everything. Nice if you’re going to be in the neighborhood (North Beach/Chinatown).
http://docrickettssf.com/ - SADLY, THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED. LEAVING IT HERE, HOWEVER, ON THE OFF-CHANCE IT EVER REOPENS.
if you want really good, reliable bistro Frenchy food, with Frenchy waiters and bartenders, in a cute, frenchy atmosphere, and good cocktails, this is my go-to:
this place is just lovely, and the only caveat I have about it is most times, the apps are better than the mains, but I don’t mind making a meal out of apps. Amazing amazing wine list, and the owner and sommelier are very knowledgeable and helpful. And it’s a wonderful space.
street food thai. the one in San Francisco is very near my house, has a bigger menu than the one in Oakland. Really excellent - a WOW. some unusual dishes. Lots of rum cocktails.
(The same chef has a very high end place in Oakland that we adore. One Michelin star. Fab! I think this place may be our second favorite after Atelier Crenn (which is REALLY high end. and i’ve posted the link below.))
http://commisrestaurant.com/menu/
amazing amazing amazing. can’t say enough. imaginative, creative, gorgeous, delicious, utterly surprising. Super $$$$.
this place gets a ton of press. I went when it was a weekly pop-up at a totally divey old Chinese place, and really liked it. It’s permanent now, in the same location, and they have a NYC outpost, and maybe even a Paris one? and people love them. I went when they first became permanent, and wasn’t super thrilled, so I haven’t gone back. But, I’d be willing to try it again, since it gets so many good reviews.
and this the same chef’s upscale place, which I went to once, and Luis & I hated it, except for one, extraordinary dish. The place continues to get accolades, so I always wonder if we just went on a bad night.
this place for wonderful Italian in the neighborhood:
http://www.delfinasf.com/restaurant/
and right near them, a great bfasty/bakery place, but always with a queue:
fancy Italian, not in the neighborhood, but oh my god. I’ve only been for lunch, three-four times Financial Districtish/bordering North Beach.
Italian, IN North Beach (and it really isn’t that easy to find GOOD Italian in NB.) Newer place, very good pizza, very good mozz, casual place. Nice if you’re in the area and in the mood for Italian.
“Old” stalwart, one of the first gentrifying restaurants on Mission Street. It’s lovely to sit on the patio with the movie playing in the background. Brunches are really great, too, wonderful eggs, homemade “pop-tarts”, oysters, etc., but no movie.
high-end - this place is high concept too, looking to REVERSE climate change! It’s admirable, and while I don’t know how much they can actually do, it’s impressive. The food we had (we only had a couple of items) was really wonderful, but the star was this one cocktail, and I’d go back just to sit at the bar and have cocktails and snacks.
http://www.theperennialsf.com/#about
not exactly in the neighborhood, closer to the Castro, lovely, wonderful food. You can do half pours of wine, too, so you can try different ones. Their panisse frites are to die for – even if they’re not on the menu, ask, and they will probably make them for you.
and food from Sardinia… Dried tuna heart! Not sure if it’s always on the menu, but the bottarga is. Wonderful, homey little place. We are friends with one of the managers at the restaurant across the street, which we like but don’t love as much as this place.
http://www.laciccia.com/new-page-1-1/
For ramen, this place’s pork broth (tonkotsu, I think only available Tuesday nights) is to die for. Always get double cha su! Also in the Mission.
not in the neighborhood, and newish, Spanish/tapas place. really liked it. Huge, fancy, beautiful space, very good food, just not in a super accessible area – like, I don’t know what else you’d be doing in the area except to go there.
if you’re downtown shopping, near Union Square, and want to do lunch, this is a super fun, Euro-style alleyway with about 5-6 restaurants. My favorites are B44, Tiramisu and Café Bastille. Very lively place during the week at lunch and happy hour, great when the weather’s nice to sit outside (you never know with SF summers, but they do have heat lamps.)
this is currently my favorite Sichuan place, I can’t get enough of it! In Chinatown.
http://sf.eater.com/maps/where-eat-drink-restaurants-bars-chinatown-san-francisco/chong-qing-xiao-mian
we liked this place a lot, though we’ve only been once.
another i’ve been to only once, and i’m not sure why, because we loved it.
http://www.hoffmannsgrill.com/
fell in love with this place and can’t wait to back. Persian food, really well done. Cozy place.
my favorite taqueria of them all was just named as a Classic by the James Beard Good Food Awards! Their tacos/burritos are different then others because they’re meat-heavy, not a lot of filler. I love them.
Great report Maria . Many nice spots you mentioned to add to my list . Thanks
you are welcome!
I thought I’d top this thread since the NJ folks
are coming to California.
edited slightly as Doc Rickets has sadly closed… 
Topping this for Kathy S.
Thanks, this thread is so helpful!
And thank you to all the posters. Please keep them coming!
Some places I consider best in what they do that will be familiar to local HO/Chowhound/FTC folks, and from whom I’m sure I learned about most of these picks. Except for the kinds of places you see on top 10 lists, it’s worth starting a conversation about what to order.
La Cocina trained businesses:
Ferry Building Farmer’s Market (Saturday morning):
California
Middle Eastern & Central Asia
): Sama Uyghur (Fremont)Latin American
European
Asian
The best Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese are probably in the South Bay, which others on the board are more familiar with.
Chinese
Pacific Islands
Lots of new Filipino places recently too throughout the Bay Area.
African
Brunch (or breakfast)
(take with grain of salt as I’m not keen on breakfast/brunch)
Desserts
Other
You should be a food tour guide. Tremendous.
I’ll chime in on the Lao restaurants, most of them marketing themselves as Lao/Thai. For me, there are many with strengths.
Chai Thai is my most frequented, partially because I live nearby, but also because the menu is broad and appeals to me, with few misses. The Kao Soi Thai is always good, and their rice ball salad (nam kao) is a must order at any of the Lao places. They also have a sister restaurant, the Saap Avenue, in a fancier neighborhood with prices to match, but they don’t dumb down the flavor and offer interesting cocktails.
Vientian Cafe has the best nam kao and the best Lao sausage (sai ooa). The menu is long, and stuffed with a bunch of misses, like their plainer noodles soups, but also a lot of authentic Lao dishes with strong fermented flavors like the Lao papaya salad or bamboo stew. Their larb is good, and you have the option of getting tripe in you beef larb.
Most will mention Champa Garden as the best. It is consistently very good, but for me it has a more limited menu and often has a wait. It is nice to be able to order the sausages and rice ball salad (along with some okay spring rolls) as a single appetizer, and I also like their kao poon quite a bit.
I haven’t mentioned any in SF because I haven’t been to any that remain open, though there is a branch of Champa Garden there too.
For Ethiopian I’ll add that I like Enssaro best all-around. The vegetarian sampler at Cafe Colucci is a favorite of mine, largely because of the mustardy Azifa. Recently I’ve found myself stoping by across the street at Barcote more, as their meat dishes are in my opinion the best spiced of the area restaurants.
If the OP is in Central California a lot, one option also is to explore the Laos eateries in Fresno. After SFBA, Fresno also has a substantial population from Laos, and substantial Hmong population.
Ensarro used to be my tops but I had a meh meal, jeez, two or so years back, and so did @Lethe2020 so I haven’t been back. If I can distract myself from focusing on Chinese cuisines when I’m not in SF, I should check out Barcote and revisit Ensarro.
