San Francisco
Day trip · 8 hours
San Francisco: Napa and Sonoma Valley Wine Tour
Experience the fine wines and beautiful scenery of Napa and Sonoma on a guided day trip from San Francisco.
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History
Cioppino grew out of Italian immigrant fishing communities on the California coast, a pot built from whatever the boats brought in, thickened with tomato and wine. Monterey Bay's Sicilian fleet made it a peninsula dish as much as a San Francisco one, and it never left the local table. In Carmel it spans the price scale: the house pride at Dametra Cafe on Ocean Avenue, and a scallop-loaded version at Nora's comfort-food dining room on San Carlos Street.
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Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Boston
Guided tour · 2 hours
Boston: North End & Little Italy Food Tour with Local Dishes
Choose a 2-hour express or 3-hour full Boston food tour. Taste clam chowder, arancini, brick oven pizza, cannoli, and more while exploring the North...
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Chicago
Guided tour · 2 hours
Chicago: Gangsters and Food Tasting Walking Tour
Taste some of Chicago's most iconic foods while walking through one of the Prohibition Era’s most fashionable and notorious gangster-ridden...
from$75Check dates
Charleston
Guided tour · 2.5 hours
Charleston: Small Group Food Tour, Savor the Flavors
Experience the flavors of Charleston with the help of local guides. Delve into over 300 years of culinary history as you taste your way through the...
from$111Check dates
Common allergens: Shellfish, Fish
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 fennel bulb, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 250ml dry white wine
- 800g tinned crushed tomatoes
- 500ml fish or shellfish stock
- 500g firm white fish, cubed
- 500g clams or mussels, scrubbed
- 300g prawns, shell on
- Cooked Dungeness crab legs if available
- Parsley, lemon, grilled sourdough to serve
Method
- Sweat the onion and fennel in the oil for 8 minutes, then add garlic, chilli and tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more.
- Pour in the wine and reduce by half.
- Add tomatoes and stock and simmer 20 minutes to build the base.
- Add the clams or mussels, cover and cook 4 minutes until they begin to open.
- Slide in the fish, prawns and crab and simmer gently 5 minutes until just cooked.
- Season, shower with parsley and lemon, and serve with grilled sourdough for the broth.
Tip from the editors. Build the tomato base ahead if you like, but cook the seafood only at service; each species needs its own few minutes, added in order.
Where to eat cioppino
Cioppino in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Dametra Cafe ★ 4.5
Dametra Cafe fills its Ocean Avenue corner in Carmel every night, serving Mediterranean plates and cioppino while musicians work the dining room.
OrderThe cioppino; the house treats it as its proudest plate.
TipOwners Faisal Nimri and Bashar Sneeh built the room around music; expect singing between courses and queues on weekend evenings.
Nora's ★ 4.2
Nora's gives Carmel a sit-down dinner under $20 a head, the Nimri family pricing shareables from $7 and handhelds at $15-18 on San Carlos Street.
TryHandhelds $15-18, shareables from $7
TipShareables run $7-22 and handhelds $15-18, which makes this one of the village's rare relaxed-budget dinner reservations.
Cioppino in San Francisco
Sotto Mare ★ 4.5
Sotto Mare in San Francisco is the North Beach Italian seafood room that does the city's best cioppino, a 12-table room that takes a few reservations.
OrderThe cioppino for two; the kitchen's whole reputation in one bowl.
TipWear an apron, no exceptions; the cioppino is not negotiable on splatter.
Tadich Grill ★ 4.3
Tadich Grill in San Francisco is California's oldest continuously running restaurant, opened in 1849 in the Financial District, still grilling over mesquite.
OrderSand dabs grilled over mesquite, or the Hangtown Fry at lunch.
TipNo reservations except for parties of six or more; lunch counter seats turn over fastest.
Anchor Oyster Bar ★ 4.5
Anchor Oyster Bar in San Francisco is a 22-seat Castro counter that has served Dungeness, cioppino and clam chowder the same way since 1977.
OrderThe cioppino in season, with a side of garlic bread.
TipNo bookings; arrive at 16:30 for the early seating or after 21:00 when the line thins.
Scoma's ★ 4.3
Scoma's in San Francisco is the 1965 Pier 47 seafood room at Fisherman's Wharf, with the Lazy Man's cioppino served from a 60-year-old family recipe.
OrderLazy Man's cioppino, with the shells pre-cracked by the kitchen.
TipReservations open 30 days out; the bar takes walk-ins from 12:00 and is the best seat for a single diner.
More cities are in research. Want cioppino covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.