Where the Mission burrito met natural wine and never looked back.
San Francisco eats with the conviction of a small city that has shaped how the rest of America thinks about food. The Mission gave the country its burrito, Chinatown ran the longest Cantonese kitchen line in the diaspora, and North Beach kept Italian American cooking honest. Alice Waters wrote a manifesto across the bay in 1971 and the Ferry Plaza market still answers to it every Saturday. The third-wave coffee movement started here in three roasters within ten blocks. Today the city eats Dungeness crab in winter, chinook in spring, stone fruit through summer and mushrooms into autumn, with kitchens from Saison to Mister Jiu's and Atelier Crenn writing the modern grammar. The price of rent has thinned the middle, yet taquerias hold the line.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in San Francisco, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in San Francisco.
The Mission burrito is San Francisco's defining sandwich: a giant flour tortilla packed with rice, beans, meat, salsa and sometimes cheese or sour cream, foil-wrapped to the table.
Where: La Taqueria, El Farolito, La Cumbre, Taqueria Cancun, Taqueria El Buen Sabor
Cioppino is a tomato-and-wine seafood stew of Dungeness crab, clams, mussels, prawns and white fish, invented by Genoese fishermen in San Francisco's North Beach.
Where: Sotto Mare, Tadich Grill, Anchor Oyster Bar, Scoma's
San Francisco sourdough is a tangy, open-crumb white loaf made with a wild starter unique to the city's foggy climate, used for sandwiches and as the base of cioppino bread bowls.
Where: Boudin Bakery, Tartine Bakery, Acme Bread, Josey Baker Bread, Jane the Bakery
Dungeness crab is the sweet, brown-meat Pacific crab the city eats from mid-November to June, served steamed and cracked at Swan Oyster Depot, Tadich Grill and the Wharf.
Where: Swan Oyster Depot, Tadich Grill, Sotto Mare, Anchor Oyster Bar
San Francisco dim sum is the longest-running Cantonese tea service in the United States, with carts at Hang Ah on Sacramento Street and bamboo-steamer counters citywide.
Where: Yank Sing, Hang Ah Tea Room, Good Mong Kok Bakery, Dragon Beaux, Z & Y Bistro
Hangtown Fry is a Gold Rush omelette of oysters, bacon and eggs, named for the mining camp of Placerville and kept on the menu at Tadich Grill in San Francisco.
Where: Tadich Grill, Sam's Grill, Brenda's French Soul Food
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in San Francisco.
Zuni Cafe in San Francisco is the city's most enduring California room: Judy Rodgers' roast chicken for two with bread salad has not left the menu since 1987.
Signature: Roast chicken with bread salad, Caesar salad, Burger
State Bird Provisions in San Francisco runs a small-plate dim-sum-cart format under Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, James Beard winners in 2015.
Signature: State Bird with provisions, Sourdough pancake with ricotta
Mister Jiu's in San Francisco is Brandon Jew's Cal-Chinese flagship in old Chinatown, holding a Michelin star and a separate cocktail bar worth a visit alone.
Signature: Hot and sour Dungeness, Quail in roses, Whole crispy duck
Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco is Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt's larger Mission site, with bread, pastry, plates and a wine bar under one roof.
Signature: Country loaf, Morning bun, Wood-oven pizza
Nopa in San Francisco is the neighbourhood room that defines the western Divisadero corridor: wood-grilled California food, kitchen open until 01:00.
Signature: Wood-grilled flatbreads, Rotisserie chicken, Burger
Foreign Cinema in San Francisco is the Mission's open-air courtyard room from Gayle Pirie and John Clark, with a film projected on the back wall after dark.
Signature: Pomegranate-glazed lamb, Brunch oysters, Fried chicken
The Mission is where the burrito got its modern shape and where natural wine and taquerias share the same block. Loud, sunny, late.
Best for: Burritos, Tacos, Natural wine, Ice cream
The oldest Chinatown in North America, still doing dim sum at 09:00 and barbecue duck windows by lunch. Crowds at the Stockton Street produce stalls all day.
Best for: Dim sum, Cantonese, Roast meats, Bakeries
Italian American at its most stubborn. Espresso bars, red-sauce rooms, and Tony Gemignani throwing pizzas a block from City Lights bookstore.
Best for: Italian, Pizza, Espresso, Pastries
Walkable two blocks of modern American cooking, Smitten ice cream, Ritual coffee and Zuni's roast chicken on the bend toward the opera house.
Best for: Modern American, Wine bars, Ice cream, Coffee
Sunny, monied, brunch-leaning. Chef-driven mid-range rooms on Chestnut and Union, plus the city's most reliable burger lineup.
Best for: Brunch, Burgers, Chef-driven, Italian
Foggy oceanfront with a surf-cafe scene that has quietly become the city's best brunch belt. Outerlands, Andytown, Devil's Teeth and a string of bakery counters on Judah and Noriega.
Best for: Cafes, Brunch, Bakeries, Burgers
Peak food season: November to February for Dungeness crab. April to October for the Ferry Plaza market at full tilt. September and October bring stone fruit, mushrooms and the warmest local weather.
Local dining hours: Lunch 11:30 to 14:30. Dinner 17:30 to 22:00, with last seatings creeping earlier than New York. Many kitchens close Sunday or Monday; Chinatown dim sum runs 09:00 to 14:30.
Tipping: Tipping is expected: 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax total at full-service rooms. Counter spots and taquerias commonly add an iPad prompt; ten percent is fine, twenty if the kitchen does real work.
Peak food season in San Francisco is November to February for Dungeness crab. April to October for the Ferry Plaza market at full tilt. September and October bring stone fruit, mushrooms and the warmest local weather.
Local dining hours: Lunch 11:30 to 14:30. Dinner 17:30 to 22:00, with last seatings creeping earlier than New York. Many kitchens close Sunday or Monday; Chinatown dim sum runs 09:00 to 14:30.
Tipping is expected: 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax total at full-service rooms. Counter spots and taquerias commonly add an iPad prompt; ten percent is fine, twenty if the kitchen does real work.
If you only have one meal, eat Mission burrito. It is the dish most associated with San Francisco.