Old Skool Cafe is a cafe restaurant in San Francisco.
Old Skool Cafe in San Francisco is the Bayview supper club run by formerly incarcerated young chefs, with a strong soul-food menu and a music programme.
Editorially verified May 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Why locals love it: Bayview supper club run by formerly incarcerated youth, with a kitchen that takes a high-bar approach; tourists rarely reach the Bayview.
Tip: Open Thursday to Saturday only; book a week ahead and bring cash for the tip jar.
Address: 1429 Mendell Street, San Francisco, CA 94124
Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco is the Outer Richmond tequila bar since 1965, with a 400-bottle list and the city's most-cited Margarita spec.
Why locals love it: Tequila bar in the Outer Richmond, founded in 1965, with the world's most-cited Margarita; pilgrim tequila drinkers come, food tourists rarely make the trip.
Tip: Order Tommy's Margarita (lime, blanco tequila, agave nectar); the family invented the spec.
Lers Ros Thai in San Francisco is the Larkin Street Thai counter with a 250-dish menu, including frog, boar and catfish larb, opened 2008 by chef Tom.
Why locals love it: Tenderloin Thai institution with a 250-dish menu including organ meats and rare regional plates; the kitchen reaches well past pad thai.
Tip: Ask for the regional Thai menu (printed separately); order the boat noodles or the catfish larb.
Swensen's Ice Cream in San Francisco is the 1948 Russian Hill original near the cable car turnaround, with hand-scooped cones in a small corner shop.
Why locals love it: The 1948 Russian Hill original. The chain went global; the corner shop where Earle Swensen first scooped is still small, family-run and easy to miss.
Tip: Open Wed to Sun only; the chocolate fudge cone with rainbow sprinkles is the kid order, the rum raisin is the right adult.
Rintaro in San Francisco is Sylvan Mishima Brackett's Mission izakaya, with handmade soba, a robatayaki grill, and a sake list that pulls from small.
Why locals love it: Mission izakaya from chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett; bookings are hard, but the bar room takes walk-ins and runs the full menu.
Tip: Walk in for the bar room at 18:00; the kitchen runs the full menu but you do not need a reservation.
San Tung in San Francisco is the Inner Sunset Northern Chinese room famous for dry-fried chicken wings glazed in a sweet soy and garlic sauce; pure cult.
Why locals love it: Northern Chinese counter on Irving Street, far from tourist Chinatown. Locals queue for the dry-fried chicken wings; tourists rarely make it out to the Sunset.
Tip: Dry-fried chicken wings are the order, hands-down; nothing else on the menu hits as hard.
Hang Ah Tea Room in San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest dim sum house in the United States, opened 1920 on Pagoda Place, with a small fixed steamer menu.
Why locals love it: The oldest continuously operating dim sum house in the United States, opened 1920, sits on a side alley off Sacramento Street that most tourists miss.
Tip: No carts; order the fixed steamer menu and ask for the off-menu turnip cake when in season.
