KEY2 Pick
Best restaurants in San Francisco
Counters, dining rooms and neighbourhood favourites, chosen for the way they actually eat — not for how loudly they market.
KEY2 Pick
Chinese • $$$
Mister Jiu's
Modern Cantonese cooking in a historic Chinatown banquet hall, Michelin-starred and reservation-only.
Best for: Special Occasion / Group
KEY2 Pick
Korean BBQ • $$$
San Ho Won
Chris Kiyuna's Michelin-starred take on Korean barbecue with binchotan-grilled short rib in the Mission.
Best for: Date Night / Special Occasion
KEY2 Pick
New American • $$$
State Bird Provisions
Dim-sum-style carts deliver inventive small plates in a perpetually buzzing Fillmore dining room.
Best for: Date Night / Special Occasion
KEY2 Pick
Seafood • $$
Swan Oyster Depot
A 15-stool 1912 fish counter shucking oysters and pouring clam chowder with no reservations and no shortcuts.
Best for: Solo / Casual
Burmese • $$
Burma Superstar
A no-reservations Richmond District favourite famed for tea leaf salad and long neighbourhood queues.
Best for: Casual Dinner
Californian-Mediterranean • $$$
Foreign Cinema
A Mission courtyard restaurant that projects films on a warehouse wall behind diners eating oysters and roast chicken.
Best for: Date Night
French-American Fine Dining • $$$$
Gary Danko
A long-running Fisherman's Wharf-adjacent tasting menu room that has held a Michelin star since 2001.
Best for: Special Occasion
Seafood • $$
Hog Island Oyster Co.
Ferry Building oyster bar shucking Tomales Bay bivalves with bay views through the arcade windows.
Best for: Casual / Group
Steakhouse • $$$
House of Prime Rib
Tableside carts of English-cut prime rib in a clubby, wood-paneled room that hasn't changed its formula since 1949.
Best for: Group / Celebration
Greek • $$$
Kokkari Estiatorio
A firelit, taverna-style Financial District room grilling whole fish and lamb for a suited weekday crowd.
Best for: Business Dinner
Mexican • $
La Taqueria
No-rice Mission burritos wrapped tight and griddled, regularly cited among the best in the country.
Best for: Casual / Quick Bite
Hawaiian-Inspired • $$$
Liholiho Yacht Club
Hawaii-raised chef Ravi Kapur's beef tongue nuggets and pork belly saimin in a lively Tenderloin room.
Best for: Group / Date Night
New American • $$$
Rich Table
A Hayes Valley kitchen from a chef couple, known for porcini doughnuts and a constantly rotating seasonal menu.
Best for: Date Night
Bakery • $
Tartine Bakery
The morning bun and country loaf that launched a hundred imitators, still worth the Mission Street queue.
Best for: Breakfast / Casual
Californian • $$$
The Progress
The State Bird Provisions team's family-style sibling next door, built around shareable seasonal courses.
Best for: Group Dinner
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