Tech giants may steal the San Francisco spotlight – alongside the iconic Golden Gate Bridge cloaked in fog and the city’s movie-worthy steep streets – but it’s the intoxicating food scene that plays a starring role here.
San Francisco is home to 30 Michelin-starred restaurants (and counting), not to mention the bakeries, bars, and cafés – many making use of fresh local ingredients available in the surrounding countryside. This eclectic City by the Bay is one of the best places in the United States for an epicurean adventure. Here’s where to start.
Where To Eat
Che Fico
You could easily walk past this NOPA – North of Panhandle – neighbourhood favourite. But find the door and head up the stairs, and you’ll emerge into an industrial-chic, open-plan restaurant. Dried flowers hang from its beams lending a European farmhouse feel and it’s all about Italian food. With a Californian twist. Everything is made for sharing and cooked in an open kitchen, try their life-changing sourdough pizzas or a dreamy bowl of thick, ribbony pasta with comforting toppings such as succulent braised short ribs.
La Cocina Municipal
This new food hall near the Asian Art Museum opened in 2021 and is unique in that it’s a community-led development offering economic opportunities for female entrepreneurs. This means all the kitchens are owned and run by female chefs. It’s a global feast under one roof and a good spot for a casual street food-style lunch. Bini Pradhan of Bini’s Kitchen serves highly-recommended Nepali food like the ‘momos’ – pork dumplings – she’s well known for, and spicy-sweet hot chai tea. The perfect accompaniment to a rainy San Francisco day.
Empress by Boon
San Francisco has the largest Chinatown outside of China, so dinner at a Chinese restaurant here is a must. Ho Chee Boon’s is a memorable choice: with its sultry contemporary decor, it’s made for dinner after dark. They serve delicately mixed cocktails – try the Wayfaring Stranger or Look at the Flowers to start – and the five-course tasting menu is dainty but hearty. The made-for-sharing signature Peking duck melts in the mouth and arrives at the table with a halo of shiny gloss. Tables and leather-clad booths overlook San Francisco’s iconic Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, a pretty sight when it’s lit up at night.
WHERE TO DRINK
The Mill
Join a loyal, local crowd for morning coffee and pastries at this NOPA neighbourhood bakery collaboration with Four Barrel Coffee. The creamy coffee hits the mark, and complements owner Josey Baker’s (yes, that’s his real name) exquisite pastries and sourdough bread, a star of the show here – and in San Francisco. Buy a loaf to take home – the California Gold is addictive – or order a slice in chunky doorstop form to eat in, either slathered in butter, sprinkled in sugar and cinnamon, topped in smashed avocado or served with a hole cut out the middle and filled with a perfectly runny, freshly-poached egg.
Bar Sprezzatura
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Chic Bar Sprezzatura in the financial district is the perfect option for a cocktail if you’re over the prohibition-era speakeasy theme. With snug tables, comfy chairs, and low lighting, this is a sophisticated place to linger a while. Cocktail musts: Under The Walnut Tree, a perfect balance of bumbu rum, rye, amaretto, nocino, and chocolate walnut bitters; and the Mr Vespa, a punchy mix of mezcal, gin, gentian, and limoncello. The Italian-inspired food is lovingly created, beautifully presented, and made for endless snacking.
Dandelion Chocolate
Hot chocolate is taken to an entirely new level at this chain of small-batch chocolate shops around San Francisco. If you only try one thing, make it one of its little paper cups of the hot, thick, rich and Italian-inspired European Drinking Chocolate. It’s out-of-this-world decadent. Other hot chocolate-drink tips: Mission Hot Chocolate, a foamy, spiced and spicy MesoAmerican original with chocolate and almonds made with oat milk; and Nibby Horchata, their take on the refreshing Spanish classic, made with almonds, hazelnuts, cinnamon, chocolate nibs and rice.
WHERE TO SHOP
Heath Ceramics
This light and airy showroom, complete with a tile-making factory, is as known for its architectural tiles as for its cups, saucers, bowls, and vases. The original company, founded in 1948 by Mid-Century Modern ceramicist Edith Heath, is now owned by Catherine Bailey and Robin Petravic, who still manufacture her designs, along with new products. The factory shares the space with Tartine Manufactory, an epic industrial-sized bakery and café worth a visit for the whipped ricotta toast alone: thick buttermilk toast, orange marmalade, pistachios, lemon and lavender honey.
The Ferry Building
A historic 1898 building on the Embarcadero is now a wonderland of Bay Area artisan food outlets. Gott’s Roadside is a must for a comforting cheeseburger or hotdog, and Humphry Slocombe’s for an off-beat flavoured ice cream: think Bourbon and Cornflakes. Meanwhile, out front every Tuesday and Thursday, a small farmers’ market sets up, with a bigger version on Saturday spilling onto the rear plaza overlooking the Bay. Fresh produce, food and flowers are for sale, as well as street food on a Thursday.
THE TO-DO LIST
Take a foodie tour of the Mission District
If you only do one food tour in San Francisco, make it through the Mission District with energetic ‘secret tour guide’, Logan Preston Hesse, whose fun events combine art and culture as well as food. The historic Mission District is home to the city’s Mexican population, and it’s hands down home to the city’s best Mexican food too. You’ll discover the best burritos at La Corneta and the best quesabirria – a small taco filled with juicy beef – at Discolandia. Walk them off with a stroll around the neighbourhood’s backstreets in search of colourful murals – each telling the story of the area’s history and struggles against gentrification.
Browse an art museum
In a city known for cool temperatures and fog, it’s a good idea to keep an off-weather-day museum option in mind. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the SoMa neighbourhood – south of Market – has six floors of contemporary art to browse, divided into genres, from abstract to photography. Each section is introduced with simple jargon-free descriptions which makes the art easy to appreciate. Meanwhile, a visit to the De Young takes you into Golden Gate Park.
Where to Stay
1 Hotel
On the Embarcadero, the 1 Hotel San Francisco is new and in a prime spot for wandering along the waterfront and shopping for foodie gifts at the Ferry Building. Its ethos is ‘sustainable luxury’ so, inside, it’s all about earthy tones and natural materials, with curated clusters of potted trees and plants everywhere, lending a calm vibe. Bag a waterfront room to enjoy sunset views of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from your window seat. The ground-floor restaurant, Terrene, is a stylish, low-key spot for a cocktail and small-plate style dinner.
San Francisco Proper
The bold interiors are worthy of a movie set in this design-led hotel set in a striking historic, flat-iron shaped building. A glass of bubbles on arrival and a lobby filled with a choice of eclectic seats are alone reasons worth checking in for. The monochrome rooms are modern yet cosy, with an Art Deco feel and beds you’ll struggle to get out of. There’s a playful rooftop bar with open gas-fire pits that attracts a trendy crowd for cocktails. The lobby-level restaurant, Villon, is a quieter, more sophisticated spot, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
For more information visit, San Francisco Travel and Visit California. We travelled with America As You Like It.
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