While living in San Francisco I have become exposed to many wonderful restaurants, cafes and eateries. I love food as much as the next person, but I found that it is so much more enjoyable when you have unique dishes, fresh ingridients, and fun drinks to share. Simply put, I have become quite the foodie, and love to try new foods, new places, and little cafes that I otherwise may not have been interested in while exploring “the movable feast” that is San Francisco. Hence, here are my top five restaurants that you should put on your bucket list of dinner dates if you want high class food with a uniquely San Franciscan vibe.
Number #1) Bix Restaurant: This is probably my favorite restaurant in the whol city, even though it’s a little hard to find since its tucked into a little alley in the Financial District. The building itself is over a hundred years old and has an art deco vibe which was relevant in the roaring 20’s. The building actually dates back to the 1840’s during the California gold rush when it was used as a bank. When you walk inside your greeted with high ceilings, grand pilliars, and a gargantuan glossy bar on the left side of the dining room. As for the rest of the dining room, you can choose to either sit downstairs, where cozy booths and round table are offered for bigger parties. The downstairs is domintated by the presence of the bar, a grand piano in the corner (where you can listen to live jazz on Friday and Saturday evenings.) You can also choose to sit upstairs, where the art deco theme is continued with quaint booths, and ambient sconces. Overall the atmosphere is very enjoyable, and embodies the rich elegance and romanticism of the city, yet still with a modern touch.
The food is considered to be american and traditional fare, and caters to the sophisticate taste, and local ingridients that the city has to offer. All of the dishers are beautifully presented with healthy portions and fresh flavor. I would recommend the “Bix Burger” which is usually on the lunch menu, but can be served for dinner as well. The burger features all orgainic Brandt Family Farms’ beef, with homemade pickles, your choice of cheese, and hand cut fries with a trio of sauces. You can also add avacado or sauteed mushrooms, which is a great addition. This buger is usually a good sharing item, since it is a huge portion. This is overall a great burger with good quality juicy beef, good flavors, and nicely toasted buns. For starters, the “Potato Pillows” are my favorite, which are basically fancy and fluffy tater tots with creme fraiche and cavier. Believe me, I was skeptical about the cavier when I first tried it but it’s a very mild falvor that marries well with the creme fraiche.
Open: For dinner Monday-Sunday at 5:30 and Friday lunches at 11:30 a.m. Location: The Financial District – 56, Gold Street. Price: $$$. If you go try the: “Bix Burger.” If Your 21: Try the “Old School Strawberry Daiquiri”! Strawberries are in season right now! Fun Fact: Many celebrites have dinned here including Will Smith, Michael Keaton and Joe Montanna.
Number #2) Fog City: This is another one of my favorites, because it is in a prime people watching and pretty scenery location, the Emabarcadaro. Recently renovated, the clasisic ‘U’ shapped dinner sits on the left side of the Embarcadaro where you can view the Bay Bridge, the Ferry Building and watch the sailboats go by.
You can also sit outside on the tree lined street when the weather is nice. The newly renovated dining room features a ‘U’ shaped bar in the middle of the room with booth and family style tables surronding the panoramic pictures windows. The decor offers a modern and minimalist vibe with sleek finishes and light wood booths, upholistered with warm and serene colors that resemble the colors of the city, light blue and silvery gray. The buidling definitely gives you a modern city atmosphere, but still remains casual and relaxed. This revamped restaurant also offers american fare and food on the lighter side and healthier side. The lunch menu is my favorite, the dishes are small, but this gives you the freedom to try a lot of their creative appitzers. I would recommend getting an assortment of items which include the “Raw Kale Salad” (because the kale hype is taking over SF now too). Raw kale may sound not to yummy, but the salad is seasoned with othe great flavors such as avacado, kumquat, creamy ricotta cheese, and ‘green goddess’ dressing. Believe, me healthy eating options can be delicious, and this is the perfect example! Next, if your a seafood fanatic (and if your not anyways) try the crab cakes!
This dish gives you two good sized crab cakes with fresh crab meat from the bay with a warm marcona almond romesco sauce, and has a yummy and rich flavor. Now for dessert you must get their homemade glazed doughnuts, which will be the best doughnuts you’ll have ever tasted, with chocolate or sweet orange flavors, these are the best!
Open: Sunday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday to 11 p.m. Location: The Emarcadaro – 1300, Battery Street. Price: $$$. If you go try the: “Raw Kale Salad” and “Crab Cakes.” If Your 21: At brunch try the traditional “Bloody Mary.” Fun Fact: The restaurant is named after San Francisco’s infamous weather… fog!
Number #3) Greens: For all you vegetarians out there, this restaurant located in historic Fort Mason is for you! I’m do not consider myself a vegetarian at all, and this place still features hearty and unique Mediterranean food to enjoy. The dining room is situated in an old warehouse building with lofty and tall ceilings, exposed beams and enormous picture windows of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.
The decor is simple with a ocean inspired feel with dark colors and driftwood tables and chairs. You can also take food to go from their little cold case in the entryway of the building, which greets you with a beautiful array of local flowers and plants. This is a great spot if you want to get the classic San Franciscan view, and after your meal you can exlpore Fort Mason, which features galleries and book shops. This is one of my favorite places to go to breakfast or lunch, but they also serve dinner (where it gets really busy, so making a reservation is a good idea). For lunch, I would recommend their “Black Bean Chili” which in my opinion, is the best vegetarian chili in the city.
You can get a cup, or go for a smaller portion which comes in a beautiful ceramic bowel with yummy toppings that include chedder cheese, creme fraiche and cilantro. This is a great dish, because even though it doesn’t have beef or turkey, it is still very satisfying and filling, and has a little kick to it with the mixture of spices. This dish has been a long time favorite of mine, and I’ve even taken it to go when I’m on the run or going on a picnic. For a post chili snack, I would also recommend their healthy and housemade hummus with grilled pita bread, tomato jam and a selection of olives. These dishes give you an authentic taste of Mediterranean food which is also quite healthy and rich in vitamens.
Open: For lunch and brunch Tuesday through Sunday at 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and a cafe stlye dinner on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Location: Fort Mason – 2, Marina Boulevard. Price: $$$. If you go try the: “Black Bean Chili.” If Your 21: For lunch try a glass of red wine to pair with the chili — like the Domaine de Fontsainte 2012, Corbieres from Languedoc, France. Fun Fact: Sometimes you can get a glimpse of sea lions sunning themselves on the pier outside!
Number #4) Delarosa: Italian food is my absolute favorite style of cuisine, so I just had to include this quaint little joint in my review. Delarosa is a classic italian restaurant located in the Marina on the idyllic Chestnut Street. Even though it is a much smaller place than of the previous restaurants mentions, it uses its space well with glossy wood family style tables, and rectangular high tables with bar stools, and a little bar to the back of the restaurant that uses mirrored selves to display their wines and liquor and to give the space a bigger feeling. The decor is cute and romantic with candles on each table, but still retains a hip city vibe with artistic light fixtures and view of the open kitchen and massive stone pizza oven. Hence, you get a fun local vibe with a young person seen that is fun and sociable.
The service is fast and friendly and you can also order to go from this place; pizza being the most popular item. There are so many great dishes with great tasting italian flavor that it is hard to just pick a few, but my “go-to’s” are the “Fritto Misto” and the “Broccolini and Pancetta” pizza. I’m really picky when it comes to calamari, since it’s one of my favorites. But Delarosa’s “Fritto Misto” takes calamari to a whole nother level. This appitzer includes not only fried calamari, but fried shrimp, and green beans and fennel, which have also been lightly dipped in the crunchy batter. This is such a flavorful dish, and the quality of the seafood is excellent, the calmari and the shrimp are tender and yummy, and not chewy and rubbery like some calamari dishes are. After the appitizer sharing a pizza is a good idea, since the pieces are of pretty generous size. My personal favorite is the broccolini and pancetta pizza.
The stems of the broccolini are diced, and thin pieces of the pancetta are added, (which is a tradition italian meat). Simple tomatoes and mozzarella chees and thin crust are the base of the pizza and create a great crescendo of crunchy goodness when you take the first bite. Overall, this is a great place for italian food lovers and has great quality pizza and pastas as well.
Open: Dining room is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., Monday-Friday, and brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday until 4 p.m. Location: The Marina – 2175, Chestnut Street. Price: $$. If you go try the: “Fritto Misto” and “Broccolini and Pancetta Pizza.” If Your 21: Try their unique “Monarch” which is a mixture of gin, lemon, elderflower, and mint. Fun Fact: When the weather is nice in the Spring and Fall, the windows are open to provide a lovely breeze if your sitting inside.
Number #5) Blush! : I recently discovered this adorable little place when I went to brunch. Located in the heart of the colorful Castro district, this place is a wine bar at night, and a brunch cafe during the day. The decor is very layed back, yet stylish with an eclectic collection of tables and chairs, and an area with a blush colored couch and coffee table (even though this was the wrong color, I immediately was reminded of the TV show “Friends!”
Not many restaurants have this casual style of dining anymore.) The bar was tiny yet cute, with colorful string lights, and the brick wall on the left featured local art with displayed the pride surronding the Castro. The dining room almost had a ‘pub’ like feel, but had modern touches like the neat edison light bulb fixtures delicately hanging from the ceiling. The brunch menu is small, but the variety of options is enjoyable. These include, scrambeled eggs with pancetta or ham, the omlette of the day, french toast, waffles and nutella crepes with bananas. It was so hard to choose, but I picked out the scrambeled eggs with pancetta and swiss cheese, and this proved to be a good choice.
You get quite a good portion of fluffy eggs, and fresh tasting pancetta. A spring salad and whole wheat toast comes on the side. If I wasn’t so full after, I would’ve also tried the nutella crepe, since this is my favorite french food. However, I did see an order of crepe go to another table and it looked execllent. For all you crepe lovers, I would recommend, this huge portioned crepe with powdered sugar on top! (Brunch Menu changes seasonally).
Open: Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-12:30 a.m. and open from brunch Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1:30/12 p.m. Location: The Castro – 476, Castro Street. Price: $$. If you go try the: Nutella Crepe. If Your 21: Order the fun bottomless mimosa’s! Fun Fact: For dessert you can go across the street to “Hot Cookie” which has an amazing assortment of fresh baked cookies and brownies in various sizes and shapes.
So put on some stretchy yoga pants and get ready to eat some of the best food that San Francisco has to offer!