It’s that time of year again: sifting through the hundreds of new SF Bay Area restaurants and bars I visited this year — plus a few hundred more internationally and across the U.S. Here are the newcomers that stand out most — 10 restaurants, 8 bars and 10 honorable mention eateries — opened between November 2023 and December 2024. The previous year’s top openings are here.
What stands out most, and why, in one of the world’s best regions to eat and drink in the world:
Top 10 New Restaurant Openings
1. Merchant Roots, SoMa
I’ve been raving about Merchant Roots’ wildly-changing, themed dinners in the back of a wine shop since chef Ryan Shelton launched the first themed menu in January 2019. But since opening in a 4,500-square-foot SoMa space in August, they’re able to finally showcase their one-of-a-kind dinners on a new level with art and video, open kitchen, wine room and ceramics workshop, though the dinners remain intimate in seating. There is nothing like MR, from the intelligent research and story behind each theme to the whimsical play and sheer deliciousness of each course. More here.
2. Enclos, Sonoma
I’m going just outside the usual new opening range (November 2023 to November 2024) to include brand new Enclos, which just opened in downtown Sonoma in a Victorian cottage on December 5, 2024. Chef Brian Limoges and a stellar team already wowed me second week in with a lush tasting menu that captured the palate and eye, thoughtful drink pairings by sommelier Ian Cobb (who came from SF’s great Nisei and Mendocino’s magic Harbor House Inn), set in a striking charred and un-charred cedarwood dining room and leafy, covered patio. I could see this earning two Michelin stars in no time. Review forthcoming.
3. Prelude at the Jay, Financial District
It’s a blissful surprise to taste chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones’ modern Southern cooking at the new Prelude restaurant, which opened August 2024, in the Jay hotel. From the sleek dining room and bar to mismatched, grandma’s china plateware, it’s the brilliant twists on Southern food that thrill (a subject I’m crazy about and have long studied, region by region), whether pimento cheese scooped up with fish skin chips, housemade “nutter butter” cookies with boozy milk or already signature smoked catfish dumplings. This chef is one to watch, taking modern Southern food to new heights… in SF, no less. More here.
4. TIYA, Marina
Opening May 2024 in the Marina District from chefs Sujan and Pujan Sarkar, TIYA is the first solo collaborative project from the brothers who long put ROOH on the map. I’m delighted to say TIYA may best reflect what I’ve loved about their cooking at restaurants around the world. Elevated, inventive Indian food and cocktails set an example for modern Indian food everywhere, whether pao-meets-babka masala bread or Cali-Mexico-meets-India quesabirria. More here.
5. Kothai, Inner Sunset
To meet Sung Park of Kothai is to meet a true restaurateur. This humble, light-filled Inner Sunset restaurant belies the creativity on a menu where Korea-meets-Thailand in San Francisco skin. He is a self-taught chef who honed his technique for years at home, gaining experience running a food truck with his friend Gof Sanguanwong, the Thai side of the Kothai collab, while Park brings the Korean heritage. Opening December 2023, they turn out dishes like superb kalbi beef, red curry Cornish hen stuffed with aromatic raisin and toasted almond sticky rice or vivid crudo and tartare. More here.
6. Sobakatsu, Japantown
Japan is a land that perfects each native dish with restaurants entirely devoted to one item, often at a handful of seats in a tiny space. Enter Sobakatsu, a closet-sized restaurant with a max of 11 seats, no reservations and a sole focus on cold and hot soba: Japan’s silky, thin buckwheat noodles, friendly to all gluten-free-ers. Quietly opening July 2024 on a corner in SF’s Japantown, lines have run around the block since the day one. More here.
7. Farmhouse Inn, Forestville (Sonoma County)
Remote, beautiful Forestville, set in redwood forests off a winding Sonoma County road, is the setting for the remodeled Farmhouse Inn. While Farmhouse Restaurant is not new, the restaurant was completely reborn as a fine dining haven when chef Craig Wilmer started. He has an impressive background and celebrating glorious NorCal ingredients in an intimate space, he’s already created a destination-worthy tasting menu experience with playful bites, like a tribute to his wife’s favorite baked potato or mini-raw tuna belly tostadas. More here.
8. Altamirano, NoPa
Debuting September 2024, chef Carlos Altamirano’s Altamirano is his best restaurant yet, with glowing, covered back patio and inspired modern Peruvian cooking employing inspired twists on Nikkei and Chifa cuisine. Think causas grated tableside or classic aji de gallina in pasta form, all making you rethink classic Peruvian dishes. More here.
9. Little OJs, Marina
Little Original Joe’s new Marina location has been a full house from the get-go since May 2024 and is unlike other OJ’s. This is the latest outpost from siblings John and Elena Duggan, who have carried on the family’s tradition of Italian-American comfort food that feels both energetic and timeless. Unique to the Marina, zucchini fries are dream bar food. So is a towering, shaved Brussels sprouts salad tossed with toasted walnuts, green onion, pecorino romano cheese and lemon vinaigrette. Then there are the pizzas. More here.
10. Hed 11, Japantown
Opening May 2024 in Japantown, Hed 11 is a unique entré in a city rich with world-class tasting menus and a neighborhood rightly dominated by Japanese food. Housed in the former Mums diner in the Kimpton Hotel Enso, the hip space offers 11 courses from chef Piriya “Saint” Boonprasan, who hails from Michelin-starred restaurants in Bangkok, exploring regions of Thailand in his creative dishes. More here.
Top 8 New Bars
1. Lilah, Marina
A boozy kakigori menu, anyone? Lilah just opened fall 2024 from the team behind neighboring Causwells, a tiny, romantic, quirky space serving quality food from Adam Rosenblum and inspired cocktails from Elmer Mejicanos. Mejicanos is a cocktail and low proof cocktail master, confirming it here with low proof cocktails, shaved ice glories and drinks that say boom! on top. More here.
2. The Halfway Club, Crocker-Amazon
Ethan Terry and Greg Quinn’s Halfway Club, debuting January 2024 in the chill Crocker-Amazon neighborhood, is the quintessential neighborhood bar we’d all be so lucky to have — one with a film focus (giant screen) and great food to boot (like a “glizzy” hot dog on a potato bun, loaded with horseradish remoulade, pickles, mustard and crushed Old Bay chips). HWC is inspired by “70s dad’s basement bars” via the Midwest with wood-paneling and a spiffed-up 1970s vibe. More here.
3. Starlite atop the Beacon Grand, Union Square/Downtown
Since 1928, SF has sparkled and shimmered from the 21st floor of the Beacon Grand hotel, where the iconic Starlite bar was reborn January 2024 under new owners. The newest overhaul is more gorgeous than any remodel prior, while elevated but fun bar food, curated by D.C.-based chef Johnny Spero, and cocktails tributing SF’s rich cocktail history from industry vet Scott Baird, better than anything that has ever been in this space. More here.
4. KAIYŌ Restaurant & Bar, SoMa/Ballpark
Ground floor (there’s also a rooftop KAIYO Rooftop) KAIYŌ Restaurant & Bar opened April 2024, a quieter, Nikkei-focused, sushi-centric, modern Peruvian restaurant differing from the other two KAIYOs. One of the greatest barmen in the country, Danny Louie, runs the bar menu (alongside a strong sake collection), making downstairs destination-worthy for his Peruvian-influenced, culinary cocktails alone. He deftly weaves ingredients like Japanese mustard, peanuts or peas into his drinks. More here.
5. Bar Gemini, Mission
Bar Gemini is a natural wine bar, but one that serves lovely low proof cocktails and bar snacks, four blocks from the owners’ Gemini Bottle Co. shop. Redwood lines the walls, booths and bar, resulting in a warm glow worth visiting for design alone. Then there are thoughtful wines by the glass and carafe, plus a couple pages of bottles, heavy on natural, sustainable local and European producers. More here.
6. Stookey’s Blue Room, Lower Nob Hill/Downtown
Opening next to the OG Stookey’s Club Moderne in February 2024, Stookey’s Blue Room has the 1930’s vibe of its neighboring original, but goes funky-fun with shimmering disco ball, circular yellow and red tables, Fred and Ginger films on the flat screen and album covers lining the bathroom. Live music, from jazz to cabaret, centers the Blue Room from its cozy stage by the front window, a beacon to those walking by outside, while cocktails span a few decades. More here.
7. BlindPig Speakeasy, Lower Nob Hill
BlindPig Speakeasy opened March 2024 since its original Chinatown location closed in 2022. Derrick Li’s creative Chinese cocktails are served in a chill space hidden behind a convenience store photo wall of Asian candies and snacks. Li’s Chinese ingredient-driven cocktails are inspired by things like Chinese pineapple buns or they feature spirits like baijiu, all honoring SF’s deep Chinese roots. More here.
8. Prelude at the Jay, Financial District
One of my top restaurants of the year is also a top bar, not predominantly because you can get a few of chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones’ modern Southern delights in the bar, like divine smoked catfish dumplings. At the new Prelude in the Jay hotel, a separate bar is destination-worthy in its own right with glass-walled elegance and cocktails like a roasted banana twist on a Ramos Gin Fizz or savory Martini variation with black pepper, black garlic, buttermilk and pickle brine, More here.
11 Honorable Mention New Restaurants
There is no way to include all “bests,” especially factoring in hole-in-the-walls and every level of dining. So here are my 10 additional honorable mentions:
— Sushi by Scratch, Healdsburg (Unique sushi omakase)
— Tacos El Tucan (Tijuana-style taco joint in the Castro)
— Elena’s Mexican (W. Portal‘s taste of LA with an SF twist)
— Bar Jabroni (Wine bar with quality food in Lower Haight)
— Todo El Dia (All-day healthy Mexican café)
— Minnie Bell’s (Soul food in Lower Fillmore)
— Che Fico Pizzeria (Pizza-centric outpost of the Italian restaurant)
— Fisch & Flore (Sunny gay café haven in the Castro)
— Bettola (Italian osteria/rosticceria in the Inner Richmond)
— Hayz Dog (gourmet hot dogs in Hayes Valley)
— Habibi Falafel (Palestinian falafel in NoPa/Western Addition)