Wolfsbane snacks/amuse bouche. Photo by Virginia Miller. These two new tasting menu restaurants are already playing for keeps, the kind of places that would fit right in on 50 Best or Michelin lists. They also are my number one and number two new restaurants of 2025, respectively. My full top 12 restaurants and bars here. Wolfsbane Is Immediately Firing On… Read more →
Fu Hui Hua tangyuan. Photo by Virginia Miller. Along with Eater and the SF Chronicle, I’d rather not name eight-to-nine-seat restaurant Fù Huì Huá as the best of the year because it’s already impossible to get in. But it is one of the best anywhere… and there is no Chinese restaurant like it on the continent. Thus, it’s on my… Read more →
Flour+Water crudo. Photos by Virginia Miller.. With a little under 40,000 Italian population in San Francisco alone, we’re home to one of the stronger Italian demographics in California. Our rich Italian immigrant history since the 1800s (no surprise) has left a permanent mark on our food and drink, from our wine regions and grape varieties, to Italian-immigrant-created local dishes like… Read more →
SPQR corn panna cotta. Photo by Virginia Miller. With a little under 40,000 Italian population in San Francisco alone, we’re home to one of the stronger Italian demographics in California. Our rich Italian immigrant history since the 1800s (no surprise) has left a permanent mark on our food and drink, from our wine regions and grape varieties, to Italian-immigrant-created local… Read more →
Shuggie’s front dining room. Photo by Virginia Miller. Truthfully, San Francisco never stopped being fun, but these four restaurants are next-level. Two are brand new, one is recently remodeled and reborn, the other opened January 2025. All are whimsical, even funky, sometimes brazenly colorful and daringly flavorful. Chicken Fried Palace. Photo by Virginia Miller. If Waffle House Were Gourmet: Chicken… Read more →
Happy Crane firecracker shrimp, my favorite dish. Photo by Virginia Miller. Dining at The Happy Crane just one month after it opened on August 8, 2025, it was packed on a weeknight, already booked weeks-ahead. The intimate restaurant glowed, though minimalist, centered by the bar, with glass walls framing a colorful Hayes Valley alley mural outside. What is clear immediately… Read more →
Nopa Fish’s killer seafood chowder. Photo by Virginia Miller. Chef Laurence Jossel and Holly Rhodes’ Nopa is an SF institution since 2006, still packed nightly, a tough seat to snag. It has remained quality, from food to wine and cocktails, for almost 20 years. So there was no question Nopa Fish, which opened June 17, 2025, would be a priority… Read more →
Five are new-er, two are celebrating two or twenty years, from killer Laotian food or Italian comfort to Tatarstan Russian food. These seven are worth visiting. Last month’s standouts here. As always, I’ve personally vetted and visited each: Mattina canederli. Photo by Virginia Miller. Cal-Italian, All-Day Neighborhood Joys: Mattina, Pacific HeightsSince 2007, SPQR is one of the nation’s great pasta… Read more →
Reviewed in this article:
—Cuban Rooftop Party: Cubita, Mission
—Tiny Gem Turns 10 with Steal of a $52 4-Course Menu: Trestle, North Beach
—Tyler Florence’s OG Restaurant Reborn After 14 Years: Wayfare Tavern, FiDi
—Longing for More at Modern Ethiopian-Dominican Meski, TenderNob
—Modern German Beer Hall with a View: Radhaus, Fort Mason
—New Vietnamese Coffee and Bánh Mì Go-To: Angiday, Upper Haight
—Don’t Go Out of Your Way But Fun Finger Foods: Bar Darling, Marina Read more →
Large portions. Midwest comfort food with California freshness. A badass playlist from a co-owner who doubles as DJ. A cozy, packed neighborhood spot that has drawn crowds since it opened. This is husband-wife Caroline and Parker Brown’s new Side A in the beloved (for 27 years!) Universal Café space in San Francisco’s Mission district. And it is special: Read more →