One of our favorite Italian restaurants in San Francisco. Perbacco is a popular Italian restaurant in San Francisco’s financial district that opened in 2006. We had been to their sister restaurant next door Barbacco recently, and felt it was high time that we came back to Perbacco. Founder Chef Staffan Terje left in 2022 but is still an owner.
Copra, San Francisco
Posted on May 17, 2023Why did we dine here? – Copra is run by Srijith “Sri” Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar (who also own Ettan in Palo Alto) so we had to give it a try. The chef last had two Michelin stars at Campton Place. It is located across from Japantown in the location that used to be Dosa.
Delfina Review, San Francisco
Posted on May 16, 2023Blue Sky Cafe, Belmont
Posted on April 17, 2023Blue Sky Cafe is a casual Hong Kong style Chinese eatery in the middle of an industrial park in Belmont. Weird location but solid food and a popular destination. If you appreciate this type of food, run here as there is nothing like it on the Peninsula.
Horn BBQ, Oakland
Posted on April 2, 2023Horn BBQ Is a legendary barbecue restaurant in Oakland, California. It has 4 stars on yelp and long lines whenever it’s open. Horn barbecue has been attracting long lines ever since it opened. The line is due to the slow first station that carves all the meat. (How about 2 stations?) We finally got around to trying the spot in 2021 and returned in 2023. On a Thursday at 11:30 we had to wait about 20 minutes. The line is slow because there’s only one person carving up the meat.
B Star, San Francisco
Posted on March 27, 2023B Star Bar serves Pan Asian style comfort foods with flavors from Thailand, China, Burma, India and Japan. It is the sister restaurant of popular Burma Superstar Burmese restaurant (And has several of their dishes) and is located a couple blocks from it. Our last visit was in Spring 2023. No more parklet.
Twelvemonth Vegetarian Restaurant, Burlingame
Posted on March 26, 2023Why did we dine here? – Twelvemonth is a new plant-based vegan restaurant in downtown Burlingame. It has been hotly anticipated as there are no such restaurants in this area. We had to previously drive to SF or Palo Alto to get quality vegetarian food.
Hong Kong Lounge, San Francisco
Posted on March 26, 2023Great choice for reasonably priced, solid dim sum in San Francisco.
Hong Kong Lounge is a popular Chinese Restaurant located in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond district that opened in late 2008. They serve dim sum at lunch time and are quite busy. We ate here last in 2010, so it was great to catch up with the changes in 2023.
HK Lounge Bistro, San Francisco
Posted on March 11, 2023HK Lounge Bistro in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood takes the place of burned down Hong Kong Lounge 2 that was in the Inner Richmond district. This spot opened in 2023.
Be sure to read Foodnut’s Guide to Chinese Dim Sum Lunch
Coque, Madrid, Spain
Posted on February 28, 2023Coque (coal in Spanish) is a very expensive (340€) 2 Michelin star restaurant in Madrid Spain. There are five total Two star spots in this great city. (Available 160€ optional wine pairing)
Madrid Restaurant Reviews
Posted on February 27, 2023Reviews from our 2023 trip to Spain and Portugal. Our goals were to eat at authentic non-touristy places while fulfilling our wishes to try certain items. One of us is Vegan, so will see many options for vegans and vegetarians.
Encanto, Lisbon
Posted on February 26, 2023Vegetarian heaven! Encanto is a vegetarian restaurant in Lisbon with one Michelin star from star chef José Avillez. We have no vegetarian restaurant with this rank back in San Francisco, so we had to give it a try. You can book online, they have a single 12 course tasting menu that is also available in English. Our server spoke English too.
Portugal – Restaurant Reviews
Posted on February 26, 2023Restaurant reviews and guide from our recent trip to Portugal in 2023. We visited Lisbon and Porto and loved it.
Octavia, San Francisco
Posted on February 19, 2023Why did we dine here? – Octavia is the latest restaurant from Melissa Perello, chef-owner of 1 Michelin Starred and well loved Frances. A small 54 seat neighborhood restaurant that is already drawing crowds from throughout the City. We are in this area a lot, so we were waiting for it to finally open.
Yan Peninsula Dim Sum Review
Posted on February 5, 2023January 2023 Yan Peninsula replaces Old school dim sum Zen Peninsula is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae. This name almost sounds like a half baked effort to change the name. Long time stalwart Hong Kong Flower Lounge recently closed, making this a great time to sweep up business. Zen had previously been one of the goto places for banquets, weddings and the like. Millbrae is ground zero for some of the most popular Chinese food in the SF Bay area with spots like:
Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid
Posted on February 1, 2023The must go to food market in Madrid!
- Be sure to read Madrid Restaurant Reviews
Everyone goes to popular Mercado de San Miguel. Our last visit was about 5 years ago and it has definitely improved since. Each stall specializes in one category, so there is no overlap or competition with other stalls. Paella, Jamon, Olives, Fruits, Tapas, Pastries, Wine, Empanadas and more are all represented. Prices are higher than outside eateries, but do come hungry when you visit.
Little Shanghai, San Mateo
Posted on January 23, 2023Best Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in San Francisco? Little Shanghai Restaurant is a family run Shanghainese Chinese Restaurant in San Mateo near the San Mateo Fairgrounds. They have the usual Americanized Chinese dishes along with a fair amount of Traditional Shanghai dishes not served in most restaurants. Our last visit was in Spring 2023 for takeout.
Big Island Hawaii Restaurant Reviews
Posted on January 5, 2023Liholiho Yacht Club, San Francisco
Posted on January 1, 2023Why did we dine here? – Liholiho Yacht Club is a Hawaiian influenced restaurant from Ravi Kapur, formerly of Prospect and Boulevard. He returned to Hawaii and found inspiration in the cuisine he grew up with. It is a very popular restaurant with hard to get online reservations. You need to wait 30 minutes or more before it opens to grab one of the open butcher-block tables if you walk in.
Moody’s Bistro & Bar, Truckee
Posted on January 1, 2023Moody’s Bistro & Bar is a high end Mountain comfort food restaurant in downtown Truckee. Local, organic, seasonal focus or as they tell it – Moody’s food philosophy is “fresh, local, seasonal and simple”. Chef de Cuisine is Guy Frenette. The Restaurant opened in 2006. Moody’s has live music on some nights, so call ahead. Our last visit was during a trip to the mountains in 2023.
Pyeong Chang Tofu House, Oakland
Posted on January 1, 2023Pyeong Chang is a Korean restaurant located in the Temescal district of Oakland, where a cluster Korean restaurants are situated. Burma Superstar is a couple doors down, while Bakesale Betty and Pizzaiolo are a block or two away. We were looking for some higher-quality Korean food than is present in San Francisco. They also have a location in Berkeley on University. Our last visit was in Spring 2023 at their Berkeley location.
Tamarine Restaurant Review, Palo Alto
Posted on January 1, 2023Elegant Vietnamese in Palo Alto.
Tamarine is a popular Vietnamese contemporary restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on busy University Avenue. They focus on small plates and serve food family style. Tamarine features light, but flavor-intensive culinary delicacies of Vietnam.
Routier, San Francisco
Posted on January 1, 2023Why did we dine here? – Routier is a Hot Frenchish restaurant from the folks at nearby B patisserie. A friend recommended this restaurant, and we’ve been back twice. Highly rated at 4.5 stars on yelp. Belinda Leong and Michel Suas joined forces with JP Carmona, formerly chef de cuisine at Manresa, to lead the kitchen of this elevated neighborhood joint in the former jazz club location.
Ramen Parlor Restaurant Review, San Mateo
Posted on January 1, 2023Why did we dine here? – Ramen Parlor is the second location in San Mateo from the legendary original owner of Santa Ramen, Kazunori Kobayashi. It is located one block from the original Santa Ramen, which now houses the very popular spicy ramen oriented Ramen Dojo. Both are owned by Mr. Kobayashi.
Pho Hanoi, San Jose
Posted on January 1, 2023Why did we dine here? – Pho Ha Noi is a Vietnamese restaurant located in an outdoor mall Vietnam Town Plaza in San Jose. The area is full of high quality Asian restaurants and shops. Their pho is some of the best in the SF Bay Area. This restaurant also has a location in Cupertino and soon to Palo Alto.
Michelin Guide San Francisco 2022 Review and Critique
Posted on December 26, 2022Several years delayed because of the Pandemic (2021 was the last one), The New 2022 Michelin Guide California was released on 12/5/2022. It now covers all of California, not just San Francisco.
Osmanthus Dim Sum Lounge, San Francisco
Posted on December 24, 2022
Why did we dine here? – Osmanthus is a Chinese dim sum restaurant in the heart of North Beach, on Broadway, where Enricos used to be. Several family members have been there and they liked it, and we also saw it on the SF Chronicle’s List of top Dim Sum, so we finally ate there.
Be sure to read our Beginner’s Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum Lunch – Top Dim Sum in San Francisco
Wildseed, San Francisco
Posted on December 9, 2022Trendy Plant Based Food in the City! Why did we dine here? – Wildseed’s motto is Work out, Veg Out. A trendy new 100% plant based vegan (No eggs!) restaurant in the Union street shopping district from the Back of the House Group (a Mano, Lolinda, Delarosa, Beretta, Super Duper, etc). They also have a location in Palo Alto’s Town and Country Center. We have dined at both.
Best Vegan Bakeries San Francisco Bay Area, LA, NYC – Erin McKennas, Insomnia Cookie
Posted on December 1, 2022Cheug Hing (Formerly China Village), Belmont
Posted on December 1, 2022Cheung Hing replaces China Village Seafood Restaurant in Belmont, California just off the Highway 101 Ralston Exit. The former have been around since 1996, serving dim sum during both lunch and dinner, as well as standard Cantonese Chinese cuisine but changed hands in 2022. It appears that they may have a similar menu and chef from before. The interior and exterior are still the same too, so is the phone number.
Tahiti – French Polynesia Restaurant Reviews
Posted on November 7, 2022Northeast Trip Food Roundup – Boston – Maine
Posted on October 30, 2022Greens Restaurant, San Francisco
Posted on September 26, 2022Greens Restaurant has been serving vegetarian fare since 1979. Their Marin based Green Gulch Farm provides much of the produce. Greens was a pioneer in the early days, nowadays we have many more plant centric restaurants like Wildseed, Baia, Shizen, etc. Today almost every fancy restaurant accommodates vegetarians to some degree. The menu changes all the time.
Sorella, San Francisco
Posted on September 10, 2022Sorella is an anxiously awaited casual sister restaurant to Michelin starred Acquerello. In fact it means sister in Italian! It is located where 1760 once was. Having this pedigree, we quickly added it to our must visit list. We’ve dined here twice, the last time at the end of 2022.
Ooni Pizza Oven – Pizza Making How To Videos – Step by Step
Posted on September 6, 2022We bought an Ooni Koda 12 Gas Powered Pizza Oven and took months to be able to reliably shape, stretch and cook a pizza.
Here are 3 videos to help your turbocharge your pizza making!
Dumpling Home, San Francisco
Posted on September 1, 2022Why did we dine here? – Dumpling Home was featured in the SF Chronicle for Xiao Long Bao or Soup Dumplings making us really want to try it. We are big fans of these delicate little steamed dumplings and have eaten them all over the world including Shanghai. The two best spots have been Din Tai Fung in Santa Clara and Yank Sing, SF. We have dined here several times. Our last visit was during the start of 2023.
4505 Burgers and BBQ, San Francisco
Posted on August 30, 20224505 Burgers and BBQ is run by chef and artisan butcher Ryan Farr. Ryan formerly was executive chef at Fifth Floor. They used to have a stand at the Ferry building but have since setup on Divisadero in SF’s Nopa neighborhood. 4505 has a thriving business in meat snacks and fried pork rinds.
Good Good Culture Club, San Francisco
Posted on August 10, 2022Party fun!
Why here? – Good Good Culture Club is a hot restaurant from the folks behind Liholiho Yacht Club. They serve Lao, Filipino fusion cuisine and has a party atmosphere. This restaurant is located in the heart of the Mission District, where Farina once stood.
A Mano, San Francisco
Posted on August 7, 2022Why Here? A Mano or by hand in Italian, is a California Italian restaurant from Adriano Paganini’s group that runs many local restaurants including Super Duper, Delarosa, and Belga. A nice neighborhood joint in the trendy Hayes Valley area. We are big fans of pasta and pizza, so we had to give it a try.
Kauai Restaurant Reviews
Posted on July 25, 2022Kauai Restaurant Reviews from our visit to the Garden isle in May 2022
Lots of local food trucks and Hawaiian favorites. We did not dine in once! None of these requires reservations.
Checkout reviews of the other Hawaiian Islands
Palette Tea Garden, San Mateo
Posted on July 21, 2022Solid Dim Sum in Hillsdale Mall of all places!- Why did we dine here? – Palette Tea Garden is from the team behind top rated Chinese restaurants: Koi Palace and Dragon Beaux.
San Ho Won, San Francisco
Posted on July 18, 2022Why did we dine here? – San Ho Won is a super popular Korean Restaurant which opened in the fall of 2021 and is a collaboration between Corey Lee and Jeong-In Hwang. They use tock for their reservation system, in which you have a pre-pay
a $25/person deposit. It was very hard getting a reservation here.
Din Tai Fung, Santa Clara
Posted on July 10, 2022Why did we dine here? – Din Tai Fung is a popular Xiao Long Bao (It means small bamboo steamer bun in Chinese) – Shanghai Steamed Soup dumpling restaurant with locations in Bellevue, Seattle, Southern California, Taiwan, Japan, China, Indonesia, Macau, Singapore, and several other countries. Few Chinese dishes generate so much obsession. Think of it like a quest to find the best burger or pizza. We have been to this location several times.
Lily, San Francisco
Posted on May 12, 2022Why did we dine here? – Lily is a Modern Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco is inner Richmond District. Sort of a neighborhood joint kicked up a notch. The Chef Rob Lam used to run restaurant Butterfly on the waterfront. There are a ton of VERY good restaurant options nearby including Burma superstar, Chapeau!, Wako, and Mamahuhu. Traditional Vietnamese restaurants are a block away. We have been here twice for lunch during the Pandemic.
Sultana, Menlo Park
Posted on May 6, 2022Why did we dine here? – Sultana is a long established Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Menlo Park. This is a nicer place with a outdoor patio in the back, perfect during the Pandemic. This spot is definitely a step above all the casual Mediterranean restaurants you find around. (We like Hummus Mediterranean in San Mateo) A friend recommended it, so we decided to give it a go.
I-Shanghai Delight, San Ramon
Posted on April 19, 2022Why did we dine here? – We love dumplings and this one WOW’d us! I-Shanghai Delight is a Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in San Ramon. They also have locations in Fremont and Sacramento. We were dining here with friends who highly recommended this Chinese restaurant. Note: Only 3.5 stars on Yelp probably due to bad service.
Che Fico, San Francisco
Posted on April 3, 2022Hot Spot in the City. Why did we dine here? – Che Fico (Kay-Feeco) means what a fig – is a new Jewish Italian restaurant in San Francisco that has garnered a lot of hype. There is a long line queuing up for unreserved tables everyday. It has fallen to 3.5 Yelp stars, but we still wanted to try it out. Prices have appreciated significantly during the pandemic.
Flour + water Restaurant Review, San Francisco
Posted on March 29, 2022Flour + Water is a wildly popular Italian restaurant in the Mission district of San Francisco. They focus on hand rolled pastas, house cured meats, and an Italian pizza oven. The chef, Thomas McNaughton is a veteran of La Folie, Gary Danko, Quince. They take reservations on rezy and reserve space for walk ins (Communal table), causing a line to form 20 min. before the place even opens. Yelp rating has faded to 3.5 stars.