Maria Isabel, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Maria Isabel San Francisco, CA

Why did we dine here? – Maria Isabel is the latest restaurant from the Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz of Dalida Fame. (Dalida is highly recommended!) Chef Laura’s family roots in Guerrero and Sinaloa allow her to purse this cuisine. We loved their other spot, so we had to give this new place a try. We gave the place about 2 months to dial in. This restaurant lives up to all the hype.

Reservations took a while to get with Opentable notify going off 2 days before hand. They keep counter spots open for walk-ins until 8pm. Highly Rated 4.6 on Yelp, 5.0 on Google with 74 reviews. 5% Health living contribution.

Insider Tip – Use Opentable Notify to score a table, else sit at the counter

Cuisine – Modern Mexican
Location – San Francisco
Opened – 2026

Service – Maria Isabel had impressive service especially for a new spot. Fast cleanups, no need to ask for water, friendly helpful waiter.
Verdict – Maria Isabel is that rare new restaurant that is already firing on all cylinders. The food is top notch as is the service. The Chef clearly is cooking with a lot of love. Can’t think of another place nearby that serves this type of cuisine. Californios is close but far more expensive. We were scared off dining at new spots by Jou Jou, this reminds us that new places don’t have to suck.

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes 30 minute? Yes 1 Hour? Yes

Maria Isabel Signature Dishes – Enmoladas, Cerviche, Fundido, Flan

Maria Isabel’s Menu has seafood starters, small plates, corn dishes and large plates. Not a lot of options for gluten free or vegan folks. Tasting menu is available.

Website Maria Isabel Menu

Maria Isabel Food Picks:

Agua Preperada ($14.00) is one of their 4 NA beverages, sort of like a house made soda. Nicely done although the ice cube fills 50% of the glass! 8.5/10

Asparagus Ensalada ($18.00) Asparagus, cucumber, jicama, sesame seeds, mint, cilantro, garlic chips, tamarind dressing was a solid salad, nothing very special. 8.5/10

Sea Urchin Tamalito de Maiz ($32.00) Santa Barbara sea urchin, sweet corn tamal, corn crema, Mexican vanilla oil, fermented
habaneros was also a great dish. The uni balances the corn and gives it an interesting richness. Not spicy. 10/10

Duck Carnitas Enmoladas ($32.00) Mole negro, cherry manchamanteles, plantain is their signature dish. Lots like chocolate dipped twinkes. Don’t really like mole, until I had one this great! Two slightly different flavor profiles. Wow, a must order. 10/10

Lamb Ribs Barbacoa ($46.00 for 6pc (Standard) Lamb Ribs) Lamb consome, fermented carrots, tortillas was a bit gamey and greasy but fall off the bone tender. Needs than the token vegetables. 9/10

Chorizos y Queso Fundido ($26.00) Green and red chorizo, salsa morita, sourdough tortillas de harina was one of the top dishes of the evening. 2 different types of chorizo that you can eat with a tortilla. Nice cheese salsa sauce. 10/10

Trio of sorbets ($21.00) is not on the menu but.. these are clearly house made and very well done. One was a bit sticky. Not cheap. 9/10

Flan de Pina ($14.00) was a modern pineapple flan with sorbet. Looked great and tasted better. 9.5/10

Tascalate ($14.00) a traditional, refreshing Mexican drink from Chiapas and Tabasco that comes on the rocks. The chef said it is hard to find in Mexico. 9/10

Do you agree with our review? Have you found other similar restaurants that are better?

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