Restaurant Cuisine
Last Update: November 2019
We are big fans of Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup. Slowly but surely, we have eaten at many of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best Pho restaurants. Here’s our constantly evolving list of the top 10 in search of the Best Pho San Francisco and beyond. Please leave comments with suggestions for other places we should try.
Party 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.
Josephine Chez Dumonet is a popular old school Bistro in the 6th Arrondissement, St. Germain, not far from the Jardin du Luxembourg. It was open in 1898 and is run by 3rd generation Jean-Christian Dumonet. We came to this restaurant to feel what Paris felt like in the old days. They serve half portions so you can sample lots of cuisine. They are known for excellent boeuf bourguignon, steak tartare, and roasted saddle of lamb. Our first visit was in 2009 and we returned in 2024.
Prospect is a long-awaited new restaurant from the Boulevard restaurant team – Nancy Oakes, Pam Mazzola, and Kathy King – located in the posh residential Infinity Tower complex of San Francisco’s Financial district / SOMA district. They named it with anticipation, expectation, and looking forward. Prospect is near the Millennium tower.
Spoon is one of those rare finds in the Lake Tahoe region. The food is simply really good. Its easy to pay a lot up here, but not easy to find a spot like this. We’ve dined at all the stalwarts that have existed for decades and none match up. “Spoon is a funky, off-beat and cozy restaurant with an eclectic american dinner menu.” Closed Tu/Wed
Gluten free and vegetarian options. Specials change daily. Last visit end of 2024.
Elegant 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.
Reviews for restaurants, bakeries and other spots we deemed not important enough for their own.
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Last Update: 5/10/2024
Where does a San Francisco Foodie eat in the Durham – Chapel Hill – Research Triangle, North Carolina? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences. We have family there and will return again.
Cotogna (meaning ‘quince’ in Italian), offers a seasonally-changing menu featuring spit-roasted or grilled meats and game birds, wood-oven pizzas, house-made pastas, fresh local fish and seafood, salads, salami and cheeses in the warm atmosphere of the restaurant’s refined urban design. This hot spot is the more affordable sister restaurant to Quince, which is located next door.
Why did we dine here? – Flour & Water Pizza is the pizza only specialty restaurant from the folks at famous Flour and Water. This location opened in 2023, the previous one is run by a former employee and is now called Yellow Moto Pizza. Tony’s Pizza is right around the corner!
We visited Osaka, Japan in December 2023 and made a list of interesting finds. Our goals are to eat local and seek out authentic experiences. Sushi, udon, soba, yakitori, oden, whatever! Yelp and Trip Advisor were not helpful in spotting places to eat at, only Google reviews were useful. We did not seek our Michelin rated spots.
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Added review of Che Fico Parco Menlo, Menlo Park
Hot 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.
Cutting Edge Cal-Indian in Palo Alto.
Why did we dine here? – Ettan, Palo Alto open one month before the Pandemic. Talk about bad timing. Open/close – Open close syndrome. Things were opening up again, so we decided to give them a try. This was one of our first high end sit down meals in quite a while. They are tucked away in a small alley in Downtown Palo Alto. Beautiful restaurant, inside and out. Great spot to eat outside in their large patio. East Asians have discovered the spot, helping to validate the cuisine in our book.
Cheung Hing replaces China Village Seafood Restaurant in Belmont, California located just off the Highway 101’s Ralston Exit. The former had 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.
Cheung Hing has several locations in San Mateo, Millbrae, and San Francisco. Those concentrate on Chinese barbecue dishes and don’t serve dim sum.
Harris’, The San Francisco Steakhouse has been located since 1984. The restaurant has Old school steakhouse traditional decor with tall banquettes, and high quality 21 day dry aged, Mid-western, corn-fed meats. This is one place I think about when folks ask for a Steakhouse in San Francisco.
Best cornbread in town! House of Prime Rib opened in 1949 and concentrates on one dish, Prime rib. We have been coming here for many decades, whenever we have a desire for beef. They use corn-fed Prime beef Midwestern beef that is aged for 21 days and cooked in coarse rock salt.
Why did we dine here? – Best Restaurant in the USA? Tips to Dine here on the cheap! Eleven Madison Park is a well respected American restaurant situated at 11 Madison Avenue in the Flatiron District of New York City. Three Michelin stars were awarded in 2023. The restaurant was ranked #3 in the World by The World’s 50 Best Restaurant list.
City View Restaurant is a Chinese dim sum restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. that only serves lunch.. Our last visit was in the middle of 2023 when they moved in to a new location next to Portsmouth square.
Be sure to read our Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum
Lai Hong Lounge Restaurant is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of Chinatown. They have been around since Lichee Garden closed, 2012. They are VERY popular for lunch (Noon had a Wait for a Monday lunch), but it was much more quiet at dinner. We were in the neighborhood so we decided to try it out, being big Chinese food fans. Last visit was in Winter 2024.
Why 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.
Why 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 3 times for lunch during the Pandemic, last visit Spring 2024.
Southwest Restaurant reviews from our trip in Spring 2023
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1/27/23
B 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.
HK 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 (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)
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Reviews 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.
Best Vegetarian 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.
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Restaurant reviews and guide from our recent trip to Portugal in 2023. We visited Lisbon and Porto and loved it.
Why 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.
January 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:
The must go to food market in Madrid!
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.
NOPA is a “neighborhood based restaurant designed to attract and comfort those from all over the Bay Area.” They serve “simple, rustic food created with seasonal ingredients sourced from local purveyors.” The restaurant has redefined the north of panhandle (NOPA) area since 2006 and has been packing them in. We did not have reservations, so we can in early and put our name on the list, otherwise you can eat at the bar or communal table.
Trendy 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 locations.
Koi Palace has been on the best Chinese Dim Sum restaurant lists in the San Francisco Bay Area for years. The Peninsula is ground zero for some of the best Chinese food in the San Francisco Bay Area. Around 2018, new upcomers with opulent interiors and modern menu have challenged them.
Moody’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 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.
Why did we dine here? – Baekjeong (butcher in Korean) is a extremely popular Korean restaurant run a flamboyant former wrestler, Kang Ho Dong. (There is a huge cardboard cutout picture of him by the front door) They specialize in Korean BBQ using USDA Prime Meats.
Why 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.
Why did we dine here? – Top Italian on the Peninsula! Vesta is a California Italian restaurant in downtown Redwood City. They tried to support local and organic suppliers. It has an extremely high 4.5 stars on Yelp and was mentioned in San Francisco magazine as having great pizza. These two facts were enough to pique our interest. We finally got a chance to try them at the end of 2013, been back several times with latest visit in summer 2023.
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
.jpg "Greens Restaurant Review, San Francisco")
Greens 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 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.
We 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!
Why 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.
.jpg "Northeast Trip Food Roundup – Boston – Maine")