Flour + 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.
Why did we dine here? – Flour & Water Pizza is the pizza only specialty restaurant from the folks at famous Flour and Water. We’ve eaten there a couple times and gotten to go. During the pandemic, they have a large outside Parklet seating area.
Why did we dine here? – Cheap Awesome Pasta! Barzotto is a casual pasta focused restaurant in the San Francisco Mission District. Our son dined there and recommended it, so we had to check it out. Best part of this spot is there is no need to reserve in advance. Arizmendi Bakery is next door!
Little Star Pizza is a popular pizza place with 2 locations in San Francisco and 1 in Albany. We visited the Divisadero location and ordered deep dish pizza. It took about 30 minutes to get our pizza. They have gone on to open several locations in the Bay Area.
Blue Line Pizza is their name for sister locations from Burlingame southwards. We have tried their Burlingame location in the Summer of 2020. The menu is very similar.
Since 1998, Delfina, a bustling neighborhood Italian trattoria has been packing them in. The menu changes daily and they use organic produce and sustain-ably raised meats and fish whenever possible. It is a popular place that requires advanced booking for a reservation or showing up at 530pm for a table at the counter or bar. Our last visit was in the summer of 2019 where we found it as busy as ever.
Why did we dine here? – Lazy Bear bills itself as “A modern American dinner Party”. Since 2014 they have been hosting 2 seating of a single prix fixe Tasting Menu served to guests on a long communal table. They started as an underground pop-up, gained traction, scored one Michelin star and have established themselves as more than a gimmick.
Why did we dine here? – Californios is a Two Michelin Star (in 2017) Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, the highest rating of its type in the US. We were intrigued and hesitated to come here, but finally succumbed to all the positive accolades and were glad we did. ($177 for Mexican food?!) Chef Val M. Cantu crafts cuisine of the highest regard, having moved up from a popup years ago. Open the really heavy door and you will enter this fairly small restuarant. It almost seems like it should be twice the size, and a little less dark – hard edged.
Delicious Italian around the Bay. Pizzeria Delfina is the lower cost more casual eatery next to top rated Delfina. They do not take reservations and focus on ‘Neapolitan inspired’, thin crust pizzas and Antipasti. Delfina does not serve pizza. They use local, seasonal ingredients and have a lots of wines by the glass. There are 2 location in San Francisco – Mission and Pacific Heights. In 2018 we dined several times at the Burlingame location.
Mission Hipster heaven. Modern Fusion Chinese.
Mission Chinese Food is a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District that used to be a popup in the Lung Shan restaurant. Mission Chinese Food has basically taken over the place with its success!
There always seems to be a line here! Tartine Bakery, San Francisco serves up legendary freshly baked bread every Tuesday through Sunday at 430 PM. After the Tartine Manufactory opened in 2016, bread is available all day. They are also know for their great pastries and sandwiches.
Why did we dine here? – Urchin Bistrot is a new French Bistro in the bustling Mission district of San Francisco. The location formerly housed Slanted Door and the defunct Wo Hing General Store.
Why did we dine here? – Maruya had gotten written up in a local San Francisco magazine and was creating a lot of buzz. Was this going to be the new top Japanese restaurant in the city? Located in the trendy SF Mission district, was Maruya better than Akiko’s, Kiss or Ino? We would soon see. This restaurant has lots of exposed wood, from the planks on the front window to the walls and floors. The air was heavily scented with cooked fish, they should improve the circulation. San Francisco is still slowly catching up to top Japanese food outpost like LA or NYC. Guess we just don’t have to population to justify tier one restaurants.
Why did we dine here? – Central Kitchen is a new restaurant in the Mission District from the creators of Flour and Water. They source products locally and look for sustainable foods. This long awaited restaurant opened in May 2012, along with next door sister deli Salumeria. Chef-partner Thomas McNaughton and chef de cuisine Michael Gaines (Manresa)
Why did we dine here? – Bar Tartine has been on our hit list ever since Mr. Bauer extolled the virtues of this restaurant a couple weeks back. We are big fans of the sister location, Tartine Bakery. There haven’t been many new Hungarian, Eastern European restaurants lately, so this was a refreshing change of pace from another California cuisine restaurant. Chef Nicolaus Balla took over in January 2011 and has moved Bar Tartine forward. The restaurant is loud and interior decor rough, but the food is exciting.
Commonwealth is a contemporary American restaurant in the Mission district that focuses on local, sustainable and organic ingredients whenever possible. They also donate some dining proceeds to a local charity.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a small Sausage restaurant in the colorful lower Haight district of San Francisco with an additional larger location in the Mission district. This Place has a cult like following. Sort of like Vancouver’s Japadog. They serve grilled sausages on french rolls. You can select 2 free condiments from sauerkraut, grilled onions, peppers, or spicy beef chili. They also sell uncooked sausages, which we took advantage of one time.
Limon is a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission district serving Nuveo Latin Fusion. It closed for 16 months due to a fire and recently reopened. Martin Castillo reopened Limon with Emmanuel Piqueras from three Michelin star Arzak restaurant in Spain. They reinvented the menu so the food is different from the old Limon. Michael Bauer recently gave the place 3 stars.
Range is an American Restaurant located in the Mission district of San Francisco and is run by the husband and wife team of Phil and Cameron West. They opened in the summer of 2005 and received one Michelin star in 2009 and 2010, but lost it in 2011.
El Farolito is a Mexican Restaurant with several locations in San Francisco’s Mission district, Oakland, South San Francisco, Santa Rosa, and Rohnert Park. We visited the 24th street location.
Since 1975, Arinell Pizza has been dishing up New York Style pizza in Berkeley to the student masses. In 1992 they expanded to San Francisco. They have Neopolitan thin crust and Sicilian Thick crust pizza with a variety of add on toppings. They have pre-made pizzas that they add toppings (0.50 or 0.75 each) onto, and heat up. They also sell pizza by the pie. They don’t use MSG or sugar on their pizzas.
Big Mouth Burgers Restaurant is located in the Mission and uses Mountain Natural Foods Natural Beef without hormones, antibiotics, insecticides or chemical residues. They include fries with their burgers.
Taqueria Cancun is a friend’s Mexican restaurant favorite. They’re located in the heart of the Mission district and take cash only. They have 2 other locations in San Francisco.
This place is popular with the late night crowd as it is open very late.
Frjtz is a Belgian Fries, Crepes, and Art Teahouse with 2 locations in San Francisco. We passed by on the way to Bombay Ice Cream and decided to try their Belgian Fries. Their Hayes Valley location has closed.
El Tonayense is a Mexican restaurant with lots of mobile food trucks throughout San Francisco. They have been featured on PBS’s Check Please TV show. They are parked on the side of the Best Buy at 14th St and Harrison in San Francisco so we decided to give them a try even though we were not hungry.
Decor, Vibe – ‘Roach Coach’ mobile dining with tacos, burritos, and Tortas in a variety of meats including brains, head and cheek.
Since 1999, they have been California/Mediterranean-inspired menu in a stylish setting in the middle of the Mission district of San Francisco. They focus on local and organic ingredients. They play Foreign and independent films in the courtyard when darkness starts to fall. They have seating both inside and outside (heat lamps).
