Must goto for SF vegans/vegetarians! Plant based cuisine satisfying even Carnivores.
Why did we dine here? – Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar & Izakaya has remarkable 4.5 stars on Yelp. With the plant based revolution booming, we just had to try this spot. We’ve returned a couple times.. Must go for vegans and vegetarians. They started offering takeout during the pandemic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Now Three Michelin stars in 2026!
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 2026 we dined at the California St SF 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? – 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
