Berkeley

• Comal - I admit that as a San Franciscan I can get a bit landlocked with my restaurant choices—Bay Bridge traffic can suck up a couple of hours I don’t have to spare. Fortunately Comal in Berkeley is literally a block from...

Dogpatch

• Chocolate Lab - The first time I mentioned to a friend I had lunch at Chocolate Lab, he chuckled. It’s a clever name, and Michael and Jacky Recchiuti have no shortage of humor, smarts, and playfulness in what they do. They are the...

Downtown

• M.Y. China - As someone who lived in Los Angeles for five years, I’m no stranger to dining in a mall. My top sushi spot was in a mini-mall, ditto one of the cooler tiki bars I loved. But M.Y. China is no...

Haight (Lower)

• Izakaya Roku - There are now plenty of businesses in San Francisco that call themselves an izakaya—and here’s one of the latest to join the fray, Izakaya Roku. It’s a relatively tiny joint on a stretch of Market between the Castro, the edge...

Hayes Valley

• Izakaya Roku - There are now plenty of businesses in San Francisco that call themselves an izakaya—and here’s one of the latest to join the fray, Izakaya Roku. It’s a relatively tiny joint on a stretch of Market between the Castro, the edge...
• Pläj - Passing through the Inn at the Opera hotel to get to this restaurant may make you pause for a moment if you were on a date. (“Hey now, this is only date one! It’s not time to get a room...
• Rich Table - The powerful rise of exciting California cuisine has gone from a groundswell to big-wave surfing with the addition of Rich Table to the local scene. Chef-owners Evan and Sarah Rich hail from some top New York kitchens and hit the...

Mission

• Hi Lo - There are some surefire ways to get people talking about food in this town. Pick the best burrito and you have an onslaught of heated commentary on your hands (or is that salsa?). Right up there is barbecue: is it...
• Izakaya Roku - There are now plenty of businesses in San Francisco that call themselves an izakaya—and here’s one of the latest to join the fray, Izakaya Roku. It’s a relatively tiny joint on a stretch of Market between the Castro, the edge...

NOPA/Western Addition

• The Corner Store - I’m happy to see some life back at the corner of Masonic and Geary. After years of speeding past Hukilau on my way home, The Corner Store is giving me a reason to pull it on over. The neighborhood needed...

North Beach

• Capo's - Are you a cheese slut? You a bona fide fan of tomato sauce? Does pizza turn your fricking crank? Then I certainly hope you have gotten your culo to Capo’s by now. Anyone who loves pizza in SF (and beyond)...

Oakland

• Stag's Lunchette - A dear friend, who is also a cook, told me I needed to meet his friend Alexeis “Lexi” Filipello—he was right, we all spent a night talking sandwiches over drinks. It’s nice when you meet fellow sandwich obsessives, and it’s...

Richmond (Inner)

• The Corner Store - I’m happy to see some life back at the corner of Masonic and Geary. After years of speeding past Hukilau on my way home, The Corner Store is giving me a reason to pull it on over. The neighborhood needed...