NOT A FOOD JOURNALIST / NOT A PROFESSIONAL COOK / NOT A RESTAURANT OWNER / NOT A RICH DUDE / NOT A CRITIC / NOT AN INFLUENCER / NOT A MICHELIN INSPECTOR / NOT REALLY THAT SMART / NOT A FOOD JOURNALIST / NOT A PROFESSIONAL COOK / NOT A RESTAURANT OWNER / NOT A RICH DUDE / NOT A CRITIC / NOT AN INFLUENCER / NOT A MICHELIN INSPECTOR / NOT REALLY THAT SMART / NOT A FOOD JOURNALIST / NOT A PROFESSIONAL COOK / NOT A RESTAURANT OWNER / NOT A RICH DUDE / NOT A CRITIC / NOT AN INFLUENCER / NOT A MICHELIN INSPECTOR / NOT REALLY THAT SMART /
Introducing the newest, prestigious and not-at-all arbitrary annual list for exceptional restaurants and bars — as selected by some guy named Tim Kim. Some say this is a waste of time, others say an incredible waste of time.
Anchovy Bar
What makes Anchovy Bar wonderful is they successfully deliver on a thesis: The local Bay Area anchovies are criminally underrated and can stand out their own. Chef/owner duo Stuart Brioaza and Nichole Kransinski (State Bird Provisions and the Progress) built this restaurant around them — meticulously preparing, pickling and often-serving them on toast during the April-December season. The results are a distinct, a departure from the tinned variety, instantly becoming a new only-in-San Francisco dish.
While those are the namesake, the rest of the primarily seafood-driven menu are worth paying attention to. Particularly their marriage of seasonal fruits with raw or lightly cooked seafood. It's a matured restaurant, wise beyond its years and felt realized from the very beginning three years ago.
Angler
When Joshua Skenes and team opened Angler it was a casual extension of their ultra-fine dining restaurant, Saison. The ethos was there: cooking by a live fire, maniacal attention to sourcing ingredients and timing, exposed brick decor, 80s power ballads loudly blaring juxtaposed by smarted-suited service staff, taxidermy bears and swordfish, exposed fish tanks, and perhaps the most visually distinct: Upside down flowers and herbs hanging on hooks in the kitchen. Say what you will about that sensibility (I love it) but what is undeniable is it's unique.
The food and cocktails reflected that voice. Succulent lightly fired spot prawns, their addicting radicchio salad with an "XO" sauce (served with a murder weapon-sized knife), their special caviar on a banana pancake, parker house rolls, the potato sliced and meticulously reassembled with Sonoma cheeses, and of course the soft serve sundae with candied cocoa, smoked salt drizzled with embered caramel. I can go on.
It is now run by new leadership in Culinary Director Paul Chung and Adam Stacy, Chef de Cuisine. How its evolution is playing out in real-time but early visits has kept that ethos alive and even pushed it.
Aziza
If you are familiar with Chef Mourad Lahlou's work at his eponymous fine dining restaurant Mourad then you'll likely know of Aziza, the more rustic, neighborly Morocco-meets-California restaurant. If you ask many folks in the food and hospitality industry, they'll quietly say fine dining has many visual and flavor tropes often limiting on "good" could look like. For the most part, I agree and you see a more liberated creativity in Chef Lahlou's approach to Aziza. The trio of spread with a house made flat bread, smoked salmon with preserved lemon and their own dukkah, the addicting charred prawns with red charmoula, black garlic and harissa, the ever-evolving shakshuka and basteeya are more approachable but just as delicious. It feels like outstanding homecooking, and what's better than that?
Speaking of working within tropes, Aziza also does brunch and it's stellar.
Bar Agricole
Bar Agricole remains resolute on creating and sourcing pure, "single-origin spirits" for its recently remodeled bar, restaurant and retail space. It is an exercise in obsessively stripping things down to its essence, creating what I can only describe as minimalist cocktails. As potentially pretentious as that may sound, I've never seen something quite like it. There's a degree in care and detail that's inspirational not as someone who enjoys studying drinks, but in any creative endeavor.
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
Bar Iris
I have been to Bar Iris six times in this year alone. It's a rare place that has found a perfect balance. The drinks are executed at a high level, but doesn't feel pretentious. It isn't a dive bar, nor is it a gaudy, "luxurious" place only accessible to the rich and dumb. If anything the space is reminiscent of a living from someone with good taste but above all values having a good time — no matter what form it takes.
Take the Tsukemono martini for instance, combine Japanese pickles and its brine with Osuzu gin, shochu and sake to create a dirty martini that has all the flavors of your favorite martinis but in a Japanese context. It's fit for just about everyone: martini enthusiasts, Japanese salaryman and whatever you would call me.
Rest in peace, Ilya Romanov. Thank you for creating such a lovely place.
Breadbelly
I put forward Breadbelly, the distinctly Asian-American cafe and bakery in the Central Richmond district, has never had any misses on their menu. Highly subjective, I know but then again you are reading a list made by some guy. One of San Francisco's defining qualities are the sheer amount of truly brillaint bakeries and Breadbelly sits at the top amongst the very best.
Cavaña
What appeared to be a clubby, rooftop bar catering to the DJ-loving youths turned out a place producing some of the most exciting cocktails I've had in recently memory.
Cold Drinks
Cold Drinks feels like you've snuck into a bar accessible only to the rich and powerful. It's still one of my favorite places to slowly drink a scotch, which I am not entirely sure what that says about me.
Commis
Trends have come and gone. Restaurants once opening to grand spectacle and hype, only to be closed shortly after. Yet, 14 years in, Commis remains. Why? Because it focuses on what actually matters: Focus on subtlety and finesse above all else. Focus on the team, the experience. Above trends, above chasing awards. Over the years, Chef James Syhabout has tapped into his own roots and subtly integrated more Southeast Asian ingredients and sensibilities into his tasting menus. It's more unique, more personal and above all else delicious.
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
Cotogna
When it comes to understanding what California cuisine actually is, I often cite Cotogna. Hyper local, seasonally-driven produce (often coming from their own farm) prepared with minimal intervention. There's a distinct warmth to their approach that I've never been able to figure out, then again when that brown butter raviolo with ricotta lands on my table all meditations on food, technique and context turn into pure bliss.
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
Daeho Kalbijim
Let's get an embarrassing admission out of the way: I have only been inside Daeho once, but ordered delivery 10 times this year alone.
The biggest compliment I can give Daeho is I thought it was a successful restaurant chain from Seoul opening its first location in San Francisco. A matured import iterated on for years. Yet this now-empire of restaurants only started three years ago. Everything from the eponymous Kalbijjim (갈비찜), stone pot bibimbap (비빔밥), kalbi tang (갈비탕) and seolleongtang (설렁탕) are outstanding.
Their continual growth and expansion only brings new dishes that are just good (please Daeho bring the mul naeng myun to all locations).
Dela Curo Curry
Deli Board
The undisputed king of sandwiches in San Francisco and still by far, with all the superlatives intended, the best sandwiches I've had. A sandwich is often a celebration of the sum, rather than it's parts but Adam Mesnick and his team masters both. Yes, paying $20+ for a sandwich is steep, but it is so worth it. The Allison is as close to perfect as it gets, and their specials via The Board carry the same high bar.
Dragon Beaux
Given the myriad of dim sum and Cantonese restaurants out there in the Bay Area, it may come as a surprise that Dragon Beaux is on this list. But if I tally all the dishes I eat the most over the course of a year, their egg white fried rice with dried scallop, the sautéed sea bass with XO sauce, and the steamed egg yolk lava bao would be in the top five.
El Castillito
If El Castillito's burrito were a person ...
They would be the one you had those fun, messy evenings with — knowing full well it's detrimental to your health but you don't care. They’re inconsistent and perhaps there are some aspects you should grow out of (sheer size of their super burritos) but when those magic moments come (the ratio of ingredients is a case study of burrito balance), you remember them for the rest of your life.
They would be the one you had those fun, messy evenings with — knowing full well it's detrimental to your health but you don't care. They’re inconsistent and perhaps there are some aspects you should grow out of (sheer size of their super burritos) but when those magic moments come (the ratio of ingredients is a case study of burrito balance), you remember them for the rest of your life.
Hamano Sushi
Word has long been out about Hamano being two restaurants in one. The first is a low key, a la carte Japanese restaurant accessible all across the board. The second is a chef's counter omakase experience producing some of San Francisco's best sushi. It's the same immaculately-sourced and prepared seafood you would find in the ultra-pricey sushi restaurants, but hidden. Don't get me wrong, I also love those temple-like, omakase restaurants, but are they as fun as Hamano? No.
House of Prime Rib
Do you really need to read yet another caption on why House of Prime Rib is one of San Francisco's best restaurants? Tell you what, if you happen to be someone that stumbles upon this caption and never heard of it, email me at tim@timkim.co and I will reply with a long multi-paragraph essay on why it's good.
House of Shields
There's something in the air and energy at House of Shields. As if all the collective conversations, laughter and even despair over the decades are absorbed into the walls. That intangible quality that elevates the drinks, makes you pause and seems to encourage conversation amongst strangers.
Katsuo & Kombu
Despite the popularity of Japanese dishes like sushi, sashimi, ramen, and katsu, udon is still severely underrated. And most udon restaurants in America know this so they never go beyond frozen noodles and the only marginally better-than-packaged-soup broth. Then came Katsuo & Kombu, a new restaurant specializing in udon the real way. The good way. The difficult way. A specific noodle machine, a specific Japanese wheat, a specific way. The prepping and frying the vegetable tempura on the Kakiage Udon way. But is it delicious and worth it? Yes, yes it is.
Kitchen Istanbul
Kitchen Istanbul is everything you want in a neighborhood restaurant and wine bar. And when that neighbor happens to be Emrah Kilicoglu, one of the most knowledgable and truly lovely people in the wine world, you’re gonna have a good time.
Plus, every time I eat Turkish food I think the same thing: I need to eat more Turkish food.
La Taqueria
If La Taqueria's burrito were a person...
They would be the popular one, but not just for superficial reasons. But because they (the distinctly riceless mission style burrito) are a leader in their field (earning accolades after accolades). Hell, it’s the type you wouldn’t mind marrying and introducing to your parents. Yet despite their success, they’re still grounded.
They would be the popular one, but not just for superficial reasons. But because they (the distinctly riceless mission style burrito) are a leader in their field (earning accolades after accolades). Hell, it’s the type you wouldn’t mind marrying and introducing to your parents. Yet despite their success, they’re still grounded.
Liholiho Yacht Club
Amidst the endless hamster wheel of seeking attention, accolades and fame there’s Liholiho Yacht Club — a place that simply has great, thoughtful Hawaiian food. Long live Liholiho.
Linden Room
Despite how ubiquitous the seasonal, farm-to-table approach is in California cuisine, few have successfully translated that into a cohesive cocktail menu. So many are gimmicks, never achieving a balance of flavor.
Thankfully, Linden Room (and others on this list) regularly excels at that very thing. Merging the season's produce with spirits, prepared with a lot of thought and technical details you may miss. There is a quiet confidence in how Ron Boyd approach to cocktails. It's focused, immune to the noise of trends. There is not a singular "signature" cocktail, but an approach of taking ingredients at their peak and applying a unifying sensibility to it.
It's a such a special place and easily one of my all-time favorite places to be. I even hesitate to promote or recommend it given how small the space is. I wish it can be a secret as it's a place that seemed to figure out all the things I like about bars and stripped everything else away.
Li Po Cocktail Lounge
There are few places embraced by locals, tourist, insufferable foodies and Li Po with their cash-only Mai Tais are one of them. It is the perennial beginning or ending to an evening. To go there as a study of the dive bar scene or cocktail composition is besides the point. Mai Tai's in particular are one of life's reminders to not overthink things and just enjoy the moment.
Mister Jiu's
Mister Jiu's is so much more than a Michelin-starred modern Cantonese/Californian restaurant in San Francisco. It represents taking ownership of murky parts of the Asian-American identity, how cuisines can escape its typecasting, and the significance restaurants have in a city's identity. It is simultaneously a preserver of tradition and vanguard of innovation. The Peking style whole duck is emblematic of this and is still one of the best versions of it I've ever had.
Mogura
"It's a place that still shows there are hidden gems left in the world." is how a friend described Mogura and I agree. It's certainly hidden, and definitely a gem. And by gem, I mean not in that luxurious object of wealth, but in rarity and uniqueness. So much of Mogura "doesn't make sense" in this hyper manicured, social media addicted restaurant and bar landscape. To get in, you must ring a doorbell in a barely labeled door on a busy Japantown block of Post Street. You may not even get in but once you do, you're greeted with a wooden bar with cat seat cushions, karaoke you can only sing at the bar (cash only), and potent sake-based cocktails. The drinks and food aren’t even made at the bar, but other mysterious room and it's all magical. It feels like something you'd find in Japantown, but also reminiscent of a blurry evening in the Golden Gai in Tokyo, where you wonder: Was that place even real?
Monsieur Benjamin
For all the ups and downs in life, Monsieur Benjamin has been remarkably consistent. There is a timeless, matured and somehow comforting approach to the food hidden beneath their smartly-designed contemporary French bistro veneer.
Dishes I keep coming back for: scallop tartare, poached shrimp, butter lettuce salad, onion soup, french fries, steak tartare, burger, dark chocolate soufflé, palmier ice cream with Calvados caramel.
Moongate Lounge
In an industry where Japanese and Scandinavian minimalism are predominant, Moongate Lounge — the cocktail bar above Mister Jiu's — is the maximalist antidote. Dona Summers early 80s chic, pastel lighting accenting the dark space, vintage Chinese murals all culminate into a seductive retro futurism that is a true original.
But where there is lots of style, there is — thankfully — also lots of substance in the cocktails. This is particularly magical on the savory, more spirit-forward side of their seasonal menu. Chinese celery with absinthe and Irish whiskey, Cognac and cardamaro with fig leaf and jasmine rice syrup, lapsang and apricot with rye — all creating a depth of flavor that has changed how I approach making cocktails.
But where there is lots of style, there is — thankfully — also lots of substance in the cocktails. This is particularly magical on the savory, more spirit-forward side of their seasonal menu. Chinese celery with absinthe and Irish whiskey, Cognac and cardamaro with fig leaf and jasmine rice syrup, lapsang and apricot with rye — all creating a depth of flavor that has changed how I approach making cocktails.
Nari
When Nari opened in 2019 it was lauded as revitalizing fine dining, it topped just about every publication's best new restaurant list that year, foodies raved about its bold and fearlessness. But it's 2023, and hype eventually fades. Is it as vibrant as before?
Well... yea. I'd even say it's gotten better over the years.
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
Old Mandarin Islamic
The best and enduring things are created first by a desire to make something you wish existed. Create for yourself first and the audience will be attracted to that singular point of view. After all, no one would say the money-making opportunity is opening a Northern Chinese cuisine restaurant that is fully Halal in San Francisco. And yet decades later, Old Mandarin Islamic continues to be an institution full of charm and cumin lamb.
Outta Sight Pizza
One of the beauties of pizza in California are the lack of dogma and rigidity. There's a freedom to it. Don't get me wrong, that experimentation has its limitations and where it often falls flat to its say, its New York counterpart is simplicity and balance. Outta Sight finds the middle ground between East and West coast and goes beyond the two, producing some of the best pizzas. The Phoebe and Madonna in particular were profoundly refreshing and delicious.
Pacific Cocktail Haven
There are endless superlatives, publications, PR, awards that boldly annoint something to being the “world’s best” and that hubris will always be funny. How can one really make that claim when the world is so vast? There’s a world outside of social media and the press circuit that may fly under the radar.
Yet, every time I’ve gone to Pacific Cocktail I really do think this is one of the best bars in the world. It continues to be a benchmark on what good cocktails are. They've paradoxically gotten even better amidst nearly tripling their space and doubling the team.
WEBSITE | WALK-IN ONLY | INSTAGRAM
Papalote
If Papalote's burrito were a person ...
They would be that reliable, stable friend. The type where a week feels incomplete without seeing (their carne asada burrito) them. Their unique presence (special smoked tomato salsa) brightens the room and your life. You remember their humble beginnings (food truck), and seen them grow (multiple locations and packaged salsas) but they are still that same person (the burritos keep getting better).
They would be that reliable, stable friend. The type where a week feels incomplete without seeing (their carne asada burrito) them. Their unique presence (special smoked tomato salsa) brightens the room and your life. You remember their humble beginnings (food truck), and seen them grow (multiple locations and packaged salsas) but they are still that same person (the burritos keep getting better).
Rintaro
Integrity is a hard thing to come by in the restaurant business. One, because it can only be truly known once its been tested over a long period of time — a difficult task given one of three restaurants close within the first year, even fewer last eight. Second, it requires a honed perspective, a maturity and disclipine to stick to a vision. Which, on the surface Rintaro's concept is as common as it gets: Seasonal California produce meets Japanese izakaya? There are dozens of it in San Francisco alone, so how does it stand out? It's in the details. It is in the from-scratch tofu, udon noodles, umeshu, umeboshi, the usage of chicken foot "jelly" in the gyoza, miso in the tonkatsu sauce, a specific kind of pasture-raised chickens for yakitori — all culminating in food that feels like it's been perfected for 50+ years.
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE | RESERVATIONS | INSTAGRAM
Sam's Burger
There is a sentimental flavor with Sam's Burger that floored me when I first had it: It reminded me of a burger I've had when I was younger. The one I had at a friend's house after swimming, playing video games and having nothing to worry about in the world.
San Ho Won
I cannot think of a single restaurant that has unified and delighted traditionalist, modernist, industry experts, critics, and beginners more than San Ho Won. There's a distinct meticulousness, cleverness and thoughtfulness in every detail of their food. It rewards someone who knows a lot about Korean food, but is equally rewarding to those that aren't. Chef/Owner Corey Lee and Chef/Partner Jeong-In Hwang have created a truly innovative Korean restaurant and earned a lot of accolades, all of which are deserved.
Shawarmaji
Smuggler's Cove
I originally had a multi-paragraph caption detailing the storied focus, brilliance, and significance of Smuggler's Cove until I realized that you don't need to know any of that to enjoy their Daiquiris, or the Fog Cutter, or Monk’s Respite, or countless truly delicious rum-based cocktails.
Suppenküche
You can count the amount of regional German restaurants in San Francisco on one hand, but thankfully we have Suppenkuche, a place that has been my gateway to a culture I have zero exposure and context with. The fact that I, a maladjusted Korean-American designer and writer can enjoy this place as much as someone whose family comes from the same region of Germany is a testament to a focus on the right things.
The Morris
The Morris is already an institution and the only thing separating it from actually being one is time. And no doubt, it'll gracefully age like the wines in their massive cellar.
Paul Einbund's curation of wine and chartreuse are a thing of legend in the wine world and his passion for it all is infectious. Even if you aren't a wine-obsessed person, there many things about The Morris that are delightful: The chartreuse slushy, the smoked duck, charcuterie, the duck heart skewers to name a few.
Tommy's Mexican
If there is one persisting pattern on this list is I am drawn to places that seemingly hide it's expertise and dedication to a craft in a relaxed setting. Fewer places exemplifies this to the degree of the bar Tommy's Mexican Restaurant, the family owned and operated Yucatan cuisine restaurant in the Central Richmond. Julio Bermejo, the creator of the famous Tommy's Margarita is a renown expert of 100% agave tequilas and curator of one of the largest collections of tequilas in the country.
True Laurel
When it comes to cocktails done at the highest level, you’ll often find them at fine dining restaurants. Which is a bittersweet thing. While it allows for experimentation without worrying about unit cost or a dealing with drunk hooligans, it inherently alienates the majority.
Nicolas Torres, the mind behind what would eventually be True Laurel, was an example of this. Having been the Bar Director at Lazy Bear that chef/owner David Barzelay would eventually spin off onto its own bar. And the cocktail world was a better place because of it. True Laurel is a true innovator and its uncompromising approach to cocktails makes it one of the best bars in the Bay Area.
Ungrafted
When you think Master Sommelier or even sommelier in general, what do you see? What likely and unfortunately doesn't come to mind is the radiantly positive, goofy family man like Chris Gaither or the genuinely brilliant Rebecca Fineman.
And when it comes to wine itself, fewer things harbor ambivalence more than it. At times, it is a beautiful thing. Uniquely able to transport you to a time and place. A genuine craft that requires reverence for nature and the art of taking the long view. Then at times, often in the same evening, a feeling of bullshit. Pretentiousness. The blind leading the blind. Elitest trying to out bullshit other wealthy elitists with a product made by charlatans more concerned about peddling — you guessed it — bullshit. It turns out that is the reality not just in wine, but just about every craft. The point I am trying to make is Ungrafted created an experience that celebrates wine with none of the pretense. The knowledge of the team rivals and often exceeds most fine dining restaurants, yet you wouldn't think it passing it by in the Dogpatch neighborhood.
Vesuvio
I once met a couple at Vesuvio who had been regulars since the 60s. Yes, as in 1960s, that beatnik era of then affordable and distinctly hippie San Francisco. We talked how that era is such a farcry from the modern, tech company time we live in today. The unifying factor being a deep love for the beautifully vibrant, yet deeply-flawed city of San Francisco. A few martinis in, I asked despite the differences what makes San Francisco well, San Francisco? They both without missing a beat said "Places like this." Shortly after we were interrupted by a guy likely only weeks into his junior year in UCSF said, "Hell yea, I'll drink that."
Viridian
Every time I step (read: stumble) into Viridian, I feel like I am looking into the future. Not because of its idyllic, distinct neon-interior or its usage of phone ordering, but because it feels like a utopia where every facet of Asian culture are fully embraced.
That being said, such a vision isn't far away. A newer guard of restaurant and bar owners developing concepts tapping into their perspectives have emerged in the past five years. Their third-culture perspectives, their we've proven ourselves to the industry now it is time a place on our own terms perspective, and their perspective on nostaglia.
The result is a bar and restaurant that celebrates being Asian-American and it's incredible.
Yamo
What has made Yamo such an enduringly charming and beloved restaurants are two things: Price and purity. Yamo is not trying to win awards or seek validation. It’s a part of the Mission community serving affordable Burmese-Chinese food and nothing more.
Yokai
Usually a restaurant that tries to do everything doesn't succeed at anything. Yet Yokai directly contradicts that long-held thought.
It's a whiskey bar, carrying some of the hard-to-find Japanese allocations. It's a cocktail bar that caters to both craft cocktail enthusiasts or a casual drinker. It is a hi-fi listening room where they clearly didn't skimp on the equipment. It's both a casual and fine dining restaurant with menu spanning a burger, sharable charcoal grilled skewers to luxurious bone-in A5 wagyu and dry-aged meats worthy of a pricey steakhouse. I've seen coworkers come for happy hours, couples on first dates, out of town visiters and they've all seen me, the local degenerate. It is one of the rare, all-purpose restaurants that is good all across the board.
How do they do it? My hypothesis is the only thing that take seriously is flavor and experience aren't precious about everything else. That's my kinda place.
Zuni Cafe
Here we are at the end of the list and seems appropriate that Zuni is the last (alphabetically) and the last to reflect on. So much of Zuni Cafe is timeless, from its cooking to the bistro environment itself. The entire world can change around it, but dishes like the iconic wood fired chicken, the caesar salad, shoestring fries, and the rest of its thoughtful, seasonally-driven food will still bring a distinct warmth.
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