The five best $25 deals for Restaurant Week

The city is expensive, but your next meal doesn’t have to be. The $25 Diner hunts down the best restaurants where you can eat like royalty for a song.

If there was ever a week to lean into being a $25 diner, it’s this one. On Friday, Nov. 8, restaurants all over the city will roll out dozens of deals in honor of SF Restaurant Week, the biannual event organized by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

The event will run for 10 days, during which restaurants offer prix fixe lunch, brunch, and dinner menus at set-price tiers. Dinner menus range from $30 to $90 — but since this is the $25 Diner, we’re zeroing in on the best deals that will set you back exactly that. 

Considering that a whole pie typically sets you back about $23, the $25 lunch deal at Flour + Water Pizzeria could almost be considered a math error. Your meal includes a choice of a Caesar or chopped salad, a 13-inch pizza, and a bowl of soft serve for dessert. Diners can choose between three pizza options: Margherita, pesto, or cacio e pepe, the last being one of the restaurant’s specialties. It’s made with a five-cheese blend that includes mozzarella, fontina, fior di latte, Parmigiano Reggiano, and pecorino, plus a generous dusting of fresh cracked Tellicherry peppercorns. 

Wildseed, the veggie haven from restaurateur Adriano Paganini, is offering a two-course lunch that includes a choice of either gochugaru-spiced cucumbers or roasted red pepper hummus with raw veggies followed by one of two entrees. The Reset Salad tosses kale and frisée with squash, pickled cranberries, spiced pecans, and vegan coconut feta, all in a turmeric and balsamic vinaigrette. 

Pancakes and coffee might not seem like classic Restaurant Week fare, but then Early to Rise is no ordinary breakfast spot. Chef Andrew McCormack’s sun-soaked morning oasis makes everything in-house, from the English muffins to the Canadian bacon.. The restaurant’s two-course breakfast and brunch menu includes a hot-from-the-fryer sugar doughnut and a cup of java, plus a choice between eggs benedict or strawberry pancakes.

Roaming Goat is best known for its one-of-a-kind selection of wines from Armenia and Georgia, but the buzzy Union Street spot is also a destination for solid Mediterranean cuisine. During Restaurant Week, the bar and restaurant is offering a $25 three-course lunch that includes a trio of dips, a choice of sandwich or wrap, and either blood orange sorbet or pistachio ice cream. Entree choices range from a kufte meatball sandwich to a falafel wrap made with black lime tahini, garlic toum, fresh herbs, and tomato.

San Francisco’s popular neighborhood Italian spot, Fiorella, is offering a brunch deal at its restaurants in Noe Valley and the Inner Sunset. Personally, we love the Sunset location for its covered patio. There, you can have a two-course menu that starts with one of three appetizers: arancini al Parmigiano, a ricotta tartine topped with marmalade and pistachios, or the well-loved OG Baby Lettuces Salad. Next up, choose from either a carbonara or seasonal pizza, a croque madame, or baked pasta with lumache.