For anyone prepared to ask us, “Where should I eat tonight?” here’s our answer: the Hot List, our opinionated guide to the top restaurants and bars in San Francisco right now. Some of the picks are new and noteworthy; others are rediscovered favorites. All are worth your while, whether for a bowl of comforting stew or a plate of com tam, the iconic Vietnamese street food. We’ll update the list at the top of every month.
For more restaurant recommendations, check out our series Eat Here Now.
Looking for a steal? Try the $25 Diner.
And if you’re ready to raise a glass, let Swig City be your guide.
Ilna
Eastern European cuisine from a restaurant vet
Hospitality and wine pro Maz Naba spent two decades working in some of San Francisco’s top restaurants. But his California-Lebanese pop-up Ilna brings his culinary chops into the spotlight for the first time. Find him at Buddy, a bar in the Mission, on Sunday nights, dusting kampachi with sumac furikake and stuffing roasted squash with Dungeness crab fried rice. He bakes his own bread and cures his own prosciutto, which gets infused with Eastern European flavors, including cardamom and clove. Pop-ups can be a gamble, but Ilna is a safe bet.
- Website
- Ilna
Rampant Wine Co.
The Outer Richmond’s buzzy wine bar
If you haven’t heard, the Outer Richmond is the place to be. Well, at least if you’re at Rampant, which opened in the fall. The friendly and fun wine bar and bottle shop offers 16 thoughtfully curated by-the-glass selections of natural wines, as well as snacks like charcuterie, tinned fish, and hummus with pita. Follow the bar on Instagram for pop-ups and special evenings with visiting winemakers. With patrons sporting dad caps and mustaches, it could be in Bushwick, but it’s on Balboa Street, and owners Charlie O’Leary and Jack Pain, who live in the hood, fit right in themselves.
- Website
- Rampant Wine Co.
Seal Rock Inn Restaurant
A simple breakfast with an amazing view
Alfred Schilling was once the “chocolate king” of San Francisco. Now, after a brief retirement, he’s back in action as the chef at the Seal Rock Inn Restaurant. Perched above the Pacific at Land’s End, Seal Rock serves simple breakfast and lunch menus with a Gallic twist, including custardy French toast, hearty mushroom tartines, and housemade sausage patties studded with coriander. The entire menu is affordable, but the views of the cypress trees and blue-grey ocean beyond are priceless.
- Website
- Seal Rock Inn Restaurant
Morella
A fresh take on fusion cuisine
Argentine and Italian might not seem like an obvious combo, but the Marina restaurant Morella knows its roots. From the late 1800s through the 1930s, millions of Italians immigrated to Argentina, resulting in mash-up dishes like sorrentinos. Chef Jesus Dominguez adds Dungeness crab to the stuffed pasta dish, for an unexpected local twist to what is already a multinational affair. This type of fusion is a new flavor for San Francisco and one that is well worth exploring.
- Address
- 2001 Chestnut St., Marina
- Website
- Morella
Baklavastory
The best baklava this side of Turkey
Sometimes you just stumble upon something special. Such is the case with this baklava-only bakery on the cusp of the Mission. Owner Tolgay Karabulut, who was born in Turkey, does everything to the max: returning to his home country to harvest young pistachios (the only other flavor he sells is walnut), making butter from sheep’s milk provided by his uncle’s dairy, sheeting the phyllo in-house. The result is baklava that’s light and crisp and tastes like the love that goes into it.
- Address
- 1830 Harrison St., Mission
- Website
- Baklavastory
Bee’s Vietnamese Street Food
Comforting plates of broken rice
Husband-and-wife owners Scott Satoru Kimura and Truong Anh Thu Do dreamed for years of having a restaurant before opening Bee’s in October. It specializes in com tam, or Vietnamese broken rice, a humble dish of grilled chicken or pork served with fluffy broken rice grains. Bee’s enormous plates come with sliced cucumber and tomato; dochua, a salad of pickled carrots and daikon; cha trung, an omelet studded with rice noodles, wood ear mushrooms, and carrots; and a bowl of steaming vegetable broth. It’s a filling meal for one or a great entree to share after an appetizer of sweet and spicy chicken wings.
- Address
- 3232 16th St., Mission
- Website
- Bee's Vietnamese Kitchen
Yemeni Kebab & Mediterranean
A bubbling hot spot for dinner before a show
The first point of sale at this new Yemeni restaurant should be the lamb saltah ($18), a comforting, delicious stew that arrives bubbling hot and topped with a bitter fenugreek foam. The dish is a part of Yemen’s culinary soul and requires scooping with an order of house-made flatbread pulled from the clay oven. Also try the Yemeni kebab, made from ground beef and lamb aromatic with cumin. Located across from The Warfield, this spot makes for the perfect combo of a show and a cheap and cheerful dinner.
- Address
- 39 Taylor St., Tenderloin
- Website
- Yemeni Kebab & Mediterranean
Hamburger Project
An uber-decadent smashburger
Just before Thanksgiving, the team behind Ju-ni and the Handroll Project debuted their latest venture: Hamburger Project, a no-fuss spot for smashburgers, shakes, and fries. The menu offers three burgers, each featuring smashed 2-ounce patties made with a mix of 75% lean and 25% fat ground beef. The classic comes with a slice of melted American cheese, pickle chips, diced white onions, and a schmear of homemade sauce. But the don’t-miss offering is the decadent Wisconsin-style butter burger, starring a stack of beef and cheese crowned with a generous tablespoon of whipped butter.
- Website
- Hamburger Project
Grand Opening
Where a mythical scroll is made of coconut
Absence makes the pastries all the sweeter at chef Melissa Chou’s weekend-only pop-up at Mister Jiu’s. Those in the know arrive for refined delights like deeply caramelized pineapple cakes, burned honey pie, black sesame almond tea cake, Parisian egg tarts, and, yes, a perfect coconut scroll made with laminated milk dough and a smattering of sesame seeds. Clear your weekend plans now.
- Address
- 28 Waverly Place, Chinatown
- Website
- Grand Opening
Saison
An incredible deal on a Michelin-worthy dinner
The full dinner at two-Michelin-starred Saison is an undeniable splurge; the tasting menu starts at $328 before tax, tip, and beverages. But Tuesday through Thursday nights, you can nab a seat at the restaurant’s intimate bar for one of the best fine-dining bargains in town: a fleet of canapes, a stunning bread service, and two courses of dessert for $78. Alone, it’s a light meal, but there’s the option to add courses, including Saison’s signature uni toast or wagyu beef. As for the warm and attentive service? That’s included with any menu.
- Address
- 178 Townsend St., SoMa
- Website
- Saison
Verjus
A glass of wine in SF’s chicest neighborhood
Big butter energy is at the core of this gorgeous French wine bar and restaurant, opened in 2019 by Lindsay and Michael Tusk of Quince and Cotogna. After a pandemic-influenced hiatus, Verjus reopened in November and is back as the epicenter of the chic Jackson Square hood. The wines are mostly French (and natural, though not “screaming” it), the food is the same (mussels escabeche, oeufs mayonnaise with a bit of mentaiko, classic, rustic fish soup), and the towers of butter in the pass-through are decadent. Walk-ins get the best seats in the house, facing the beautiful open kitchen.
- Website
- Verjus