The Northern California Food Guide: San Francisco, the Bay Area and Beyond
- The Anonymous Hungry Hippopotamus
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Northern California feeds you differently from the rest of the country. The produce comes from the Central Valley, the seafood from the Pacific, the wine from Napa and Sonoma, and the cultural influences from every wave of immigration that has shaped the Bay Area over 175 years.
The result is a food scene that is simultaneously more casual and more serious than its reputation suggests — Michelin-starred restaurants coexisting with taco trucks, dim sum palaces operating alongside ramen counters, and the conviction, shared across all of it, that the ingredient is the point.
This guide collects everything I have written about eating in Northern California, organized so you can find what you are looking for regardless of whether you are planning a special occasion or a Tuesday lunch.
The Greatest Hits: Michelin-Recognized and World-Class
Nearly thirty years in Napa Valley and still the most consistently excellent French bistro in Northern California. The escargot is my benchmark. The duck confit shatters beneath the fork. The truffle frites are worth the drive from anywhere in the Bay Area.
One of fewer than one hundred VPN-certified Neapolitan pizzerias in the United States. A wine list devoted entirely to Italy. A chocolate budino tart I have ordered on every visit for two decades. The restaurant most likely to make you book a flight to Campania.
Bon Appétit named it America's Best New Bakery. The line down Arguello Boulevard most mornings confirms the verdict. The kouign amann alone justifies the trip.
Wood-fired lamb chops. Avgolemono on a cold evening. A fireplace that turns the dining room into one of San Francisco's warmest spaces. Open since 2000 and better than ever.
San Francisco's most celebrated Thai restaurant, earning Michelin recognition for cooking that draws on regional Thai traditions rarely seen in American restaurants. One of the most debated restaurant experiences I have had in the city — the full review is here.
Chef Peter Hemsley's underwater-themed tasting menu explores every corner of the ocean across thirteen courses. The seaweed gin martini with caviar-stuffed olive. The oyster ice cream that converts skeptics. One of San Francisco's most inventive dining experiences.
Pasta and Italian
Where to find pasta that honors its origins: La Ciccia in Noe Valley for Sardinian seafood pasta, Che Fico in the Western Addition for Michelin-recognized Italian with neighborhood warmth, and Ristorante Amoroma for Roman cooking made by people who grew up eating it.
Hand-made pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and spit-roasted meats in San Francisco's historic Jackson Square. The menu changes daily based on what is farm-fresh, and the carbonara pizza is so good I took the leftovers home and ate them for breakfast.
Pizza
State Flour Pizza Company in Berkeley for the wood-fired neighborhood pizzeria that earns its devoted following, Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles for Nancy Silverton's Neapolitan mastery, and Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana in Irvine for the Amalfi Coast on the California coast.
Tacos
La Taqueria in the Mission for the carne asada taco that has been making people happy since 1973. Tacos Oscar in Oakland for the creative, ever-changing menu in a shipping container courtyard. Los Carnalitos in Hayward for Michelin Bib Gourmand Mexico City flavors. Three others equally worth your time.
Barbecue
Horn BBQ in West Oakland for the brisket that the New York Times, Food and Wine, and Michelin all noticed. Gyu-Kaku for Japanese tabletop grilling. Ohgane for Korean galbi. Bounty Hunter in Napa for wine-country ribs with three house-made sauces.
Dim Sum
Three restaurants that together cover the full range of San Francisco's dim sum scene — from the Financial District sophistication of Harborview to the Hayes Valley neighborhood warmth of Dumpling Home to the cart-style Cantonese tradition that Yank Sing has been maintaining since the 1960s. The xiao long bao eating technique guide alone is worth the click.
When you want dumplings without the banquet hall: Oakland Chinatown's Ming's Tasty for generous classic dim sum, Dumpling Hours in Walnut Creek for creative riffs, and Tao Yuen for the steamed pork bun that arrives in a plastic bag and costs $1.04.
Seafood
Aphotic for the full tasting menu (listed above under Greatest Hits). For the more casual end of the NorCal seafood spectrum, this post covers the oyster bars, fish counters, and waterfront spots where the Pacific arrives fresh each morning.
Thai
Where to find Thai cooking beyond the familiar green curry and pad thai — exploring Northern Thai cuisine at Bird and Buffalo in Oakland, Chiang Rai in Long Beach, Thai Avenue in Garden Grove, and the legendary Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas, where Gourmet magazine once declared the best Thai food in North America.
Best California Restaurants: A Personal List
A milestone post covering five California restaurants that represent everything this blog is about — from Paradisaea's Michelin-recognized contemporary cuisine in San Diego to The Progress's wood-smoked Liberty Farms duck in San Francisco, with a LeBron James sighting in between.
Best Lunch Spots
The case for treating lunch as seriously as dinner, made through HiroNori's shoyu ramen in Irvine, Cotogna's wood-fired carbonara pizza in San Francisco, and Oscar's Mexican Seafood in San Diego.
Seasonal and Celebratory
Where to celebrate Lunar New Year — or simply eat exceptional Chinese food any time of year — from Hong Kong East Ocean in Emeryville to Meizhou Dongpo's Sichuan precision in Los Angeles to China Moon in Orange County.
Northern California's food scene rewards the curious eater. The Michelin-starred restaurants and the $1.04 plastic-bag pork buns exist in the same geography and share the same fundamental conviction: that great ingredients, treated correctly, are worth paying attention to. Everything above reflects that conviction in one way or another.
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