The Bay Area Restaurants We Loved This Month

In a world with so much hate for Hawaiian pizza…

… Flour + Water Pizzeria’s take on it was a pleasant surprise. My friend requested we swap out the capicola for pepperoni (which one of the cooks, who delivered the pie to us, thought was a brilliant idea), but I’d recommend you go even crazier and keep the capicola and add the pepperoni. Bonus: Chatting with the staff really made the whole experience that much more fun.

— CJ Babb, Director of Strategy at Rooam

Dining out when the seasons turn…

… is one of the great joys of living in the Bay Area. Being able to see the emergence of spring across San Francisco restaurant menus — first as a slow drip, then as a deluge — makes me happy to be in this place. In April, that meant beautiful sugar snap peas with stracciatella at the eternal glory that is Nopa; the Haliyoon flatbread at Reem’s California, topped with slices of tender asparagus, Akkawi cheese, sumac onion, and green shatta; and one of my regular haunts, Outerlands, where happiness is sitting outside for an early dinner with a vibrant spring farrotto studded with English peas, asparagus, fiddleheads, mint, goat feta, fennel pollen, and pink peppercorns. Happy spring indeed.

— Paolo Lucchesi, Resy Editorial Director

I’m happy to report…

… that the new happy hour menu at Shuggie’s did not disappoint; it was so much fun (think Papa D’s pizza rolls with some wine). We also ordered the asparagus tempura with an anchovy horseradish dipping sauce from the regular menu, plus the roast cabbage with kumquat and apple.

— Randi W., Bay Area Restaurant Success Manager

This is such a fun spot for lunch…

We had way more food they we could consume at Kin Khao but it was all just so delicious. We started with a Thai tea, which was perfectly sweet and exactly what we were craving. I’m still dreaming about the stir-fried bok choy, and the nam tok beans had a really good spice to them. But the absolute lunch must-order is the khao soi, which was incredible and perfect for sharing.

— Amanda Clark, Sr. Restaurant Partnerships Manager

Tucked away at the top floor of a hotel in SoMa…

… Kaiyō Rooftop made for a delightful evening in San Francisco. This place is a dive into Peru’s Nikkei cuisine and cocktails, and the standouts for us were the beef empanadas (for their flaky, buttery crust made from housemade dough) and the chicken katsu sando, for its lightly breaded katsu drizzled with an ají amarillo sauce on fluffy milk bread.

— Pua Tapia, Hospitality Team Lead at Tock

On a recent, beautiful day…

…. I just had to pop over to Mama — it’s walking distance from me, so I grabbed a table outside to enjoy some people-watching at dusk. We had the tasting menu and added all the extras because they all looked so good. Standouts were the potato leek crostata, the ricotta gnudi with pistachio pesto, the (incredible!) focaccia with tapenade and mascarpone, and the half chicken. Everything was to die for and I really recommend sitting outside when you can.

— Randi W., Bay Area Restaurant Success Manager

The tasting menu is always a great way…

… to get a range of items and seasonal variations at San Ho Won. The briny, sweet, texture-filled banchan are always a favorite, and during this visit, were refilled three (!) times. I love how after flavor- and heat-packed courses, the meal ends with soft serve — this visit’s buckwheat flavor was my favorite. The service was super attentive and hospitable, and I really love how consistent each visit is.

— Kimia Azimi, Implementation Manager

I was so excited to finally…

… get to try Sirene for dinner. It’s the newest project from The Morris folks (in the same space that used to be Sister), and I was so happy to see the beautiful space come back to life. We had the snap peas with tonnato, the tuna crudo, the lamb and uni dumpling, and the mussels with leeks, anchovy broth, and crusty levain. I can’t wait to come back to dine out on their stunning patio.

— Randi W., Bay Area Restaurant Success Manager

The team really goes the extra mile…

… to make sure your time at Kiln will be an incredible experience. From start to finish, every little detail was impeccable. As soon as you step into the space, it doesn’t feel like you’re in San Francisco anymore. The atmosphere is intimate and welcoming, and every single dish and wine pairing had a purpose and story — I loved that the chefs (including chef-owner John Wesley) would come out to explain the courses. Owner and general manager Julianna Yang even told us fascinating stories about the wine, its origin, and how it was made. You can absolutely tell they put a lot of heart and thought into the menu.

— Michelle Meng, Integration Manager

Don’t sleep on the cocktails…

… at Ernest: the Makrut Lime Fizz was so silky and bright. As for the food, the salmon crudo in a tom kha broth was perfection — the salmon just melted in your mouth and I wish I had a spoon to drink every last drop of the broth. And definitely get the maitake tempura, it worked as a perfectly rich dish to balance out the salmon.

— Amanda Clark, Sr. Restaurant Partnerships Manager

Now that it’s getting warmer outside…

… the only place I want to be is the Soba Ichi courtyard. I always go for the agedashi tofu, some tamagoyaki, and the ebi ten soba (hot soba with tempura shrimps on the side with matcha salt). We also opted for a special fried chicken that was just added to the menu.

— Randi W., Bay Area Restaurant Success Manager

More Bay Area staff picks, right this way.