The Resy Hit List: Where In San Francisco You’ll Want to Eat Right Now
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There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
Consider it your essential resource for dining in San Francisco and the Bay Area: a monthly-updated guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In the Bay Area Not to Miss This Month
- Pizza Party: Resy is gearing up to celebrate pizza all around the country this month, and the Bay Area has no shortage of pies to try. Among our S.F. favorites the crisp, creative concoctions at Flour + Water Pizzeria in North Beach (the Flour + Water team also has two counter-service shops in the city, along with a new one in Oakland), Roman-style pinsas at Pinsa Rossa in Pacific Heights, Neapolitan gems at Napizza and Norcina in the Marina, outré toppings (think wild nettles or Yukon gold potatoes) at Gialina in Glen Park, and wood-fired crowd pleasers at DamnFine in the Outer Sunset. The East Bay doesn’t lag behind, with Berkeley sporting Pizzeria da Laura, Lucia’s (which can make any pie gluten-free), and the nationally hyped Rose Pizzeria. And if you find yourself in need of a pie to soak up the wine after a day in Napa, don’t sleep on St. Helena’s Ciccio, operating under the aegis of chef Christopher Kostow.
- Play Ball: The Giants played their season opener late last month, and while we’re extremely bummed to say that the Giants are (once again) probably not catching the Dodgers this summer, a ballgame at Oracle Park is still one of the best nights out in town. If you want an upgrade from ballpark grub, make a reservation for a pregame meal walking distance from Willie Mays Plaza. Cavaña, the rooftop bar at the Luma Hotel, offers pan-Latin cuisine and cocktails (try the Elote 19, a blend of Tequila, roasted corn, and pasilla chile liqueur), along with views across Mission Bay. Mere steps from the ballpark, Mestiza serves up lumpia, adobo, and other Filipino staples, and even does kamayan-style feasts. Kaiyo dishes up Peruvian cuisine, from Nikkei tiraditos to lomo saltado and bone-in churrasco rib-eye. (You’ll also find Kaiyo Rooftop Bar 12 stories up, in the Hyatt Place hotel.) Merkado does high-end Mexican, including ceviche, aguachile, and duck carnitas enchiladas, along with taco Tuesday specials.
- Bring on Brunch: We’ve made it through the year’s first heat wave, but that temperature spike — along with Easter this month and Mother’s Day in May — has us making brunch plans. In the city, Brenda’s French Soul Food is the go-to for crawfish beignets, biscuits and gravy, gumbo, and grits. Headed for a morning walk though the Presidio or Crissy Field? Top off the outing with chilaquiles or huevos rancheros at Colibri. A hike up Bernal Heights Park and back calls for refueling with mochi waffles and loco moco at The Rabbit Hole. Visiting SFMoMA or Coit Tower? Dip into Sisterita for a signature shrimp-studded Alcatraz Escape omelet. In Marin County, enjoy water views, oysters, and pancakes at Malibu Farm, while Mill Valley has Mexican brunch at Playa and Mamita. If you’re doing a Wine Country outing on Easter, be sure to reserve in advance for brunch at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc. And while Outerlands only accepts reservations for dinner, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fried mortadella sandwich — one of San Francisco’s best brunch treats.
- Sakura Season: Travelers know that early spring is cherry blossom season in Japan, but you don’t need to book a flight to Tokyo to see the sakura — or to enjoy Japanese cuisine. This year’s edition of the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival takes place April 11-12 and 18-19 in San Francisco’s Japantown, and the options for Japanese food are legion all year-round. For izakaya-style dining (expertly crafted small plates in a pub environment), try Izakaya Rintaro in the Mission and Iyasare and Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya in Berkeley. Noodle lovers need look no further than Rockridge’s Ramen Shop, while Yonsei Handrolls introduces diners to the fine art of temaki at its locations in Oakland and Albany. Of course, there’s sushi: Utzutzu, Chīsai Sushi Club, Kuma Sushi + Sake, and Kuma on Valencia in the city; Sakura Bistro, Itani Sushi, and Sushi Salon in the East Bay; and Kuro Nami Japanese Kitchen in San Anselmo. Finally, for fish-flipping fun near the festival, don’t forget the Japantown location of Benihana.
New to the Hit List (April 2026)
Besharam, JouJou, Loveski Jackson Square, Piccino Presidio, Restaurant Naides, Snail Bar.
1. Mister Jiu's Chinatown
Chinese fine-dining has exploded in the city, with the acclaimed openings of Four Kings, Happy Crane, and Fù Huì Huá, but Brandon Jew paved the way when he opened his groundbreaking restaurant in a historic Chinatown banquet hall 10 years ago. Mister Jiu’s has seen shifts over the last decade — notably, going from la carte dining to a tasting menu-only model before reinstating a la carte last year. Perhaps the best way to experience the cuisine is to book the Peking Style Duck Banquet meal, centered around a Liberty Farm duck roasted whole and served with savory pancakes, peanut butter hoisin, and duck liver mousse. In recognizing Jew’s 10 years of trailblazing, The New York Times recently concluded much the same.
Bonus: On April 11, Mister Jiu’s is hosting the second of its star-studded 10th anniversary dinners.
2. Azalina's Tenderloin
Chef Azalina Eusope started small, cooking at a farmers market stall and a kiosk in the old Twitter building, but the flavors in her Malaysian cuisine have always been large. That remains true at the eponymous brick-and-mortar restaurant she has run in the Tenderloins since 2023. She serves a five-course tasting menu of high-minded takes on street food classics from the various ethnic populations of Malaysia. Dishes rotate monthly, but January’s menu featured sothi, an Indian chicken dumpling; tan hor, a take on Maylaysian-Chinese rice noodles with gravy that uses smoked egg, fermented tofu, and black garlic; and otak otak, a Pernakan-style fish cake with petrale sole, candle nut, and pineapple. At $89, the price is exceedingly reasonable for a prix-fixe meal — and that’s before you compare it to plane fare to Kuala Lumpur.
3. Carabao Napa
Last June, French Laundry alums Jade and Mathew Cunningham opened Carabao, focused on the cuisine of Jade’s native Philippines and named for the country’s national animal, the water buffalo. The storefront is in a big, unattractive strip mall, but the interior is bright and lively, and the food even more so: Sisig tacos are topped with crispy pork and a runny quail egg; barbecued pork skewers are perfectly charred and garnished with a banh mi–esque blend of carrot, onion, and cilantro; a winter lugaw ginger rice porridge is finished with shaved black truffle. The must-order entrée is the crispy kare kare, a baseball-sized croquette filled with oxtail, floating in a coconut-peanut sauce with tripe.
4. Bar Panisse Berkeley
This highly-anticipated bar opening came in mid-December, taking over the former César space, next to Alice Waters’ California cuisine mothership, Chez Panisse. The cocktail list leans classic — sazeracs, martinis, gimlets — with three local beers on tap and a selection of about a dozen wines, all available by the glass, that leans toward lighter styles from France and Italy. Of course, you want to know about the food: buttery flatbread with a dipping sauce of herb oil and Calabrian chile, a Seven Moons Farm chicory salad with dates and fried sage, shell-on Gulf shrimp with salsa verde and aioli, roasted Fogline Farm chicken with chanterelle stuffing. If you think that sounds like a bar-bite-size approximation of Café Chez Panisse, you’d be right.
Walk-ins only. Find more info here.
5. Snail Bar Temescal District
Snail Bar has been a hit pretty much from the day it opened in 2021, drawing big crowds for its fun French-y cooking, natural wines, and cozy vibe. The restaurant underwent a big sea change this January, however, when chef Andres Giraldo Florez announced he was pulling up stakes for the South of France. Successor Zachary Breaux of Left on Madeline, who grew up in Louisiana and Texas, has added a bit of a Creole inflection to his early menus, with dishes such as avocado tostadas with Maggi crema and salsa macha, fried quail with chili crisp, and steak tartare with pork cracklins and blackening spice. But regulars need not fear: staples such as the ham and cheese sandwich and the cashew-miso-butter snails remain.
6. mijoté Mission District
Mijoté is French for “simmered,” greatness clearly has been percolating at Kosuke Tada’s Mission District bistro. Since its 2022 opening, the French-trained Osaka native has channeled gastronomic hipness of Paris’s 11th arrondissement to San Francisco. Tada emphasizes both French technique and hyper-locality of ingredients, meaning his $84, four-course dinner menu changes frequently, but on a given night you’ll typically start with an amuse bouche and a crudo, followed by grilled seafood (often octopus), and a meat dish, each accented with farm-fresh produce. As with any Parisian neobistro, the beverage of choice is natural-tilting wines, with a list largely drawn from France and California. And naturally, Tada received a 2026 James Beard nomination for Best Chef: California.
7. Collina Nob Hill
The team at Seven Hills may have moved that acclaimed Nob Hill Italian restaurant a few blocks away in 2019, but they must have known the original space was still a gem — who could argue, watching the Hyde Street cable car roll by through the fog? So in late 2023 they opened this cozy, pasta-focused spot in the space. Collina is still going strong today, thanks to a date-night-worthy vibe and the cooking of executive chef Anthony Florian and chef de cuisine Dennis Diaz. Must-orders include show-stopping lasagnette and an epic raviolo al uovo, but don’t sleep on shiitake mushroom arancini, broccolini with chili-shallot crunchies, and the chicken al mattone, crisped under a brick and served with creamed kale. Regular visits are a smart idea.
8. Loveski Jackson Square Jackson Square
Christopher and Martina Kostow have expanded their culinary empire once more. The team behind The Charter Oak and Ciccio (and, before the 2020 Glass Fire, the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood), opened their first Loveski, a “Jew-ish deli,” in Napa’s Oxbow Market in 2022, before expanding to a second location in Larkspur and, this March, a third spot in the shadow of the Transamerica Building. Loveski’s Montreal-style bagels are boiled with honey for a sweeter crust. They’re available with smoked salmon and a variety of other shmears, as well as part of a pastrami, egg, and cheese sandwich. Loveski also sells smoothies, salads, egg-salad sandwiches on Japanese-style milk bread, and, yes, matzo ball soup.
Walk-ins only. Find more info here.
9. Valley Bar & Bottle Sonoma
This Sonoma Plaza hit is a store (and more) for all seasons. Shoppers can pick up a bottle of olive oil or natural wine, a bar of artisan soap, a tote bag, or a picnic blanket, while diners enjoy Bib Gourmand-level cooking throughout the day. Weekend brunch options range from chilaquiles to crispy rice with Dungeness crab and avocado; lunch brings mezze plates, rajas quesadillas, and sandwiches stacked with enough mortadella to sate Tony Soprano. Dinner is where Emma Lipp and Stephanie Reagor, who shared a 2026 James Beard nomination, really flex. One night your main course might be a classic trout with asparagus and gribiche; another, a Chinese-influenced Meyer lemon chicken cutlet, or a Oaxacan mole.
Book now on Tock.
10. Shuggie's Mission
Shuggie’s had already established itself as San Francisco’s most environmentally conscious restaurant, thanks to Kayla Abe and David Murphy’s dedication to using food waste — bruised or blemished fruits and vegetables, off-cut meats — at their brightly colored, always-a-party Mission District restaurant. They recently dropped pizza, once their signature menu item, in part because the “Trash Pies” didn’t use as many upcycled ingredients as most of their other dishes. But the remaining dishes are as tasty and creative as ever, with highlights such as a take on steak frites made with beef cheeks and filet mignon trimmings and a peanut butter mousse bon bon assembled tableside, delivered in a space that remains a blast of Technicolor fun. Pro tip: If you really want pizza, Shuggie’s still slings Trash Pies on Sundays.
11. JouJou Jeddah
It feels as if we waited forever for the opening of JouJou, the latest restaurant from Lazy Bear and True Laurel owner David Barzelay, but the French seafooder finally landed in the Design District in early March. Our patience has been rewarded with variety. Want to go big? Look to headliners such as a $125 caviar crêpe and a $71 filet mignon aux poivre. On the other hand, everything on the menu is served a la carte, so you don’t have to sign up for a 15-course marathon. And the bar opens at 4 p.m. allowing walk-ins to snag drinks, bites from the raw bar, and pommes frites. No matter which you choose, you’ll find yourself in one of San Francisco’s snazziest spots, a 6,500-square-foot-space swathed in marble, gold accents, and glass.
Book now on Tock.
12. The Morris The Mission
When Paul Einbund got a 2026 James Beard nomination for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, perhaps the only surprise was that it didn’t mention both of his restaurants (the other is Lake Merritt sister restaurant Sirene). The 10-year-old original Mission District spot, named for Einbund’s father, remains a favorite both for the drinks and chef Gavin Schmidt’s menu, which roils with charcuterie, playful snacks like skewered duck hearts and mushroom profiteroles, the show-stopping smoked duck (available as both a half and whole bird) and creative desserts like buckwheat donuts with whiskey anglaise. From the outside, The Morris may look like a neighborhood hole-in-the-wall, but few Bay Area restaurants make a better setting for a celebratory dinner.
13. Besharam Dogpatch
As we’ve observed before, Besharam is a San Francisco restaurant like no other. Located at the Minnesota Street Projects arts center in Dogpatch, it’s chef-owner Heena Patel’s paean to the cuisine of Gujarat, an Indian state just north of Mumbai. The menu is fully vegetarian, taking full advantage of fresh California produce, and the flavors are stunningly bold — not a surprise for a restaurant that takes its name from the Gujarati word for “shameless.” For a proper overview, opt for Patel’s $85 seasonal tasting menu, which presently includes three courses: savory bites such as cacio e pepe dhokli and brussels sprouts and onion pakoras; entrées such as vegetable biryani and palak paneer; and desserts including a Shrikhand cheesecake. Bring a group, and tell everyone to come hungry.
14. Prik Hom Jordan Park
At a humble space in quiet Laurel Heights, chef Jim Suwanpanya and his sister Tanya serve a menu inspired by the former’s experiences in fine-dining kitchens in both San Francisco (Lazy Bear) and Bangkok (Bo.lan). The menu changes seasonally, but diners can expect bright flavors (zingy lemongrass in a seared scallop appetizer, a pungent melange of spices in a dry, coconut milk-free curry) and inventive presentations (curry beef wrapped in chard and grilled) that draw from Thailand’s various regional styles. No meal is complete without the signature dessert, coconut ice cream smoked with imported Thai incense candles.
15. Big Finish Wine Tavern Mission
For nearly two decades, the storefront at the corner of 16th and Albion was a temple to craft beer. So while Big Finish may focus on grape juice instead of malted barley, the vibe remains playful — the decor includes “Star Trek”-themed bathroom wallpaper — while being serious about its subject. Owner Adam Manson keeps nearly 50 wines on tap, ranging from Georgian rkatsateli and Australian riesling to Croatian plavac mali and Mexican marselan. This wide range means there’s something to pair with any food order, be it snacks such as smoked trout dip and “Buffalonian-approved wings” or bigger plates like braised pork shoulder pappardelle, beet risotto, or halibut in tom kha sauce. Pro tip: Reservations are for primarily for dining; drinks-only reservations are charged an additional fee.
16. Sons & Daughters The Mission
The accolades keep pouring in for Sons & Daughters, so it’s a good thing the place is a bit roomier these days, having moved last fall from its old Nob Hill spot to a larger Mission District space. The intensity that goes into preparing the dishes is dizzying: Mount Lassen trout is cold-smoked over Douglas fir, poached, brushed with pine cone syrup and Meyer lemon zest, and served atop a cream of rose geranium, elderflower, and chervil; an ice cream is made from grilled apples and plated atop an acorn-flour cake with spruce-needle cream and reduced Granny Smith apple juice. With 24 such courses coming, a meal here will set you back $315 – but it remains a nonpareil option for that truly special meal. (And don’t miss the wine pairings.)
Book now on Tock.
17. Troubadour Bread & Bistro Healdsburg
This tiny café just off Healdsburg Plaza is truly an all-day, all-appetites place. Husband-and-wife owners Sean and Melissa McGaughey worked at nearby SingleThread before opening their own bakery, Quail & Condor, in 2018, and they keep the bread theme going through the day, serving 51-hour-fermented sourdough and hefty sandwiches: classic jambon au beurre, meaty chicken salad with Duke’s Mayo, muffalettas, egg salad on Friday challah. At night, the boulangerie transforms into a bistro the owners call Le Dîner, serving eight- and 11-course set menus (the latter a $295 meal enjoyed at a chef’s table in a private room with a record player) that have earned Michelin-level recognition. It’s just elegant and French enough, but with a grounding dose of NorCal breeziness.
18. Restaurant Naides Nob Hill
The latest entry to the Bay’s growing Filipino fine-dining list, Naides opened in the former Sons & Daughters space on Bush Street to much acclaim. Chef Patrick Gabon, a native of the Philippines who worked at Sons & Daughters and at Slovenia’s two-Michelin-starred Milka, offers a tasting menu that zips around the classics of Filipino cuisine, albeit with serious technical and presentational shine. Lumpia here is a canapé of banana miso, pickled jackfruit, and nashi pear; sinigang, typically a savory and sour soup, is served as dainty slices of abalone with a tableside pour-over of dry-aged beef broth. Beverage director Celine Wuu, formerly of Benu, takes equal care with the drink menu, offering both wine pairings and inventive nonalcoholic options, like fermented kiwi juice with galangal-infused celery.
Book now on Tock.
19. Vicinity Los Gatos
Last month, the team behind Los Gatos’ Tasting House launched an exclusive new speakeasy-style space. The 16-seat Vicinity, accessed via a side door in Tasting House, offers a 13-course tasting menu from chef Julian Silvera, focused mostly on expressions of California’s landscapes and the ingredients they produce. The Half Moon Bay plate, for instance, features purple uni with avocado bergamot puree and “sand” made of crushed ice cream cones, served in an urchin shell set amid an array oyster shells. A similar level of artistry is applied to the space, with details such as two 18th-century French army swords crossed on the wall above the fireplace (Tasting House, being a Champagne paradise, is known for its sabrage program) and custom hand-thrown-ceramic tableware.
Book now on Tock.
20. Piccino Presidio San Francisco
The Presidio is thriving as a dining destination, with the auspicious openings of Dalida, Colibri, and, last year, the second location of the beloved Dogpatch Italian restaurant Piccino. The Presidio outpost fits into its flashy location in the Letterman Digital Arts Center, thanks to expansive picture windows, lots of floral accents, modern design, and a generous patio for sunny days. The food, though, hews closely to the fresh, seasonal Cal-Ital cuisine that made Margherita Sagan and Sheryl Rogat’s original restaurant so popular. Salads are a highlight, drawing produce from Piccino’s own farm in Healdsburg, and the shaved fennel with endive, feta, and saffron vinaigrette is a must-order. The rotating pizzas are also well-executed, especially any pie that comes with a garlic crema white sauce.
