Four Things In the Bay Area Not to Miss This Month
- Rock Out for Outside Lands: The Bay Area’s biggest summer music festival, Outside Lands, comes to Golden Gate Park Aug. 7-9. Attendees who are looking for a place to eat out in the Avenues can hit Outerlands for brunch, DamnFine for pizza, IPOT for hot pot, Cantina Los Mayas for Mexican, Violet’s for burgers, Pearl 6101 for bistro food, and Harajuku Sushi for Japanese. If you didn’t get tickets, console yourself with a meal at one of the restaurants working the festival — Azalina’s, Brenda’s French Soul Food, Kaiyo Restaurant, Sorrel — or a tasting at one of the wineries pouring there, such as Aperture, Auteur, Clos du Val, Cobb, Copain, Kosta Browne, Roederer, or Turley.
- Mabuhay, Bay Area: The 33rd annual Pistahan Parade & Festival, the largest Filipino procession on the West Coast, takes place Aug. 8-9 at Yerba Buena Gardens. Keep the party going with a visit to one of the Bay Area’s fantastic modern Filipino restaurants. In the city, try newly Michelin-starred Naides, with creative dishes like sinigang with abalone, or Mestiza, with its pork adobo and tofu sisig bowls. Just south of the city, in Brisbane, check out the historic 7 Mile House, a sports bar serving Filipino-influenced pub grub, while up in Napa Carabao makes classic dishes with attention to detail befitting chef Jade Cunningham’s French Laundry pedigree.
- Celebrate Indian Independence: Not that we ever need an excuse to eat Indian food, but Aug. 15 is India Independence Day. The Bay is home to a variety of restaurants where you can celebrate. For vegetarian Gujarati cuisine, chef Heena Patel’s acclaimed Besharam in San Francisco is a must. (Read more about it here). The options increase as you drive south: Favorite Indian Restaurant in Hayward does Punjabi and North Indian cuisine; at its locations in Santa Clara and Fremont, Garam Mirchi offers Rajasthani pakoras and daal, as well as momos; Varam in Redwood City has halal curries, dosas, and biryani; and Thecha in Sunnyvale plucks from several regional cusines, in addition to serving Indo-Chinese fusion dishes.
- Eat Like an East Coaster: Want to dine at some of the best restaurants on the East Coast without booking a flight? This month, you’ll have that opportunity thanks to a few exciting guest chef residencies. The Lore welcomes chef Fidel Caballero from New York’s Michelin-starred Corima for a Northern Mexican feast on Aug. 7 and 8. Penny Roma brings in the team from New York’s Cervo’s for Iberian prix-fixe dinners — think seafood towers and piri piri chicken — on Aug. 10 and 11. (A special Cervo’s-inspired tuna conserva sandwich will also be available at the Flour + Water Pasta Shop the week of the 10th.) And chef Aaron Silverman of Rose’s Luxury and Pineapple and Pearls in Washington, D.C., will be at 7 Adams on Aug. 23 and 24.
New to the Hit List (Aug. 2026)
Bar Auklet, Bombera, Dingles Public House, Esme, Saam, Valley Bar + Bottle.
