Diners' Choice: Best Food restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area

OpenTable

Updated December 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants with the best overall cuisine in San Francisco Bay Area? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Sushi Shin - Redwood City

4.9

4.9 (29)

$50 and over

Sushi

Redwood City

About the restaurant

Sushi Shin is an Authentic Japanese Fine dining. Featuring an Omakase menu, which is chef's choice for the most fresh, top quality of fish and seafood. Mostly imported from Tokyo fish market. Other best ingredients from all around the world. Serving Japanese Sakes and bottle Japanese beers. You can experience authentic Edomae-style sushi.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined on Nov 14, 2024

Best sushi in the city, hands down. Incredible service and experience.

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Experience

Sushi Shin Omakase

Sushi Hashiri

5.0

5 (215)

$50 and over

Sushi

SOMA

About the restaurant

A progressive approach executed from a deep history of Kappo and Omakase Edomae Sushi. Two of Japan’s historical culinary concepts brought together combining hyper-seasonal ingredients and premium fish selections direct from our private purveyor inside the world renown Toyosu fish market in Tokyo, Japan. Hashiri’s focus is to exemplify its re-evolving cuisine to showcase Japan’s richest seasonal ingredients.

HASHIRI "KODAWARI EDOMAE SUSHI" - $300
Hyper seasonal multi course Kappo & Omakase Edomae Sushi dining experience at the sushi counter.

HASHIRI "PETITE OMAKASE EDOMAE SUSHI" - $150
Hyper seasonal Omakase Edomae Sushi dining experience at the sushi counter.

Due to our limited seating and the effort involved in curating our menu with internationally sourced ingredients, we kindly ask for your understanding regarding our cancellation policy. Cancellations or no-shows within 72 hours of your reservation will incur the full cost of the dining experience.

Top review

Markvip

Dined on Nov 17, 2024

Both the service and the meal felt like a mini trip to Japan. A wonderful experience.

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Experience

"KODAWARI EDOMAE SUSHI"

Experience

"OMAKASE EDOMAE SUSHI"

PintxoPote

5.0

5 (475)

$31 to $50

Spanish

Los Gatos

About the restaurant

Bienvenidos a PintxoPote! (pronounced 'pincho potay') a pintxos (tapas) bar offering a dining experience showcasing the range of traditional flavors typical of the Basque country in Northern Spain. Here, you will be transported to the world's most acclaimed culinary region: the seaside resort of San Sebastián, a region whose cuisine is distinguished by the excellence of the ingredients and the simplicity in cooking techniques.

Pintxo Pote is the only place in the SF Bay area that offers a current expression of authentic pintxos.

Top review

Lynne

Dined 4 days ago

Chef Hector and his wife Angie are the lovely proprietors of this excellent restaurant. They made our experience so personal and warm and the quality of their food and presentation is top-notch. I highly recommend!

Luna Ristorante - Concord

4.9

4.9 (482)

$30 and under

Italian

Concord

About the restaurant

“I’m the owner and the chef, so I’m always here,” he says in his lyrical Mediterranean accent. “It’s nice to do business with locals.”

Jacifi describes his menu as a blend of new and old: “You get old-school tastes with a modern presentation.” The restaurant specializes in northern and southern Italian standards like saltimbocca, chicken cacciatore, and risotto. But the eighteen-year-old Luna takes these familiar dishes very seriously. Redoune, partner and co-chef Hafid Tadri, and co-chef Habib Jacifi don’t so much replicate the old standards as define them.

Take the fettuccini with Bolognese sauce. Many restaurants make a Bolognese; few do it well. Like the sly smile on the lips of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous lady, this brick red sauce reveals a depth of character beyond its simple appearance. Carrots, celery, and onions add a layer of sweetness, while bacon contributes a sultry, meaty backbone.

Top review

Kimberly

Dined on Nov 26, 2024

Luna was a delightful evening! Excellent food, nice ambience, friendly and professional attentive service. We even got to meet the owner and chat a bit. I will definitely be back!

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5.0

5 (194)

$50 and over

American

Calistoga

About the restaurant

Join us in celebrating Calistoga’s only Michelin-rated fine dining destination, Auro. Our intimate dining space showcases a seasonally inspired, five-course tasting menu by acclaimed Chef Rogelio Garcia and his team. Set against the stunning backdrop of sprawling the Palisades Mountains, this is wine country dining at its finest.

Top review

Bobvip

Dined 3 days ago

Great dining experience overall. Several of the courses were outstanding, including the black cod with buttery flesh and perfectly crispy skin. Most dishes had an excellent balance of salt, acid and spice with the occasional misstep such as the item billed as porcini and truffles but was no more than a bean and corn mess. The gnocchi supplement with white truffle needed salt and should have been 4x larger for the price. Shockingly small. Indeed most portions were too small and while I fully understand the desire to make it a tasting experience and serve up lots and lots of tasty small portions, these portions bordered on the obscenely small. But everything was beautifully presented and the service was very good - though not excellent (for example, for these prices, when my glass of water or wine is empty, it’s reasonable to expect that someone will be on it, and here they were at best slow to react). Worth it to try once, but in no hurry to return as no course (other than maybe the black cod) was too memorable.

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Experience

Michelin-Star New Year’s Eve Dinner at Auro

Experience

Savor The Stars - Christmas Day at Auro | Dec. 25

Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki

4.9

4.9 (19)

$50 and over

Japanese

Saratoga

About the restaurant

We, Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki, deliver the experience of “kaiseki ryori,” a type of Japanese fine dining which historically developed to be served in the Japanese tea room. The tea room, as a space, symbolizes the home of the Japanese tea ceremony, a simple yet transformative experience offering a pause in time to appreciate the seemingly small experience of sharing tea. As such, we’ve designed both the architecture and the experience, to condense an infinite expanse into an extremely small space.

The space is designed sans distracting elements. Lighting will be subtle and architectural details are clean yet warm. Designed to allow dishes to remain the focal point of the experience, our space represents the endless potential for an intimate dining experience that continues to linger on pallet and in mind well after the end.

Top review

MMFoodievip

Dined on Nov 7, 2024

It was a lovely and awesome experience! One of THE best restaurant I had so far for my birthday!!! Definitely a restaurant that I would love to come back!! The chef and our host are super nice and generous! Every single dish and their dining wares are OhLaLa!! It will soon be a Michelin Star restaurant for sure!!!!

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Experience

Chef's Tasting Kaiseki Experience

Golden Bear Station

4.9

4.9 (358)

$50 and over

American

Kenwood

About the restaurant

Golden Bear Station is an Italian American restaurant that offers a unique perspective through the lens from the owners of Animo and Mu Ramen.

Mu Ramen and Animo owners Joshua Smookler and Heidy He have received exceptional recognition, including a prestigious 2-star review from the New York Times in 2015. The New York Times also dubbed them as the best ramen in NYC, while Eater named them the best ramen in America in 2016. Animo, on the other hand, has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle and recognized as one of Esquire's Best New Restaurant in America in 2022. Both restaurants have earned a place and acknowledgement in the Michelin guide.

Golden Bear Station strives to encompass the essence of a local establishment and a haven for aficionados of wine and gastronomy. It serves as a gathering place where individuals flock to savor pizzas, pastas and seasonal delicacies.

Top review

Joycevip

Dined 2 days ago

Consistently one of our fave dining experiences. Food, Service, ambience are always top drawer. The owner/chef’s are personally involved at all levels, and want their guests to have the best experience. Highly recommended.

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Popular dish

Pizza Margherita

Amarena

4.9

4.9 (1250)

$31 to $50

Italian

Russian Hill

About the restaurant

Welcome to Amarena, our beloved classic neighborhood Italian restaurant.
Proudly serving the Russian Hill Neighborhood for over 20 years, dishing out delicious Italian classics while providing loving service. We hope to see you soon!

Top review

Miguelvip

Dined 4 days ago

We enjoyed our evening at Amarena. The friendly manner of the waiter and later on the owner, added to the overall positive impression with which we were left. I plana to return.

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Experience

Happy Hours at Amarena everyday

Sonoma Wine Shop & La Bodega

4.9

4.9 (83)

$31 to $50

Mediterranean

Sebastopol

About the restaurant

Gourmet Vegetarian and Gourmet Vegan dining - 5 nights a week.
We make our own pastas, soups, salads, desserts from scratch.
Headquarters for 3,000 member dine and wine club.
Over 1,500 local members live here in Sonoma County .
Cozy West County vibe. Indoor / patio / garden seating.
5 Stars on Yelp. 7 years Nextdoor Fave.
Reservations and pre-ordering preferred.
Talk with us about any dietary concerns.
A true 'find' here in Sonoma County.

Top review

Irvvip

Dined on Nov 30, 2024

A vegetarian restaurant and wine club. Great people, service, menu and local wine tasting, all the menu items are made with local farm ingredients and local wines. One of the best experiences we’ve had over the years🍷😁

Yakiniku Shodai

4.8

4.8 (66)

$50 and over

Japanese Speciality

Civic Center / Hayes Valley / Van Ness

About the restaurant

Yakiniku Shodai hopes to bring in an extraordinary yakiniku dining experience to the San Francisco Bay Area. Begins with the high quality selections of Japanese Wagyu, comparable Michelin star level of attentive service, and skillful hands of our talented chefs. Together, we confidently present the most exquisit taste of meat and make every meal at Yakiniku Shodai a truly extraordinary dining experience.
Our owner/ chef Andy, originated from Taipei, Taiwan, has over 20 collective years experience in the restaurant industry.

Top review

Carl

Dined 2 days ago

Have you ever dreamed about having a meal where everything was perfect? Have you ever thought, I would love to taste Waygu beef and have it melt in my mouth? Do you have someone special in your life who you want to have a once in a lifetime dining experience? You will have all these things happen, and more, when you choose Yakiniku Shodai. I can say without hesitation, this was one of the best, if not the best dinners I’ve ever experienced. Yes, there will be sticker shock, but this isn’t Sizzler. Go ahead and live life. You will never ever regret you did this for yourself and the person(s) you love. Thank you Shodai, for the meal, experience, evening of a lifetime.

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