What to Eat in San Francisco: Food & Drinks To Try (and where to find them)
What to eat in San Francisco is no easy decision.
With more than 4,000 restaurants, a great café and bar scene, and the historic Ferry Building‘s 50 restaurants, bars, cafes, and a thrice-weekly farmers’ market, dining out is not just fun for visitors, it’s practically a civic duty for residents.
But there are a few must-try specialties to get to when you visit.
From a fish stew created by Italian immigrants to crunchy sourdough bread to the recently launched Martini Trail that celebrates the hometown cocktail, what to eat in San Francisco becomes more of a edible scavenger hunt than a checklist, and eating is one of the best things to do in the City by the Bay!
1. Cioppino
Let’s get the pronunciation out of the way: chuh-PEE-no.
Born on the docks of North Beach in the late 1800s, Cioppino ‘happened’ when Italian fishermen brought home the day’s catch, tossed everything into a pot, added tomatoes and wine, and gave it a name.
Cioppino is supposedly from a Ligurian (northern Italian) word, ciuppin, a fish stew traditionally made by fishermen using the day’s leftovers.
When Italian immigrants from Genoa settled in San Francisco in the 1800s, they adapted the idea to the Bay Area’s seafood bounty, creating San Francisco’s signature dish.
Where to Eat It?
Everyone seems to have a favorite, but you can’t go wrong at Sotto Mare in North Beach. Anchor Oyster Bar and Tadich Grill, the oldest continuously run restaurant in California, also get high praise.
2. Mission Burritos
For a burrito as big as your forearm, head to the Mission District, San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood.
Created in the 1960s–70s, the Mission Burrito is a steamed flour tortilla stuffed with rice, beans, salsa, and meat like grilled carnitas, chicken, carne asada. Make it ‘super’ for a little more, and you’ll get guacamole, cheese, and sour cream added before it’s all wrapped tightly in foil for maximum portability.
Where to Eat Them?
Ask five different people for the best place for burritos, and you’ll probably get five different answers. El Faro claims to have created the first “super burrito” in 1961, while Taqueria La Cumbre introduced its own version in 1969.
Throughout the neighborhood, there are plenty of burrito dens, and honestly, I have yet to find one I didn’t appreciate for its girth and goodness.
A guided food tour with a local expert could help you choose.
3. Irish Coffee
The Buena Vista Café claims to have introduced the Irish Coffee to America in 1952 after reverse-engineering the original drink from Ireland. Legend says the bartender tested 30+ versions.
A Buena Vista Irish coffee contains four main ingredients: hot coffee, Irish whiskey, two sugar cubes, and a layer of lightly whipped heavy cream. Dee-lightful!
Where to Get It?
The Buena Vista Café, aka the BV, is still serving the hot, strong, and boozy near Fisherman’s Wharf. Rumor has it they make close to 2,000 a day.
If you stay at the Argonaut Hotel, you’ll be in stumbling distance.
4. Dungeness Crab
Sweet, buttery Dungeness Crab has been a winter staple since Gold Rush days, and is my go-to for New Year’s Eve.
Locals mark the season’s opening like a holiday, and restaurants and tables around the city serve it hot, cold, cracked, whole, and in various dips.
Be sure to order a Crab Louis Salad if you see one on a menu. Made with sweet Dungeness crab, iceberg lettuce, asparagus, tomato, hard-boiled eggs, and sometimes avocado, it’s served with a healthy dose of mayonnaise-based dressing.
Where to Eat it?
Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street is an old-school, cash-only, line-out-the-door place and worth the wait. I personally like Scoma’s on Pier 39.
Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s been family-run for 60+ years, and the pier-to-table food is typically very good, including the crab cocktail, cracked crab, Crab Louis Salad, and other crab-a-licous dishes.
Fisherman’s Wharf is one of the most family-friendly neighborhoods in San Francisco, too, so you could take the whole crew for a crab feast.
5. Sourdough Bread
San Francisco’s foggy climate gives local sourdough its signature flavor. Bakeries kept their starters alive through earthquakes, fires, and the Gold Rush. It’s believed miners relied on wild yeast (rather than commercial yeast) in their starters to make bread in their remote camps. In fact, the term “sourdough” became a nickname for the miners themselves.
Where to Eat Try It?
Tartine Bakery is synonymous with artisan bread in San Francisco and has a cult-like following, with people lining up like they’re giving away free Taylor Swift concert tickets at the counter.
Boudin is the “original” San Francisco sourdough, and a historic landmark on Fisherman’s Wharf.
Drop by and watch bakers hand-craft batches of sourdough loaves through their 30-foot observation window, then order a sourdough bread bowl full of piping-hot clam chowder
6. Egg Custard Tarts
Flaky, custardy, and buttery, these egg custard pastries, known as dan-tat, arrived with Chinese immigrants in the early 1900s and never left. We are so thankful for that. They are not super sweet and are especially delicious straight from the oven. Grab one or a dozen.
Where to Eat Them?
The Golden Gate Bakery in San Francisco’s Chinatown is considered the best place to grab an egg custard tart, but the problem is…you never know when the business is open, which I guess is part of its charm.
So, if you’re cruising down Grant Avenue (address: 1029) and you see a line-up, jump in—-it’s your lucky day!
Even if Golden Gate Bakery is closed, other bakeries in Chinatown make them too.
📌 Or, check availability for a chance to taste the entire neighborhood on a guided food tour.
7. The Martini
While the martini’s true birthplace is debated, the drink is deeply tied to the Occidental Hotel (now the Galleria Park Hotel) in the 1860s, where a sweeter precursor to the modern martini, called the Martinez, was supposedly created.
The cocktail evolved over time, leading to the use of London Dry gin and dry vermouth, creating the drier version popular today. San Francisco has launched a Martini Trail featuring bars honoring the hometown tipple.
Where to Sip Them in San Francisco?
For a classic cocktail in a classic supper-club-like setting, Bix is one of my favorites. In North Beach since 1919, Tosca is another old-school bar that looks like a movie set. Their gin martini is sometimes made with fresh berries and a splash of chartreuse, for a little twist on the tradition. For martinis with a view, head to Starlite on the 21st floor of the Beacon Grand in Union Square.
8. Oysters
Oysters were big in SF long before they became the hipster appetizer of choice — the Gold Rush crowd slurped them by the thousands.
Where to Slurp Them?
Hog Island Oyster Co in the Ferry Building is a classic spot and you can have them indoors our out overlooking the water.
For something upscale or a special occasion, book a table at Waterbar, located in a prime location on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, with sweeping Bay Bridge views.
They feature a different oyster every day between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and 5¢ from every oyster sold is donated to a local charity. Aww, shucks, I love that!
📌 Feeling hungry yet? Check availability on one of these tasty Guided Food Tours of North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, or the Mission.
9. Dumplings
San Francisco’s dumpling game is second to none, unless maybe you’re in China!
And it’s not just Chinatown where you can find them. All around the city, from Ghiradelli Square and Palette Tea House to Taraval Street’s Dumpling Kitchen in the Outer Sunset to Clement Street‘s Good Luck Dim Sum. Even downtown’s upscale Yank Sing has dumplings (and other dim sum specialties) served from rolling carts for a more upscale experience.
Dumplings aren’t just tasty bite-sized goodness either. They can also be an economical way to eat if you know where to find them (see below) or if you are visiting San Francisco on a budget.
10. Coffee Crunch Cake
One of San Francisco’s most surprisingly local desserts is a coffee crunch cake, a feather-light sponge layered with whipped cream and topped with shards of caramelized coffee-toffee crunch. YUM!
The classic version still draws loyal lines at Yasukochi’s Sweet Stop in Japantown, a family-run bakery tucked inside the Super Mira Market.
The cake’s roots trace back to a mid-century San Francisco bakery called Blum’s. Today, its delicate sweetness and crackly topping make it a nostalgic local favorite.
Order full cakes in advance or line up to buy slices. They sell out quickly.
