The washed blue walls and seafood décor are a match for the Italian seafood-focused menu. The slender restaurant boasts cozy booth seating inside and, thanks to plentiful heat lamps, cozy waterfront deck dining on fog-chilled days. Many come for the wine list, featuring Campania’s Aglianico and Primitivo from Puglia, but we’re all-in on the Sicilian mimosa with island-source orange juice, and Prosecco from the Veneto.
Chef Renzo’s weekly specials, like fava bean crostini or pappardelle with wild mushrooms, are sought after by regulars as much as cioppino and salmon piccata.
Don’t Miss: Branzino al Limone, Tartare di Tonno, Affogato
Simple preparations featuring wickedly fresh ingredients are at the heart of this waterfront restaurant and café. Divided into three parts – a morning café faces Main Street, a patio and bar with happy hour menu and some seating on the first floor, and an expansive top floor with patio – it has devoted followings of ingredient-aware and farm-curious diners. They come for small plates of ahi poke wrapped in a sesame cone or raw Brussels sprouts salad and larger plates of smoked salmon lox pizza or grilled double cut pork chops with sweet potato mash. And, if you play your cards right, there’s butterscotch pudding or lemon meringue tart for dessert.
Don’t Miss: Swedish Cinnamon Rolls, Strawberry-mezcal Negroni, Vegan Chop Salad, Grilled Spring Lamb Chops
Tie up your boat at the pier in front of Sam’s or come by foot to the Main Street door. No matter how you arrive, the expansive patio is beloved for its bay views and hopping scene. You can’t go wrong with a Sam Vella Manhattan or a pull of Pacifico Clara from one of the eight taps. Beware the bowls of Aperol spritz and prickly pear margaritas – they pack a punch! – but are right at home alongside a fresh fish and oyster tower.
There’s room on the seafood-focused menu for smaller plates like a lobster roll or linguini and clams. Regulars are known to hang out at the bar (that’s where the TVs are), slurping oysters or maybe a hamburger with a glass of Champagne.
Don’t Miss: Crab Toast, Cioppino, Broiled oysters, Fried Chicken Sandwich
With an enoteca/wine bar in one ark connected by a sun-splashed patio to an adjoining ark, the restaurant on Ark Row now run by a second generation of Servinos showcases its expansive Italian wine cellar. Amari, chinato and vermouth are available by the glass, as are chilled red, orange and rosé wines. (No, we didn’t forget to mention Tuscany’s Sangiovese and Sicily’s Nerello Mascalese.) Cocktails have an Italian twist and follow the seasons along with the menu. That sometimes means winter’s persimmon instead of summer’s cantaloupe with your prosciutto San Daniele or bread served with mushrooms instead of tomatoes. Don’t worry, eight hour-braised beef ragú knows no season.
Don’t Miss: Gnocchi with Spinach, Bistecca, Rockfish Crudo
Mon Dieu, the onion soup is topped with melted Emmenthal (not Gruyere) and there is such a thing as Le Burger Américan (it’s topped with cheddar)! These may be the only concessions to American palates on a decidedly French menu where moules frites come with fries (but of course) and salade Lyonnaise doubles down on the bacon. Chef Roland Passot would have it no other way, mon cher ami.
The Parisian bistro vibe is best experienced on sunny afternoons, the doors rolled up, the bar full, chatter from patrons seated on the patio’s wicker-backed chairs spilling onto the sidewalk.
Don’t Miss: Jambon et Beurre Sandwich, Onion soup, Beef Bourguignon, Truffle Boulevardier
Celebrate your good fortune to snag a seat on the patio with one of chef Michael Mina’s signature dishes like the mini caviar parfait, lobster pot pie or ahi tuna tartare. The crispy Liberty duck wings are impossible to stop eating, the black truffle Caesar is zhushed up just enough to feel special, and a rye-based Everybody Loves My Baby cocktail arrives in a Nick & Nora glass (as it should).
The vibes here are at once energetic and cozy, the views from the main floor dining room and upstairs lounge and bar exceptional. We’re going back for the charcoal-grilled pork chop and garlic noodles with garlic butter. Yum.
Don’t Miss: Wagyu Burger, Miso-broiled Sea Bass, Kale Chop Chop Salad, Parker House Rolls
The best seat in the house at this cliffside restaurant is the one you are seated in. Why? Every seat has a stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the sunset.
The views are matched with graceful décor: oil-wicked candles, white linen-napped tables, and fan-like coral sculptures. Bar stools are padded, perfect for perching to enjoy an Irish cappuccino or an Aperol spritz at brunch before digging into a crab Benedict or a plate of blueberry pancakes. At dinner, look for the bone-in filet mignon and abalone doré.
Don’t Miss: Tuna Carpaccio, Kurobuta Tomahawk Pork Chop, Italian Potstickers
Though it’s called lobster hash, big pieces of lobster, fluffy brioche toast and Benedict-style eggs perched above browned potatoes translate to something finer, a boosted expression of a humble dish. So, too, halibut with black rice and white wine saffron sauce or strawberry cheesecake, a jaunty rolled wafer cookie and ample fresh fruit adding charm to a familiar dessert.
The restaurant inside the Tiburon Hotel, run by the couple who own nearby Luna Blu, is more than the sum of its parts. Sure, it’s a tavern but it’s also a gastropub with a sunny patio just past downtown’s main drag.
Don’t Miss: Chicken and waffles, Caesar Salad, Classic Steamed Mussels
