SFGuide

The Hit List: New San Francisco Restaurants To Try Right Now

The new spots we checked out—and loved.
A man cooking over a wok at Four Kings in San Francisco.

photo credit: Pete Lee

When new restaurants open, we check them out. This means that we subject our stomachs and social lives to the good, the bad, and more often than not, the perfectly fine. And every once in a while, a new spot makes us feel like experiencing the first ray of sunshine after a month of straight fog. When that happens, we add it here, to the Hit List.

The Hit List is where you’ll find all of the best new restaurants in San Francisco. As long as it opened within the past several months and we’re still talking about it, it’s on this guide. The latest addition might be a buzzy omakase counter, a new taqueria, or a Thai spot with food we can't stop talking about. Or maybe it’s even a restaurant with caviar priced by the bump. Keep tabs on the Hit List and you'll always know just which new restaurants you should be eating at right now.

New to the Hit List (3/21): 14 Peaks Nepalese Cuisine, Four Kings

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Pete Lee

Chinese

Chinatown

$$$$Perfect For:Literally EveryoneSmall Plates
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Opened by Mister Jiu’s alums, Four Kings is that rare place that manages to soar above high expectations. ’90s Canto-Pop plays through the speakers and Cantonese film posters line the walls of this wooden oasis that already feels lived in despite only being open since mid-March. Cantonese classics are reimagined, like a dry-aged squab with crispy skin and XO escargot with fluffy milk bread that we now crave daily. Unfortunately, the secret is already out, but they’re open until 11pm, so either wait in the walk-in line for bar seating, incessantly check OpenTable, or simply stop by on the later side for one of the best meals you can get in this city past 9pm.

When the 55-degree forecast (again) has you down, you need comfort by the spoonful. And the newest place to get that is 14 Peaks, a casual spot in the Mission that serves Nepali dishes we’d take over a sputtering space heater any day. The plump momos are well-spiced and juicy. Rich curries will warm you up in no time. And the garlic naan is the fluffiest in town. It’s spacious inside with a bunch of tables, which means you won’t have a problem walking in here. So make any excuse to swing by and bury your weather-related sorrows in chicken korma. 

Early To Rise is a pop-up-turned-restaurant that effortlessly fills NoPa’s nice-casual breakfast niche—literally, because it’s in the old Automat space. Unlike many other brunchy spots in the city, almost everything on the menu at this naturally lit spot is made from scratch, from sugar-dusted donuts and hot sauce to the super-thick, house-smoked bacon. The extra care shows, especially in the standout bagel with lox and the pancakes dressed up with blueberry syrup and crunchy almonds. So next time you find yourself reaching for the dregs of an old Cheerios box on a Sunday morning, make the better choice and settle into one of the cushy booths here instead (but know that the secret’s out, so you should prepare to wait for a table).  

We weren’t expecting much from a taqueria in the Castro—after all, why not just head over a few blocks to the Mission? But we admit when we’re wrong, and we were definitely wrong about this place. Zona Rosa is a casual taqueria (named after the queer district in CDMX) that stands out for its smoky and slow-cooked meats, plus seriously spicy salsa. The interior is small but colorful, with two calavera murals adorning the walls and loud rancheras blaring on speakers. There are no wrong choices, but ordering tacos is the way to go. There are two different styles, but we prefer the El Jefe that’s topped with just cilantro, onion, salsa, and lime. No matter which version you go for, you’ll have a choice of seven meats, but pick the carne asada en chile de arbol for a spicy red salsa journey.

We just finished a long and hard best burger research journey, and the smashburger at The Rabbit Hole in Mission-Bernal was a serious standout. This casual Taiwanese-inspired restaurant and bar is pumping out a burger that’s loaded up on a shimmering brioche bun with pickled vegetables, juicy patties, and melted sharp cheddar that forms one of those ultra-crispy cheese crusts. Meanwhile, the nam pla honey glaze on the spicy chicken sandwich lit up our taste buds with its tart and vinegary flavor. Both are served with a heaping pile of thinly cut fries topped with nori and a side of gochujang ketchup that’s so great we had to beg for a second serving. Down it all with a tamarind margarita as you sit under decorative lantern lights that give this slightly industrial spot a moody vibe.

photo credit: Erin Ng

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You’ve heard of Z&Y, the institution offering mouth-numbing Sichuan dishes in Chinatown. But their more modern-looking offshoot just across the street, dubbed Z&Y Peking Duck, is a Jackson Street newcomer worth rounding up a group and clearing your calendar for. The titular whole duck (which is $69 and, PSA, must be reserved ahead of time over the phone), is phenomenal. It’s carved to order when you arrive and touches down on your table with all the fixings: housemade hoisin, cucumber, and translucent flour pancakes for wrapping. And the skin, which crunches audibly, is ridiculously light and crackly. The rest of the menu is packed with Chinese dishes that help round out your meal, like plump xiao long bao and dan dan noodles. But you’re mainly here to pack around a table for a big old poultry party. 

The two-hour, $225 tasting menu experience at Kiln is sensory overload, like being front row at a Coachella performance so good you immediately start looking up the act’s next tour date. High tempo punk rock music blasts throughout the Hayes Valley warehouse as the 20 courses hit you in rapid succession. It's all very new-age, industrial-chic fine dining, and we love it because the seasonally changing menu is both surprising and firing on all cylinders. There are creatively constructed dishes like the puffed beef tendon crisp that looks like a cross between a chicharrón and a strand of DNA. Then, you'll get incredibly rich dishes like the broth of smoked trotters with koji oil that you’ll slurp down like a cup of warm jello. You never know what you’re going to get at Kiln, but you will leave knowing that you’ll want to do it all over again.

We were big fans of Marlena, the tasting menu spot that closed earlier this year—so when its former chefs opened 7 Adams, our hypothetical tails started wagging. The Fillmore restaurant feels like Marlena 2.0. There’s a similar five-course menu ($87, which feels like robbery), and it showcases seasonal, frequently changing dishes that are beautiful and mind-bendingly fantastic. The pasta course, perhaps a squash-filled caramelle paired with chanterelles bursting with savory, juicy flavor, will make any other pasta you eat taste sad. Other dishes, from the puffy milk bread starter to the buttery black cod and housemade orange and bay leaf ice cream, are executed to perfection. The dimly lit space, full of teal tones and shiny mushroom lamps, is a romantic setting for any date night when you want fancy without the credit card debt.

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