SFGuide
11 Great Restaurants You Can Actually Get Into
photo credit: Mary Lagier
Living in San Francisco, it can be easy to forget that getting a table in a good restaurant isn’t impossible. It doesn’t necessarily involve knowing that you’re going to want Chinese food at 9:30pm a month in advance or waiting at a bar for three hours.
Sometimes, you just want to throw on some jeans and whatever eco-sustainable, world-saving casual dress sneakers are in at the moment and hit the street. Walking into dinner with the reasonable expectation of arriving and sitting down without your phone battery dropping more than 2% in the time between shouldn’t be that hard.
That’s why we have this guide - it’s the best places in SF that you can actually get into without having to strategize or plan for months in the future.
The Spots
Sometimes you just want to go to a nice dinner. And sometimes on those days you also have zero motivation to “plan” or “think ahead” because pre-reserving space and furniture inside a restaurant can feel daunting. When it’s one of those days, head here. Gardenias, with a seasonally changing American/Californian/Mediterranean menu, is a low-key, easy-to-walk-by-and-miss spot on Sutter with an older crowd and zero wait - whether you want to grab bar seats or a regular table.
POWERED BY
Pac Heights is a bit of wasteland for easy, sit down dinners that aren’t the bacon mac and cheese at Palmer’s that you spring for after your fourth cocktail. Keep Troya in your back pocket for when you can’t be bothered to wait in line for Delfina. The Mediterranean spot is definitely casual, but still nice enough that you won’t feel awkward coming in like you were dressed for a job interview, and the food is quite good. Go for the lamb hummus or the chicken kebabs.
It’s been a day and you need a glass or four of wine, along with some pasta that’ll help you not think about the seven continuous hours of meetings you sat through this afternoon. Cotogna and Flour + Water are definitely off the table because people here seem to have assistants handling all their restaurant bookings. Instead, try out Altovino in Nob Hill. The place does fresh handmade pasta that holds its own against the big names and it’s easy to roll into any day of the week. Better still, the staff makes you feel welcome and not like they’re doing you a favor by opening their door to you.
Surprise, your LA client is in town and needs to be wined and dined in FiDi. La Mar is here for you. It’s right on the Embarcadero with a lot of space and Peruvian seafood. Lots of space is the key part here, both indoors and outdoors, because you can usually always get a table in a pinch. Not the cheapest place around, but worth it for the ceviches and pisco sours.
The tickets you had to the Giants game were actually for last season, so now you’re in deep SoMa looking for something to make the trip worth it. Petit Marlowe is an excellent place for dinner, especially once all the Happy Hour folks clear out. The place feels like a Parisian seafood spot and, along with turning out awesome fresh fish - from the raw bar to the crudos - everything here is good, albeit pricey.
If Uma Casa was in a different neighborhood than Noe Valley, it would be slammed at all times. This place serves excellent Portuguese food in a cool space, but because you’re in Noe and not on a European vacation where everyone eats late at night, the crowd is older and home with the kids and therefore not out and eating at Uma Casa. Make the most of it.
This spot is Permanently Closed.
It’s hard to explain how many times this place has come through in the clutch. Great Lao Isaan food in a cool, huge space in the heart of the Mission that’s basically a guaranteed good time. We can’t imagine a more perfect solution for many of your dining problems, and the tiki drinks are always strong.
Burma Love is practically across the street from Hawker Fare. We prefer this place to its more famous sibling, Burma Superstar, and not just because of its shinier interior and ease of entry – the food is better too, especially the chicken with mint and the fried catfish.
Lers Ros is the best last-minute group dinner spot in town. You have to order at least one type of meat that you’ve never eaten before (we’re partial to the alligator because have you seen that golf course video?). More conventionally, the tom kha khai and crunchy pork skin are some of the best things on the menu. If you feel like reminding yourself that we’re at the top of the food chain, you’ll leave happy. If you don’t, the standys from pad see ew to pad thai are delicious as well.
In addition to the incredible beer selection, the line at Garaje moves pretty quickly, there are a lot of tables, and the food here is consistently solid. Skip the burger - you can get a similar one at In-N-Out - and instead go for the zapatos. We like ours with carnitas, but anything will be a safe bet.
Sure, sometimes there might just be a sign on the window announcing they happen to be closed on a random Thursday night, but that’s part of the adventure at this Burmese spot in the Richmond. Despite having as good if not better noodles and curries than Burma Superstar, Mandalay manages to stay less slammed. There’s plenty to explore on the menu, but the tea leaf salad, shredded pork with garlic, and coconut rice are good places to start.
