San Francisco’s New Restaurant Openings

If you’ve ever been to Tonga Room and thought, “This place could be a lot more immersive and potentially terrifying,” then Last Rites should be high on your list. This new tiki bar in Duboce Triangle looks like the wreckage of a plane that crashed on Skull Island, complete with airplane seat bar stools and hanging plants. The drink menu includes a wide range of strong tiki drinks, along with over 150 types of rum.

If you can’t get to AT&T Park after work for the game or just really need to be surrounded by baseball memorabilia, head to Pine Tar Grill. The new sports bar in SoMa is Giants themed and serves food that goes hand in hand with baseball - from chicken wings and hot dogs to an onion ring-topped burger.

Located in the former Wooly Pig Cafe space in the Sunset, Yo Tambien Cantina is an airy breakfast and lunch spot with lots of succulents and natural light. The menu at this Venezuelan cafe includes toasts, a seasonal fruit bowl, and sandwiches like the El Cantinero, with mortadella, provolone, and arugula on Montesacro pinsa bread.

Belcampo has a few locations in California, and now they are taking their mission for world domination via responsibly raised meat to Oakland. Everything on the menu at this butcher shop and restaurant - from the 100-day dry-aged burger to the lamb shawarma - comes from their own farm.

Instead of robots destroying us, Creator in SoMa has them feeding us. This place looks more like an installment at SFMOMA than a burger restaurant, but that’s what the machine at Creator makes. You have to buy tickets in advance to go, but all said and done, the burgers only cost $6.

School Night is a bar and restaurant inside The Pearl event space in Dogpatch. The bar focuses on cocktails made from pisco, agave, and whiskey, and the kitchen uses a wood-fired oven to make things like baby back ribs, blistered vegetables, and tacos al pastor. It’s open to the public Sunday through Wednesday and used for private events Thursday through Saturday.

This place doubles as a three-lane bowling alley, which can be good if you’re going on a double date or bad if you’re the kid who always had to use bumpers. Fifth Arrow’s menu has better versions of the cocktails, pizza, and burgers you’d expect to find at a bowling alley, along with things like grilled asparagus and a gem salad since life is all about balance. If you don’t want to bowl, but still want to embrace your inner 80s teenager, they have skee-ball and board games too.

Violet’s is the new oyster, burger, and cocktail spot in the Richmond from the team behind Fiorella. Their late-night Happy Hour runs from 10pm to close on weeknights and 11pm to close on weekends, and includes dishes like grilled wings, a shrimp roll, and a $20 burger and cocktail combo.

Kantine in the Haight serves Scandinavian comfort food, like porridge and open-faced sandwiches with potatoes, smoked cheese, and meatballs. There are freshly baked breads and pastries too, and if you want to try a bit of everything, you can build your own brunch board.

This Mission bar and restaurant looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland, with lots of neon lights and more clocks than the white rabbit would ever know what to do with. The drinks here are all named after mythical creatures, like the chupacabra and the sphinx, and the food menu includes everything from a charcuterie board and a 22-oz ribeye to seafood towers.

This place in the Inner Richmond serves Chinese and Mongolian hot pot and barbecue, with lamb as the focus of the menu. Come here the next time you want to try something different on a double date, or when your team at work needs a new place to vent about your boss over food.

Merchant Roots is a boutique grocery store where you can also eat Italian sandwiches and handmade pastas. Three nights a week, they do an eight-seat tasting menu concept as well called The Table At Merchant Roots, which you need to buy tickets for in advance.

Cafe Boho in the Marina serves upscale brunch classics like french toast and eggs Benedict, along with a seasonal dinner menu. If you do come for dinner, make sure to order the “seacuterie board” - a charcuterie board that subs in traditional meats and cheeses for salmon pastrami and sturgeon boudin noir.

At Stonemill Matcha in the Mission, you can get everything from matcha lattes and sparkling matcha, to matcha croissants from Tartine Bakery. If you’re looking for something more substantial, the pork katsu sandwich is a great choice.

We checked out Stonemill Matcha and put it on our Hit List.

This Ghirardelli Square brewery has a courtyard with fire pits and outdoor games where you can try flights of the beers brewed on-site. If the weather turns, hang out inside their huge taproom and order a pizza, burger, or wings from the bar.

This modern French place in the Financial District is open for both lunch and dinner. You can choose between two and three-course options for lunch, and four and six courses for dinner - ranging from $65-$85.

Besharam is a California-inspired Indian restaurant in Dogpatch. Everything on the lunch menu is under $20 and ranges from blue cheese naan to a chicken sandwich with mint chutney, while the dinner menu has lamb meatballs and paratha tacos.

Birdsong serves a constantly changing menu that features ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, like giant clams, trout, and boar. The $168 13-course tasting menu is available Tuesday through Saturday, and smaller 5-course and a la carte menus are available Tuesday through Thursday.

Stop by this Mediterranean all-day spot in the Richmond for bagels and granola in the morning, or potato gnocchi and grilled prawns at night, along with brunch on the weekends. Keep in mind - they are closed from 2-5pm daily, so plan accordingly.

The Beehive is a 1960s-themed bar in the Mission with interesting cocktails, like the Hound Dog with peanut-infused bourbon, and late-night snacks, including fondue and pigs in a blanket.

We checked out The Beehive and put it on our Hit List.

Despite the name, you can’t sleep at this new bar in the FiDi. The reference actually comes from your uncle’s favorite Eagles song - made more apparent by the neon sign that says “such a lovely place” inside. This place is meant for big groups, offering things like free manicures with drink purchases, group-priced menus, and specials on magnums of champagne.

Located in the old Babu Ji space in the Mission, Dancing Yak serves Nepali food, like momos and daal bhat thali, and has an almost psychedelic vibe with paintings of mushrooms and crystals on the walls.

We checked out Dancing Yak and put it on our Hit List.

Sorrel is a California-influenced Italian spot in Pac Heights. The menu includes a wide range of pastas, along with shareable meat dishes, like lamb tartare, foie gras torchon, and a dry-aged duck for two.

At Dyafa, you can get shareable Middle Eastern dishes like fattoush, charred eggplant, and braised lamb shanks. Brunch at this Oakland spot is also great, and includes staples like shakshuka and a wide range of interesting cocktails.

At Hikari Sushi & Bar, you order, your sushi is prepared, and then it’s sent to you via a miniature Japanese bullet train. Besides raw fish, the menu includes things like hamachi collar, udon, and tempura.

Sunday At The Museum serves a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food - from prawn noodles to a fried chicken bao. This place is inside the Asian Art Museum and is a definite step up from the overpriced airplane food found at most museum restaurants.

We checked out Sunday At The Museum and put it on our Hit List.

Avery is a seasonal tasting menu restaurant that requires you to buy tickets up front. They’re open Wednesday to Sunday and there are multiple menu options to choose from, beginning at $89 per person.

You can get a lot of SF fine dining staples at The Bear and Monarch in the Loews Hotel, like mussels, tagliatelle, and fried chicken. What sets this place apart, however, is the beef. Order the Wagyu tomahawk steak or 120-day dry aged ribeye and save the usual suspects for another night.

Rooftop 25 is a new addition on top of 25 Lusk in SoMa. They serve woodfired pizzas and cocktails and have outdoor seating with great views of the city.