Earlier this week the team at Bay Area Kei compiled a list of restaurants and activities for tourists and travelers coming to our Pop-Up shop event. I was asked to help out with said list, however due to my own overwhelming list of favorites (and who I am as a person,) I was not able to add too much.
In the blog post, we kept everything very J-Fashion-friendly and traveler-friendly oriented, but many of my favorite places are very outside of both of those ranges. Here’s my shortlist of a few recommendations for those who are looking to travel a little further around the city:
Bakeries
B. Patisserie (Lower Pac Heights)
What to get: Kouign Amann
Arizmendi (Mission, Sunset)
What to get: Currant Scone, pizza of the day, bread stick
Arsicault (Richmond)
What to get: Kouign Amann, any croissant
Craftsman and Wolves (Mission)
What to get: The Rebel Within
Bob’s Donuts (Downtown)
What to get: Everything (and a dozen donut holes.)
Breakfast/Brunch
Foreign Cinema (Mission)
What to get: Pop Tarts
Outerlands (Sunset)
What to get: Dutch pancake, grilled cheese & tomato soup
Devil’s Teeth Bakery (Sunset)
What to get: Breakfast sandwich (add the aioli if you get the regular one)
Brenda’s (Downtown, Divisadero)
What to get: Beignet flight (heads up: the crawfish one is not for everyone)
Vive La Tarte (Noe Valley)
What to get: Avocado Toast (It’s $16, but very worth it)
Lunch/Dinner
Hog’s Island Oyster co (Downtown)
What to get: Bloody Mary, clam chowder, oysters (if they have any from Wellfleet, MA)
Yank Sing (Downtown)
What to get: Pork buns
Beep’s Burgers (Ingleside)
What to get: Garlic fries, a side of beep’s sauce, (very heavy, be prepared to sleep immediately after)
Dinosaurs (Lakeside)
What to get: Spicy tuna or grilled pork
Fumi (Outer Mission)
What to get: Katsu curry
Wise Sons (Mission, Downtown)
What to get: Smoked salmon bagel, the OG reuben with corned beef
Desserts
Miette (Hayes Valley, Downtown)
What to get: Gingersnaps, brown sugar shortbread cookies
Daydream Cake Shop (Sunset)
What to get: Nutella molten cake
The Mission Burrito Section
El Farolito
Guadalajara
Taqueria Vallarta
Señor Sisig
What to get: California burrito with protein and spice level of choice
Tacos El Patron
What to get: Birria tacos
Coffee
Sightglass (Mission, Haight, Downtown)
What to get: Vanilla iced coffee with almond milk and a peanut butter cookie if available (consume at the same time)
Trouble (Sunset)
What to get: Cinnamon sugar toast
Andytown (Sunset)
What to get: Seasonal special
Bars
Old Devil Moon (Outer Mission)
I’m not a bar person, but ODM – a bar heavily inspired by black magic and tarot – is one of the few exceptions.
My S Tier recommendation: Order takeout from Outerlands or Devil’s Teeth, grab a coffee at Andytown or Trouble, and have a picnic on the beach.
If you find yourself in an area of the city and you need food or activity recommendations, please feel free to send me a DM on Instagram or Twitter and I would be more than happy to share even more restaurants not listed here! I’ve been in San Francisco for eight years (this coming January) and have been to what feels like hundreds of restaurants all over the city.
*Most of these places have some kind of takeout operation currently! If you’re planning on going and sitting in a restaurant, check beforehand to see if you need reservations OR if it’s first come/first-serve for tables.
**Please note San Francisco has an ongoing mask mandate and a vaccine requirement for eating indoors. You will not be able to eat inside any restaurant without proof of vaccination.