These 8 on the map
The 8 restaurants on this page, pinned where they actually are. Tap a marker to see which one it is — all 20 are on the map in the Whosly app.
8 of the 20
State Bird Provisions
FillmoreNew American small plates$$$Dim sum carts, but rolling California small plates instead. The fried quail the restaurant is named for is the one dish that never leaves the rotation.
Rich Table
Hayes ValleyNew American restaurant$$$The sardine chips and porcini doughnuts have been on the menu since opening night, and the regulars would riot if they came off.
Nopa
NoPaCalifornia American restaurant$$$Organic wood-fired cooking in a soaring corner room on Divisadero — the flatiron steak and the pork chop have been the reasons to come since 2006.
Lazy Bear
MissionAmerican tasting menu$$$$A dinner party staged as a restaurant: cocktails upstairs first, then communal tables, notebooks instead of menus, and chefs who introduce each course.
Sam's Grill & Seafood Restaurant
Financial DistrictHistoric seafood grill$$$Serving since 1867, with curtained wooden booths where downtown cut its deals in private. Sand dabs, a martini, and no need to modernize.
Brenda's French Soul Food
TenderloinCreole & Southern restaurant$$New Orleans by way of Polk Street. The beignet flight arrives four ways, and you should still order the shrimp and grits behind it.
Mama's on Washington Square
North BeachBreakfast restaurant$$The line curling around the corner is for the French toast sampler and the crab omelette. Arrive before nine or bring a book.
Red's Java House
South BeachBurger shack$A shack on the pier since 1955 — double cheeseburger on sourdough, a cold bottle of beer, and the Bay Bridge filling the window.
The other 12
The 20 are spread across 16 neighborhoods. Castro (2), Financial District (2), Mission (2) and South Beach (2) have the most; Bernal Heights, Cathedral Hill, Embarcadero, Fillmore, Hayes Valley, Lower Pacific Heights, Marina, NoPa, North Beach, Pacific Heights, SoMa and Tenderloin have one each.
+12 more in the app
Dinner cooked over open fire in the middle of the dining room, the city's oldest ice cream parlor (1918), a hofbrau carving turkey since 1947, bacon beignets and house wine poured by the ounce from a tap, a New England fish shack on Fillmore, and more.
Add all 20 to your Whosly mapEvery one lands on your own map in a tap — save them, rate them, plan around them. City Packs are included with Planner Pro.
Or search “Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs” on the App Store
For Italian, see the best Italian restaurants in San Francisco.
Common questions
What are the best restaurants in San Francisco?
What is the best tasting menu in San Francisco?
Where should I go for breakfast in San Francisco?
What are the oldest restaurants in San Francisco?
Which San Francisco neighborhood is best for American restaurants?
Where can I see all 20?

All 20, on your own map
This page is 8 of them. The San Francisco American pack in Whosly has all 20 — add it and every one drops onto your map, ready to save, rate and turn into a plan your friends RSVP to from a text, no app needed to answer. The pack is included with Planner Pro.
Get Whosly — free on iPhoneOr search “Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs” on the App Store
“Whosly: Plans, Places & RSVPs”.
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