4 Stars

One Market makes for one exquisite dining experience. With stunning views and upscale atmosphere, One Market is one of the few restaurants in San Francisco with an unbeatable location to serve some of the city’s most exciting cuisine. Executive Chef Mark Dommen has created a menu that appeals to a variety of culinary interests and budgets, featuring seasonal American fare with an emphasis on fresh, organic, and local ingredients. The food, the service, and the ambiance are truly exceptional and will keep one coming back for more.

Amidst the growing fast food “burrito culture” of Californian Mexican food, Mamacita champions the ideals of traditional Mexican cuisine. The menu emphasizes fresh, seasonal ingredients, handmade preparation, and the love and care found in a home-cooked meal, creating a cuisine that has the refinement of haute cuisine and all the satisfaction of comfort food. Adobe walls, terracotta tiles, and thatch accents combine with starburst lanterns and twinkling lights to evoke the feeling of a magical realist hacienda from the pages of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. A pomegranate margarita, handmade tortillas, and an ambience that is both invitingly familial and …

Foreign Cinema, located in the heart of the Mission, is a novel concept restaurant specializing in fine California/Mediterranean cuisine and a unique entertainment offering of nightly foreign and independent films at dusk. Since its fruitful beginning under executive chef duo Gayle Pirie and John Clark, visitors and celebrities from all over have been captivated by the restaurant’s innovative menu and reels of atmosphere. The restaurant has garnered rave reviews from critics coast to coast and remains a favorite dinner and weekend brunch destination among locals.

Luna Park is a hip and lively place for visitors and San Franciscans to dine. Its cuisine is mostly French- and Italian-based with American and Asian influences. Their signature dishes include a Warm Goat Cheese Fondue, Hawaiian Tuna "Poke" with wonton chips, and Make Your Own S'mores for dessert. This restaurant turns into a fun-filled bar scene as the night goes on, which is perfect for singles to mingle. Luna Park is also suitable for a date with its intimate and dimly lit atmosphere and lush velvet curtains and chandeliers.

Warm and inviting, Kokkari Estiatorio evokes old-world elegance while remaining one of San Francisco’s most popular locales for a romantic evening, a business meeting or just a casual drink with friends. The roaring fireplace and the rustic vaulted ceilings are the ideal backdrop for a hearty Mediterranean meal. Guests can try a traditional Greek Mezethe (appetizer) or sample one of the restaurants unique varietals from the impressive wine list. Nestled in the Financial District near many of San Francisco’s most attractive sights, Kokkari Estiatorio is an experience in Greek culture, an experience you will surely want to savor.

Ozumo is nestled into the heart of San Francisco’s Embarcadero District. This restaurant serves modern Japanese cuisine in a serene and sophisticated environment. Guests can choose to to sit in a variety of rooms that each offer a unique dining experience and ambience. The Robata Grill features unique small plates of a variety of meat and vegetables that are cooked over traditional robata charcoal grills. For private dining, Ozumo offers sake tasting in their exclusive, glass-enclosed Sake Tasting Room. Those seeking a more traditional and exotic experience than the golden hued main dining room can be seated on zabuton cusions …

Centrally located on Post Street just off of Union Square, Postrio is the sort of restaurant San Francisco is famous for. Innovative food that draws from a myriad of cultures, a wine list that has both breadth and depth, a well-designed interior adorned with the works of famous local artists, and an atmosphere at once refined and relaxed makes Postrio one of the finest restaurants in the Bay. Priced reasonably enough for regular fine dining, the restaurant also offers standout dishes to turn any occasion into a special one.

It may be surprising to find a fine dining restaurant that specializes in familiar flavors when so many chefs prefer the exotic, but Town Hall takes the good ol’ American meal to its highest peaks. A large dining room designed to feel like an old school house provides an ambiance as comforting as the food. Executive Chefs Mitchell and Steven Rosenthal along with partner and maitre d' Doug Washington, share their love for refined tradition with dishes like Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Peanut Tasso Crusted Pork Chop. Some diners may even forget the surrounding skyscrapers of SOMA, San Francisco.

Kuleto’s embodies the vintage charm and refined class of historic San Francisco. Lavish marble floors and cathedral-like vaulted ceilings greet diners and immediately plunge them into an atmosphere of sublime sophistication. A 40-foot-long carved wood bar is a highlight, transported from the Palace Hotel and steeped in a history that precedes the 1906 earthquake. While the atmosphere is almost regal in its ostentation, Kuleto’s Northern Italian-inspired menu embodies the satisfaction of a home-cooked meal, albeit with masterful execution. Kuleto’s is an exercise in true sensual gratification, an immensely pleasurable feast for the eyes and the taste buds.

Aziza’s decadent Moroccan food and interior design makes this restaurant a San Francisco favorite. The design of the restaurant is a modern Moroccan atmosphere with hand-carved tables and mosaic glass candleholders adorned in tangerine, royal blue, and saffron. The menu has Moroccan dishes with a Mediterranean and California influence. The dishes are organic and locally produced, with unique and modern twists. Also check out the bar because the drinks are innovative and change according to what’s in season.

Delfina Restaurant sits nestled in the heart of the Mission district among a large range of trend-setting and highly regarded bistros, brasseries, trattorias, rosticerias, taquerias, pizzerias, and eateries. With a menu presented in the traditional Italian style, Executive Chef Craig Stoll creates relatively fine-tuned dishes that explore the entire country of Italy with local, lavish ingredients. Low-level lighting, shiny steel tabletops, a beautiful mosaic of small blue tiles behind the bar, a garden patio, and an open kitchen create an unpretentious exquisiteness that flows through to the wait staff and makes for good meal.

Named after one of the Basque region’s signature dishes, Piperade combines accomplished Chef Gerald Hirigoyen’s robust and unique native cuisine with the Bay Area’s fresh and bustling vibe. Nestled between Telegraph Hill and the Financial District, this warm, chic restaurant attracts a lively crowd. Piperade’s menu focuses on fresh, savory seafood and gourmet touches, and even offers daily prix fixe lunch specials. The Cold Poached Foie Gras with black pepper, sea salt and apple compote as well as the Piperade with sautéed serrano ham and poached egg are promising selections that make this menu stand apart. With an inviting outdoor …

Chef Carlos Altamirano brings more than a little bit of home to his Peruvian restaurant, Mochica. Using spices he brings back from his home country, Chef Altamirano creates dishes common to natives of the South American country, but exquisitely exotic to most Americans. You have your choice of beef heart, beef, chicken, fish, or camarones (shrimp) in the “Anticuchos Mochica” – served with Yukon gold potatoes and ocopa sauce. You may also enjoy the “Languado en Hoja de Platano” – a baked Halibut wrapped in a banana leaf. Finally, wash down these Latin American dishes with a glass of wine, …

If you follow Cortland Avenue until it appears to end, you’ll likely stumble upon Piqueo’s, a charming Peruvian gem specializing in tapas. Showcasing an acclaimed chef from Peru who creates native specialties in his open kitchen, the restaurant feels more like a home than a business. An unassuming exterior conceals a small vibrant space, complete with dim lighting and a sultry atmosphere. Piqueo’s features an extensive tapas selection that will have you walking away at the end of the night feeling like you’ve finally experienced that elusive taste of Peru and its culinary delights at their best.

Destino is lively and casual, and walking inside on an otherwise quiet Monday night can feel like being transported to a South American city during happy hour. The bright walls of the dining room are decorated with religious icons and mirrors of all shapes and sizes. Destino's menu is composed completely of small plates, all infused with flavors that Executive Chef James Schenk grew up with. Examples of the menu include three striking ceviches, tiger prawns with a spicy sofrito puree over plantain-bacon cakes, and a popular Peruvian street food: beef-heart skewers served with aji panca pepper reduction.

As the self-proclaimed “modern American restaurant with a New Orleans accent,” The Elite Café offers Southern-inspired dishes in an Art Deco dining space. You may reminisce about being in the Big Easy while you enjoy the house-made Biscuits and Gravy, the Fried Oyster Po-Boy, or the Roasted Quail with Cornbread. A cocktail list with the likes of a Cajun Martini – made with jalapeno-infused Skyy Vodka and jalapeno-stuffed olives – might even inspire you with a Southern sense of hospitality too. And let’s not forget the 100-bottle wine list either. The Elite Café hopes it can draw out the Southern …