The Top 10 Restaurants In San Francisco's Lower Haight California

The Lower Haight is an underrated pocket of San Francisco that deserves a second look. With everything from boutiques, record stores, bars, and restaurants, it is difficult to be bored in this neighborhood. The variety of restaurants span from ethnic to classic American and from swanky to homey, but no matter the atmosphere, the food is almost always top notch. Here’s a list of the 10 best dining establishments in the area.

1. Thep Phanom

Restaurant, Thai

Thep Phanom is a cozy, family-owned Thai restaurant that has been operating in the Lower Haight since 1986. The menu covers all the basics from coconut soup and spicy curries to an assortment of traditional small plates. Almost everything on the menu can be ordered as tapas, which is great for those who like to try a little bit of everything. With a wine list that is so affordable it’s impossible to resist a bottle, Thep Phanom is the perfect date spot if you’re craving something cheap, ethnic, and delicious.

2. Uva Enoteca

Restaurant, Bar, Wine Bar, Italian

Located on the corner of Haight and Steiner, Uva Enoteca is a stylish little Italian joint thats serves rich and simple dishes. The antipasti plates and pastas will satisfy anyone’s Italian cravings, but the traditional-style pizzas are what keep people coming back for more. The stretchy dough and homemade sauce make it impossible to make a bad choice. Try the Anchovy, with capers, Calabrian chilis, mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes, and pair it with a nice pinot noir. Bravissimo!

3. Indian Oven

Restaurant, Indian

San Francisco has no shortage of good Indian cuisine, but the Lower Haight’s Indian Oven is one of the best. Delicious dishes like lamb vindaloo (lamb curry and potatoes in a very hot curry sauce) or saag paneer (homemade cheese sautéed with spinach and spices) pair beautifully with the restaurant’s freshly baked naan. Tucked on the corner of Lausatt and Fillmore, Indian Oven is a quiet, well-kept secret that’s open seven days a week.

4. Rosamunde Sausage Grill

Restaurant, German

Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a quick service sausage restaurant that is known for their large variety of quality meats and homemade recipes. Their sausages range from boar to duck, bratwurst to weisswurst, and beer sausage to andouille — the list goes on and continues to evolve. Located next to Tornado, one of the city’s best craft beer bars, Rosamunde has long satisfied Haight Street’s buzzed patrons.

5. Ricky Bobby

Restaurant, American

Ricky Bobby is an American restaurant that puts a spin on Southern-style cooking. The menu is an on-going list of guilty pleasures from the burger that has been infused with bacon to the French fries that are smothered with pulled pork. With $5 beers and wine at $30 a bottle, Ricky Bobby is sure to have you in a comfort food coma.

6. Stone Bowl Plus

Restaurant, Korean, Seafood

One of the Lower Haight’s more recent additions is a modern Korean restaurant that is adding some new flavor to the neighborhood. Stone Bowl Plus has a menu that is compiled of many different rice dishes incorporating seafood, chicken, and beef. The bibimbap, Stone Bowl’s signature dish, is a choice of meat, an assortment of seasonal vegetables, and a fried egg all served over steamed rice. To make the experience even more authentic, almost every dish is also accompanied by small dishes of kimchi and other pickled vegetables.

7. Maven

Restaurant, Bar, Gastropub, American

If you have ever found yourself struggling to find a quality cocktail in the Lower Haight, Maven is the solution you’ve been seeking. Maven is a dark swanky lounge, located on the corner of Haight and Steiner, that offers a full menu and house cocktails to pair with every dish. The Chestnut Street, an autumn-spiced bourbon drink, coupled with the winter squash soup would put even Ebenezer Scrooge in the holiday spirit.

8. Love N’ Haight Deli & Cafe

Cafe, Deli, Vegetarian

Love N’ Haight Deli is a vegetarian sandwich shop that has been changing the attitude of carnivores for years. This family-run neighborhood staple offers everything from vegetarian smoked duck to a vegan burger. Although there is a small selection of meat options on the menu, it is the variety of vegetarian choices that inspire this deli’s creativity.

9. Wing Wings

Restaurant, Halal, American

On the corner of Haight and Webster, there is a tiny storefront that is dishing out some of the best chicken wings in San Francisco. Wing Wings has everything anyone could ever want in a chicken wing restaurant. Their wings are hearty and come from all-natural free-range chickens, which are then complemented by ten sauces and rubs from which to choose. They also offer other country-style favorites like biscuits, gravy, and potato salad. With a delivery service and a kitchen that stays open until either midnight or 2am, Wing Wings is an essential part of the neighborhood.

10. Kate’s Kitchen

Restaurant, American

Kate’s Kitchen is a home-style restaurant that offers simple American cuisine. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Kate’s dishes will inspire the inner farmer in anyone. This picnic-style restaurant has an agricultural theme, from the daily soups to the long list of freshly squeezed juices. Kate’s recently started offering live music on Tuesday and Friday nights along with a happy hour that lasts from 5pm to 9pm. So if you find yourself in the area, swing by for a quick bite and a show.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.