The 10 Best Restaurants in SoMa, San Francisco
SoMa is the tech epicenter of San Francisco with eats as rarified and down-to-earth as the sprawling neighborhood. One part casual, one part upscale, SoMa bristles with culinary energy.
These top restaurants in SoMa, San Francisco turn on the culinary firepower in settings refined or casual, but always low-key. Great food, a fun vibe, and maybe even a Michelin star. It’s all here. Don’t forget your hoodie.
1. Saison and the Bar at Saison
Restaurant, Contemporary, Healthy, North American
Chef Josh Skenes scored three stars from the Michelin guide for his 18-course, nearly $300 menu at San Francisco’s Saison. He brings the same exacting technique – and around $150 price tag for five courses – to the menu designed especially for The Bar at Saison. Call it a free-form tasting menu and eat as much or as little as you like of dishes such as Saison reserve caviar and grilled seaweed bread, or broth of rockfish and thistles roasted near the fire.
2. Mourad
Family style, Moroccan
The soaring windows of this 6,000 square-foot restaurant in the former Pacific Telephone Building invite your gaze upward – though the soulful yet modern Moroccan cuisine of Chef Mourad Lahlou refocuses attention on the plate. A tasting menu of ‘snacks’ translates approximately to a $120 meal, but the joy of Mourad is the family-style plates. A lamb shoulder platter, heaped with greens and dusted with cumin salt, is enough for a family or intimate business dinner. Somewhat smaller dishes such as soft-shell crab with avocado, plum and zhug make nice shared appetizers or a meal for one on those days when less is more. Narrow, natural wood tables and a gleaming tile floor complete the vibrantly-hued scene.
4. Luce Restaurant
Restaurant, American
5. Benu
Restaurant, Asian, American, Contemporary, Korean, Chinese
The impressive dark paneled walls and gleaming white stoneware are the first hint that things are serious here. The second hint is Benu’s three Michelin stars. The upwards-of-$300 price tag is the third. Chef Corey Lee custom builds the menu each day, executes it with stunning precision and alternates the number of courses to suit the day’s clientele. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes. Dinnertime averages about three hours, but the time and money are well spent.
6. Marlowe
Bistro, Restaurant, American
7. Fringale Restaurant
Bistro, Restaurant, Bar, Dessert, French
8. Dumpling Time
Hole in the Wall, Chinese
The thump of bass seeping out the windows of Dumpling Time eases the wait for a table at this busy dumplings-and-beer joint. The signature dish is the pan-seared gyoza (the seafood version has a spinach skin), but the small plates are perfect for sharing among a group. Go for the char siu bao (ask for it seared), shrimp toast, the beet-colored tom yum goong and the extra-large xiao long bao. Known as king-dum (get it?), it’s served with a straw to carefully sip the delicious broth inside.
9. Pawn Shop
Gastropub, Spanish
Dial 1 on the golden phone outside this former pawn shop and Jerry, the maitre’d by way of a Vegas comedy show, buzzes you into Pawn Shop, a restaurant hidden behind a secret display-case entrance. With your senses a little disoriented but your sense of fun intact, dig into the small bites and larger plates done Spanish-style, complete with déclassé décor. You cannot go wrong with fresh local oysters or the gambas al ajillo (shrimp with garlic), but the spicy beef croquette and lamb lollipop are truly decadent.
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