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San Francisco > Where to eat in San Francisco

In San Francisco you can find a wide variety of food that is suitable for all palates and budgets.

The best areas to eat

Depending on the type of food and your budget, there are hundreds of options to choose from in San Francisco. Here are our recommendations of some of our favorite places.

Fisherman’s Wharf

The old port of Fisherman's Wharf is one of the liveliest areas of San Francisco, both when eating and also later in the evening. In this area you can find all kinds of restaurants, although the culinary specialty is seafood.

If you enjoy eating fish, the best place to try it is at one of the street stalls where they make crab cocktails and fresh fish cooked to all tastes.

Chinatown

The picturesque Chinese neighborhood of San Francisco is an interesting area to try the best dishes in Chinese cuisine. The area tends to be much more lively at midday than at night.

Union Square

Any time of the day is a good time to visit the Union Square area. In its surroundings you can find restaurants to suit all tastes. Fast food, oriental, African, American, Italian, Mexican and Spanish foods are some of the hundreds of options which are available in the heart of San Francisco.

Little Italy

The most European area of San Francisco has much to offer its visitors. The North Beach neighborhood, better known as Little Italy San Francisco, is packed with restaurants where you can enjoy a good pasta dish and the finest wines taking us to the Plaza Navona.

Lunch and dinner times

Normally the American Lunch is not the most important meal of the day, and so Americans tend to eat a full dinner earlier in the evening than in other cultures. The normal time to eat lunch at restaurants is between 11:30 and 2:30, while dinner is between 6:30 and 9:30 in the evening.

Tips

In the same way as other cities in the United States, many of the workers in San Francisco depend on tips. Many restaurants include the tip as part of the bill, but otherwise it is customary to leave between 10% and 20% of the price of the meal.

Smoking forbidden

On entering a restaurant you should not expect to find an ashtray or a smoking area, as it is forbidden to smoke in restaurants, bars and public spaces. In some cases this prohibition even extends to some parks and squares.