San Francisco food is AMAZING. I had always thought American food unimaginative – in my mind, American food was oily, plus-sized, and filled with unhealthy ingredients (fat, sugar, salt)…

Boy – I take it all back. Obviously I simply wasn’t eating at the right places, because my San Francisco trip was spectacularly filled with the most amazing drool-inducing food I could’ve hoped for and more! Without further ado, let’s get on to the food, shall we?

Table of contents

• Breakfast for the ages
  • Tartine Bakery
  • Mama’s
• Fusion food
  • Kitchen Story (Thai)
  • Brenda’s (Cajun)
  • Surisan (Korean)
• Fast food
  • In-N-Out
  • Chipotle
• Others
  • Good Mong Kok Bakery
  • Farmer’s Market

Breakfast for the ages

Tartine Bakery

• Operating hours: Complicated (it differs from day-to-day), but 9:00am – 7:00pm should be safe
• Location: 600 Guerrero St
• Tourist sites nearby: Balmy Street Alley (~30 mins walk, so wouldn’t term it as nearby)
• What we ordered (in order of preference): Brioche bread pudding (trying to convince my sister to make this at home), pain au jamon (the burnished croissant accent was surprisingly good!), cinnamon bun (candied orange tinge = sheer genius), lemon cream tart, banana cream tart (good, but very reminiscent of bannaple pie)
• Cost: < $10 per person

The freshness and flavor of the baked goods here is just… indescribable. Would 100% recommend if you’ve got the time and the inclination to drop by the hipster part of San Francisco!

Note: We got here at 9:00AM, there was a decent queue but it moved pretty quickly (~15mins wait)

Mama’s

• Operating hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8am – 3pm
• Location: 1701 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133, Estados Unidos
• Tourist sites nearby: Coit Tower, Chinatown
• What we ordered (in order of preference): French toast (got the sampler – really interesting cranberry orange infused toast), dungerees crab benedict (yum! Super lucky this was in season 🦀), our famous monte carlo sandwich (creating it – the french toast way), farmer’s omerlette (goat cheese and crispy bacon goodness) ++ for our Mama’s souvenir, we also bought Olallieberry Jam (an in-breed of blackberry, raspberry, and…. Too many other types of berries I can’t remember)
• Cost: $20-30 per person, including tip

Mama’s is a San Francisco food institution that’s been around since 1951 – wherever I went, everyone raved about this tiny breakfast store. So, I knew without a doubt that I wasn’t leaving this city until I had tasted this gem. When we got there at 8AM on a Sunday morning, a queue had already formed – with 20 people in front of us. We ended up queueing for 45 minutes (supposedly, this is considered pretty short as it was a holiday so most locals were out of the city). Crazy, I know… Good thing the owner was super friendly (the restaurant’s still family-owned and run – now by the 3^rd generation), and was eager to point out their bestsellers and his personal favorites on the menu while folks were patiently waiting. Then it was finally our turn – and here my commentary ends, as I was too busy stuffing my face to note all the decors around the restaurant

Note: The restaurant is a 49-seater, so the goal is to be part of the first 49 people in the morning. If you don’t make it, then you’d simply have to queue like the rest of us – and wait for the early birds to finish their meal

Fusion at its best

Kitchen Story

• Operating hours: 8:00am – 3:00pm; 5:00pm – 10:00pm
• Location: 3499 16th Street
• Tourist sites nearby: Castro Theater (~15 mins walk, you’ll need it after your heavy lunch here)
• What we ordered: Mom’s benedict, Crab benedict, Millionaire’s benedict, Belly Rancheros, Deep fried mascarpone filled French toast, Pop sandwich
• Cost: ~$30 per person

Candied bacon? Check. Unlimited mimosas? Check. Perfect place to chill and enjoy? Check check check! If I’m speechless and not being terribly helpful with my descriptions… it’s because I’m too busy reminiscing fondly and drooling over pictures of the food I’m posting below

Brenda’s

• Operating hours: 8:00am – 10:00pm (generally, except M/T when it’s only open until 3:00pm)
• Location: 652 Polk
• Tourist sites nearby: In the middle of nowhere (seriously!)
• What we ordered: Crawfish beignets, onion soup gratinee, shrimp and grits, BBQ pork ribs, BFC (fried chicken), creole shrimp pot pie, mother-in-law po boy with fried shrimps, banana Ghirardelli chocolate chip bread
• Cost: ~$30 per person

Fancy some Cajun food? Have no idea what Cajun food is? Same here! Haha, I love reading romance novels, and quite a few of them have been set in Louisiana – with select scenes dedicated to the mouthwatering Cajun food (there’s always room for food in a good romance). Therefore, when I heard about Brenda’s, I was incredibly excited to try out purportedly one of the best Cajun French soul food restaurants in the city.

By this point of the trip, I was starting to feel like a stuffed pig. Still, no regrets. Who knew Creole food was so sinfully good?

Note: If you’re coming here, either come really early or come really late. We arrived at 8:30pm and still had to wait for 35minutes… Crazy!

Surisan

• Operating hours: 8:30am – 2:30pm; 5:00pm – 10:00pm
• Location: 505 Beach Street
• Tourist sites nearby: Fisherman’s Wharf
• What we ordered: Millionaire’s bacon w/ Yukon strips, penne bulgogi, Glazed KFC bap (sweet soy glazed KFC, soy reduction, Kewpie drizzle), Beef and kimchi purgatory (beef, kimchi, stewed tomato broth over rice), Belly pot (tender braised pork belly, Bibim guksu (somen noodle, pork belly, vegetables, gochujang sauce)
• Cost: ~$25 per person

Surisan’s dishes were a delightful take on beloved Korean dishes, artfully and tastefully deconstructed the American way – and is BEYOND A DOUBT my FAVORITE restaurant in San Francisco. If I could only choose one restaurant I could go back to, Surisan would be it. Don’t trust me? Try it for yourself – no regrets!!!

Fast Food

In-N-Out

• Operating hours: 10:30am – 1:30am
• Location: 333 Jefferson
• Tourist sites nearby: Fisherman’s Wharf
• What we ordered: Double double (their specialty!), Vanilla milkshake
• Cost: < $5 per person

Fast food at its finest – it is truly amazing how an institution can survive on serving just one dish really really well. In this case, that would be their double double (double the meat, double the cheese – they forgot to mention, double the calories too!)

Chipotle

• Operating hours: Depends on the location
• Locations: Loads across San Francisco, see link for exact locations
• Tourist site nearby: Fisherman’s Wharf (if you go to the one at 333 Jefferson Street)
• What we ordered: Steak burrito (bursting with beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole)
• Cost: < $10 per person

Chipotle is a starving penny pincher’s dream. The food is so amazingly filling and so incredibly cheap (by San Francisco standards!) If you’re not a heavy eater, I’d suggest you split a burrito with someone. [Note: even I found it difficult to finish, and friends of mine know how much I’m capable of eating!]

Others

Good Mong Kok Bakery

• Operating hours: 7:00am – 6:00pm
• Location: 1039 Stockton St
• Tourist sites nearby: Chinatown
• What we ordered: Beef siomai, turnip cake, shrimp dumpling, chives and shrimp dumpling, pork and century egg porridge, egg custard bun
• Cost: < $10 per person

It’s crazy how you can take a Chinese person anywhere and they’ll always end up craving for Chinese food. That was certainly the case for my family… Despite how much we were loving the incredibly yummy food San Francisco had to offer… by Day 3, we were all hankering for some good old-fashioned Chinese dimsum. So voila – off we went to try Good Mong Kok Bakery

The first time we went was at 5:30pm – DO NOT make the same mistake as me. By 5:30pm, they barely had anything left, so we ended up just buying whatever was left (the beef siomai was superb though)

The next day, we tried our luck again – this time at 10:30am. At this time, there was already a pretty decent queue, so we ended up waiting for 30 minutes. Good Mong Kok Bakery was super well worth the wait though – will never forget the succulent shrimp dumplings, the custard-rich bun, the ridiculously meaty beef siomai, and the fragrant turnip cake *insert drool emoji* San Francisco may be pricey, but it’s damn good value for money

Only think to note is – everything you buy here is for takeaway only, so we ended up just hunkering down on a random bench in Chinatown to eat (LOL I would do it all over again to be honest, yum yum yum!)

Farmers Market

• Operating hours: TThS (10:00am to 2:00pm)
• Location: One Ferry Building
• Tourist sites nearby: Pier 39 (~15 minutes walk)
• What we ordered:
  • PRMC: Birch beer boylan’s cane sugar soda, PRMC breakfast sandwich (maple & sage breakfast sausage, organic aragula, fried egg, sharp cheddar)
  • Mariposa: SF Steak Sandwich (roast beef, caramelized onions, and greens with mustard-mayo), Cherry Cheese Danish
  • San Francisco Fish Company: Dungeness Crab Burrito, Clam chowder
  • Out the door: Hanoi beef noodle soup

Can’t decide what you want to eat, but eager to check out one of the most famous fresh farm food market? Then Farmers Market is for you! If possible, do this on a Saturday as that’s when all the vendors come out in full force, and you’ll see the market in action the likes of which you’ve never seen before

Go as early as possible, or definitely before noon, as the crush of people then gets unbearable and you’d be stuck waiting in line for a long time

Walk around first before deciding on which stall to eat from – and don’t buy too much from any one stall. Each stall is unique from the other, and they serve up some really good food, so try to check out as many as possible

Got other food recommendations? Do let me know – would love to try them next time I’m in town!

Interested in checking out San Francisco (beyond the food scene)? Then please do check out my other San Francisco travel blogs as well!

FIVE DAY ITINERARY

Day 1: Coit Tower, Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf

Day 2: Biking across Golden Gate Bridge

Day 3: Hipster areas in San Francisco: Mission District, Painted Ladies, 16th Avenue Tiled Steps

Day 4: Lombard Street, Chinatown, Union Square shopping

Day 5: Farmer’s Market, Land’s End, Baker Beach

SAN FRANCISCO TWO DAY ITINERARY: All the must-see tourist spots in 2 days

FOOD GUIDE: Eating my way through San Francisco – top picks!

BEST PHOTO SPOTS FOR GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

For future food reference

• Chloe’s Cafe
• Mission Beach Cafe
• Bi-Rite Creamery
• B. Patisserie: kouign amann
• Dandelion Chocolate
• Zero Zero
• Swan Oyster Depot
• Nob Hill Cafe (Italian)
• Ike’s Place (vegetarian sandwiches)