Lady’s Guide to the Best Places to Eat in San Francisco

Today I want to share my guide to the best places to eat in San Francisco with you. This city in Northern California is one of my favorite culinary travel destinations, and the food is some of the best in the world. I’ll show you why.

Best Places to Eat in San Francisco

People often ask me what I miss most about living in San Francisco. My answer is always the same: the food and wine. Eating is one of my favorite things to do in San Francisco.

But what’s a lady in London to do when she goes home to California to await the birth of her nephew and can’t make any firm foodie plans?

A lot, actually. While San Francisco has no shortage of excellent restaurants, some of the best places to eat in San Francisco don’t require reservations.

This is a big benefit on those occasions when I can’t make firm plans or when I just want a few (hundred) marginal calories in addition to the thousands I consume every day I’m in California.

Best Places to Eat in the Marina

On this trip, I had no trouble finding little feasts for every part of the day.

In the Marina, I picked up a sandwich from the adorable Blue Barn Gourmet and my favorite ahi poke wasabi bowl from Pacific Catch. They’re some of the best places to eat in San Francisco for casual meals.

Down the road, I couldn’t resist a mid-afternoon sweet treat from Kara’s Cupcakes. Their fleur de sel chocolate cupcake was a winner that day, and on another occasion I dove into a red velvet one that was equally good.

Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market in San Francisco

But my favorite cupcakes in San Francisco are from Miette, a patisserie in the city’s Ferry Building. It has more of the best places to eat in San Francisco.

On Saturday morning my mother and I headed out to the famous Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market.

We grazed away on everything from Miette’s beautiful gingerbread cupcakes to the famous triple-cream Mt Tam cheese from Cowgirl Creamery.

We also got lattes from Blue Bottle Coffee before sampling fresh oranges and pears.

Best Places to Eat in Pacific Heights, San Francisco

Later that night I had dinner at Pizzeria Delfina in Pacific Heights, another of the best places to eat in San Francisco. They don’t take bookings at all, but my friend and I had a surprisingly short wait for their famous pizzas.

Best Places to Eat in Presidio Heights

The same went for the famous brunch at Ella’s in Presidio Heights.

Jet lag worked in my favor when my mother and I awoke to watch the San Francisco sunrise before arriving early enough to snag a table. We tucked into a feast of lemon-ricotta pancakes and an open-face omelette.

Best Places to Eat in Cow Hollow

Over in Cow Hollow, I met up with a friend at Roam, another of the best places to eat in San Francisco. Roam is a great order-at-the-counter place with burgers so big mine came complete with tortilla chips inside.

I finished off my two weeks of grazing in San Francisco with brunch at the beloved Rose’s Cafe, which does great breakfast pizzas.

My mother and I enjoyed a meal there on my last day of sunshine before returning to the snow in London.

Best Places to Eat in San Francisco

Come to think of it, maybe the food and wine in San Francisco tie in with the weather when it comes to the things I miss most when I’m away (when there’s no fog, anyway).

But I prefer to use the weather as my excuse for decamping to sunny San Diego, which, conveniently, was the next destination on my California trip.

I was off to Point Loma, and I couldn’t wait to eat more good food there. To be continued…

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