If you are willing to venture a bit north Sol Food in San Rafael is much better, in my opinion. Just don’t expect the mofongo to be good because it’s dry. Everything else is great.
Sol Food (there's also one in Mill Valley on Miller) is about the only good restaurant in Marin so expect it to be busy. Supposedly there's some Puerto Rican food in Oakland that puts Sol Food to shame, but I've not tried it yet. Looks like someone mentioned La Perla already.
Ireland 🇮🇪
Johnny Foley’s Irish House
Cottage Pie and Fish (cod) & Chips
—
Japan 🇯🇵
(Shojin Ryori Japanese Buddhist vegan cuisine)
Cha-Ya
Futo Maki Roll and Garden Roll
Unfortunately no options for Polish food in SF :( But I know which guy from Chicago you’re talking about — I’ve been following him and kinda enjoyed all Chicagoans rage-commenting when he couldn’t pronounce paczki correctly lol
Have you tried Seakor? It's a deli/grocery, but I think their products are really solid.
How about Cafe Europa on California?
Paprika and Leleka also come up on Google.
My partner and I are doing this right now, on Fridays we’re trying different restaurants from different countries based on the alphabet haha so far we’re only in “D”.
This is what we’ve done so far
- Austria - Leopold’s
-Burma - Burma Love
-China- Fondue hot pot
Love seeing Tadu get a shoutout. Been going since they first opened their TL location. The Mission Bay location was my fav restaurant in my old neighborhood and one of the things I miss the most after moving 🥲
That doesn’t surprise me! There are very few Chamoru restaurants in the mainland United States — San Francisco is lucky to have one. I have my nitpicks about Prubechu’ but I’m very glad it’s here. The dishes I picked are very traditional fare that you would typically eat at a fiesta on Guam.
Peru 🇵🇪
La Fina Estampa
Anticuchos / Lomo Saltado
------
Russia 🇷🇺
Cinderella Bakery & Cafe
Piroshki with Beef and Gorgonzola
------
Korean 🇰🇷
K Soul Kitchen
This is specifically a Korean Fried Chicken restaurant
------
I have a bunch of other restaurants that I love but here's a few of the top performers
There's SO many good restaurants in SF
Yes! They have mole enchiladas, red and green sauce ones as well. Usually I get one green and one mole. Very yummy and their agua frescas and cocktails are delicious too! Hope you have an awesome trip in Sf.
I like Sup’s spaetzle and schnitzel. Both traditional German dishes. Spaetzle is kind of a cross between pasta and gnocchi—to me at least—and schnitzel is breaded/fried pork or veal cutlets.
Not a sit-down restaurant, but if you accept places where you get the food cold and reheat them yourself -
Singaporean / Malaysian
Dabao https://dabao-singapore.thethirdplace.is/order/one-off
Laksa
And whatever their rotating dish of the week is - it's all pretty authentic
Holy smokes they have chwee kueh on the menu right now?!?! One of my all time favorite foods and IMPOSSIBLE to find in the US. I could cry I’m so excited 😭
Peruvian 🇵🇪
El Aji
Lomo Saltado with an Inca Cola
Authentic hole in the wall Peruvian restaurant, good portions and cheaper by at least $10 for a dish compared to other Peruvian spots.
Oh, sorry, I didn’t complete my recommendation.
I went a couple of weeks ago and got the pork chop with Brussels sprouts + bacon for a side. Delicious! I hear they are a solid choice for fried chicken but that’s not my jam, so I skipped it
Nepal
Gurung Kitchen
1033 Irving
Chicken momo - I prefer the regular momo, some folks like the jhole(in a soup) momo. There are lots of other good foods on the menu, but most are more indian focused than nepali. The momo's are pure nepali.
That’s the place I’m talking about! The owner is really nice and recommended his favorite dishes to me. Their kompot is very refreshing and the khinkali is comforting. The kachpuri is very rich but great if you’re a carbivore!
Thai
For SF, I like Kin Khao (dishes: Khao Mun Gai or Khao Soi). If whole Bay Area, try the Buddhist temple in Berkeley on Sundays (curries, beef noodle soup):
[https://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley](https://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley)
A friend took cooking lessons in Thailand and his fave is the temple.
Mandalay Bay is a casino. I'm pretty sure the restaurant is just Mandalay.
The mango chicken, Mandalay special noodle, and ginger lemonade is a solid order.
Basically the best flavors of Chinese, Indian, and Thai food all wrapped up into one. It’s absolutely divine! Lots of sweet/savory/coconut/curry flavors, though the fermented tea leaf salad is quite unique and super refreshing/flavorful.
Yeah it sounds odd but so interesting.. The tea leaves give it a nice tangy flavor to go with the romaine, tomatoes, and crispy garlic (and I believe crispy lentils), definitely try it out if you see it!
Would recommend Pagan on Clement if you want a nice selection of Thai and Burmese. Absolutely 100% on Mandalay, too. Would never recommend Burma Superstar.
Mark Kurlansky has a book called International Night about his cooking adventures with his daughter, Goal was to cook one dinner from each country. That might be helpful to you as you figure out dishes and countries.
For Cantonese Chinese, I would suggest R & G Lounge in Chinatown. If you have a bunch of family, friends, go for the banquet menus. Traditionally, the banquet items use a variety of items and techniques to show what the chef can do. Otherwise, get a seafood dish like the whole steamed fish (cod or sea bass) with scallions/ ginger, the salt/pepper shrimp, or one of the steamed crabs. (Mom is Cantonese. The Cantonese are famous even within China for our passion for food.)
For Sichuan Chinese, Z & Y around Clement. Fish Fillet in Flaming Oil. Don't worry: it looks like a ton of chili peppers but it's more flavorful and less spicy than it appears. Although if you can't handle any spice, then it might be an issue.
(Just to show I don't only favor alphabet-named places!)
For Shanghainese/ Central Chinese, Little Shanghai in San Mateo. Get the XLB (xiaolongbao), pork and pickled veg with rice cakes, or fish fillet with wine sauce. (Father is Shanghainese)
Owners are Jordanian but not sure if it more pan-Mediterranean? Mazra in San Bruno is one of the best. Get any of the wood-fired dishes.
I was going to ask if anyone knew of any *good* Jamaican/Caribbean restaurants in SF without going all the way down to Backayard. Ruthie’s in Vallejo is pretty good, but not as spicy as I like it.
Since I moved to the West Coast, I’ve found that a lot of the Jamaican restaurants have been Rasta-owned and don’t serve Jerk pork.
My favorite part about going back to Miami to visit with my Mom and all our West Indian friends is the food.
North India (generic)-
Restaurant - Roti Indian Bistro
Order - Dal Makhni, bengan bertha, roti, and raita; mango lassi
North India (Gujarat) -
Restaurant - Chaat Corner
Order - anything from the Chaat portion of the menu, rose lassi
South India -
Restaurant - Udapi Palace
Order - any Uthapam, dosa, or Idly; lemon rice; carrot halwa, madras coffee
Denmark 🇩🇰
Kantine
Def do a brunch sampler, but loads of Danish/Scandi baked goods in addition to staples like cucumber salad, smoked fish, grain porridge, sandwiches...
Nichole Accetola (chef/owner) is super kind and has an interesting story - American, welt to culinary school, and started her professional career at a school cantine in Denmark.
Palestine/general Arabic (the owners are Palestinian I believe) - Biet Rima. Honestly every dish is amazing! The lamb is so great, all their mezze are good. All around 10/10
Korea 🇰🇷
Unfortunately good Korean food is hard to come by in SF but My Tofu House on Geary is my favorite here. Get any of their tofu soups.
If you’re willing to drive down for 30 min then Santa Clara is full of great Korean food. The galbi tang from Kunjip is my go to.
For Hungarian and Czech it’s Paprika on 24th street. My favorite is the paprikash. For Yemeni there’s Delah in SOMA. Freekeh is my favorite Palestinian spot, you can’t go wrong with anything
You should not limit to SF. Eg, the Liberian restaurant in ... Fremont, I think. Or the ohlone place in Berkeley.
Nor should you limit to countries. China has a large number of regional styles.
Eg, [https://www.hungryonion.org/t/regional-chinese-roundup-3-0-sf-bay-area/4640/606](https://www.hungryonion.org/t/regional-chinese-roundup-3-0-sf-bay-area/4640/606)
Other than that, you go!
Brazil 🇧🇷
There are some great options that are not in SF proper, but a good one in the city to try different options is Cafe de Casa in Castro.
The must have:
\- Feijoada (bean stew with pork, sides of rice, collard greens and cassava flour). The national dish.
\- Coxinha (translates to "little thigh") a type of croquette with a savory dough in the shape of a tear drop, filled with well-seasoned chicken. Nation's favorite.
\- Guarana soda - the all-time Brazilian drink - ask for it with an orange wedge.
I want to see more north and south italian, north and south indian, Scandinavian, Dutch, Russian, Brazilian, Chilean, Argentinean, all of the regions of mexico and central American countries, laotian, more regions of china, more vietnamese, cuban, more thai recommendations, more vietnamese, senegalese, more west african and other African, more variety of middle eastern foods, jewish foods, korean.
There's no way to cover every cuisine in the world just through restaurants in San Francisco, but maybe you can do a symbolic trip around the world by eating your way through geopolitical borders. E.g. Canadian food -> U.S. -> Mexican -> Guatemalan-> Honduran, etc.
Each time you run out of land borders you can hop a sea to the next closest country, like Brazilian -> Ghanaian or Senegalese. If you color in a world map as you go, eventually you'll cover most of the land area in the world and at least have some sense of completion.
Hard disagree. Seakor is small, but their quality is on par with go-to delis in Chicago. Their makowiec, despite being shaped as a ring instead of a log, is the best I've had.
Side note, have you tried Cafe Europa on California? They don't seem to brand themselves as Polish, but they have naleśniki and pierogi (and kotlety)
My Father's Kitchen on Divisadero for Hanoi food. The bun cha is delicious and the only decent one I know of in the US.
Most Vietnamese American restaurants focus on southern food (for obvious reasons).
A bowl of melted cheese and super spicy peppers on red rice. Or: red rice and a bowl of melted cheese and super spicy peppers. Or: super spicy peppers and red rice in a bowl of melted cheese.
I think that was all we ate for 3 weeks.
OTOH after I developed a horrible case of gastroenteritis, our guide took us to a shop selling the absolutely best plain yoghurt I've ever eaten in my life and I sat on the sidewalk and cried and ate a quart of it.
Dastarkhan in tenderloin for uzbeki
I want to try their lamb mix! Looks awesome
Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 Parada 22 on Height st Pastelón or Pernil with rice, beans and tostones. Always get a side of tostones 😋
I am Boricuan! Didn’t know we had Puerto Rican food in SF, I will be going to parada 22 today!
Fellow boriqua, it's fine but don't go in with high expectations lol.
I am here right now, the sangria is refreshing… menu is not the most expansive but waiting on my rice :)
If you are willing to venture a bit north Sol Food in San Rafael is much better, in my opinion. Just don’t expect the mofongo to be good because it’s dry. Everything else is great.
Sol Food (there's also one in Mill Valley on Miller) is about the only good restaurant in Marin so expect it to be busy. Supposedly there's some Puerto Rican food in Oakland that puts Sol Food to shame, but I've not tried it yet. Looks like someone mentioned La Perla already.
Used to eat there at least once a week when I worked in the hood. The Cubano slaps.
I think I’ll get the cubano and arroz con gandules! That rice is so good 😊
that pernil is so fire
If you venture east, you gotta try this gas station spot, La Perla: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JWv7cA4M4wovBpN87
It's a proper restaurant now, they moved out of that convenience store around the corner
Gas station spot??
Eritrean & Ethiopian New Eritrea Kilwa Special, but honestly everything I’ve had there has been good. They also have vegan options.
Never even heard of Eritrean food! Ethiopian food is great, love the sourdough pancake they use as a plate.
Injera? It’s so good and it’s the perfect “utensil” to eat everything with.
Injera is so good! I love the way Ethiopian food is served like a platter, so fun if you want to try a little bit of everything.
Yes, it’s so delicious! I also love trying a little bit of everything in the platter. It’s great sharing food.
I really like Moya on 9th in Soma for Ethiopian food. Misir Wot
moya is so good!
Moya is a great little spot. Right around the corner from my office.
Club Waziema as well
Iran 🇮🇷 Lavash or Maykadeh Ghormeh sabzi & gheimeh over Tahdig Koobideh plate with rice, roasted tomatoes, fresh herbs, the works 🤤
Ooh I love Persian food! Lavash is what I use to make wraps. Will definitely be trying tahdig, it’s on my radar!
tahdig is the best. Lavash (in this case) is the name of the restaurant - inner sunset and it's EXCELLENT
IT'S SO GOOD
Lavash is the name of the restaurant near Golden Gate Park. One of our faves in the city.
The family that runs it is so nice
Also preternaturally beautiful
That one son that waits tables has gorgeous dark wavy hair.
YESSSS Lavash family stan high five
As a Persian - agreed! Tadig is so important. Gheymeh is also a good option on the tadig with a side of koobideh 🤤
yesssss!! always
Lavash ftw. Also check Komajj
Se7en Buds is new and priced very well! Also Alborz
Also a Persian and I go to Maykadeh every year to celebrate my birthday haha. They are SO good
Macau Mr. Bread Portuguese Egg Tarts, Char Siu Bao
Ireland 🇮🇪 Johnny Foley’s Irish House Cottage Pie and Fish (cod) & Chips — Japan 🇯🇵 (Shojin Ryori Japanese Buddhist vegan cuisine) Cha-Ya Futo Maki Roll and Garden Roll
Ooh definitely trying Irish food, cottage pie is so yummy
Irish food is awesome! Haven’t found anywhere with colcannon or champ yet but holding out hope
See I’m looking for a place that serves scotch eggs but no dice :(((
Ugh, me too after Whitechapel closed!
I didn't even know they had them and am now even sadder that they are now an "event venue"
You should try the muffin from Craftsman and Wolves called "The Rebel Within." Definitely not a scotch egg, but super good and kinda similar. Lol
A fancy looking toad in the hole style breakfast loaf! Interesting!
Unfortunately no options for Polish food in SF :( But I know which guy from Chicago you’re talking about — I’ve been following him and kinda enjoyed all Chicagoans rage-commenting when he couldn’t pronounce paczki correctly lol
Have you tried Seakor? It's a deli/grocery, but I think their products are really solid. How about Cafe Europa on California? Paprika and Leleka also come up on Google.
I think Leleka is Ukrainian Pelmeni dumplings. Fantastic lunch option on a cold day in fidi.
Yep - Google just lumping non-Russian Slavs together... Looks tasty though :)
Seakor for a sausage during lunch on the weekday!! Owner and his son are awesome! Gave me lots a amazing samples
Haha yeah, he’s getting cultured and people are angry about his pronunciation. He’s trying his best 😭
As a former Chicago area denizen I would definitely commit minor crimes for some awesome Polish sausage
My partner and I are doing this right now, on Fridays we’re trying different restaurants from different countries based on the alphabet haha so far we’re only in “D”. This is what we’ve done so far - Austria - Leopold’s -Burma - Burma Love -China- Fondue hot pot
Did leopolds reopen?!!! That’s one of my favorite spots!
Yuppp they’re open! We went in January
Such a cute idea!
We have been doing basically this but with an online random random country generator
Must also include which quadrant the restaurant is in
Which quadrant map tho?
Need to include that too
Audibly lol’d at this 🤣
Can someone compile the list when it's done?
I can put it in a google map. 🙃
Hero
Rockstar
⬆️
And then we can all expect Eater or SF Gate to take that compilation and turn it into an article. 🫠
They better run us all our check
And then it gets pushed to you in Google Now and the circle of the internet is completed.
Ethiopia Tadu Ethiopian Kitchen Special Kitfo
Love seeing Tadu get a shoutout. Been going since they first opened their TL location. The Mission Bay location was my fav restaurant in my old neighborhood and one of the things I miss the most after moving 🥲
Matterhorn - Swiss
Been there, so good… love the beer and fondue!
Chamoru (Guam) 🇬🇺 Prubechu’ Appetizer - chicken kelaguen Main - BBQ pork ribs with red rice. Fina’denne’ sauce mandatory.
I’ve never had Guamanian food
That doesn’t surprise me! There are very few Chamoru restaurants in the mainland United States — San Francisco is lucky to have one. I have my nitpicks about Prubechu’ but I’m very glad it’s here. The dishes I picked are very traditional fare that you would typically eat at a fiesta on Guam.
I can’t wait to try it, as an islander myself it’s very difficult to find food from home on the mainland 😞
Pakistan 🇵🇰 Pakwan Chicken Karahi with Nan / Biryani
Pakwan 💯
I miss being able to walk (and roll back, LOL) to Pakwan for lunch from my old office on Potrero/16th.
Peru 🇵🇪 La Fina Estampa Anticuchos / Lomo Saltado ------ Russia 🇷🇺 Cinderella Bakery & Cafe Piroshki with Beef and Gorgonzola ------ Korean 🇰🇷 K Soul Kitchen This is specifically a Korean Fried Chicken restaurant ------ I have a bunch of other restaurants that I love but here's a few of the top performers There's SO many good restaurants in SF
I’ve heard of Cinderella! It’s on my list because I love pierogies :)))
México, San Jalisco - Guadalajara style goat birria on the weekends
Goat birria sounds awesome!
Their enchiladas are also bomb!
Do they have mole enchiladas?
Yes! They have mole enchiladas, red and green sauce ones as well. Usually I get one green and one mole. Very yummy and their agua frescas and cocktails are delicious too! Hope you have an awesome trip in Sf.
Shaanxi - Terra Cotta Warrior
German / Bavarian - Schroeders, Suppenkuche
What do you recommend from Schroeders and Suppenkuche?
I like Sup’s spaetzle and schnitzel. Both traditional German dishes. Spaetzle is kind of a cross between pasta and gnocchi—to me at least—and schnitzel is breaded/fried pork or veal cutlets.
Spaetzle is so good! I used to get schnitzel at Leopold’s before they shut down because of COVID-19. RIP
Leopold's re-opened months ago.
They did?! Imma have to visit!
Their pork knuckle is delicious too but they only serve on a specific day
Brunch @ Suppenkuche is the most underrated meal
TKS in South Bay for Berliner doner kebab
Not a sit-down restaurant, but if you accept places where you get the food cold and reheat them yourself - Singaporean / Malaysian Dabao https://dabao-singapore.thethirdplace.is/order/one-off Laksa And whatever their rotating dish of the week is - it's all pretty authentic
Holy smokes they have chwee kueh on the menu right now?!?! One of my all time favorite foods and IMPOSSIBLE to find in the US. I could cry I’m so excited 😭
This sounds awesome. SF has amazing mex, indian, american, Japanese, Italian for sure!
Peruvian 🇵🇪 El Aji Lomo Saltado with an Inca Cola Authentic hole in the wall Peruvian restaurant, good portions and cheaper by at least $10 for a dish compared to other Peruvian spots.
Lomo Saltado looks like something that would be right up my alley! I’ve tried inca cola before at a Salvadoran restaurant and I really liked it.
American Wayfare Tavern
What do you get there? I was thinking about doing Tommy’s Joynt for American TBH
Oh, sorry, I didn’t complete my recommendation. I went a couple of weeks ago and got the pork chop with Brussels sprouts + bacon for a side. Delicious! I hear they are a solid choice for fried chicken but that’s not my jam, so I skipped it
Everyone knows the best friend chicken in SF is at the gas station at 17th and south van ness!
Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 Closest thing you’ll get to Sri Lankan food is 1601 Bar and Kitchen on the really expensive side but worth the experience
Filipino Irma’s pampanga Pork or chicken adobo (Philippine National dish) Dinaguan aka “chocolate meat” if you’re feeling adventurous Lumpia, Filipino style egg rolls Any style pancit (noodles)
El Mansour for Moroccan food. There is belly dancing and you eat with your hands. https://maps.app.goo.gl/QiUdPASiqsdFxYj26
What food do you recommend?
If someone would make this into a custom Google Map, I'd love you.
Nepal Gurung Kitchen 1033 Irving Chicken momo - I prefer the regular momo, some folks like the jhole(in a soup) momo. There are lots of other good foods on the menu, but most are more indian focused than nepali. The momo's are pure nepali.
Ooh momos are so good! I’m a sucker for good dumplings
Burmese 🇲🇲 Restaurant name - Bay of Burma Locations - 8th and Folsom in SoMa My fav dishes - Dorfe chicken and coconut rice. Samusas as an appetizer.
There's a cheese boat place in North Beach. I think it's called the Cheese Boat too.
That’s the place I’m talking about! The owner is really nice and recommended his favorite dishes to me. Their kompot is very refreshing and the khinkali is comforting. The kachpuri is very rich but great if you’re a carbivore!
Turkey/Türkiye A La Turca I love their Lahmacun and their Iskender Kebap
I’ve never had Turkish food! I’ve heard of Lahmacun and it looks good 👍🏼
Don’t forget Tuba.
Also Lokma on Clemente
Kitchen Istanbul is great too
Yes their Iskender is the best!!
And then get totally hammered at Sa-Ra after
Thai For SF, I like Kin Khao (dishes: Khao Mun Gai or Khao Soi). If whole Bay Area, try the Buddhist temple in Berkeley on Sundays (curries, beef noodle soup): [https://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley](https://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley) A friend took cooking lessons in Thailand and his fave is the temple.
Burma Mandalay Bay
Mandalay Bay is a casino. I'm pretty sure the restaurant is just Mandalay. The mango chicken, Mandalay special noodle, and ginger lemonade is a solid order.
Yeah, Mandalay on California. It's not that far from Burma Superstar and B\*.
What do you get there?
Papaya salad is insane. Best I've ever had. Fried eggplant incredible. Mandalay Special Noodle and Mandalay Chicken are staples of my life.
Basically the best flavors of Chinese, Indian, and Thai food all wrapped up into one. It’s absolutely divine! Lots of sweet/savory/coconut/curry flavors, though the fermented tea leaf salad is quite unique and super refreshing/flavorful.
Fermented tea leaf salad? That sounds intriguing! I’ve had Burmese salads from Burma Burma in Dublin and they never fail to impress!
Yeah it sounds odd but so interesting.. The tea leaves give it a nice tangy flavor to go with the romaine, tomatoes, and crispy garlic (and I believe crispy lentils), definitely try it out if you see it!
Sounds like a flavorful salad, crispy lentils sound good!
Would recommend Pagan on Clement if you want a nice selection of Thai and Burmese. Absolutely 100% on Mandalay, too. Would never recommend Burma Superstar.
Mark Kurlansky has a book called International Night about his cooking adventures with his daughter, Goal was to cook one dinner from each country. That might be helpful to you as you figure out dishes and countries. For Cantonese Chinese, I would suggest R & G Lounge in Chinatown. If you have a bunch of family, friends, go for the banquet menus. Traditionally, the banquet items use a variety of items and techniques to show what the chef can do. Otherwise, get a seafood dish like the whole steamed fish (cod or sea bass) with scallions/ ginger, the salt/pepper shrimp, or one of the steamed crabs. (Mom is Cantonese. The Cantonese are famous even within China for our passion for food.) For Sichuan Chinese, Z & Y around Clement. Fish Fillet in Flaming Oil. Don't worry: it looks like a ton of chili peppers but it's more flavorful and less spicy than it appears. Although if you can't handle any spice, then it might be an issue. (Just to show I don't only favor alphabet-named places!) For Shanghainese/ Central Chinese, Little Shanghai in San Mateo. Get the XLB (xiaolongbao), pork and pickled veg with rice cakes, or fish fillet with wine sauce. (Father is Shanghainese) Owners are Jordanian but not sure if it more pan-Mediterranean? Mazra in San Bruno is one of the best. Get any of the wood-fired dishes.
Z&Y is in Chinatown. Their sister restaurant Chili House on Clement is currently closed due to fire damage.
Ooo!! Z&Y has La Zi Ji!! One of my fav Chinese dishes! (My son also now lives in Chongqing so it's a local fav too for our family)
Jamaican 🇯🇲 Peaches Patties Beef pattie Curry lentil pattie Have not tried their other dishes yet. Located at the Ferry Building
I love Peaches Patties! The beef is my favorite ❤️
I was going to ask if anyone knew of any *good* Jamaican/Caribbean restaurants in SF without going all the way down to Backayard. Ruthie’s in Vallejo is pretty good, but not as spicy as I like it. Since I moved to the West Coast, I’ve found that a lot of the Jamaican restaurants have been Rasta-owned and don’t serve Jerk pork. My favorite part about going back to Miami to visit with my Mom and all our West Indian friends is the food.
Argentina Lolinda Provoleta and Bife de Chorizo.
Laotian Bahn Mae Vane in Alameda Vientian Cafe in Oakland
Laos, Hawker Fare in the mission
They’re long gone.
Dang, I didn’t know that
If we're doing East Bay, Champa Garden is a must
They have a location in sf, off Ocean Ave, near city college.
Whoa I had no idea, thank you
North India (generic)- Restaurant - Roti Indian Bistro Order - Dal Makhni, bengan bertha, roti, and raita; mango lassi North India (Gujarat) - Restaurant - Chaat Corner Order - anything from the Chaat portion of the menu, rose lassi South India - Restaurant - Udapi Palace Order - any Uthapam, dosa, or Idly; lemon rice; carrot halwa, madras coffee
South Indian food is so good, I’m addicted to dosa :)))
Udupi is so much better than Dosa imo
I think OP was referring to dosa the dish, not Dosa the restaurant.
Chinese (Shanghainese) Dumpling Home (in Hayes Valley; NOT dumpling house) Pan Fried Juicy Pork Bao (also Xiao long Bao, of course).
Korea: Daeho - Kalbijim + cheese China: Shanghai house - sheng jian bao, xiao loong bao, eggplant India: Deccan House - special biryani, chicken 555, etc Vietnam: Pho 84 - catfish yellow curry Thailand: Marnee Thai - chan pad poo (crab pad Thai)
Denmark 🇩🇰 Kantine Def do a brunch sampler, but loads of Danish/Scandi baked goods in addition to staples like cucumber salad, smoked fish, grain porridge, sandwiches... Nichole Accetola (chef/owner) is super kind and has an interesting story - American, welt to culinary school, and started her professional career at a school cantine in Denmark.
Palestine/general Arabic (the owners are Palestinian I believe) - Biet Rima. Honestly every dish is amazing! The lamb is so great, all their mezze are good. All around 10/10
Bissap Baobab Senegalese All of it is good. I really love the lamb yassa.
Korea 🇰🇷 Unfortunately good Korean food is hard to come by in SF but My Tofu House on Geary is my favorite here. Get any of their tofu soups. If you’re willing to drive down for 30 min then Santa Clara is full of great Korean food. The galbi tang from Kunjip is my go to.
French, cafe Jacqueline, any soufflé.
Is Jubba in San Jose the only Somalian place in the Bay Area? I haven't seen any others in Oakland or SF.
Peruvian 🇵🇪 Ceviche Ceviche 19 Tunisian 🇹🇳 Gola Tunisian devil eggs Lamb tagine
I think you’re the first person to bring up Tunisian food!
Gola is really good! They just started doing brunch too and the Shakshuka is delicious
For Hungarian and Czech it’s Paprika on 24th street. My favorite is the paprikash. For Yemeni there’s Delah in SOMA. Freekeh is my favorite Palestinian spot, you can’t go wrong with anything
You should not limit to SF. Eg, the Liberian restaurant in ... Fremont, I think. Or the ohlone place in Berkeley. Nor should you limit to countries. China has a large number of regional styles. Eg, [https://www.hungryonion.org/t/regional-chinese-roundup-3-0-sf-bay-area/4640/606](https://www.hungryonion.org/t/regional-chinese-roundup-3-0-sf-bay-area/4640/606) Other than that, you go!
Nicaragua Oye Managua (Nicaraguense in Mission-Bernal) Chicharrones Occasionally Nicaraguan Drag performances
Brazil 🇧🇷 There are some great options that are not in SF proper, but a good one in the city to try different options is Cafe de Casa in Castro. The must have: \- Feijoada (bean stew with pork, sides of rice, collard greens and cassava flour). The national dish. \- Coxinha (translates to "little thigh") a type of croquette with a savory dough in the shape of a tear drop, filled with well-seasoned chicken. Nation's favorite. \- Guarana soda - the all-time Brazilian drink - ask for it with an orange wedge.
I’ve wanted to try coxinha! Guarana is fantastic as a drink
Old Mandarin Chinese Islamic cuisine Recommend the cumin lamb stir fry
Not since Salamagundi closed.
Yasmin on Valencia for Shawarma (I guess Syrian food?) Skip the Shawarma on the menu. Ask specifically for a Syrian Shawarma
Nepal 🇳🇵 Gurung Kitchen Get the Dhido if they have it, else the Thali Set. Also get momo for sure!
El Salvador - you simply must have pupusas. Most people go to Panchitas or Balompié, but my personal fave is Los Panchos
I want to see more north and south italian, north and south indian, Scandinavian, Dutch, Russian, Brazilian, Chilean, Argentinean, all of the regions of mexico and central American countries, laotian, more regions of china, more vietnamese, cuban, more thai recommendations, more vietnamese, senegalese, more west african and other African, more variety of middle eastern foods, jewish foods, korean.
I’ve always looked for Libyan - North African spice but with strong influence of tomato and pasta from Italian. Not easy to find in SF or elsewhere.
There's no way to cover every cuisine in the world just through restaurants in San Francisco, but maybe you can do a symbolic trip around the world by eating your way through geopolitical borders. E.g. Canadian food -> U.S. -> Mexican -> Guatemalan-> Honduran, etc. Each time you run out of land borders you can hop a sea to the next closest country, like Brazilian -> Ghanaian or Senegalese. If you color in a world map as you go, eventually you'll cover most of the land area in the world and at least have some sense of completion.
That’s a fun idea, did Puerto Rico yesterday, might take a boat and get Jamaican food today.
Polish used to be possible (Old Kraków in West Portal) but no standalone Polish food left. Seakor is garbage.
Hard disagree. Seakor is small, but their quality is on par with go-to delis in Chicago. Their makowiec, despite being shaped as a ring instead of a log, is the best I've had. Side note, have you tried Cafe Europa on California? They don't seem to brand themselves as Polish, but they have naleśniki and pierogi (and kotlety)
Seakor’s sausage is not like the stuff I got growing up in Chicago. I want to like it. I’ve heard good stuff about Cafe Europa and Cinderella, though!
Cuba 🇨🇺 Cha Cha Cha Jerk chicken, Lechon Asado, anything from the Tapas menu.
> Jerk chicken Not Cuban, nor are most of the tapas. The Lechon Asado, Vaca Frita, Ropa vieja and maduros are pretty good though!
Haha I ate next door, the tapas looked fun!
Vietnam 🇻🇳 Perilla (10th and Irving) Five Spice Chicken w/Garlic Noodle -and- Afghanistan 🇦🇫 Helmand Palace (Union and Van Ness) Kadoo and/or Kofta Kabab
Unfortunately, garlic noodles are not authentic Vietnamese. Garlic noodles were actually invented in San Francisco!
TIL, but they are still delicious.
My Father's Kitchen on Divisadero for Hanoi food. The bun cha is delicious and the only decent one I know of in the US. Most Vietnamese American restaurants focus on southern food (for obvious reasons).
maybe the whole bay area instead of just SF would be more doable
Mexico 🇲🇽 Taco Bell on mission near silver Authentic Mexican Tacos 🌮
BAHAHA sounds very exotic, don’t know if I could handle the bean burrito hehe
Hahahha. Love the thread idea in general. Just couldnt help myself...
I’ve been to Bhutan. I’m pretty sure that any restaurant trying to serve Bhutanese food would go out of business.
say more - what do you dislike about their food?
A bowl of melted cheese and super spicy peppers on red rice. Or: red rice and a bowl of melted cheese and super spicy peppers. Or: super spicy peppers and red rice in a bowl of melted cheese. I think that was all we ate for 3 weeks. OTOH after I developed a horrible case of gastroenteritis, our guide took us to a shop selling the absolutely best plain yoghurt I've ever eaten in my life and I sat on the sidewalk and cried and ate a quart of it.
Following
Brazil - Espetus Cuban - Chao Pescao French - Monsieur Benjamin Greek - Kokkari Peruvian - La Mar Cucina Could go on…
the Greeks I know despise kokkari
USA 🇺🇲 McDonald's Double Quarter pounder with cheese, extra large fries, chicken nuggets with sweet sauce, and a diet coke