It's been a banner year, and a banner fall especially, for big restaurant openings in San Francisco, and some of the smaller ones as well give us a feeling of renaissance and reinvigoration all around.
While signs of life were certainly showing in the SF restaurant scene of 2024, they were not the most robust signs, and the city, frustratingly, felt very much like it was still lagging behind every other major city in its glacially slow recovery from the pandemic years.
All that changed this year, and I would argue the slate of restaurants we saw debut — from the visionary luxuries of Wolfsbane to the casual excitement of Arquet and the welcoming but specific embrace of Side A — make San Francisco feel once again like a city that's thriving and striving again when it comes to food.
At least a handful of solid openings this year had to be culled from this list of 10, and that's the first time in six or even seven years that I can honestly say that.
So without further ado, SFist's Best New Restaurants of 2025...
Arquet. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistArquetIt was pleasure enough to see the long-darkened former Slanted Door space he new life breathed into it this fall with the debut of Arquet. But it's icing on the cake (on top of the actual sweets at the attached Parachute Bakery) that chef Alex Hong has put such thought and care into the eclectic menu, with an emphasis on California freshness, and ultra-creable dishes for vegetarians, pescatarians, and carnivores alike. These include the scallion fry bread, the grilled oysters with vadouvan butter, and the hot honey-glazed, roasted and fried chicken. Combine the dinner menu's delights with Beverage Director Thomas Renshaw's excellent, just-strange-enough to keep us intrigued cocktail selections, and Arquet seems like it will be a surefire hit for years to come.Ferry Building, reserve here
Bourbon Steak. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistBourbon SteakFor the pomp and grandeur alone, the reopened and lux-i-fied Bourbon Steak at the Westin St. Francis deserves a spot on any year-end list. San Francisco has sorely been lacking in the event-dining department for a number of years, and the new Bourbon Steak brings this back in high style, with tableside preparations including a dramatically flambeed, salt-baked Australian wagyu tomahawk steak, and chef Michael Mina's famous lobster pot pie. The new Bourbon Lounge bar area in the former hotel lobby is, itself, a new reason to go to Union Square, and a dramatically glam reinvention of that space in the style of Old Europe.335 Powell Street, reserve here
The yuzu carpaccio at Buoy Bar. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistBuoy BarEasily the most unique restaurant to hit the SF scene this year, Buoy Bar took over the stark and modern former Le Fantastique space on Franklin Street, and it's serving an exciting menu of modern Korean dishes with unexpected twists. Take the signature Yuzu Carpaccio dish, which features a hollowed out, marinated tomato, stuffed with the market fish of the day marinated in fresh yuzu, and finished with herb oil and ciar. Or the Minari Bassam, which is slow-cooked pork belly rolled with fresh minari and served with kimchi and a rich ssamjang for dipping. The place doubles as a casual Korean-style cafe during the day as well.22 Franklin Street, reserve here
The Scotch egg at Dingles. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistDingles Public HouseHayes Valley probably didn't know it needed a proper, modern English pub until Dingles arrived in the last month, but it's landed with immediate popularity and social media virality. What's not to love about a perfect, rustic Scotch egg, and an even more perfect plate of fish and chips, served with a cold Martini? The low-ceilinged, windowless space at the back of the Hotel at the Opera needed some love, and now it feels like a proper home for chef George Dingle's contemporary pub. Whatever you do, don't sleep on the Welsh rarebit, or the terrific beef and Guinness pie.333 Fulton Street, reserve here
The crab rice roll at Happy Crane, courtesy of the restaurantHappy CraneChef James Yeun Leong Parry has brought a personal vision to life at Happy Crane, in the shape of a contemporary Chinese restaurant with Hong Kong influence, serving paradigmatic versions of classic dim sum dishes — without elevating anything too much — like crab rice rolls and Golden Coins. Also, there's heenly roasted Peking duck, noodle dishes, and top-notch cocktails. And the place makes for a new local touchstone in a mini we of modern Chinese cooking that is arguably San Francisco's trendiest cuisine of the moment.451 Gough Street, reserve here
Photo courtesy of JulesJulesI don't want to say I told you so, but I definitely could see from the early-to-mid pop-up days of Jules that pizzaiolo Max Blachman-Gentile was on to something, and knew his way around dough. Fast-forward to this summer, when he got his brick-and-mortar up and running on Fillmore Street, and the local pizza-loving populace appears to agree — along with most media outlets in San Francisco — that Jules is making some of the best pizza in town. And if that weren't enough, a dish of charred cabbage in Calabrian chili butter is pretty bomb, there are some excellent mussels now on the menu with 'nduja and lemongrass, and oh I hope the roast chicken with African-spiced gry returns at some point (it may not he been popular enough? but it was very, very good).237 Fillmore Street, reserve here or take your chances walking in
Maritime Boat Club. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistMaritime Boat ClubIt is exciting to see a young chef in their first exec role, conceiving, testing, refining, and realizing their vision for what they think a menu should look like, and taste like. In this case, it's within the confines of a boutique hotel and a restaurant and bar (Bar Maritime) that he a seaside theme. But the young chef, Felix Santos, who has worked his way up in the kitchens of Atelier Crenn, Quince, and Sorrel before arriving here, is showing off some bold taste and skill in dishes as simple as a kanpachi crudo, and as deceptively complex as his black cod a la plancha, which I had served with a fa bean salsa verde. Santos's vision is vegetable-forward, for sure, but his fine dining chops show through in every preparation. 417 Stockton Street, 2nd Floor, reserve here
The gnocchi at Side A. Photo by Jay BarmannSide AThe award for most delicious and obviously personal neighborhood restaurant of 2025 goes to Side A, which took over a much beloved space that was formerly home to Universal Cafe, and has already gained a major fan following and mad respect. Chef Parker Brown knows how to indulge, and there is Midwestern, stick-to-your-ribs indulgence dolloped into many of his dishes — including the clear early signature plate of Parisian gnocchi with short rib, fresh goat cheese, rich veal gry, and pickled giardiniera, in a nod to the Chicago Italian beef sandwich made recently famous by The Bear. There is more to love, including a delicious burger, some delightfully buttery pan-seared halibut, and Brown's wife Caroline spinning fun records up front to make for a dinner party-esque vibe. Reasonable prices and extra-friendly service make it all the more obvious why it is still hard to get into this place most nights.2814 19th Street, reserve here
Via Aurelia. Photo courtesy of the restaurantVia AureliaI he to agree with Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan that this sorta corporate-feeling new waterfront spot from the team behind Che Fico is "better than it has to be" on multiple levels, but especially in the food from chef Did Nayfeld. It takes the Italian flors of its sister restaurant and boosts everything an extra step bolder, richer, and more luxe. And while the menu may be geared toward expense-account spenders and VCs who barely blink at a check under $1k, it can still hold pleasures for people actually interested in marvelously florful pasta, and perfectly cloud-like sformato, with some great cocktails to boot.300 Toni Stone Xing, reserve here
Photo by Jay Barmann/SFistWolfsbaneHusband and wife Rupert and Carrie Blease already made a splash with their Michelin-starred Lord Stanley a decade ago. But at this new, obviously Michelin-level-ambitious restaurant in Dogpatch — in the high-ceilinged and industrially dramatic former Serpentine space — we find chef Rupert divining new forms of fine dining that feel luxurious without being too decadent, and artful but not overly twee, with the emphasis always on flor and showcasing fine ingredients. A trio of shellfish to start (pictured above), with a clam ceviche and wild mussel escabeche each served in the shell, is one example. A perfect dish of striped bass with celery root and black chestnut is a master class in fish cookery and flor pairing. And a humble dish inspired by a food memory in George Orwell's memoir, featuring bread soaked in a rich red wine beurre rouge, shows you this is a chef interested in the life-affirming moments we he with our food, and not in the pyrotechnics and tweezers of it all.2495 Third Street, reserve here