The 38 Instagram Worthy Restaurants in SF Bay Area
Is a restaurant worth going to if the food and interiors are not Instagram worthy? While I'm all about finding the best food whether it's high-end or budget eats, I can't help but let my camera eat first. Those who take dining seriously know how important it is to get that perfect shot. We're all chasing after that spot which will help us garner the most hearts.
From high-end to fast-casual, I've curated a list of the 38 most Instagram worthy restaurants in SF Bay Area.
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Saint Frank
Inspired by Scandinavian design, it's hard not to fall in love with this minimalist, meditative, and spacious coffee shop.
2340 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109, saintfrankcoffee.com
Ragazza
Eggs on anything make it ten times sexier.
311 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117, ragazzasf.com
Din Tai Fung
The long wait for your one shot at xiao long bao? #worth
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95050, dintaifungusa.com
Mission Beach Cafe
A Mission District neighborhood classic.
198 Guerrero St, San Francisco, CA 94103, missionbeachcafesf.com
Orchard City Kitchen
Chef Jeffrey Stout's hipster New American restaurant is one of a kind in South Bay.
1875 S Bascom Ave, Ste 190, Campbell, CA 95008, orchardcitykitchen.com
The Bywater
Beignets, po' boys, and oysters make this a New Orleans favorite in sunny California.
532 N Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95030, thebywaterca.com
Scotland Yard
The sexiest burger in town is finally here.
3232 Scott St, San Francisco, CA 94123, scotlandyardsf.com
Petit Crenn
Cozy, intimate, and romantic - no one will bother you while you take food pics.
609 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102, petitcrenn.com
The Gipsy Darling
The name is one of a kind and so is the place and food - remarkably New American
3347 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123, thegipsydarling.com
Omakase
The greatest sushi in town is also aesthetically beautiful.
665 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94103, omakasesf.com
Ketsourine Macarons
Looking for that cute spot to share desserts with your bae? Look no further.
500 Westlake Ctr, Daly City, CA 94015, ketsourinemacarons.com
Cockscomb
Chef Cosentino's space is rustic, spacious, and very masculine; the sandwiches have a similar level of grandeur.
564 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107, cockscombsf.com
Old Bus Tavern
They put flowers on every dish.
3193 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110, oldbustavern.com
Jersey
The fried arancini left me craving them again for days.
145 2nd St, San Francisco, CA 94105, jerseysf.com
Umami Burger
Only the Oakland location hosts the tasting menu - and what's better for photos than a tasting menu?
2100 Franklin St, Ste 2190, Oakland, CA 94612, umamiburger.com
Thoughts Style Cuisine Showroom
The fashion showroom for food is finally here.
139 8th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Marla Bakery
The GM asked me if the food was aesthetically beautiful - I thought it was.
3619 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121, marlabakery.com
Black Sheep Brasserie
The first New American / French in South Bay also serves beautiful dishes.
1202 Lincoln Ave, Ste 30, San Jose, CA 95125, blacksheepbrasserie.com
ICHI Sushi + NI Bar
You can't get your photos without a hefty price tag - be prepared to drop $90+ per person, even if you're not hungry.
3282 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110, ichisushi.com
Nopalito
Modern Mexican fare dressed to impress.
1224 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122, nopalitosf.com
Plentea
Hipster milk tea shop at the outer edge of Union Square - Instagram enthusiasts rejoice.
341 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94108, plenteasf.com
Outerlands
Fans of hipster restaurants rejoice.
4001 Judah St, San Francisco, CA 94122, outerlandssf.com
Rich Table
An impulse walk-in to try the tasting menu resulted in a major success.
199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102, richtablesf.com
Farmhouse Kitchen Thai
Farmhouse modernizes Thai and makes it attractive.
710 Florida St, San Francisco, CA 94110, farmhousesf.com
HRD
Korean fusion eatery serves some nice looking tacos and bowls.
521A 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107, hrdcorp.com
b patisserie
The best pastries in Bay Area are also extremely beautiful.
2821 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115, bpatisserie.com
Milkcow
I think I'm in love.
5657 Auto Mall Pkwy, Fremont, CA 94538, http://www.milkcow.kr/korea.html
Koja Kitchen
Koja got everyone posting about them on Instagram.
2395 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, kojakitchen.com
Alta CA
You cannot go wrong with this New American classic across from the HQ of Uber and Twitter.
1420 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102, altaca.co
Jin Sho
Steve Jobs' favorite sushi place. The sushi is sexy.
454 S California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306, jinshorestaurant.com
Gelataio
This local ice cream shop should popup on our Insta-feeds more often.
121 Lytton Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301, gelataio.us
Blue Plate
Blue Plate epitomizes the ideal romantic neighborhood restaurant of SF.
3218 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110, blueplatesf.com
Mosu
Most expensive piece of pork belly ever.
1552 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, mosusf.com
Elite Audio Coffee Bar
I didn't know that I could fall in love with a drawing of a cat on a latte.
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So you decided to eat at one of these restaurants? Send me an email at jeremychungphotography@gmail.com before you dig in!
5 Best Restaurants in San Francisco You Need to Eat at Right Now
Through the past many months, I’ve been able to experience some of SF’s top restaurants. What’s most interesting to me that expectations and reality often don’t match.
Some restaurants when I least expected it, exceeded my expectations. Others fell a bit short, and I felt surprised. To me, good food isn’t about price tag, service, or ambience. It’s about state of mind that I’ve reached when encountering some top tier food. Good food can be found in any cuisine. In my case, I’ve found cheap good food as equally comforting as designer food. And while New American cuisine is my favorite and Traditional American cuisine rests on the other end of the spectrum, I’ve encountered a few Traditional American restaurants that comforted my soul. It happened when I bit into double hash burger (hi, Scotland Yard) slathered with bone marrow aioli, beef lean and grilled to perfection, and brioche bun buttered like no tomorrow.
Recently, I had the honor of dining at Rich Table, which really showed me how judgement we are as humans. Before going in, I already had these preconceived opinions, knowing that it’s one of the top .1% of restaurants of SF, let alone SF Bay Area. The bill came to a humble $128, wouldn’t I expect to be sipping away to god’s nectar - or at least something like Project Juice in the form of solids? The dry aged rib eye from Los Angeles was amazing - lean, flavorful, yet no wow factor. It’s as though I were waiting for the angels to come out from the beef.
While my experience was greatly positive, the cuisine came across as too try hard, even for someone who really enjoys the creativity that stems from New American cuisine.
It's too easy to form judgements about something just based off photos. I'll have to monitor what I'm thinking subconsciously because apparently I'm supposed to not have opinions before going into restaurants. This is why social media (especially Instagram and Yelp) is so unfortunately powerful to the success of restaurants. And especially if a critic (like Michael Bauer of SF chronicle) posts an unpopular opinion, it's potentially destructive to the growth of lesser known more deserving restaurants.
Here is a quick round-up of 5 great restaurants I’ve eaten at within the past couple of months:
Scotland Yard: I’m actually not a fan of Traditional American cuisine; yet, Chef Jason Raffin, who has experience overseeing Marina’s Bin 38, set my expectations high, and the execution ultimately exceeded expectations in every way. What interested most is that Scotland Yard infuses New American cuisine into Traditional American. That is, Chef Raffin designed the menu to reflect American comfort food, yet many he infuses other cultures into his food. The Korean fried chicken, for example has candied kumquats, nigella seeds pepitas, gochujan ginger glaze, and parsnip puree. It is a clear standout dish, along with the double smash burger. I’d dare to say Scotland Yard has the best burger in SF (many critics like Causwells, with no good reason).
3232 Scott St, San Francisco, CA 94123, scotlandyardsf.com
Rich Table: I impulsively tried the tasting menu which costed $128 after tax and tip. I started the meal with some bites of 7 things with a side of pear cider. The anchovy dip was delightful. I enjoyed the seared foie gras toast. These 7 things spoke to me about the chef’s likes and recent experiences. Chef just returned from a trip from Asia - namely Japan and India. As such, the curries were imbued with so much flavor. The Alaskan halibut was accompanied by Japanese green curry. The chitarra was beautiful - great contrast of flavor from wasabi and farmer’s cheese - tasted sweet, savory, and spicy. The burrata was accompanied with strawberry gazpacho and country ham - beautiful contrast of colors and flavors. To finish, the grilled ribeye was perfection with black garlic, ramps, and snap pea chimichurri. Lastly, the dessert started with a palate cleanser: a macaron hybrid. For the dessert main, I had a chocolate crisp with mint ice cream topped with chocolate mousse. It was decadent, rich, and memorable.
199 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102, richtablesf.com
Omakase: I had the 10 piece omakase. Needlesstosay, this 10 piece platter was the best omakase I’ve had in my entire life.
665 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94103, omakasesf.com
Cockscomb: I’ve been here two times and had amazing experiences. I was happy to see Michael Bauer’s recent 3 star reviews of the place. Cosentino’s space is rustic, spacious, and very masculine. It feels like a butcher’s shop and very well is. Cockscomb is the king of meats in SF. I enjoyed a half dozen of oysters to start, some terrine, and pork belly sandwich with fried clams. The variety of oysters was magnificent. Loved the small sweet oysters. The terrine consisted of chicken and foie gras, pickled quail egg, salad, and crostinis. It was beautiful. Then, the sandwich was extremely rich and crunchy, flavorful… something that I’d dream of in a sandwich every single day. The bread was fresh, crunchy, crispy, buttery -- I’d pretty much eat lunch here every day if health were no issue.
564 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107, cockscombsf.com
Corridor Cafe: This place is phenomenal. From pastries and coffees, to HK style milk tea and wraps, Corridor Café is like the pret-a-manager (grab-and-go) of SF. I feel that we need more grab-and-go cafes in SF. In the current state of the market, we have two kinds of restaurants - one that caters to the extremely high-end and the other that caters to the general public in the form of hipster modern casual fast food. This is evinced by places like Asian Box, Sajj, Glaze, Roam Artisan Burgers, Super Duper, and much more. With Corridor Café, many people are in a rush to get something quick to eat and want something simultaneously healthy and tasty. The croissants, whether plain or chocolate, are to die for. They're extremely buttery and melt in your mouth. The HK style milk tea is as authentic as genuine ones from HK. They’re also same owners as the top name restaurants Trestle, Stonesthrow, and Angel. Whole heartly recommend.
100 Van Ness Ave San Francisco, CA 94102, http://corridorsf.com/