San Francisco’s Best New Restaurants & Bars of 2025
12 x 3 (12 Restaurants, 12 Bars, 12 Honorable Mentions): Which newcomers stand out in one of the world’s best food and drink cities
It’s that time of year again: sifting through the hundreds of new SF Bay Area restaurants and bars I visited this year, among hundreds more internationally and across the U.S. Here are the newcomers that stand out most, opened between November 2024 and December 2025. The previous year’s top openings are here, notably missing Enclos in Sonoma because I placed it at #2 last year as I dined as it had just opened in December 2024.
12 Best New Restaurants of 2025
1. Wolfsbane, SF: Former Michelin-Star Owners Go Even Higher
Opened October 2025 from the couple behind Michelin-starred, now-closed Lord Stanley, Carrie and Rupert Blease, with chef Tommy Halvorson, Wolfsbane is a thrilling new tasting menu restaurant in a seductive Dogpatch space. With superb cocktails and wine pairings, it’s the whole package. “Wow” moments abound, from caviar nori “boats” enlivened by green apple and maple, to butter-poached green cabbage lathered in house buttermilk, dill oil and uni bottarga. There were many things I valued about Lord Stanley over the years, but I dare say at this early stage… I already love Wolfsbane more. My full review here.
2. Lore, SF: Michelin-Star Chef Progresses to Hidden Apartment Tasting Salon
Don’t call it a restaurant. Brand new, 10-seat Lore just opened in a hidden former FiDi apartment, dubbed a tasting salon from chef and owner of Michelin-starred Osito, Seth Stowaway. Like dining in a wood-paneled 1970’s apartment set to the glow of a 70s-style preway fireplace, Stowaway goes “next level” with his unique style, vision and wood-fired cooking done over a more intimate home fire. Seating Thursdays through Saturdays only, these tasting menus that leave you nurtured with chef’s inspiring story and a team that includes pastry chef Gabrielle Pabonan (formerly of The French Laundry, Osito, Tartine). There’s nothing like it anywhere and as much as I miss Osito, Lore is an even more personal experience. My full review here.
3. Fù Huì Huá, SF: Unmatched, Tiny, Impossible Ressy Chinese Restaurant
This Mission District newcomer and former pop-up is topping all the best-of lists for a reason. My full review here.
4. Arquet, SF: Michelin Star Sorrel Chef Alex Hong Goes Glowing Glorious in the Former Slanted Door
Opened October 17, 2025, from chef Alex Hong and team behind Michelin-starred Sorrel, Arquet is another “next level” restaurant from an already great chef, though the opposite of Sorrel’s intimate joys in its massive, glowing white, waterside space. My full review coming soon here.
5. Side A, SF: Hi-Fi Restaurant Serving Midwest Comfort Food
My full review here.
6. Ama by Brad Kilgore, SF: Dramatic Itameshi at the Base of the Transamerica
My full review here.
7. The Happy Crane, SF: Modern Chinese Creativity with Hong Kong-SF Flair
My full review here.
8. Sirene, Oakland: Fish & Fried Chicken, Chartreuse & Wine
My full review here.
9. Via Aurelia, SF: Upscale Italian newcomer Shimmers By the Ballpark
My full review here.
10. Cache, SF: Francophile Renaissance in a Tiny Inner Sunset Space
My full review here.
11. Tasting House, Los Gatos: Silicon Valley’s Most Promising New Fine Dining Chef
Los Gatos’ Tasting House is not new, but this Champagne destination welcomed new chef Julian Silvera’s ambitious tasting menus in spring 2025 (though he came on board in 2023), calling on his NYC and Florida Michelin-star background. With that deep Champagne selection, it’s the Valley’s most promising fine dining newcomer. My review here.
12. The Lodge at Dawn Ranch, Guerneville: Michelin-Worthy Happenings in the Sonoma Redwoods
Though young, talented South American chefs Ignacio (Nacho) Zuzulich and Juliana Thorpe came on board in 2024 at The Lodge at Dawn Ranch, it wasn’t until 2025 they launched their tasting menu, showing what they’re capable of coming from a three Michelin and Latin America’s 50 Best background.
https://dawnranch.com/dine
BONUS (*added January 15, 2026):
13. Jules, SF: Dreamy, One-of-A-Kind Pizza
Beloved pop-up Jules opened May 2025 in Lower Haight from Max Blachman-Gentile, former Tartine culinary director. I didn’t get this tough-to-snag reservation until early January or I would have included Jules maybe even higher on the list. I’m here to say in a city already flush with superb pizza, his bit of New York (not classic NY slice, mind you) with SF slant of seasonal, garden-fresh pies, is the most intensive, beautifully sour of the countless sourdough crusts I’ve had. Though I loved all pizzas tried, a new Satriale Special was next-level in gochujang vodka sauce, mozzarella, pecorino, hot Italian sausage, pickled goat horn peppers, green garlic, spring onion and sesame crumble. Wowza.
With hip, irreverent style and natural wine list plus playful red-tinged, Pizza Hut-styled bathroom, it’s such a fun new entrant in the deep, rich Bay Area pizza world that actually brings something a bit different. Review here.
12 Best New Bars of 2025
1. A Storytelling Bar Like No Other: Bar Orso, SoMa
Debuting December 2025 at the long bar hidden inside the unparalleled Merchant Roots, Bar Orso is their new separate bar. In fact, better to think of it not as a bar but as an “experience.” If you don’t know how Merchant Roots does it, this is a fantastic way to find out, though it’s by no means a short version of the full meal but a separate experience. Whether a cocktail and a bite, or a shortened tasting menu at the bar, Orso offers culinary, imaginative, whimsical, storytelling drinks in a way only the Merchant Roots team could.
https://barorso.com
2. Changing Themed Bar Kicks off with Havana: Long Weekend, North Beach
From SF’s super bar group, Future Bars, Long Weekend opened October 2025 under its Havana theme. This new “immersive cocktail bar” is going through major transformation every nine months, tributing a different destination around the globe. I’ll be sad to see the initial Havana theme depart as it’s both a rarity in the West, but is done so well. The multi-level space holds corners and pockets alive with vivid blues, yellows, pinks, and a killer basement in the vault of this historic 1920s bank building with vivid murals from a modern day Cuban artist.
The juxtaposition of the cheery, colorful upstairs with its massive windows and light, to the moody, edgy, dark, multi-room basement is striking fun, unlike any other bar. From gracious bartenders who care, rum-centric drinks are quite good, balanced and pulling on Cuban classics. Salsa dance lessons and artists from the featured country are just part of the joy of this realized themed bar.
www.longweekendbar.com
3. Hidden Bar is an Industry Favorite: Bar Maritime, Union Square/Downtown
I have not yet tried the full menu since their restaurant side opened but have tried some of chef Felix Santos’ dishes at the bar. Regardless, the loosely sea-themed Bar Maritime is a bar draw, hearkening back to the hidden space’s glory days when it was Burritt Room, tucked upstairs in The Palihotel. It has already become an industry hangout and gathering place in huge part thanks to Larry Piaskowy (my 2015 Distiller Magazine interview here). The space’s mini-stage remains and drink industry friends like Josh Gelfand play live music, set to Larry’s playful cocktails and a ship’s bell signaling “last call” as the bar shares a free toast closing each night. My full review here.
www.eatmaritime.com
4. Culinary Cocktails a la Carte at Fine Dining Great: Wolfsbane, Dogpatch
Yes, my #1 restaurant of the year, Wolfsbane is also notable for the “bar,” which is small and available for a la carte bites. It makes my list given Carlos Cabral’s superb culinary cocktails and use of “deep cuts” spirits like blanche Armagnac, rhum agricole and aquavit — plus a top-notch wine list. Cocktails like The Long Ships, deftly combining aquavit, sunchoke, lemon, honey and beets, exemplify a thoughtful perspective I can’t wait to taste more of. My full review coming soon here.
https://wolfsbanesf.com
5. Sultry Space Hidden Downtown: The Valley Club, Union Square
I will forever miss the great Benjamin Cooper. But Mitchell Lagneaux and team’s new bar, The Valley Club, has brought new life to the hidden, upstairs space since January 2025 in Hotel G. The sexy, intimate, 70s-chic space is the backdrop for drinks you didn’t think you wanted (if you’re a cocktail lover who seeks balance), like the Lovemaker, a raspberry and cocoa butter Negroni twist, or the bourbon orange creamsicle-esque Midas Touch.
https://thevalleyclubsf.com
6. Glorified NY/NJ Diner Menu & Cocktails: Super Mensch, Marina
Chef Adam Rosenblum and beverage director Elmer Mejicanos’ new Super Mensch tributes Jewish delis of the East Coast complete with Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder films playing on the wall. Matzah Ball Soup Margaritas or Bagel & Lox Martinis… need I say more? My full review here.
7. Upscale Italian Newcomer Shimmers By the Ballpark: Via Aurelia, SoMa
Another of my top new restaurant also shines as a bar and lounge in full view of the Giants’ stadium with bar director Danielle Peters-Clossey’s nuanced cocktails. My full review here.
8. Korean Makgeolli Mainstay: Jilli, Mission District
Opening 2022 in Los Angeles and debuting its second SF restaurant in June 2025 from owner Hwanghah Jeong, Jilli nails Korean comfort food. But the cozy space is also a rich makgeolli destination pouring a range of Korea’s milky, subtly effervescent fermented rice wine. They offer flights that can help you find your preferred style and their own makgeolli collab with Fullerton’s (my old OC stomping grounds!) Nasung Sool brewery.
https://resy.com/cities/san-francisco-ca/venues/jilli-san-francisco
9. Sexy, Sceney, Lofty New Bar Shoji, SoMa
A gorgeous cafe by day (how I still miss Trou Normand here), Bar Shoji is most notable for its narrow, lofty, striking space and chef Intu-on Kornnawong’s Japanese-influenced food enlivened by her Isan/northern Thai. If I’m honest, all the cocktails I’ve tried here had balance issues, whether running too sweet or missing some of the nuance of listed ingredients. Also, it gets loud and scene-y at nights. I’d like to see more honing at the bar to do justice to the space and to chef Kornnawong’s underrated skills. But it’s one of the most beautiful new bars with possibility under the right guidance.
www.theshojisf.com
10. Affordable Wine Bar with 48 Taps: Big Finish Wine Tavern, Mission District
Owner Adam Manson offers a whopping 48 pours on tap, most at under $14 a glass. Since March 2025, Big Finish Wine Tavern is a delightful new wine bar offering a pour for every palate.
www.bigfinishsf.com
11. Bar Pros Back the Cocktail Menu at The Happy Crane, Hayes Valley
Though it’s pretty impossible to snag a seat at the small center bar at The Happy Crane, cocktails and wine shine. Bar manager Carolyn Kao collaborated with none other than lauded N. America’s 50 Best Bars’ Pacific Cocktail Haven founder Kevin Diedrich and it shows. Drinks are mostly pre-batched with final touches handled at the bar. Rosy Dawn is my favorite, delicately but intentionally weaving Sipsmith Gin, coconut-fig leaf-rhubarb cordial, jasmine, cherry liqueur, all subtly carbonated. My full review here.
12. Rooftop Cuban Hotspot: Cubita, Mission District
No, these cocktails aren’t going to change any game, but they’re good and the expansive rooftop bar, sweeping views, live music, occasional cigar rolling, good Cuban food and much-needed slice of Cuba that Adriano Paganini’s (Back of the House, Inc.) new Cubita brings since opening June 2025 makes it a valuable newcomer.
www.cubitasf.com
12 Honorable Mention New Restaurants
There is no way to include all “bests,” especially factoring in hole-in-the-walls and every level of dining. So here are my additional honorable mentions:
1. Yeobo, Darling, Menlo Park (Modern Korean)
My full review here.
2. Nopa Fish, SF (Seafood)
My full review here.
3. Bar Shoji, SF (Modern Japanese/Asian)
See the aforementioned Bar Shoji under Top Bars. I long for more experimental dishes from chef Intu-on Kornnawong who has fine dining skills and deftly weaves Japanese with her Isan/northern Thai heritage (think tuna tartare in wasabi aioli and Thai-redolent fish sauce-lime dressing or tori nanban fried chicken sandwich on milk bread). At a recent industry dinner in their back greenhouse-like space, she showed off hints of her creative possibility I’d like to see expanded on the regular menu.
www.theshojisf.com
4. AyDea, SF (Tatarstan/Russian)
My full review here.
5. Dingles Public House, SF (Modern Irish/British)
www.dinglespublichouse.com. My full review here.
6. Chicken Fried Palace, SF (Southern American/Retro Diner)
My full review here.
7. Eylan, Menlo Park (Modern Indian)
My full review here.
8. Jaji, Oakland (Modern Afghani)
My full review here.
9. Bosco, SF (Italian)
My full review here.
10. Crustacean, SF (Modern Vietnamese)
My full review here.
11. Super Mensch, SF (Modern Jewish Deli)
My full review here.
12. Bubbelah, Menlo Park (Modern Jewish)
https://bubbelahmpk.com. My full review here.
Robert, I can't tell you what your gracious and specific compliments mean... this is the kind of encouragement that keeps me going in 7-day work weeks and struggle for health insurance and survival. Thank you!
Our SF dining and drink scene is so long dynamic, it has inspired me on every level, high to low, with every culture and richness behind it. I grew up in suburbs of LA and NYC, both great food worlds, but not like the passion, pioneering and precision (plus pristine ingredients) of our dear Bay Area.
I'm blessed to travel 1/2 of every month the better part of two decades and it's only ever more highlighted as I'm out in the world and nation: we have truly one of the best palates and wealth of edible goodness in the entire world right here.
Thanks again, Robert.
Virginia! I just sent you a direct message here on Substack in the “Chat” tab in the “requests” section -Chef Harrison :)