SF Bay Area March Top Eats
8 Standout Restaurants & Eateries of the Month (New or With New Dishes)
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, including modern Afghani food, a Korean steakhouse, Honduran-Yucatecan and Cambodian eateries. Alongside my latest restaurant reviews — Atelier Crenn, Californios, Merchant Roots, Harbor House Inn, Eylan, Amara Belmont, ALPINA at Terra in Eataly Silicon Valley, Che Fico Menlo Park, Meyhouse Palo Alto — these seven spots are also worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here. As always, I’ve personally vetted and visited each:
Modern Afghani Gamechanger: Jaji, Oakland
I’ve been visiting Bogota, Colombia, since 2018 (more on my recent return coming in my Substack), and there’s nothing around like husband-wife Sophie Akbar and chef Paul Iglesias’ Parche in Oakland for modern Colombian food. So I was delighted to hear they were opening a modern Afghan restaurant, Jaji, in January 2025, named after Akbar’s ancestral Pashtun tribe, also her grandfather’s last name.