San Francisco's Best Seafood Restaurants

Seafood heavenAngler is run by Joshua Skeenes and the team behind Saison. A seafood-centric restaurant focused on live-fire cooking with a great wine list.I love to start with a bottle of Pliny, some local oysters while I'm checking in the menu.Do not miss the grilled Radicchio with Radicchio X.O sauce, wonderfully smokey flavour and super tasty. Prawns or tuna from the grill and to finish the meal a Soft Serve Sundae. That's a great way to start the CA-trip.

The Greatest Raw Bar on EarthYes, you have to wait in line. Everyone waits in line at Swan Oyster. It is family run and they serve some of the best oysters, crab, scallops and raw fish you will ever have. Make sure to order a plate of Sicilian sashimi. Note: they have strange opening hours.

Let the kitchen cook for you for an absolute feastFor $95, you should choose the “let the kitchen cook for you” menu, which covers many of the greatest hits on the eclectic and delicious menu. It’s worth paying the supplement for the uni and jamón serrano toast, isn’t it always?

An old-school SF seafood experience.A local’s secret for some the best seafood in town, Sam’s Grill is a quintessential SF experience. Established in 1867, Sam’s opened in this Belden/Bush location in 1946, and it feels like some of the servers have been here that long. They may be serving old-school dishes, but everything is so fresh and seasonal. (No frozen veggie medley out of a bag on the side here.) Owner Peter Quartaroli brought on culinary director David Gingrass a few years ago to update the menu, presentation, and sourcing—not too much, but just right. Things aren’t overpriced, they’re here to feed locals, and lunch is busy busy. Just ask Da Mayor—Willie Brown has his front table four days out of the week here. Try the Celery Victor, an SF original: it’s a poached and chilled celery salad with a spicy hit from the garlic-chili marinade, perfect with white anchovies. Cioppino, petrale sole, Hangtown fry, crab or shrimp Louie, and Green Goddess salad are other SF classics here. Enjoy some well-selected international wines, thanks to wine director Lance Tolaio. Here’s to Sam’s, the fifth oldest restaurant in the U.S., and one of SF’s finest gems. They also have private booths and a well-outfitted outdoor patio.

Tiny Oma San Francisco Station feels like eating sushi in a Tokyo subway station.

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Oma's eight-seat sushi counter has a Tokyo subway station vibe tucked away in a corner of SF's charming Japantown mall. It's casual, with a top-notch fish selection to a small sake collection. It’s an omakase-only (tasting menu) format and a quirky, fun experience with quality nigiri.

My "secret" more affordable, casual but still quality sushi spot in SF.

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Hidden upstairs in SF's charming Japantown mall, casual Sasa strikes a fine balance of exquisite fish from Japan’s legendary Toyosu Market (formerly Tsukiji) in proper nigiri and maki (rolls), but a midpoint price below many of the city’s tiny Michelin-starred sushi bars.

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Must try: divine scallops from Hokkaido in a scallop roll with snow crab and cucumber, creamy with Kyoto white miso aioli.

Tiny, intimate sushi bar transports to Japan on SF's Divisadero St. Chef Ken Ngai took over tiny KEN early 2021 after over 15 years working closely with Mitsunori Kusakabe at SF's Michelin-starred Kusakabe. Quality is high with his nigiri (think Hokkaido bafun uni) and items like hand rolls wrapped in first-harvest Ariake nori seaweed.