Best restaurants in the SF Bay Area

My personal favorites (I’m not big on Pellegrino / Michelin style):

Berkeley / Oakland:
Camino
Chez Panisse
Comal
Great China
Miss Ollie’s
Nido

SF:
Cockscomb
La Ciccia
Cotogna
Frances
Perbacco
Yank Sing
Zuni Cafe

Elsewhere:
Anjappar Chettinad, Milpitas
Yum’s Bistro, Newark

2 Likes

The only thing I’d add to your Berkeley/Oakland list is Lalime’s. We’ve been having a series of good to great meals there over the past couple of years.
Love Camino.
Chez Panisse hasn’t missed a beat.
Comal - how have I only eaten there once? Loved it and it isn’t like it is far.
Great China - I don’t like duck, and I need ordering guidance, although I did like my one meal there.
Miss Ollie’s - On my chronic “I need to eat there” list. I have no excuse.
Nido - Really like it.

SF - I like Perbacco and Barbacco very much. If we still went to SF more, we’d probably frequent these places more.
Yank Sing - I just don’t get it. I’ve gone on and off since the mid-80s, and never thought it was more than “perfectly fine.” I’m now in an eternal “off” phase unless a visitor wants to go.
Zuni - each occasional visit has been worth the visit. Just like Perbacco, if we were nearby more, we’d visit more.

The state of Berkeley/Oakland dining has us eating closer to home more and more. We rarely have even a mediocre meal out (well, Tay Ho ruined the streak last weekend) and the pleasure of visiting SF (cost, cost of getting to/from, reduced parking and driving routes) has us visiting with less frequency.

Oh, yeah, Lalime’s has been great since the new team took over.