San Francisco Best Food: 7 Dishes to Try

The best food San Francisco offers comes down to a few signature dishes, and each one lives in its own part of town. Use this list to pick what to eat, then use the table at the end to match the dish to your day. If you want a guide to plan the stops, a San Francisco food tour covers several of these in one walk.

1. Sourdough bread bowl and clam chowder, best for a first lunch

Sourdough with clam chowder is the dish most visitors try first. Boudin Bakery & Cafe at 160 Jefferson Street in Fisherman's Wharf serves thick chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Boudin says it has been in business since 1849, and you can watch the bread being made at its flagship store.

Other chowder spots are nearby. Scoma's has its own private pier, and Chowders and Fog Harbor Fish House are both at PIER 39. Sotto Mare in North Beach and Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street often have a line, according to the San Francisco Travel Association chowder guide.

For bread without the crowds, the same guide names Tartine and Arizmendi Bakery, a worker-owned co-op in the Inner Sunset.

2. Cioppino, best for a seafood dinner

Cioppino is a tomato seafood stew, and it started as a way to use up leftover seafood. A good bowl has Dungeness crab, clams, mussels, fish, calamari and shrimp in the broth, as the San Francisco Travel Association describes it.

Three places stand out for it. Tadich Grill calls itself the oldest restaurant in California and serves it. Cioppino's has a waterfront view and is named after the dish, and ATwater Tavern looks over Oracle Park and the bay.

No official page publishes cioppino prices. Check each restaurant's menu page before you go.

3. The Mission burrito, best for a cheap, big meal

The Mission burrito started in the Mission District and is known for its jumbo size. It is packed with extra rice, sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

Try El Farolito or Taqueria La Cumbre, the two named first by the tourist board. La Taqueria and Papalote also appear in its wider guide. Burrito prices are not published there, so look at the menu boards when you arrive.

Pro Tip Order one burrito for two people at your first Mission stop. A jumbo burrito with extra rice, sour cream and guacamole is a full meal, and you can still visit a second taqueria the same day.

4. Dim sum in Chinatown, best for a late breakfast

Dim sum in Chinatown is best eaten in the morning, because it is traditionally a breakfast. The neighborhood covers 24 blocks of restaurants, food markets and shops, and you enter through Dragon's Gate.

Golden Gate Bakery sells takeaway dim sum, and Lai Hong Lounge is a sit-down room. At a sit-down place, servers may circulate with carts or trays, and you can also order fresh dishes. The tourist board also names Good Mong Kok Bakery on Stockton Street, which sells takeout in a pink box and has a line, and Yank Sing, open since 1958.

The Chinatown Culinary Walking Tour takes 3 hours and costs from €74.78 per person. It is run by Local Tastes of the City Tours, rated 4.8 from 305 reviews, and its listing shows free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. It meets at 400 Grant Avenue, with groups of up to 14 people, and tips are not included. The listing for the North Beach walk below (tour 9461) gives its start point and 3-hour length, but not its group size. No official page publishes dim sum prices, so the tour price is the only firm cost here.

If you want the streets around the food, read our guide to Chinatown and North Beach.

5. Dungeness crab, best for a waterfront treat

Dungeness crab is the seafood San Francisco is proudest of. Fisherman's Wharf supplied what the tourist board calls the holy trinity of Dungeness crab, king salmon and oysters.

Sabella & La Torre has served crab since 1927 and is open seven days, from 12 to 8 p.m. Scoma's has a fish receiving station on its own pier. Crab prices change with the season and are not published by the tourist board, so check the menu.

Key Takeaway Fisherman's Wharf is the one neighborhood where chowder, crab and sourdough sit within a short walk, so a single afternoon there covers three of the seven dishes on this list.

6. Italian food in North Beach, best for pizza and coffee

North Beach is the city's Little Italy, centered on Columbus Avenue and Washington Square. Come here for pizza, focaccia, coffee and Italian seafood, and for the bookstore City Lights, which opened in 1953.

Sotto Mare is the seafood pick at 552 Green Street, and the tourist board says there is almost always a wait. The North Beach and Little Italy Food Tour is a 3-hour walk from €74.78 per person, rated 4.8 from 213 reviews and run by Local Tastes of the City Tours. Its listing lists local pizza, bread, olive oil, coffee and chocolate tastings, and it starts at 480 Columbus Avenue.

7. Ferry Building Marketplace, best for a quick sampler

The Ferry Building Marketplace puts 42 food and shop listings in one hall. They include Acme Bread Company, Hog Island Oyster Company, Gott's Roadside, Humphry Slocombe and Cholita Linda. The building is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the Ferry Building Marketplace visit page.

The farmers market runs Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Humphry Slocombe's Secret Breakfast ice cream is on the tourist board's list of must-try eats, and the board says to get there early.

A city tastes best when you eat in the neighborhood a dish comes from.

How to choose the best food in San Francisco for your day

Match the dish to the time of day and the neighborhood you will already be in. The table shows the best fit for each one.

In 2026, a mid-range meal in San Francisco cost $20 to $75 per person across three published sources, according to the 2026 San Francisco Travel Cost Study.

Things to Do in San Francisco's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found that the 11 San Francisco food tours start at a median of €81 per person.

A food tour is not worth it if you only want one burrito. You can walk into any taqueria and order. A tour makes sense when you want dim sum or Italian stops explained, or when you do not want to choose between many places. Doing it yourself costs less, because you pay only for what you order, but you plan the stops and the lines. The Chinatown and North Beach walks both run 3 hours, start at 400 Grant Avenue and 480 Columbus Avenue, and show free cancellation. Their listings give a price from €74.78, and the 4-hour walk gives €83.68. The Food Walking Tour of Chinatown and North Beach takes 4 hours and costs from €83.68 per person, with food and drinks included and tips left out. For a meal with a view, the City Cruises brunch or dinner cruise takes 2 to 2.5 hours and costs from €108.35 per person, run by City Cruises California and rated 4.5 from 247 reviews, with free cancellation. The listing gives no meeting point.

Nothing here replaces the restaurants' own pages. The tourist board gives no reservation rules and no dish prices, so check before you go. Not sure where to sleep near the food? See where to stay in San Francisco.