Restaurants of the year
This years best new openings, bars, MORE
At FOUND, we capture the restaurant (and bar) scene via three primary lenses — short narrative pieces relaying our experiences dining in the field (First Person, First Word & FOUND Table), distilled lists of recommendations (The Nines), and interviews with the city’s movers, shakers, and industry insiders of taste (Routines).
FOUND is fascinated with what’s new, reporting regularly on just-opened spots before the rush. Just as interesting to us: those places that haven’t received their just acclaim, and old favorites that reward return visits. And while we will spend $350 per person for an extraordinary experience, we are equally at home at an exemplary neighborhood bistro.
Across the breadth of our coverage, we’re as focused on the room and the vibe — the way the restaurant makes you feel — as we are the food. We’re also obsessed with the movements and trends shaping the dining scene. And finally, our coverage reaches beyond the city and into weekend getaway markets (i.e., “surrounds”).
Here now, we present our restaurant of the year (says one restaurateur: “If I could generate the vibe they have at [big reveal below] at all my spots, I’d be a billionaire.”) and two Nines of our favorite new restaurants and favorite new bars of 2025.
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Restaurant of the year
Eight months after its opening in the former Universal Cafe, the wait for seats at Caroline and Parker Brown’s Side A hasn’t gotten any easier, but a more comprehensive reservations system has significantly eased the pain. Another change: the Browns have pivoted from describing the menu as “Midwestern comfort food” and now call it “Modern American,” a vaguer term that allows for more play in the kitchen. But recent offerings like bone marrow with milk toast certainly play on the flyover states’ reputation for richness.
There’s excellent and comforting food to be had in so many places across San Francisco, but few that boast the mood you find at Side A, where DJs spin tracks ranging from hidden gems to crowd pleasingly nostalgic. As a successful restaurant group owner said to me the other day, “if I could generate the vibe they have at Side A at all my spots, I’d be a billionaire.”
When pressed to describe the elements of that vibe, that restaurateur and others (me included) falter. It’s not just the food, which is satisfying and delightful, nor is it the music or seating, which is tight enough that those put off by communal dining might face a similar social struggle. Service is friendly and pleasant, and a wine list curated by La Ciccia’s Paul Chung is smart and concise. All of these elements on their own sound like a pleasant neighborhood restaurant, but there’s an alchemy here that takes Side A into the destination category.
A theory, perhaps, is that in 2025, we all want new experiences but we’re also unwilling to engage in a slog. Purely comforting nostalgia is dead (look at the flops of The Fall Guy and The Running Man), but we also don’t want to feel like we’re doing homework in our off hours (e.g., The Smashing Machine). But look at Sinners, which took loads of familiar tropes and remixed them into something that left audiences glowing, not unlike what the Browns do in their Mission spot.
This year boasted a broad and glossy swath of openings. But many of those are once and dones, note the evening on the ‘gram and move along. Side A keeps folks coming back, again and again, which makes it San Francisco’s restaurant of 2025. –Eve Batey
→ Side A (Mission) • 2814 19th St • Mon-Fri 8a-2p, Mon, Thu, Sun 4-10p, Fri-Sat 4p-12a • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Best new openings, 2025
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in the Bay Area and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundsf.com. For the full archives, click here.
Jules (Lower Haight), SF’s toughest reservation might be Max Blachman-Gentile’s pop-up turned sit-down spot for NY/Neopolitan hybrid pies, intel, reserve
The Happy Crane (Hayes Valley, above), former Benu chef James Yeun Leong Parry’s pop-up turned upscale dim sum spot in former Monsieur Benjamin space, intel, reserve
Turtle Tower (FiDi), beloved pho icon returns after two years away in gorgeous downtown space, intel, walk-ins only
Ama (FiDi), Brad Kilgore brings a little Miami to SF w/ clubby Japanese/Italian small plates, intel, reserve
Arquet (Ferry Building), intricately plated modern California dishes from Sorrel team, jewel in the Ferry Building crown, intel, reserve
Nopa Fish (Embarcadero), Laurence Jossel+Holly Rhodes’ (Nopa) collab w/ Joe Conte (Water2Table) marries fish market counter w/ fast casual seafood, intel, walk-ins only
Via Aurelia (China Basin), Che Fico’s fancier Tuscan spin-off anchors the new Mission Rock development, intel, reserve
Wolfsbane (Dogpatch), Lord Stanley team returns w/ rustic-leaning tasting menu inside former Serpentine, intel, reserve
Jaji (Oakland), Parche owners Paul Iglesias and Sophia Akbar’s upscale Pashtun w/ hidden bar, intel, reserve
BARS • The Nines
Best new bars, 2025
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in the Bay Area and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundsf.com. For the full archives, click here.
Bar Darling (Marina), coastal-chic, high-volume cocktails, off-menu burger dog, intel, reserve
Dingles Public House (Civic Center), proper English pub w/ strong gin and tonics + perfect pints, Scotch eggs and meat pies, intel, walk-ins only
Meski (Tenderloin), dream team of Draymond Green, Nelson German, and Guma Fassil unite for a moody Afro-Latino cocktail lounge, intel, reserve
Valley Club (Union Square), intentionally sexy and illicit, hidden in the Hotel G, intel, walk-ins only
Bar Maritime (Union Square), cocktails from local bar star Larry Piaskowy inside the former Burritt Room, intel, walk-ins only
Shoji (SoMa), Japanese whiskey, Asian-inflected cocktails, Thai/Japanese small pilates from Intu-on Kornnawong, intel, reserve
Bar Brucato (Mission), bar from Brucato Amaro founders w/ full line of liquors, Cal-Med menu, intel, reserve
La Loulou (Oakland. above), Piedmont Ave’s splashiest opening, distinctly Parisian aesthetic, intel, walk-ins only
Arquet (Ferry Building), intricately plated modern California dishes from Sorrel team, jewel in the Ferry Building crown, intel, reserve.