The much acclaimed Rose Pizzeria, a favorite of both the SF Chronicle and the New York Times as well as SFist, has just debuted its much anticipated second location in SF's Richmond District. Let the jockeying for reservations begin!

They've yet to serve their first pizza, to the general public anyway, at the new Rose Pizzeria at 1 Clement Street, and already there is not a single table available to reserve in the next month. Such is the passion for pizza in San Francisco and such is the buzz around this opening, which we've known was coming since a little over a year ago.

This second location of the successful Berkeley operation arrives today in the Inner Richmond's former Village Pizzeria at Clement and Arguello, and will reportedly have a slightly expanded menu compared to the tiny Berkeley flagship.

As the Chronicle tells us, the much larger kitchen at the new location will allow for customizable pies for the first time, with diners able to add things like mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni or pickled chiles to the plain cheese pizza.

Rose Pizzeria is known for its delicious topping combos, however, like the She Wolf pie with burrata, slow-roasted tomato, garlic confit, olives, capers, and Sicilian oregano; and the Old Faithful, with fennel sausage, goat horn peppers, mozzarella, and red onion.

The 14-inch pies are described on the menu as "West Coast style," and by that they mean well crisped, fairly thin, with a flavorful sourdough crust.

And new to the SF location will be even thinner, Roman-style pizzas, tonda Romana, with five topping options — including a riff on spaghetti alla Norma, with eggplant, tomato, mozz, capers, olives, ricotta salata, mint, and a sweet-and-sour agrodolce drizzle. There is also a potentially controversial take on a Hawaiian pizza, called the Beach Club, featuring mortadella.

There are also meatballs on the menu, along with some favorite starters from the Berkeley menu like baked feta, Rancho Gordo beans in broth, and miso-rich Spicy Caesar salad.

Wines lean toward Italian varietals and funky naturals, including a section devoted to "White Orange Pink."

Rose Pizzeria enjoyed a major bump in business in the summer of 2024, after the New York Times included it on a list titled "22 of the Best Pizza Places in the United States." The place had already enjoyed a Chronicle rave review one year earlier, and it remains highly ranked on the paper's Top 100 Restaurants.

The SF location has some walk-in seating, both on the unheated sidewalk and at the counter inside, so expect some waits for those seats in the coming months, and perhaps some lines. Otherwise, it appears reservations will be appearing on Resy one month out — maybe one day at a time? Check back on the app. There currently aren't any available tables showing through May 26.

Do note: They are open for lunch as well.

Rose Pizzeria - 1 Clement Street (at Arguello) - Open Mon-Sun 11:30 am to 9:15 pm (ish) - reserve here

There's a taker for the Del Popolo space on Nob Hill, Saluhall has a new bar operator, Ghirardelli Square's been sold, and we have a few more details on the new Outer Richmond location of Bi-Rite, all in This Week in Food.

There is a taker for the Del Popolo space on Nob Hill, and that is the owner of Thanh Tam II in the Mission District, Johnny Le. Tablehopper caught the liquor license movement, with Del Popolo still open and operating — we learned last month that owner Jon Darsky had decided to move exclusively into the frozen pizza biz, and Del Popolo's last day is May 8. And Le, as we heard last year, is also working on opening a Vietnamese restaurant in the former Cocotte space on Hyde Street in Russian Hill, and this will likely be a second expansion effort.

Tablehopper also had news this week of Casa Sofia Kitchen & Bar, a new Latin American restaurant that is moving into the former Brixton space at 701 Second Street, near Oracle Park. Fans of chef-owner Carlos Altamirano can expect some of the food from his popular Half Moon Bay restaurant La Costanera, and his Walnut Creek restaurant Parada, and Tablehopper notes that the menu will blend influences from Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and other Latin countries. Altamirano also, just last year, opened Peruvian restaurant Altamirano, in SF's NoPa neighborhood. Casa Sofia is aiming for a mid-May opening.

Breakfast burrito specialist Breakfast Little is expanding to a second location in Cow Hollow. The Chronicle reports that owner Andrew Martinez-Perez will be bringing his breakfast game to 2223 Union Street perhaps later this year, but no opening date has been set.

The Chronicle also has a few more details on the upcoming fourth location of Bi-Rite in the Richmond District, which we first reported on last month. The new market at 6001 California Street (at 22nd Avenue) will be about the same size as the Divisadero Bi-Rite, but it will offer abundant outdoor seating space, which is unique among Bi-Rite locations. Bi-Rite co-CEO Patrick Mills tells the paper that all the Bi-Rites will be getting a new line of house-made pastry as well as sushi in the near future, and these will be coming to the new store when it opens sometime next year. Also, there are plans to open a fifth store, possibly in the East Bay or North Bay, sometime in the next few years.

On Friday we learned that the iconic Ghirardelli Square has been sold to new owners, per the Business Times. The buyer is Embrace Real Estate, which will be managing the complex along with Denver-based Continuum Partners, promising to bring in "best-in-class tenants and experiences." So, that may mean new restaurants in the near future to join current tenants like Palette Tea House.

Saluhall at the IKEA-anchored mall on mid-Market is still seeking a new operator, but owner Ingka Centres has hired a new company to take over the three bars in the two-story space. That is Spirited Beverage Co., the beverage arm of local firm Always Fishing Hospitality Group, as SFGate reports. They will be reopening the upstairs and downstairs cocktail bars at the food hall, as well as the more intimate second-story space that had never really been open to the public, behind closed doors on the Market Street side of the space. Only three food vendors are currently operating, with several stalls left to fill in the hall.

The Dave & Busters that is taking over a long vacant building at Oakland's Jack London Square, once slated to be a food hall, is finally opening on May 4. SFGate reports that the space at 55 Harrison Street is all tricked out with its bars and arcade games, as well as a "high-tech darts suite," and a sign is posted on the door saying "Training In Progress."

Top image via Breakfast Little, by @richmzy

Concluding a year in which the beloved beer destination Toronado was purportedly being sold to a crypto bro who was talking about installing a roof deck, and then that sale fell through, we now have word that the bar is going into good hands.

Longtime owner and the founder of Toronado, Dave Keene, announced this week that he has sold the bar to Bill Lewis, who's described as "a San Francisco resident of three decades and a regular of the beloved Haight Street bar." Lewis has partnered with his brother-in-law, Wall Pringle, to purchase the bar.

SFGate was first to the news, which comes a little over a year after a sale was announced to crypto enthusiast Orion Parrott, who spoke of wanting to turn Toronado into a "global brand" with its own crypto coin, the Xitter account for which is still live under @ToronadoCash.

SFist reported in January that that deal was officially dead, about seven months after Keene had suggested he was trying to back out of the deal, and after longtime customers of the cash-only establishment balked at the possibility of losing the bar to the tech-brosphere.

"The history, the atmosphere, and the community have to remain intact,” Keene said in a statement about the latest sale. "I want to properly pass the torch."

The release further said the the priority remained "Preserving everything that makes Toronado the Toronado,” and no changes were planned to the staff or general direction of the bar.

New owner Lewis said in a statement, "It is an honor to become the new owner of Toronado, and I look forward to sustaining it for the next 40 years."

Keene opened Toronado in 1987, and quickly turned it into a mecca for craft beer lovers that was well ahead of the curve in terms of Northern California's craft beer boom. Defined by signature annual events like its Barleywine Festival, which celebrates the less common, high-alcohol end of the craft brewing spectrum, Toronado has remained a landmark bar in the Lower Haight and a notable must-stop for beer tourists from around the world when they visit San Francisco.

The past two years, Toronado has hosted its own Beer Week that runs on a different schedule from San Francisco Beer Week.

After 38 years running the bar, Keene put it up for sale in January 2025 along with the whole building, which includes the small storefront next door that had for years been home to a sausage shop — first Rosamunde, and later Berliner Berliner.

Previously: Beer Mecca Toronado, Which Did Not Sell to Any New Owner, Hosts Its Own Beer Week Once Again

El Faro is in trouble again, popular smashburger pop-up Maillards has a new Outer Sunset home, and Eat Americana has closed its doors in the Richmond, all in This Week in Food.

You may have seen the hubbub about Philz Coffee banning all Pride flags last week, but now, as of Friday, the CEO has reversed himself and apologized. The Pride flags are staying up, and you're free to go back to getting coffee at Philz — even though some PR damage has clearly been done.

Historic Mission District taqueria El Faro (2399 Folsom) — one of two places in the Mission that claims to have invented the Mission-style super burrito — is once again in the news for the wrong reasons, and the owner is once again talking about closing the place down for good. As SFGate reported earlier this week, the 64-year-old restaurant has just had its rent nearly doubled, and owner Raymunda Ramirez, who bought the taqueria with her husband 23 years ago and has worked their since 1980, is now trying to sell the business — and there's a GoFundMe to try to cover one month of rent. A year and a half ago, the taqueria suffered a series of break-ins in which $20,000 in cash was stolen, and Ramirez also had talked about closing down then.

Starting next week, popular smashburger pop-up Maillards will have a regular home at Two Pitchers Brewing Company's new taproom at 3821 Noriega Street, in the Outer Sunset. As the Chronicle reports, Maillards, which launched at the Outer Sunset farmers' market three years ago, and also served burgers at Heritage Bar and Grill in the Richmond, will continue at Heritage for a few weeks and keep popping up at the market, after the first Two Pitchers service on April 22.

In sad Avenues news, Richmond District diner Eat Americana (3532 Balboa Street) has shut down after 30 years in business. The diner served its last breakfasts on April 12, as SFGate reported, and in its place, something called The Cat's Whiskers is opening, according to a liquor license transfer. Details on that are still to come.

Tablehopper had word of a new ramen spot at 1639 Polk Street, in the former Mini Potstickers location, and it's called Denya Ramen. It doesn't appear to be open just yet, but stay tuned.

Up in Larkspur, Picco is ringing in its 20th anniversary by bringing back some menu favorites, including an English pea risotto and a Barolo-braised beef rib with fermented mustard polenta, which will be available throughout April and May. And of course they still serve their excellent Neapolitan-style pizzas, first made by Chef Bruce Hill (Zero Zero, Fog City, Bix), with dough that gets a 96-hour ferment.

And the Chronicle published some of its readers' opinions about that problematic Top 100, once again, and readers callouts for biggest snubs this year include Chez Panisse, Kokkari Estiatorio, Foreign Cinema, and contemporary Taiwanese spot Good to Eat in Emeryville.

Photo: Donny P./Yelp

After a truly baffling decision by its CEO to demand the removal of Pride flags and other flags from all of its stores, Philz Coffee will go back to allowing the flags, and the CEO has issued an apology.

As ABC 7 reports, one week after making the controversial decision to have flags removed from stores because they weren't "inclusive" enough, and just days after writing an internal memo that seemed to show him digging in his heels on the matter, CEO Mahesh Sadarangani has reversed himself.

In a statement, Sadarangani says, "I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry. To our Team Members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you."

It does not seem that the flag-removal process had actually begun since last week's confusing public announcement, however Sadarangani now says, "I want to be clear about where Philz stands: our Pride flags are staying up. If a Pride flag came down, it can be put back up."

Whatever prompted Sadarangani to launch his odd crusade against the flags, eight months after Philz was acquired by a private equity firm, remains unclear. Sadarangani had said that the policy change was made because "everyone who walks through our doors deserves to feel welcome and safe." The implication here was that someone somewhere was feeling unsafe because of a Pride flag, in one or more of Philz's mostly California-based coffeeshops.

But Sadarangani apparently came to realize what a poor business decision this probably was. And now he's framing it as a revelation he had after meeting with SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford and the organization's Board Treasurer Jupiter Peraza.

"The Pride flag is a symbol of safety and belonging for people who don't always find that in the world, and that is not something I want to take away from anyone who walks into a Philz," Sadarangani now says. "I had the chance to sit down with San Francisco Pride leaders Suzanne Ford and Jupiter Peraza, both are trans women who led this conversation with grace, directness and a genuine commitment to finding alignment on what matters."

He adds, "Going forward, each of the company's 82 stores, representing 82 unique communities, will also feature locally created artwork shaped by the voices of Team Members and the neighborhoods they serve, a living expression of the diverse communities Philz is proud to be part of."

This is also different from the artwork idea Sadarangani had mentioned in the internal memo earlier this week, which had discussed the creation of a single piece of "unifying" artwork that would be created with employee input, and that would then be displayed in all Philz stores.

Ford was quick to respond to the Philz controversy last week, pointing out the particular pain of having a Philz location the heart of the Castro which was chock-full of rainbow decor, which would now have to abide by this new policy.

"There’s also a real frustration that comes with being a queer person right now," Ford said, speaking to KRON4. "That’s what makes moments like this one sting. It may seem small, but removing a Pride flag sends a message, and for many in this neighborhood, it feels like another blow right at home."

If I were the private equity firm I might be questioning the competence of this CEO right about now, after this utterly unnecessary gaffe that has done massive PR damage to the brand in its own hometown. But, as far as the boycott threat goes, mission accomplished.

Related: Philz CEO Says Pride Flags Still Are Coming Down, Despite Pushback, and 'Unifying' Artwork Will Replace Them

Top image: Philz Coffee storefront on a sunny day with logo signage on concrete building exterior, San Francisco, California, February 5, 2026. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Supervisor Myrna Melgar has introduced a ban on smoking at outdoor bar and tavern patios in San Francisco, which would make it one of the last major cities in the Bay Area to do so, and some local venues fear the ban would kill their business.

In keeping with her 2024 reelection promise, Supervisor Myrna Melgar introduced legislation last week that would amend the city’s Health Code to ban smoking on outdoor bar and tavern patios, as the Bay Area Reporter reports. It would also remove existing exceptions that allow smoking in certain indoor or semi-enclosed bar spaces, including some hotel rooms, to align with California law.

Melgar said she was still gauging support with the Board of Supervisors but expressed confidence in finding a balance between public health concerns and potential economic impacts on businesses.

“We tend to be individualistic about health. It is about my choices that I control,” said Melgar, via the BAR. “But these things are about everybody else, especially with smoking. Secondhand smoke impacts the people around you, your children, and the workers serving you. This is a really important workers’ rights issue.”

San Francisco is reportedly the last major Bay Area city without such a restriction, following similar bans in San Jose, Oakland, and across Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, with more than 100 California cities having adopted comparable rules, according to Mission Local.

The proposal, first introduced on April 7, is expected to be referred to the Land Use and Transportation Committee, which Melgar chairs, with the earliest possible hearing set for May 11. If it advances, it would reportedly require approval from five supervisors before reaching Mayor Daniel Lurie for final consideration.

The BAR reports that District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents South of Market and Mission Bay — areas with multiple bars that currently allow smoking on outdoor patios — said he is undecided on Melgar’s ordinance and plans to consult local business owners before taking a position.

Dorsey, who previously helped lead a 2019 campaign opposing a Juul-backed ballot measure to overturn San Francisco’s restrictions on e-cigarette sales, said he supports reducing tobacco harms but has concerns about unintended consequences. He pointed to the possibility that a patio smoking ban could shift smoking activity onto sidewalks, potentially affecting nearby businesses and residential buildings, per BAR.

Melgar responded that sidewalk smoking already occurs in the city and should not deter the Board of Supervisors from advancing the proposal.

LGBTQ Minus Tobacco, which previously helped advance a similar ban in Oakland, conducted a San Francisco study in partnership with UCSF researchers and reported that six of the nine bar patios tested showed unhealthy air quality levels.

Brian Davis, the group’s former project director and current volunteer, told the BAR that San Francisco has lagged behind other jurisdictions in protecting bar workers and patrons from secondhand smoke exposure. He said removing existing exemptions in the city’s Health Code would simplify enforcement and eliminate ambiguity around patio structures, such as whether fabric canopies qualify as “ceilings,” which can affect whether smoking is permitted.

Davis also pointed to broader public health and access concerns, saying people with respiratory conditions are often unable to safely spend time in smoking-permitted spaces.

Joseph Andrew Hayden, another volunteer with the group, told Mission Local that smoking remains common in LGBTQ nightlife venues such as the Lone Star and the Eagle, as well as events like Bearisson and Folsom Street Fair. He rejected the idea that smoking is inherent to gay culture and said some community members believe smoke-free environments would make quitting easier.

“I know that I would be much more likely and much more comfortable if I could go out to these places and actually inhale,” he said.

As the BAR reports, some LGBTQ community members have voiced opposition, including a local group of pipe and cigar-smoking leathermen, who called the policy “ridiculous.”

Four Castro neighborhood bars have popular smoking patios as well: Toad Hall, The Pilsner Inn, The Mix, and The Lookout.

Patrons at venues such as the Blarney Stone in the Richmond District said they would likely visit less often if smoking were no longer allowed on patios, arguing that they prefer the privacy of enclosed outdoor areas over smoking on sidewalks, according to Mission Local.

On the other hand, venues such as Casements bar and restaurant in the Mission already prohibit smoking on its outdoor patio, a policy that bar manager Mo Huynh said has been beneficial for business.

Image: Eagle Tavern

It's hard to understand where Philz CEO Mahesh Sadarangani is coming from other than a place of fear and Trump-inspired bigotry, but in a confidential memo to employees he's apparently digging in on this Pride flag issue, controversy be damned.

The Chronicle got ahold of this confidential memo, because clearly employees and store managers in San Francisco are pissed and eager to share such things. In it, Sadarangani doesn't back down from the newly announced anti-flag policy, or apologize to any employees who may be upset by it.

"We hear and deeply understand that we did not handle changes to store decor as well as we should have, especially as true allies to the community," Sadarangani says. "Some of our team members have shared that those changes felt personal."

Well, yes, and a policy that impacts the hanging of rainbow flags, at a coffee chain that was born and nurtured in very queer-friendly San Francisco, is just bizarre, full stop.

There is still no timeline or deadline for the removal of the Pride flags, but as the Chronicle reports, the memo does discuss the creation of a new "unifying" piece of artwork that will hang in all stores, in lieu of things like flags.

"Over the last year, we have been working on custom Philz artwork to set the expectations for a safe and inclusive space for all, including our LGBTQIA+ community," the memo says, per the Chronicle. "We want one piece of artwork that unifies all of Philz, that openly showcases our commitment to honoring the uniqueness and diversity of each person who enters our place."

But again, what the fuck is wrong with a Pride flag and who among Philz customers is offended or feels "unsafe" because of it? The change also comes less than a year after a private equity firm acquired Philz from the Jaber family, who originally owned it.

A group of protesters gathered outside the Castro neighborhood Philz store on Friday to demonstrate against the new company policy.

SF Pride also issued a statement last week after this new policy came to light, calling it "deeply disappointing."

"There’s also a real frustration that comes with being a queer person right now – feeling like you want to respond to every headline, but not always knowing where your energy and bandwidth are best spent, especially with so many serious issues impacting LGBTQ+ communities globally,” said SF Pride executive director Suzanne Ford, speaking to KRON4. "That’s what makes moments like this one sting. It may seem small, but removing a Pride flag sends a message, and for many in this neighborhood, it feels like another blow right at home."

State Senator Scott Wiener made a video statement Saturday, saying, "Now we have this private equity firm coming into San Francisco and trying to say that our Philz Coffee locations can’t have a Pride flag. That is really gross. It shows once again the importance of small businesses that actually know a community and are rooted in a community."

Previously: Let the Boycott Begin!: Philz Coffee Locations Barred From Hanging Pride Flags

Rose Pizzeria's SF location is nearing its opening, the Caché team is expanding downtown, and Sol Bakery opens this weekend in Hayes Valley, all in This Week in Food.

The big food-media news this week was the unveiling of the Chroncle's updated Top 100, and once again I'd call it arbitrarily ranked and curiously curated, with plenty of unforgivable snubs and just a confusing melange of high and humble cuisines. It might be an impossible job to pick just 100 restaurants to represent the best of the Bay Area, but I continue to argue this isn't it — and above all, it should not be a ranked list.

The opening of the much-anticipated San Francisco location of Berkeley's acclaimed Rose Pizzeria is reportedly supposed to happen this month. The team is still aiming for an April opening, though the date isn't set — this Instagram post from three weeks ago said that all that was left was a few inspections and some training and tasting. And the Chronicle reports they're planning to offer more than one pizza style at the new location — expanding the offerings to include the crispy Roman tonda-style pizzas, and the puffy Neapolitan style known canotto.

The owners of one-year-old French spot Caché in the Inner Sunset, Florent Thomas and chef Simon Mounier, are already set to expand to the Financial District. As Tablehopper reports, they are seeking investors and not yet disclosing the space they're considering (could it be the former Wayfare Tavern space on Sacramento?), but they're talking about an opening as soon as this fall.

It's far from clear that the plea will do any good, but Sophie Smith, the owner of the extremely popular Butter & Crumble bakery in North Beach, is asking customers not to line up outside the bakery before 7:45 am. Smith says she's grateful for the customer loyalty, but she writes on Instagram, "Recently the line has been growing earlier and earlier than ever before. This has started to create a crazy unavoidable wait time for everyone before we even open our doors, and has become increasingly tough on surrounding residents." Today was supposed to be the first try at the 7:45 lineup, and we await word on how that worked out. The bakery posted on Instagram that there was a "short line" as of 11 am, and they were sold out today by 1 pm.

Speaking of bakeries, pastry chef and baker Marisa Williams, who has worked at Tartine and Mister Jiu's, has taken her popular Sol Bakery pop-up brick and mortar. Sol Bakery opens at 696 Hayes Street tomorrow, Saturday, April 11, as the Chronicle reports, featuring Williams's New York Times-approved guava tarts, as well as several flavors of focaccia, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate sourdough cake that Williams says is one of her all-time favorite cakes.

Song Wat, a new Thai restaurant, has just opened at 312 Divisadero, and it appears to be a pivot/rebrand of Mangrove Thai Kitchen. As Tablehopper reports, it is co-owned by Atthapon Inkhong, who owns Kan Kiin in Daly City, and the place is currently softly open for dinner from 5 pm to 9 pm nightly. The menu includes dishes like the holy basil-forward Ka Pow, which can be made with ground chicken, crispy pork belly, or vegetarian, with an optional fried egg; the "railway" fried rice dish called Kao Pad Rod Fai; and a massaman curry with beef.

Over in Berkeley, the Cheese Board Collective has just reopened its bakery and cheese shop following a major renovation and expansion into a former grocery store next door. The Shattuck Avenue space, next door to the Cheese Board's popular pizzeria, now has separate entrance and exit doors, an expanded grocery selection, and will ultimately return to featuring hundreds of cheeses once a refrigerator case arrives, as the Chronicle reports.

Top image: Photo via Butter & Crumble/Instagram

There is no life without pasta for most Italians, and given that some Italians must also grapple with the scourge of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, people have found a way to make delicious pasta, and pizza, without the gluten.

Still, it remains a rarity to find a completely celiac-safe Italian restaurant, and now San Francisco has one, in the Richmond District. It's called Clementina, and it's the latest project of restaurateurs Gianluca Legrottaglie and Viviana Devoto, who opened Montesacro Pinseria in SoMa over a decade ago, along with chef Giorgio Brunella.

Legrottaglie and Devoto were inspired first to launch a pop-up at the former Marina location of Montesacro, named Alice after their daughter, which served a gluten-free Italian menu, after discovering that their daughter had celiac disease. And they've now expanded the idea into a full-time restaurant on Clement Street — in the space that formerly housed their casual concept Bettola. (The Marina location of Montesacro is now closed.)

Brunella also has two daughters with celiac, and together they have imagined a full menu of both classic and inventive dishes at Clementina that leaves nothing to be desired in terms of Italian flavors, textures, and of course, pasta and pizza.

A dish of tagliatelle, with the pasta itself made with chickpea and brown rice flours giving it a familiarly elastic consistencey, comes with wine- and tomato-braised calamari. There's a beautifully layered pesto lasagna with just enough cheese and bechamel. And a classic saffron risotto — which wouldn't have had gluten in the first place — is dressed with bone marrow.

The crust of the pizza has a satisfying crispness from rice flour — which is also a component in Montesacro's signature pinsas — and you can opt for a simple Margherita, a red pie with anchovies and capers named for Alice, or the meatier Clementina pie with broccolini, Calabrian chili, and pork sausage.

And delicious starters include butter-poached asparagus with buffalo mozzarella, a classic vitello tonnato — thinly sliced beef with tuna sauce — and baked mussels with gorgonzola cheese, which may sound odd but is actually delicious.

There is even gluten-free focaccia on offer, as well as baguette slices for dipping in sauces, courtesy of Mariposa bakery.

Families with members who are gluten-intolerant, and those with celiac, will no doubt be glad to have this option for dining out without worry, and with a bevy of options to choose from. See the full dinner menu here.

Clementina - 343 Clement Street - Open for lunch Fri-Sun, 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, and for dinner Wednesday to Sunday, 5 pm to 9 pm, and until 10 pm Fri and Sat. Reserve on OpenTable

There is probably an editor over at the Chronicle who thinks that making the Top 100 a ranked list is controversial and fun, sparking conversation and argument. But it's actually just deeply misguided and insulting to chefs. Period.

The Chronicle's loved and hated Top 100 has just received its first annual update since it was revived last year by new critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Associate Critic Cesar Hernandez. And while they've corrected a couple of the obvious snubs from last year, the list continues to have two fundamental flaws: it's ranked rather than just alphabetized as it was under critics Michael Bauer and Soleil Ho, and it forces completely unjustifiable apples-to-oranges comparisons between Michelin-starred restaurants and sandwich shops.

It's not clear that Fegan was entirely on board with this methodology, but she tries to sell it in a recent video — shot while she was still pregnant and possibly not yet on her maternity leave. "We don't all eat in fine dining restaurants all the time," Fegan says, to justify the diversity of price points.

And in a similar video last year, she asked, "How do you rank a three-Michelin-star spot against a pizza place? A pizza place against a family-run Burmese restaurant?"

The answer is you don't. But Hernandez responded in that video, saying, "I think that there is both artistic merit in a torta from a panaderia and an amuse bouche or a canape from a fine dining restaurant."

The baseline requirements to qualify for the list last year, they said, was the place had to be open at least two days per week (!), and have some kind of seating, even if it was a food truck.

And here's Hernandez this year, discussing how the rankings are considered: "We appraised every restaurant on its own terms, which allowed us the freedom to compare a fine dining joint with, say, a deli — the former might deliver on technical refinement, while the latter might, beyond great sandwiches, meaningfully speak to its community."

Again, apples to oranges.

He was also explaining why one restaurant, Hilda & Jesse in North Beach, jumped 60 slots on the list, from #92 to #32, and the answer seems to be that he finally made it in for dinner and not just brunch. The restaurant offers a brief tasting menu at dinner, and he writes, "When so many luxe dining experiences can feel routine to the point of sterility, Hilda and Jesse proffers that the format should feel like nothing short of a party."

But take, for example, Lazy Bear, which has two Michelin stars, and "debuts" on this year's Top 100 at #100 — it actually appeared on the list under previous critics Michael Bauer in 2018, and Soleil Ho in 2019, but was snubbed last year and is therefore tagged as newly added.

If I had to guess, Lazy Bear fell in the category of expensive and established spot that neither Fegan nor Hernandez had made it to yet when last year's list went to press. The same goes for Ernest (#89) and Saison (#83), which were apparently left off the list last year for no other reason than the critics hadn't dined there, calling to question the integrity of that list, full stop.

And Lazy Bear suffers the indignity of being ranked several notches below an Oakland cofee shop (Alem's Coffee, #90, which serves Eritrean food); Patio Filipino (#96) in San Bruno, whose lumpia is pictured in plastic to-go containers; and Smish Smash, the smashburger stand at the IKEA-adjacent food hall. This is not to disrespect the skill behind those other restaurants' dishes or the deliciousness of those smashburgers (though I'd say they're just fine and not Top 100-worthy, personally). But the staff required, the expense of ingredients, the refinement of the cooking at Lazy Bear should be worth more than a rank at the very bottom of this fairly long list, no?

That feels about as arbitrary as putting Sandy's — the muffuletta sandwich specialist in the Haight, which I love! — at #23 on the list, considerably above the likes of two-Michelin-starred Enclos and Saison, and in the mix with Michelin three-star restaurants Quince (#18) and Benu (#17).

The comparisons aren't really fair to anyone, neither the casual, family-run spots nor the expensive fine-dining spots. And while Michelin may serve as the trusted arbiter for the latter category, they make mistakes and arbitrary snubs as well, and the Chronicle should serve as the local corrective for that. Still missing from the Top 100 are ambitious tasting menu spots like Nightbird and Anomaly that Michelin has ignored. And some other obvious snubs include Foreign Cinema, Commis, Anchor Oyster Bar, SPQR, Pearl 6101, Frances, and Octavia.

The French Laundry remains snubbed, for reasons that are pretty clear, as does Chez Panisse, which fell out of favor under Ho's tenure.

This year's number one is Four Kings, the trendiest Chinatown spot of the last 18 months, which the critics say has only improved in the last year, moving it up the list from #2.

Congrats to The Progress rising to #2 this year, and Jules debuting at #12 — and sorry to Zuni Cafe that they arbitrarily moved you from #10 to #33 without explanation. None of this really makes sense, but for those who made the cut, it should be a boost for business.

[Chronicle top 100 Restaurants]

Previously: French Laundry, Saison, Chez Panisse All Snubbed on Chronicle's New Top 100

The new Presidio Tunnel Tops food hall gets ready for opening, the new replacement for Cafe Flore in the Castro is softly open, and a former Mina Group chef opens a small new Japanese spot in SoMa, all in This Week in Food.

There's an update on the long-awaited food hall project next to the Presidio Tunnel Tops park, which is being called The Mess Hall, and it's now set to open in June. As the Chronicle reports today, tenants will include Korean restaurant Boda, a seafood spot called Dayboat Seafood, and a sandwich and burger purveyor called Breadwinner. There will also be a cafe and market featuring coffee from Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters. Former chef and partner in The Mess Hall Nate Leonard tells the Chronicle that the aim was to provide more casual dining options in the Presidio than the nearby Dalida and Colibri offer. Evening cocktails will be available, and all the restaurants will be serviced by the same central kitchen, rather than via separate kiosks. And do note that Momofuku alum Peter Serpico is a partner and consulting chef in the business, and Boda will feature his Korean fried chicken and mandu.

Parasol at Flore has opened in the former Cafe Flore / Fisch & Flore space in the Castro. As Hoodline reports, it is a soft opening, currently just offering morning coffee and pastries from 9 am to 2 pm, with expanded hours coming soon. As we learned in January, the new operator is Jacob Paronyan, who also owns Cow Hollow wine bar Roaming Goat, which specializes in Armenian and Georgian wines. Parasol is also expected to feature these wines along with Mediterranean small plates and kebabs.

Tablehopper brings us the word on new SoMa Japanese spot Dining Yamamoto, which softly opened last week. It's the first solo restaurant project of former Mina Group chef Yukinori Yamamoto, and it takes over the former Joint Venture Kitchen at 167 11th Street. The restaurant features nigiri sushi and maki rolls, as well as donburi bowls, and chef Yama-san will be offering an omakase menu at dinner as well.

Marina burger spot Causwells is expanding down the Peninula, with a new location opening this week in Menlo Park's Springline development — also home to Che Fico  Parco Menlo, Burma Love, and sushi spot Robin. As Eater reports, the new location features some New Orleans-inspired items from chef-owner Adam Rosenblum, who spent time cooking in New Orleans. These include a breakfast jambalaya, fried chicken, and a new baked oyster dish, as well as a Sazerac on the cocktail menu.

We got the full list of finalists this week for the 2026 James Beard Awards, and while it wasn't a total shut-out for the Bay Area, we were snubbed in several major cateories. For the big awards, chef Michael Tusk of Quince is nominated for Outstanding Chef; Harrison Cheney of Sons & Daughters and Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu of Oakland's Sun Moon Studio are nominated in the Best Chef: California category; and Copra and Ettan owners Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar are nominated in the Outstanding Restaurateur category.

And the first half of the Chronicle's updated Top 100 dropped earlier this week, which is coming out while primary critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan is out on maternity leave. The full list will land on Monday, and from the looks of it, it will once again be arbitrarily ranked and bizarrely curated, with a lot of apples-to-oranges juxtapositions of fine dining spots and taco stands. Two-Michelin-star Lazy Bear lands at #100 while new entry Patio Filipino in San Bruno (3.5 stars on Yelp) ranks several notches higher. Ernest and Saison just made the cut this year because the critics hadn't even dined there last year and they finally made it there... ugh don't get me started.

The finalists for this year's "Oscars of the food world" are now out, and while things are trending upward for Bay Area nominees, many of the "long-listed" semi-finalists from the local region were shut out.

It's been a familiar pattern of the last couple of years that the Bay Area can't catch a break at the James Beard Awards, though this year's slate of semi-finalists suggested things might be turning around.

Granted, making the cut between the so-called "long list" and the actual list of finalists or nominees is challenging given that some categories, like Best New Restaurant, had 30 semifinalists this year, for only 10 finalist slots. California got only one nod (Ki in Los Angeles), and so did New York (Lei), and we know the nominating committee is trying to be more geographically diverse these days. But this meant that Hayes Valley's Happy Crane is not on the list of finalists.

There are no Bay Area nominees this year for Emerging Chef or Outstanding Restaurant (Steve Joo of Oakland's Joodooboo was in the former category as a semifinalist, and Foreign Cinema was long-listed in the latter). But in the Outstanding Chef category is former Best Chef: West winner Michael Tusk of Quince, now one of five nominees in this prestigious category.

Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar also made the cut in the Outstanding Restaurateur category for their Bay Area restaurant group Cal-India Collective (Ettan, Copra, Eylan and Little Blue Door).

SoCal took three slots and the Bay has two in the Best Chef: California category, with Harrison Cheney of Sons & Daughters and Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu of Oakland's Sun Moon Studio getting nods.

Longstanding Tiki stalwart Smuggler's Cove got a nod in the Outstanding Bar category, and Kevin Diedrich of Pacific Cocktail Haven is nominated for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

House of Prime Rib was, sadly, shut out of the Outstanding Hospitality category.

And we learn today that Los Angeles celebrity chef Nancy Silverton will be getting this year's Lifetime Achievement Award.

This year's James Beard Awards ceremony is being held Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

See the rest of the restaurant and chef nominees from around the country here.

A new izakaya lands near Union Square, the Castro gets a new Northern Thai restaurant, and the Chronicle's Cesar Hernandez gives his review of RT Bistro, all in This Week in Food.

A new Japanese izakaya called TBD has moved into the former Akikos space at 431 Bush Street. Eater reports that it's a collaboration between Ray Lee of Akikos — which has now moved to 430 Folsom Street — and Tommy Cleary of the erstwhile Divisadero spot Hina Yakitori. Expect Hokkaido scallop crudos, tsukune, and chicken karaage, but you'll also find yakitori style "medium-rare" chicken bits, sans skewers, and more. It doesn't look like they take reservations as of now, but the Instagram is here. And maybe there's a restaurant name that is still TBD?

A new Northern Thai restaurant has just opened in the Castro called Ka Kai. The restaurant, being run by alums of Farmhouse Kitchen and its affiliated restaurants, just debuted last week in the former Thai Chef space at 4133 18th Street. Hoodline had the news of the (technically soft) opening, and you can peek at the menu here. It includes Northern Thai dishes like mu thod and ka paw duck, all served in handmade bowls imported from Thailand's Lampang Province.

Tablehopper brings word that there is a new chef and a revamped menu at Izzy's Steaks & Chops in the Marina, which just reopened last year in its newly renovated digs. Chef Cory Armenta, formerly of Left Bank Brasseries and LB Steak, has updated the starters for spring, with a dish of asparagus and sauce gribiche, and crispy artichokes with preserved lemon aioli. Steak options remain the same, but there is a new seasonal vegetarian entree: artichokes en barigoule, with spring vegetables, sundried tomato, and vegetable consommé.

Ms. Tablehopper also raves about Falafelland, a new Yemeni-style falafel spot in the Tenderloin at 265 Golden Gate Avenue (at Hyde). In addition to some great sounding falafel made with a signature recipe involving avocado and blueberries, there are meating lamb lavash wraps and more.

Five Bay Area restaurants were added to the Michelin Guide as of this week, several months ahead of the California guide's full update reveal this summer — which will include the new star and Bib Gourmand ratings. The new additions are Restaurant Naides, Le Cigale, Dingles Public House, and Wolfsbane, all in SF, and in Menlo Park, Yeobo, Darling.

The Chronicle has word that popular Berkeley brewery and taproom Trumer Pils is going to be shutting down at the end of May. The US operations of the Pilsner brand, which originated in Germany, have been acquired by Firestone Walker Brewing Company, and will be relocating to Firestone's headquarters in Paso Robles.

Also closing in SoMa is Black Hammer Brewing Company, whose last day will be April 3. Broke-Ass Stuart was first to the news, with owners owners Jim "Hammer" Furman and Kevin Jackey launched their brewery first at Burning Man 11 years ago, and they've called themselves the world's only "Burner brewery." They'll be having a Playa-style sendoff party at their headquarters tonight (March 27) at 7pm. They already shut down their Castro outpost, Wilkommen, last year.

This week in reviews, Chronicle Associate Critic Cesar Hernandez brings us his take on RT Bistro, where he raves about the long off-menu burger from Rich Table, which he calls "easily one of the finest burgers in the city, worth every cent of its $30 price tag." He's also a fan of the kampachi crudo, the sweet potato tempura (which is excellent!), and the dry-aged steak, sans the prune-Armagnac sauce. He calls the pastas "largely unremarkable," but he enjoys all of Sarah Rich's desserts, which he says, "continue to stun."

Top image: The Dungeness crab 'Thermidor' at RT Bistro. Photo by Jay Barmann/SFist

The Michelin Guide has just revealed its midyear additions, giving some hints about which new Bay Area restaurants are already on the radars of inspectors and up for potential star ratings.

This week's announcement is not about Michelin stars — we won't have the updated star counts and new star additions until the full California Michelin Guide is updated sometime this summer. (They've been a bit erratic the past few years, with guide updates landing in mid-July in 2023, early August in 2024, and mid-June last year, and pre-pandemic the Bay Area guide updates used to come in October.)

As the Michelin organization explains in a blog post, "While our distinctions — Stars and Bib Gourmands — are only revealed at the annual ceremony, new restaurants are added to the Selection twice a year."

And one of those rounds for California came on Wednesday.

The new San Francisco additions are Wolfsbane, Restaurant Naides, Dingles Public House, and Le Cigale — and both Wolfsbane and Dingles Public House were on SFist's Best New Restaurants of 2025 list as well. (Restaurant Naides, which opened in the former Sons & Daughters space on Bush Street serving contemporary takes on Filipino food, has only been open since mid-December, and just got a rave from the Chronicle.)

Additionally, the much-talked-about Yeobo, Darling in Menlo Park will be added to this year's Michelin Guide as well.

Of Wolfsbane, the inspectors say, "Partners Chef Rupert Blease and wife Carrie, who runs the front of house, make their much-anticipated return to fine dining with this stylish Dogpatch enclave. The indulgent multicourse tasting menu shows no shortage of creative flair... Pristine local products are prepared with precision, enhanced by finely tuned sauces balancing richness and brightness."

Of Restaurant Naides, they say, "Named after Chef Patrick Gabon's mother, there's no mistaking this jewel box operation as anything other than a labor of love... ulling together Californian ingredients (including foraged herbs and flowers), traditional flavors and bold creativity, the dishes are as pleasing to look at as they are to eat."

And of Dingles, they say, "Beer-battered fish and chips, paired with classic mushy peas and curry sauce, hits its mark, as does a spot-on Scotch egg, with its jammy yolk and crunchy, panko-crusted exterior, and Welsh rarebit makes a concession to the States with Jasper Hill Farm cheddar from Vermont."

Related: The 10 Best New San Francisco Restaurants of 2025

Top image: A dish at Restaurant Naides, photo by Sena Johnson

A former dishwasher at the French Laundry in Yountville has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 50 other employees alleging that the restaurant routinely violates state law around mandatory break times and resting facilities, and that it also failed to pay the minimum wage or overtime.

The lawsuit was filed last week, on March 19, by the Glendale-based Koul Law Firm, as the Press Democrat was first to report. The named plaintiff is Elena Flores Beteta, who the suit says worked as a dishwasher at the French Laundry from 2022 to 2025. The suit names the French Laundry Restaurant Corporation and Thomas Keller Restaurant Group as defendants, but Keller himself is not personally named.

Beteta alleges that that the restaurant failed to pay overtime wages that were owed to her, and she was "required to work off the clock, [and] work through meal and rest periods" without compensation. The suit also contends that the restaurant does not provide breakroom facilities as required by law, and that bathroom facilities for employees are a 10-minute walk away in a storage facility that was consistently filthy.

The Chronicle also reports on the details of the suit, which include claims that employees were required to perform tasks, such as mopping floors, after they had clocked out for the night. And it suggests that meal times were consistently abbreviated by required tasks like taking out trash, or standing in line at the time clock.

The French Laundry issued a statement saying, "We value our employees and maintain a respectful, professional, and inclusive workplace. We are committed to complying with all applicable employment laws and regulations, and we maintain policies and practices designed to promote fairness and compliance across our organization."

This is not the first time that Keller's restaurant group has been sued over alleged labor violations. In 2016, they were sued for pregnancy discrimination when an employee at Keller's New York restaurant Per Se — which serves nearly the same menu as the French Laundry — claimed she was denied a transfer to the Napa restaurant after it had initially been offered to her, after managers discovered she was pregnant. While the restaurant was cleared of wrongdoing in court, the suit was later settled in 2019, per the Chronicle.

Keller's Las Vegas restaurant Bouchon Las Vegas was also hit with a sexual harassment claim three years ago, involving managers there.

A spokesperson for his restaurant group responded to his suit with a statement:

French Laundry is fully compliant with all California employment laws and this is the first person in 48 years to pursue legal action against The French Laundry about time and attendance or meal breaks. This frivolous, attention seeking filing is based on inaccurate, baseless information, including falsely claiming to represent other staff in a desperate effort to feed this false narrative. We are confident that we will prevail on the merits.

This latest class-action suit is reminiscent of two lawsuits in recent years involving alleged labor violations at San Francisco's House of Prime Rib. Those suits contended, among other things, that employees there were denied breaks of any kind, forced to perform tasks while off the clock, and forced to sign waivers forgoing meal breaks.

Over a decade ago, SF dim sum destination Yank Sing agreed to pay $4 million in back wages to employees over similar violations. In 2020, current and former employees of Burma Superstar won a $1.3 million class-action settlement, also over similar labor violations.

In recent weeks, Keller has been in local headlines over a planned affordable housing development in Yountville — with the tone of the headlines suggesting that he is among those fighting against affordable housing in the town, full stop. But Keller and others are arguing that the developer failed to do enough community outreach on the unit mix for the project, which is primarily studios and one-bedrooms — and he says his employees primarily want family housing with more bedrooms.

As of last week, per SFGate, the town of Yountville has put a pause on the development, after receiving enough signatures to put a referendum on an upcoming ballot that will put the zoning issue to voters.

This post has been updated with a statement from the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.