What to eat in San Francisco
A city by the bay built on Gold Rush sourdough, Italian fishermen's stews, and burritos bigger than your forearm.
Five dishes. Zero regrets.
Clam Chowder in a Sourdough Bread Bowl
Thick, creamy New England-style clam chowder served inside a hollowed loaf of tangy, crackly San Francisco sourdough — the ultimate two-in-one. The bakery still uses the same starter culture it developed during the Gold Rush.
Try it at: Boudin Bakery at Fisherman's Wharf
Mission-Style Burrito
A foil-wrapped behemoth of rice, beans, carnitas or carne asada, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa — invented in the 1960s for hungry Mission District firefighters. Nine or ten inches of San Francisco's Mexican-American soul.
Try it at: La Taqueria or El Farolito in the Mission
Cioppino
A tomato-wine seafood stew of crab, prawns, clams, mussels, and fish, born from Italian North Beach fishermen tossing the day's leftovers into one pot in the late 1800s. Mop it up with toasted sourdough — the broth is half the dish.
Try it at: Tadich Grill or Sotto Mare
Irish Coffee
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar, and a float of whipped cream — the drink that made Irish coffee an American staple after it was popularized here in the 1950s. Warm, boozy, and essential on a foggy evening.
Try it at: the Buena Vista Cafe, which introduced it to the U.S.
Fortune Cookie
The crisp vanilla cookie with a slip of paper inside — born not in China but in San Francisco, where Japanese immigrant Makoto Hagiwara served them at Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden in the early 1900s. A 1983 court ruling settled the matter in the city's favor.
Try it at: the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, where it all started
